Galway City has undergone an unprecedented revival in recent years and is now brimming over with excellent Pubs, Restaurants and super shopping areas.
Most travelers say, Galway is the liveliest City after Dublin. In fact, it has everything a major cosmopolitan City has to offer, but in a more relaxed laid back atmosphere. The City is renowned for its thriving Irish Theatre, arts, music and culture scene and Galway plays host to a number of Internationally renowned festivals throughout the year.
From Galway you can arrange a trip to the Aran islands, three small islands just off the coast....
In comparison, Galway is like the San Francisco of Ireland. Art is everywhere, music happens constantly in the pubs and all over the downtown area around the pedestrian friendly Shop St. Stop for a few moments and soak up the music form all the buskers, it could very well change your outlook on life.
Don't forget to cross the River Corrib into Claddagh, the birthplace of the now famous ring, there are some great pubs and the Roisin Dubh (Black Rose) is there one of the best, if not the best live music venues in all of Ireland.
The Claddagh was also the home of many boat men who used to ferry turf out to the Aran Islands. Turf is still used as a solid fuel and is a product of areas known as bogs. The most famous type of boat is known as the "Galway Hooker" which is basically a wind powered sailing boat. It should be remembered that the Aran Islands used to, and still does, rely on boats to stock the islands with domestic farm animals, food, and fuel for vehicles. Galway Hookers are still raced in a traditional fashion, at various festivals.
Take time to walk the Salt Hill Promenade and take in the lovely sea views. Known locally as the "Prom", hundreds of people make it a daily regimen to get their exercise here and a tradition is to kick the wall at the Blackrock end of it. This also signifies the beginning of the return journey, as well as the end of the first half of it. So don't be too puzzled if you should see this.
Galway also boasts a fine and globally significant University with older parts of it being classic examples of architecture and stonework.
The Spainish Arch is a stone Arch and Galway was a known trading point in a maritime perspective. This arch still draws visitors.
Eyre Square is Galway citys' best known landmark, and has just gone through a rather controversial transformation; controversial with respect to the price tag but nonetheless, a great job was done.
In contrast though, Galway has many cyber cafes, broadband and internet hot zones. Such zones are hotels, pubs and restaurants, which offer free internet access within a certain radius of their premises. So while Galway is rich in history, it is very up to date with modern and communications technologies. Since the phenonemon known as the Celtic Tiger which is a name given to the recent ecomical prosperity of Ireland, Galway has indeed become cosmopolitan as labour workforces had to be sourced from abroad. Such labour workforces extend from general labourers to nurses, doctors, and information technology specialists. So, where ever you may be from, you should be able to connect with someone of a similar culture.