Best Day Trips from Galway

Galway city is well placed for day trips — the Aran Islands, Connemara and even the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare are all reachable and back in a single day. Here's how each one actually works, since the ferry and bus options vary more than a lot of guides let on.

The Aran Islands

Inishmore (Inis Mór), Inishmaan (Inis Meáin) and Inisheer (Inis Oírr) sit out in Galway Bay and are Galway's signature day trip, known for the Iron Age stone fort of Dún Aonghasa on Inishmore, dry-stone walls, and a slower pace of life than the mainland.

By ferry from Rossaveel: Aran Island Ferries sails year-round from Rossaveel, about 37km west of Galway city, to all three islands, with the crossing taking around 40 minutes. A shuttle bus connects Galway city centre to the Rossaveel terminal, taking roughly an hour, and is usually timed to ferry departures.

By ferry direct from Galway city: a seasonal ferry service also runs directly from the city docks in summer, cutting out the Rossaveel bus transfer, though it's worth checking current sailing dates before planning around it since seasonal services vary year to year.

By ferry from Doolin: if you're coming from County Clare, or combining islands with the Cliffs of Moher, Doolin Ferry Co and Doolin2Aran Ferries run seasonal (roughly March–November) services to all three islands, with crossing times of 15–35 minutes depending on the island.

Check aranislandferries.com or doolinferry.com for current timetables and prices before travelling, since sailings are weather-dependent and schedules shift seasonally.

Connemara and Kylemore Abbey

West of Galway city, Connemara is a stretch of bog, mountains and coastline that looks and feels different from anywhere else in the county. The N59 is the main road through it.

Connemara National Park, near Letterfrack, has its visitor centre and the trailhead for Diamond Hill — a hike with two options, a shorter 2.8km lower trail (about 45 minutes) and a longer 6km upper trail (around 2 hours) to the summit. There's no entrance fee for the park and parking is free. It's roughly a 1 hour 15 minute drive from Galway city.

A little further along the same road is Kylemore Abbey, a striking lakeside building started in 1867 as a private home for Mitchell Henry, an English politician, and completed a few years later. It passed to the Duke and Duchess of Manchester in 1909, and in 1920 Benedictine nuns who had fled Ypres in Belgium during the First World War purchased it and founded the abbey that gives the building its current name.

Public transport into this part of Connemara is limited, so a car or an organised day tour from Galway city is the practical way to see both in one day.

The Cliffs of Moher

Ireland's most-visited natural attraction sits about an hour and a half from Galway by road, across the county line in Clare. There are two genuinely different ways to experience them from Galway, and it's worth knowing which one you're booking:

• The clifftop paths, from the official visitor centre, are reached by Bus Éireann route 350 (Galway–Ennis–Cliffs of Moher) or by car/organised tour. This is the way to actually walk along the cliff edge.
• A boat view from the water, via a Cliffs of Moher cruise departing Doolin, shows the cliffs from below rather than above, and is often combined with an Aran Islands ferry trip on the same ticket.

For the full detail on heights, the coastal walk and getting there, see our Cliffs of Moher Guide.

Planning tips

• Ferry and bus schedules on all of these routes are seasonal — always check the operator's own site for the day you're travelling rather than relying on a fixed timetable.
• Weather on the Atlantic coast can cancel sailings with little notice, particularly to the Aran Islands in winter; build in flexibility if a specific crossing matters to your plans.
• If you only have time for one day trip, the Aran Islands via Rossaveel is the most reliably scheduled option year-round.

Related reading

• Things to Do in Galway
• Galway in One Day
• Cliffs of Moher Guide
• Best Day Trips from Dublin