Free Things to Do in Galway

Galway is an easy city to enjoy on a budget — most of what makes it distinctive costs nothing to see. Here's a list of genuinely free things to do, with no hidden entry fee behind any of them.

Walk the Latin Quarter

The Latin Quarter — Shop Street, High Street, Quay Street and the lanes around them — is free to wander and arguably Galway's single best attraction. Buskers and impromptu traditional music sessions are a regular feature on any evening with reasonable weather, and the streets themselves, largely pedestrianised, are worth the walk on their own.

The Spanish Arch and the Long Walk

Down where the Latin Quarter meets the River Corrib, the Spanish Arch — part of the old medieval city walls, built in 1584 — is open year-round with no admission fee. The Long Walk, the row of colourful harbourside houses right beside it, is one of the most photographed spots in the city and costs nothing to see.

Galway City Museum

Right next to the Spanish Arch, the Galway City Museum is free to enter (donations welcome) and covers three floors of the city's maritime, political and cultural history — a solid way to spend an hour without spending a cent.

Galway Cathedral

The Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas, completed in 1965, is free to walk into. It's one of Galway's most architecturally distinctive buildings, and worth the short walk from the city centre even just to see the interior.

St Nicholas' Collegiate Church

Back in the Latin Quarter, St Nicholas' Collegiate Church dates to 1320 and is the largest medieval parish church in Ireland still in continuous use — free to visit, and tradition holds that Christopher Columbus once prayed here before a voyage west.

Eyre Square

Galway's central park, officially John F. Kennedy Memorial Park, is free public space with the Quincentennial Fountain (shaped like a Galway hooker sailing boat) and monuments to the city's history, including the fourteen "Tribes of Galway" merchant families.

Browse the Galway Market

The market on Church Lane, beside St Nicholas' Church, has been running in some form since the medieval period. It's on every Saturday and Sunday, with extra days in July and August. Browsing costs nothing — you only pay for what you buy.

Walk the Salthill promenade

Salthill's seafront promenade runs for roughly two kilometres along Galway Bay, a level, easy walk from the city centre via the Claddagh. It's a genuine local tradition to walk the full length and "kick the wall" at the far end near the Blackrock diving tower before turning back — free, and on a clear day the views stretch across the bay toward the Burren and the Aran Islands.

Related reading

• Things to Do in Galway
• Galway in One Day
• Best Day Trips from Galway