Galway

Kelley, Our family stayed at the Amber Heights B&B and it met our needs quite well. I would also recommend Galway Tour Company for tours to The Cliffs of Moher & The Burren and Connemara & Cong.

Hi Kelley, If you will have a car you might consider instead staying in nearby Connemara and day-tripping to Galway, the Aran Islands (ferry from Rossaveal), and a day driving around Connemara and the Delphi Valley just to the north. If that interests you, we stayed at Ballynahinch Castle Hotel which is near Roundstone, a fun village to explore. Ballynahinch is a romantic and very friendly hotel; the restaurant serves excellent food and has a river view. Another nice place to stay in the area is the Quay House in Clifden. Clifden is a pretty little town with several restaurants. If you do decide to stay in Connemara, keep your gas tank filled - many of the gas stations in the area have gone out of business.

The G Hotel in Galway would be a very nice choice for a 25th Anniversary. For Western Ireland, as Cynthia mentioned, Ballynahinch is quite nice. Small with pretty grounds. But for a major "castle" hotel experience, I would say Ashford Castle in Cong if you really want to splurge on a castle hotel. Their grounds are amazing and guests can do stuff like fish, horseback riding, or have a falconry session.

Kelley,
Ditto the recommendation to consider Ashford Castle if you are not set on staying in Galway proper. It is not terribly far from Galway, and it is absolutely incredible. Ashford offers two and three-night specials that include breakfasts and a dinner or two, and those packages can be rather reasonable compared to their standard rack rates. The Hawk Walk falconry experience was an incredible experience.

As others also said, the Connemara region is beautiful to tour.

Thank you all so much! I really appreciate it. The castle ideas are awesome! Did not think of that. We are so excited to go! Got almost all of our rooms! Thanks again!