Galway or Salthill

Hi Caren. I am not a big fan of driving around Galway because of the one way systems in place. I tend to take a few trips around the city to get to where I need to go..but find it eventually. Salthill would be a good alternative for you and close enough to walk into Galway.

Great! That was my inclination as well. Thanks!

We stayed in Galway with a rental car. Parked it at a B&B 2 blocks west of the Spanish Arch. It never moved for three days, however, we didn't have to do the much longer walk to downtown pubs, restaurants, and shopping,like those who stayed in Salthill did. Driving into Galway and back out was no problem. Dan

Thanks Dan. Did you like your B&B? If yes, do you remember the name?

Hi Caren I would strongly suggest Galway. There is WAY WAY more to see and do there. We did not want to drive around Galway either and just parked our rental at the B&B and walked and bused it everywhere. We visited Salthill and honestly, I found it a bit sad.

There are a couple of big parking structures near the city center in Galway. It was about 10-15e to park there for 24 hours and a lot of the hotels will offer a discount on that rate. Driving through Galway City is fairly easy. Certainly nothing like Dublin

I would second Galway. We are here right now, our B&B is on College Road. It's not in the center of town, so little traffic and easy access to the motorways and main roads out of here. Only an 8 minute-walk to the Latin Quarter. We have not moved our car for our B&B for the last 2 days. BTW, there are several, good B&Bs on College Road. We're at Ardawn and we love it! We have a great attic room, lots of space. 40 euros pp. Lovely breakfast you can order from a menu, and the owner, Breta (Sp?), is very nice and helpful.

Caren, Yes we liked our B&B, called "Griffin Lodge". Besides being close to everything, it was clean, quiet, wonderful Irish breakfasts, and our hostess, Anne, was 2nd to none. She was very helpful with suggestions on where to eat, where to find good trad music, and she even called in a booking for us for a flight to Inishmor, Aran Islands. She left out a cold continental breakfast that morning for us, since we left for Inismor early before the hot breakfast was served. The only minor complaints were: the rooms were a little small, but we were only there to sleep, since we were out and about Galway City most of the time we were in town. Also the parking is a little crowded, but Anne will take care of that for you too. I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again next time in Galway! Dan

Caren, I highly recommend Devondell. It's rated #2 on Trip Advisor and for good reason. I even posted a review and pictures on the site. And the only time we didn't walk to/from Galway was when we arrived and left (with all our luggage). Berna is a lovely hostess and the breakfasts were an absolutely unbelievable way to start the day!

I found Galway very charming and easy to get around by foot. Stayed at the Park House near Eyre Square and found the accomodations fine and the service excellent.

Skip Salthill, stay in Galway near the town center. College Street/Avenue has many B&Bs and they're all within walking distance of Eyre Square (the square in the center of town). Galway is a very manageable city as long as you're not stuck out in the newer neighborhoods (many of which are pretty ugly in my opinion).

I agree 100% with Mike. Why anyone would stay all the way out in Salthill, I'll never know. For me, it is the "Pub Scene" and I like to have a couple of pints, listen to the music and WALK a SHORT distance to my B&B. A perfect night in Ireland!!! Dan