Three Day Tour of The West of Ireland: Galway Killarney Cork

Having heard so much about the beauty of West Ireland and in particular Galway city and the many things you could do we booked a 5 night stay (March 2026) Sadly we were very disappointed. - We stayed at the Nox Hotel , which was a good walk outside the centre and although the hotel itself is very very good the commute daily was expensive and warrant upon bus times. - In Galway itself, other than pubs, bars, a repetetive number of same shops and souvenier shops there was little else to do. The music pubs were all much of a much and offered the same menu's Burgers, Pizza. Stew, Fish and chips etc. All very expensive and at weekend unless you booked a table you have very little chance of getting one... Highcafe is however a great little restuarant which is friendly and very different in its food choice. It has no licence so you have to take your own alcohol - so can make a very affordable dining experience. - we purchased a 2 day Hop-on-bus ride and although we did use it on 2 days (just for something to do) we were able to explore SALTHILL, the catheral and university but the commentary was very little and the not interesting or knowledgable so other than having to pay extortionate prices for trips out of the city .i.e. Aran, cliffs (which you cannot access in bad weather) we found the city museum worth visiting and although it was hard to follow the history of the area chronologically we did feel we had gained some history of the culture and history of Galway. And as we were lucky with the weather we could take advantage of the Salthill stop. However, we did find the break unwhelming and ended up going to the local pictures for something to do. The days and times of the museum and tourist information office did not include weekends and they are poorly signed. The tourist information office was terrible, the staff didnt even look up from their work or speak , and among many empty shelves were leaflets which were also available in your hotel: they also closed for an hour at lunch ! it is the worst TIO we have every come upon and not worth seeking out - Southern Ireland is very expensive and so you need to be financially savvy on a visit to the island. We flew into Knock but had to book a 2 hour bus transfer to Galway, which was an hour late and again costly. Knock is a small regional airport and easy to use BUT we were shocked that we had to PAY 10 euros each to leave the airport; a mandatory fee for the development of the airport! So in summary our experience of Galway was not a positive one and we will not be returning **One final thing , we met a couple from Britian who had drove to scotland, then Belfast and before returning home was in Galway with their little dog. We came across them sheltering from the rain (but security soon moved them on) as Dogs were not allowed on buses, in shops, arcades, pubs, restuarants and most hotels. As a dog lover i understand holidaying with your dog but felt so sorry for the couple because they were limited to a full irish holiday and regardless of weather conditions able to just walk the streets.....