National University of Ireland-Galway (UCG), Galway

Advantages: Nature, landscapes, people
Disadvantages: Traffic, lack of cultural spots, Galway city

...In the beginning of July 2001 my girlfriend and I went to Galway, Ireland. Galway (county) lies on the east coast of Ireland. Biggest town is Galway (the city) and most famous area Connemara. We cycled during a week through Galway and we discovered a wonderful land. In this opinion I will talk about our trip day by day, and I will try to give you some advice on the most interesting things to visit. PREPARATION Besides buying plane tickets, the only thing we did to prepare our trip was to buy 5 vouchers from “Town & Country Homes”. This formula is called “go-as-you-please”. Together with the 5 vouchers we got a book containing hundreds and hundreds of B&B’s through Ireland where we could use our voucher. This formula has some real advantages: 1) You need less cash during your trip... Read review

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Advantages: Great atmosphere, beautiful scenery, plenty to see and do!
Disadvantages: Umm... nope can't help you there!

...With its multicoloured facades, bohemian taverns and generally laid-back ambience, I was hooked on Galway right from the start. Prettier than Cork, livelier than Killarney and more relaxed than Dublin, this is definitely the town I felt most at home in during my husband Dave’s and my recent trip to Ireland. Galway City (or Gaillihm) is described by Lonely Planet (Europe on a Shoestring, 1st edition, March 1999) as “a pleasure, with its old stone and wooden shop-fronts, good restaurants and busy music pubs bustling with students”. I wholeheartedly agree – it was a rare treat to actually come across a town that seemed to suit my personality almost perfectly. So on to the review… ACCOMMODATION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Having not found any particularly cheap options on the net we decided to try the ‘... Read review

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Advantages: A great base for touring and a city full of life and vitality.
Disadvantages: Patchy public transport and some ugly ribbon building.

...We need to choose our holidays carefully, us pedestrians. Call us cautious, but we opted for Galway, mid-way up the West Coast of Ireland. Not that Galway feels 'safe' in a stodgy kind of way. We didn't go for the nightlife but there was a buzz about the place that hit us as soon as we stepped off the train. Now what is this thing called a 'buzz'? We couldn't quite work it out to start with, but then it dawned on us: we were a couple of dinosaurs abroad in a modern landscape. Galway is a young city, full of young people. It's a city too, with more than its share of teething troubles relating to its prosperity. Ugly ribbon built development sprawls along the coast through suburbs like Salthill, decked out like a junior Blackpool. Not that the other Galway is far away. All paths in Galway seem to lead back to Eyre Square... Read review

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