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A group of people holding photographs, with Guinness beer glasses and a sign for 'McBride's & Co. Toilets' in the background. 1
A group of people seated at a bar with drinks, a sign reading 'Black & White,' and a poster on the wall. 2
A person operating a beer tap in a bar with shelves of bottles and a refrigerator in the background. 3
A bar with Guinness beer taps and a bartender. 4
Three individuals seated at a round table with drinks, one playing a banjo. 5

Irish cultural, walking, food, drink & music tour in Galway City

By Ireland Wild Escapes
Free cancellation available
Price is €110 per adult
See tickets

Features

  • Free cancellation available
  • 4h
  • Mobile voucher
  • Instant confirmation

Overview

Your Galway evening starts at the Spanish Arch, built in 1584 to extend the quays for the Spanish wine trade. Over 3 to 4 hours, you cover the city on foot, sit in on a private trad session at Monroes on Dominick Street, eat a proper Irish dinner while the music plays, and finish with a Guinness pour and a Polaroid to take home.
The trad session is booked for your group only. Two working musicians talk you through what they are playing: reels versus jigs, uilleann pipes versus fiddle. Most guests say this is when it stops feeling like a tour.
The Guinness pour comes last. There is a right way to do it and most people don't get it first time. A Polaroid is taken while the pint settles. You keep the photo, a handwritten card, a coaster, and a weekly guide to the best trad sessions and GAA fixtures in Galway.

Activity location

  • The Spanish Arch
    • Spanish Arch
    • Galway, Ireland

Meeting/Redemption Point

  • Spanish Arch
    • 2 The Long Walk
    • Galway, County Galway, Ireland

Check availability

Irish cultural, walking, food, drink & music tour in Galway City

  • Activity duration is 4 hours4h
    4h
  • English
Language options: English
Starting time: 15:00
Price details
€109.73 x 1 Adult€109.73
Total
Price is €109.73
Until Tue, 11 Aug

What's included, what's not

  • What's includedWhat's included
    Guided city walk from Spanish Arch through the Latin Quarter to Monroes
  • What's includedWhat's included
    Handwritten card, coaster, and postcard to send
  • What's includedWhat's included
    Guinness pour with instruction
  • What's includedWhat's included
    Private trad session with two musicians at Monroes Tavern, Dominick Street
  • What's includedWhat's included
    Polaroid photograph
  • What's includedWhat's included
    GAA overview and local fixture card
  • What's includedWhat's included
    Weekly guide to live trad sessions in Galway
  • What's includedWhat's included
    Traditional Irish dinner (half portions) at Monroes Tavern
  • What's excludedWhat's excluded
    Transport to or from the Spanish Arch meeting point
  • What's excludedWhat's excluded
    Additional drinks beyond the Guinness pour

Know before you book

  • Wheelchair accessible
  • Public transport options are available nearby
  • Transport options are wheelchair accessible
  • All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
  • Suitable for all physical fitness levels
  • In accordance with EU regulations about consumer rights, activities services are not subject to the right of withdrawal. Supplier cancellation policy will apply.
  • This activity is provided by a professional trader (a party acting within their trade, business or profession).

Activity itinerary

The Spanish Arch

  • 10m
Meet your guide outside the arch. The Spanish Arch is one of the few surviving sections of Galway's 16th-century town wall, built in 1584 to extend the quays for the Spanish wine trade that made Galway wealthy. Your guide makes introductions, gives a brief outline of the evening, and you move into the city.

Galway's Latin Quarter

  • 10m
Through the Latin Quarter on High Street and Quay Street, Galway's most photographed stretch of independent shops and street performers. The route passes St Nicholas' Collegiate Church on Lombard Street, founded in 1320 and the oldest church in continuous use in Ireland. Columbus is said to have prayed here before his 1492 voyage. Worth a pause outside before continuing north.

Saint Nicholas' Collegiate Church

  • 10m
Founded in 1320, this is the largest medieval parish church in Ireland that has been in continuous use. Your guide covers its role in Galway's history, its connection to the Spanish trade, and the Columbus storey. The walk continues from here to Salmon Weir Bridge, a 5-minute walk north.

Salmon Weir Bridge

  • 10m
The bridge crosses the Corrib between the city and the Cathedral. In spring (March to May) you can watch Atlantic salmon holding in the current below before running upstream. Galway Cathedral sits at your back as you cross. The guide points out the weir and explains the salmon run before moving back into the city towards Dominick Street.

Monroe's Tavern

  • 20m
Private Irish trad session. Booked exclusively for your group. Two working musicians play at Monroes Tavern on Dominick Street, one of Galway's best-known trad venues. Before the food arrives, they talk you through what they are playing: what distinguishes a reel from a jig, the instruments in a traditional session, how the music works without a written score. Groups who arrive knowing nothing about trad consistently say this is the part of the evening that stays with them.

Monroe's Tavern

  • 30m
GAA: Ireland's Game. An All-Ireland match plays on the screens at Monroes, as it would on any match night in any Galway pub. Your guide explains Gaelic football and hurling: the rules, the county structures, the fixture calendar. You leave with a card listing real local club and county fixtures that week, times and venues included.

Monroe's Tavern

  • 30m
GAA: Ireland's Game. An All-Ireland match plays on the screens at Monroes, as it would on any match night in any Galway pub. Your guide explains Gaelic football and hurling: the rules, the county structures, the fixture calendar. You leave with a card listing real local club and county fixtures that week, times and venues included.

Monroe's Tavern

  • 30m
The Guinness Pour at Monroe's. Everyone has a go at the Guinness pour. There is a two-part process and most people do not get it right first time, which is part of the point. A Polaroid is taken while the pint settles. You keep the photo. Non-alcoholic alternatives are available for guests who do not drink.

Monroe's Tavern

  • 10m
Farewell and Send-Off. Your guide gives you a handwritten card, a coaster, and a week's worth of real trad sessions and GAA fixtures in Galway: venues, times, dates. Write a postcard and post it before you leave. Then the rest of the evening is yours. Monroe's itself stays open and runs trad sessions most nights; Thursday to Saturday are the busiest.

Location

Activity location

  • LOB_ACTIVITIESLOB_ACTIVITIES
    The Spanish Arch
    • Spanish Arch
    • Galway, Ireland

Meeting/Redemption Point

  • PEOPLEPEOPLE
    Spanish Arch
    • 2 The Long Walk
    • Galway, County Galway, Ireland

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