Galway is a favourite destination of ours for so many reasons. The festivals, the atmosphere and the distinct feeling of welcome that is best experienced in the west, it really is one of our favourite places to return to with our vacationers. We had the pleasure of taking Tom and Maureen around the locality during their stay last summer.
They were staying in Galway for the world famous Galway Races, an annual horse racing meet that happens in the last week in July just outside the city centre. National and international jockeys compete over the seven days and the city comes alive with visitors from around the globe. This was Tom and Maureen’s second time here at the festival and they decided it was time to explore a little more of what Galway had to offer.
Given the time of year the festival falls on, we were blessed with warm days all week. We picked them up at their hotel just after breakfast and headed west of the city to the region known as Connemara. This is a Gaeltacht area, where the first language is Gaeilge or Irish, our historical native tongue. It is still widely spoken to this day in these regions around the country. Galway is proud to preserve the Irish language and you’ll find almost half of all native speakers of the language here. It’s a great way to experience Irish heritage by listening to the language spoken here in every day settings.
Another great thing about Connemara is the rugged beauty it holds. Tom and Maureen were excited to see some of the mountains and lakes along the way. We stopped to take in the Twelve Bens, a majestic mountain range overlooking the wild landscape. Given the lovely weather we were enjoying, we took a detour to stop into the picturesque village of Roundstone and take a stroll at Dog’s Bay and Gurteen beaches. These are our favourite beaches to show visitors. The white sand on the crescent shaped beaches always take people by surprise! You can walk from one beach to the other on either side of the tombolo so we took our time to take a wander through the marram grass and explore it fully.
We suggested a quick bite in O’Dowd’s pub in Roundstone village on the way back, their chowder is famous and they also have some of the best Guinness in west Galway. The pub was a hive of activity when we walked in with tourists and locals alike enjoying a few drinks and delicious fresh seafood. We enjoyed a tasty meal before heading back to the city along the coast road. We enjoyed unspoiled views of the Atlantic Ocean as we passed. It was just nearing sunset when we entered Salthill.
Tom and Maureen thanked us for adding an extra element to their vacation to Galway, having never heard of Roundstone or the surrounding beaches, they would not have found them on their own. We always like to surprise our clients and show them another side to a region that they may not have known about so we were delighted they had enjoyed the day.
If you have a vacation to Ireland coming up soon, why not get in touch and we can design a tailor made private driving tour for you. Just email Laura or Tom today on info@vipchauffeur.net.
