Getting there: Major airlines fly nonstop from New York JFK, Newark, Chicago O'Hare, Atlanta, Boston and Baltimore to Shannon Airport near Limerick, Ireland. Advance-fare tickets can be as low as $350 round trip. Shannon is about 50 miles from Galway by car or bus. The air trip from New York JFK takes about five hours.
Winter weather is damp and chilly but not brutal. Forecasts for early December call for high and low temperatures to both be the 40s. If spring or summer travel is contemplated, it may be prudent to plan now because of the relative bargain, based on the exchange.
Lodging: The favorable exchange rate for the U.S. dollar ($1.14 to 1 Irish punt) means exceptional value in hotels. In fall 2000, the Ardilaun House Hotel in the Salthill area had an off-season special of about $110 per night double occupancy, including breakfast and one dinner if you stayed two nights. From an upper floor window, Galway Bay can be seen in the distance above the hotel gardens below. The Great Southern Hotel is the dowager of downtown lodging; it is more expensive, not as comfortable and doesn't include breakfast in its rate. For value pricing, Jury's by the River Corrib is modern and within walking distance of all downtown destinations.
Dining: Reservations are recommended for deBurgos, namesake of one of Galway's tribes, with dinner prices up to $30. Seafood, including Galway oysters, is a specialty in upscale and inexpensive restaurants, but Galway's growth means Italian, Asian and even Mexican cuisine is available. Fresh fish, mussels, lobster and oysters at great prices can be ordered at Hooker Jimmy's, Conlon & Sons and McDonagh's, all close to downtown. For lunch, look for specials in pubs that have food service.
More to do: Kennys Bookshop www.kennys.ie on High Street in the old city has antiquarian books and is a page from the past. In its rambling rooms and various nooks are a wall of Irish poetry collections, a section of Irish maps, a gallery and even a sympathetic biography of Galway's nemesis, conqueror Oliver Cromwell.
A pocket-size guidebook published by the Galway Junior Chamber of Commerce is free and available at hotels and restaurants.
Also on the Net: www.irelandvacations.comand www.ireland.travel.ie, Irish Tourist Board site.
www.goireland.com, another Irish tourism service.
www.ceolas.org, the site for Celtic music, which has lyrics for hundreds of Irish traditional songs.
www.rootsweb.com, for help with Irish genealogy
www.galwayoysterfest.com, for the Galway International Oyster Festival, not yet updated with 2001 information.
www.iol.ie/galway-races, for the Galway Races, should be updated with 2001 information.