💰 This page covers the street-level details of spending money in Galway: the chain of payments on an Aran Islands day, the market and buskers that run on coins, and the festival weeks that transform hotel prices. For Ireland-wide ATM tips, DCC warnings, tipping norms, and exchange rate advice:
Read the Ireland Money Guide →🎧 Order Euros Before You Fly
Land with notes for the islands and the market. Insured delivery, 2–5 day shipping.
Order EUR → CEI Currency ExchangeDo You Need Cash in Galway?
A little. Galway is a small, lively university city and its shops, pubs and restaurants take contactless as readily as Dublin's. The cash needs are specific: the Saturday market, the buskers on Shop Street, and above all the Aran Islands, where the bike-hire huts and minibus drivers at the pier have long preferred notes. Keep €40 to €60 on you, more on an island day.
Where You Will Need Cash
St Nicholas' Market, the weekend street market by the church, where many food and craft stalls are cash-first. Buskers on Shop Street and Quay Street. Bike hire and minibus tours on Inis Mór. Pony and trap rides on the islands. Some B&Bs in Connemara and on the Aran Islands. Honesty boxes at farm stalls and small car parks around the west. Pub raffles and session collections, which are part of the social fabric.
Where Cards Work Fine
Pubs and restaurants across the Latin Quarter and Salthill, including for a single pint. Shops and supermarkets such as Dunnes, Tesco and SuperValu. The ferries to the Aran Islands, booked online or at the office. Coaches to Dublin, Shannon and the Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs of Moher visitor centre, booked online. Taxis in the city. Hotels and most guesthouses.
Paying by Card in Galway
Visa and Mastercard contactless work almost everywhere, including in the most traditional-looking pub, and mobile wallets are normal. American Express is accepted less widely. When a terminal offers to charge a foreign card in dollars or pounds, decline and pay in euros. The Ireland money guide covers the national banking picture, including the retail banks that left the country in 2023.
Shop Street & Quay Street (the Latin Quarter)
The pedestrian spine of the medieval town, from Eyre Square down to the Spanish Arch. Pubs, restaurants, bookshops and the Claddagh ring jewellers all take cards. The buskers do not, and on a summer evening there are a great many of them.
St Nicholas' Market
Saturdays, with a smaller Sunday market in summer, on Church Lane beside St Nicholas' Collegiate Church. Crepes, oysters, curries, cheese, knitwear and craft stalls. More stalls take cards than a few years ago, but many prefer cash and queues move faster with it. Bring €20 to €30.
Eyre Square & Woodquay
The city's main square, the station and bus area beside it, and the shopping centres. Everything takes cards, and the bank machines are concentrated around here, which makes it the natural place to withdraw before an island day.
Salthill Promenade
The seaside suburb along Galway Bay, where locals walk the prom and kick the wall at the end. Pubs, restaurants and the amusement arcade take cards; the ice cream vans and the seasonal kiosks may not.
The Claddagh & the Spanish Arch
The old fishing district across the river from the Latin Quarter and the riverside at the Arch. Pubs and restaurants take cards. The small boat trips on the Corrib, and the summer food vans by the Arch, are more mixed.
Connemara towns
Oughterard, Roundstone, Clifden and Leenane to the west. Pubs, hotels and restaurants take cards. Some B&Bs, craft shops and farm stalls prefer cash, and bank machines become scarce between towns.
The Aran Islands in a Day: Ferry, Bike, Minibus and the Machine That Runs Dry
The three Aran Islands at the mouth of Galway Bay are the reason many visitors come to Galway, and an island day involves a chain of separate payments that is easy to get wrong.
Step one: the ferry, by card. The main year-round crossing to all three islands leaves from Rossaveal, about forty minutes west of the city, and the ferry company sells a connecting coach from Galway city centre as an add-on. Book both online by card, especially in summer. In season, ferries also run from Doolin in County Clare, and small planes fly to the islands from Connemara Airport at Inverin.
Step two: getting round Inis Mór, often in cash. The ferry lands at Kilronan, the island's only real village. At the pier you are met by bike-hire huts, minibus drivers offering island tours, and pony-and-trap drivers. Bike hire costs a modest daily rate; the minibus tours a little more per person. Some operators now take cards, but cash has always been the easiest way to settle, and the queue for bikes on a busy morning is not the moment to discover a terminal has no signal.
Step three: Dún Aonghasa, by card. The Iron Age fort on the cliff edge, the island's great sight, has a small visitor centre and an entry fee that can be paid by card. The walk up from the visitor centre is uneven and exposed; the admission is not the hard part.
Bring your cash from Galway. Kilronan has a shop with a cash machine, and on a summer day with several ferry-loads of visitors it can run low or break down. The smaller islands, Inis Meáin and Inis Oírr, have fewer services still. Withdraw in the city the evening before, and carry enough for bikes, lunch, a pint and the coach back if your card fails.
Festival Weeks: When Galway's Prices Jump
Galway is a small city with a big calendar, and three events in particular move the price of a bed more than any season.
The Galway International Arts Festival fills much of July with theatre, music and street performance. Hotels and guesthouses in the centre book out early and rates climb.
The Galway Races at Ballybrit Racecourse, a week at the turn of July and August, bring race-goers from across Ireland. This is the most expensive week of the year to stay in the city. Accommodation can require minimum stays, taxis are hard to find, and pubs are packed. Racecourse admission and bets are paid by card or cash; the bookmakers on the course have traditionally dealt in cash.
The Galway International Oyster and Seafood Festival in late September brings a smaller but real rise in prices. Oysters are at their best then; the festival marquee is ticketed and card-paid.
How to handle it. Book early and check the cancellation terms, stay in Salthill or outside the city and take the bus, and expect a large pre-authorisation hold on your card at check-in during these weeks. Outside them, Galway's hotel prices are moderate by Irish standards.
ATMs in Galway
The Ireland guide covers Irish bank fees and the machines that moved in after Ulster Bank closed. In Galway the practical question is withdrawing before you head west.
Look for these logos. Bank branch machines give fair rates to foreign cards.
AIB
Bank of IrelandATM Locations
The bank branches and their machines cluster around Eyre Square, Williamsgate Street and the top of Shop Street, with more in the shopping centres and supermarkets. Post offices also host machines. Beyond the city, Oughterard and Clifden are the reliable places to top up in Connemara, and on the Aran Islands there is very little. Ireland has no Bank of America Global ATM Alliance partner, so a BoA card pays its normal non-network fees.
⚠ The Machine in the Tourist Shop
Standalone machines inside convenience stores and souvenir shops in the Latin Quarter charge a fee that bank machines do not and offer to convert your withdrawal into your home currency. Walk to a bank branch, and choose euros on every screen. The Euronet explainer shows how to recognise independent machines.
Paying for Buses, Coaches and the Cliffs of Moher
City Buses
Galway's city bus routes accept a TFI Leap Card, the national transport card, which gives a lower fare than paying on board, and tickets from the driver. The centre is compact enough that most visitors walk everywhere except Salthill.
Coaches to Dublin, Shannon and Clare
Several coach companies run from the coach station near Eyre Square to Dublin city and Dublin Airport, to Shannon Airport, and down through the Burren. Book online by card for the best fares. Trains run to Dublin Heuston and are also booked online.
The Cliffs of Moher
About ninety minutes south by road. Admission to the visitor centre includes parking, and booking a timed slot online in advance costs less than turning up at the gate. Coach tours from Galway include admission; check before buying a ticket twice. The farm car parks near the cliffs' walking paths are private and charge separately, sometimes with an honesty box.
Driving and Parking
City-centre parking is paid at machines or by app and is tight; park-and-walk from the edge is easier. In Connemara, fuel stations are fewer and further between, and small villages can have pay-at-pump machines that want a chip-and-PIN card. Irish hire cars carry large insurance excesses held on a credit card.
Tipping in Galway
The Ireland guide sets out the national norms, and Galway follows them. Restaurants: 10 to 12.5 percent for good table service, unless a service charge is already on the bill. Pubs: no tip for a drink at the bar. Traditional music sessions: free to listen; the etiquette is to buy a drink and not talk over the tunes. Buskers: a coin or two if you stop and listen. Island minibus guides and coach tour drivers: a few euros is appreciated after a good day.
Prices in Galway
Galway is cheaper than Dublin to eat and drink in and similar for accommodation, except in festival weeks, when it is not cheaper than anywhere.
| Item | Price (EUR) | Price (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee | €3.50–4.50 | $3.85–5 |
| Pint of stout | €6–7 | $6.60–7.70 |
| Fish and chips | €13–18 | $14–20 |
| Half-dozen oysters | €15–22 | $16.50–24 |
| Pub dinner main course | €18–28 | $20–31 |
| Aran Islands ferry, return, with coach | €35–45 | $38.50–49.50 |
| Bike hire on Inis Mór, per day | €15–25 | $16.50–27.50 |
| Minibus tour of Inis Mór | €15–25 | $16.50–27.50 |
| Dún Aonghasa entry | €5–6 | $5.50–6.60 |
| Cliffs of Moher, booked online | €10–15 | $11–16.50 |
| Coach Galway to Dublin | €15–25 | $16.50–27.50 |
| Hotel night, ordinary week | €130–220 | $143–242 |
| Hotel night, Galway Races week | €300–500+ | $330–550+ |
USD estimates use approximately €1 = $1.10. Ferry and admission prices change by season and operator.
Day Trips from Galway
The Aran Islands (40 minutes by ferry from Rossaveal)
Covered in detail above. Book the ferry and coach by card, take cash for bikes, minibuses and lunch on the island, and do not count on the machine in Kilronan.
Connemara and Kylemore Abbey (about 90 minutes)
Bog, mountain and coast west of the city, with Kylemore Abbey and its walled garden as the paid highlight, ticketed by card. Clifden has banks and card-friendly pubs; the smaller villages and farm stalls between are more cash-leaning. Coach tours from Galway are paid by card and include entry to the abbey on some itineraries.
The Cliffs of Moher and the Burren (about 90 minutes)
Limestone pavements, a perfumery and cheese makers in the Burren, and the cliffs at its western edge. Book the cliffs online. Doolin's pubs, famous for traditional music, take cards; its summer ferries to the Aran Islands are booked online.
Cong and Lough Corrib (about an hour)
The village where The Quiet Man was filmed and the grounds of Ashford Castle beside it. The village's cafes and craft shops take cards; the castle grounds charge an entry fee for non-residents, paid by card at the gate.
Galway Quick Reference
| Destination | Cards? | Cash Needed? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Latin Quarter pubs and restaurants | ✅ Everywhere | Coins for buskers | Contactless for a single pint |
| St Nicholas' Market | ✅ Some / ❌ many | €20–30 | Saturdays by the church |
| Aran Islands ferry and coach | ✅ Online | Not needed | Book ahead in summer |
| Inis Mór bikes and minibuses | ❌ Cash easiest | €30–60 | Kilronan's machine can run dry |
| Cliffs of Moher | ✅ Online | Not needed | Cheaper in advance, parking included |
| Connemara B&Bs and stalls | ✅ Often / ❌ sometimes | Some cash | Top up in Clifden or Oughterard |
| Festival weeks | ✅ Card | Not needed | Large holds, high rates |
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need cash in Galway?
Only a little in the city, where pubs, restaurants, shops and taxis take contactless. Keep 40 to 60 euros for St Nicholas' Market, buskers and farm stalls. On an Aran Islands day take more, because bike hire, minibus tours and pony-and-trap rides on Inis Mór have traditionally been paid in cash and the island's one cash machine can run low.
How much does a day trip to the Aran Islands cost?
For Inis Mór from Galway, budget roughly 35 to 45 euros for the ferry from Rossaveal with the connecting coach, 15 to 25 euros for bike hire or a minibus tour, a few euros for Dún Aonghasa, and lunch. Book the ferry online by card, and bring cash from Galway for the island.
Is there an ATM on the Aran Islands?
Inis Mór has a cash machine in a shop in Kilronan, but on a busy summer day it can run low or stop working, and the smaller islands have fewer services still. Withdraw in Galway before you travel and carry enough cash for bikes, tours, food and a drink.
When is Galway most expensive?
During the Galway Races at Ballybrit in the week spanning late July and early August, followed closely by the Galway International Arts Festival in July and the oyster festival in late September. Hotels book out, rates rise sharply and minimum stays apply. Book early or stay outside the city.
Do I need to book the Cliffs of Moher in advance?
It is not required, but booking a timed slot online is cheaper than paying on arrival, and the ticket includes parking at the visitor centre. If you are on a coach tour from Galway, admission is usually included, so check before buying a separate ticket.
Which ATMs should I use in Galway?
Bank branch machines from AIB and Bank of Ireland around Eyre Square, Williamsgate Street and Shop Street, or post office machines. Avoid standalone machines in convenience and souvenir shops, which charge extra and push conversion into your home currency, and choose euros on every screen.
Pay Smart in Galway
The Wise card converts at the real mid-market rate with no markup, so a pint, a ferry ticket or a festival-week hotel bill costs what it says. Tap it across the Latin Quarter and use it at bank machines before an island day.
Get the Wise Card →Hero photo: Quay Street, Galway, by Ian Hawfinch, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph and Wikimedia Commons.