Lough Corrib and the water that feeds it account for a good half of this page. Oughterard sits where the Owenriff meets the lake, 26 km out the N59 from Galway, and is the chief angling centre on it. Annaghdown, on the eastern shore, holds an Augustinian abbey, a bishop’s palace and a friary, all free to wander. Cornamona and Clonbur are Gaeltacht villages in Joyce Country, Clonbur on the narrow neck of land between Corrib and Lough Mask, while the Bealnabrack drains the Maam Valley into the lake and gives free wild trout fishing from the jetties at Maam Bridge.
West of there the water lies in valleys and takes a drive to reach. Ballynahinch Lake runs about 4 km below the Twelve Bens with Benlettery filling the view, and the castle owns the fishing and most of the southern shore. Lough Inagh sits between the Bens and the Maumturks with the R344 running its length; Lough Nafooey, near Leenane, is a near-rectangular glacial lake with a rare freshwater sandy beach at its western end. Delphi Valley holds three lakes under Mweelrea.
The east of the county is a different sort of visit. Loughrea’s Blue Flag lake is a short walk from the town centre, Lough Derg’s western shore is Galway’s share of the Shannon, and in the city the Corrib covers six kilometres from lake to bay.
13 of 17 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Annaghdown, galway
On the eastern shore of Lough Corrib, Annaghdown holds one of Connacht's most complete medieval monastic sites: the Augustinian Abbey of St Mary, a bishop's palace and a Premonstratensian friary, all free to wander. Down at the pier, a stone marks the 1828 drowning that Antoine Ó Raifteiri turned into one of Irish poetry's great laments.
Connemara, galway
Ballynahinch Lake is a catch-and-release salmon and sea-trout fishery, about 4 km long, set below the Twelve Bens with Benlettery filling the view from the water. Ballynahinch Castle owns the fishing and most of the walking ground on the southern shore.
Clonbur, galway
Clonbur sits on the narrow neck of land between Lough Corrib and Lough Mask, a working Gaeltacht village where Irish is still the everyday language. The Mount Gable loop and Clonbur Wood are the main draws, and a Titanic passenger once bought his ticket in what is now the village hotel.
Cornamona, galway
Corr na Móna (Cornamona) is an Irish-speaking village on the north shore of Lough Corrib, in Joyce Country. It's best known for the lough's wild brown trout – no licence required – but it's also worth the mile out to the Corr na Móna viewpoint on the R345 for the view across the islands. The village stood in for rural Galway in the 2021 film Foscadh.
West coast of Ireland, galway
Galway Bay runs about 50 km along the west coast, with County Galway to the north and the limestone Burren of County Clare to the south, and the Aran Islands guarding its mouth. You experience it in pieces: a sunset on the Salthill promenade, a ferry out to the Aran Islands, a Blue Flag beach in Spiddal, or the birdlife of its protected mudflats and turloughs.
Clare, clare
Ireland’s third-largest lake spreads across Clare, Tipperary and Galway, ringed by harbour villages like Killaloe, Garrykennedy and Mountshannon. Get out on the water to Holy Island and its 6th-century monastery, or walk and cycle the 68.9 km Lough Derg Way and 160 km of blueways.
Inagh Valley, galway
Lough Inagh lies in a valley between the Twelve Bens and the Maumturks, its still water throwing back the peaks on a calm day. It is a working salmon and sea-trout fishery, run from the lodge on its shore, and the R344 alongside it is one of the finest short drives in Connemara. Come for the fishing, the walking, or just the view from a lay-by.
Leenane, galway
Lough Nafooey is a near-rectangular glacial lake in a steep valley on the northern edge of Connemara, hemmed by the Maumturk and Partry mountains. The hills around it are the eroded roots of a volcano active 490 million years ago, and its western end holds one of Ireland’s rare freshwater sandy beaches.
Loughrea, galway
The Anglo-Norman knight Richard de Burgo laid out Loughrea in 1236, and the town moat he dug still holds water – a rare survival in Ireland. St Brendan’s Cathedral dominates the skyline over the Blue Flag lake, where anglers fish for pike and trout and swimmers use two diving piers in summer.
Oughterard, galway
Oughterard sits on the Owenriff River where it meets Lough Corrib, 26 km north-west of Galway on the N59. It's the chief angling centre on the lake, the trailhead for the 200 km Western Way, and three kilometres from Aughnanure Castle, a well-preserved O'Flaherty tower house. Regular buses keep it linked to Galway city.
Clifden, galway
The Owenglin comes off the Twelve Bens and drops through the centre of Clifden, where a waterfall reckoned at around 15 feet gives expert paddlers a Grade V line when the river is in flood. Most of the year it is a quieter thing – a walking river with salmon and sea trout, and the climb to the D'Arcy Monument above it.
galway
The River Corrib runs from Lough Corrib to Galway Bay in just six kilometres, yet carries one of the largest water volumes in Ireland – second only to the Shannon. That current drives the standing wave at O'Brien's Bridge, the historic Salmon Weir, and a walkable line of riverside landmarks through the heart of the city.
Inisheer (Inis Oírr), galway
Maam, galway
Delphi Valley, galway
Maumahoge, galway
Roscommon, roscommon
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