Places to eat/drink locally:
Linnane’s bar and restaurant shown in the picture above is 5 minutes walk away - www.linnanesbar.com. It is brilliant! Great sea food, lovely wine and obviously amazing Guinness.
The Russell Gallery is 200 yards down the road at the corner of Bayfield's field. It does great take away coffee, tea and cakes as well as some great art.
The village of Kinvara has loads of places to drink and to eat – The Pier Head is a personal favorite with its stunning views out over Kinvara Bay. It does good food. Take your pint out onto the pier or over the road onto the break water. Lovely! Greens has an amazing selection of whiskies. Try Tullys too which is a lively pub especially when music is on. All the pubs in Kinvara are great in their own way and very different from one another. Fora coffee and cake or breakfast and lunch Fox’s on the high street is normally very good.
The village of Ballyvaughan has a few pubs – Monks Pub is great. It does really good food and you can walk to the end of the pier with your pint. Also (if it is open) your must try O'Loclainn's Irish Whiskey Bar - a superb bar and well well worth a visit. Not normally open during the day so go in the evening. It’s brilliant. There are other restaurants and cafes also in Ballyvaughan.
For something up market if your up for dressing a bit smart Gregans Castle Hotel is one of our favorite places ever. Turn left at Ballyvaughan and it is 5km up the road. Amazing gourmet food, beautiful views and a lovely, cozy little bar - www.gregans.ie. We love eating in the bar and staying for a drink. The main restaurant is great too for a full on gourmet experience. Play croquet in their garden in the summer! If there go for the walk through the grounds and little wood. Really well kept. Cant recommend it highly enough!
Cassidy’s Pub in Carran (about 15 mins drive) is great! Food and drink are lovely and the views from the garden are beautiful. Guinness tastes even better if you’ve done the 5 mile walk around the lake!
In Galway the main street for Bars and Restaurants is Quay Street. It is colourful and lively and has a great feel. Noughtons is an amazing old traditional pub (blue pub on the left as walking up the slope) well worth a visit. Its also worth trying other back streets. McSwiggans Restaurant in Galway is a great pub/restaurant - http://mcswiggans.ie/. The Spanish Arch coffee shop and restaurant – Galway - http://ardbia.com/cafe/ is also a lovely place to have a coffee and cake and is down by the harbour. Beautiful but quite full nowadays. Its worth exploring further afield down the back streets and over the river if you have time as the best pubs are a bit more of a search.
Morans on the Weir – Kilcolgan - just off the drive into Galway. www.moransoystercottage.com. A very beautiful pub/restaurant with great views. Definitely worth a visit. Book ahead and if there is a group of you try and get one of the tables in the front of the pub or in winter its nice to be by the fire.
McDonaghs pub in Oranmore - a lovely old thatched local pub on the high street that is good to pop in if food shopping there.
The Chocolate Factory cafe - look for signs on the road in between Kinvara and Bayfield. Lovely tea, coffee and cakes. Really lovely!
Drumoland Castle - a beautiful old castle that is now a Hotel with an amazing golf course. It is quite posh and pricey but a lovely place to have lunch or a drink in its bar - it’s on route to Shannon so ideal for stopping off at en-route to the airport. If the Castle itself is to posh for what you’re after the golf club is great for a snack or something bigger and a bit more relaxed. Really lovely grounds around the castle and the golf course.
Places to shop for food and local markets:
The closest supermarket is 10km away in Kinvara and is a large well stocked one. If coming from the airport it is en-route so ideal for stopping for essentials. It is however quite pricey so we use the larger shops in Oranmore (see below) or in Gort. There is also a small supermarket in Ballyvaughan if coming from that direction.
Oranmore has a Tescos, a Lidl and an Aldi. The Lidl is just off the main road up to Galway and is very handy and is where we go. The Tescos is in the centre of the town.
Gort has a Lidl, Aldi and a Supervalue.
Kinvara has a large supermarket right in the middle of the village.
The fishery next to Linnane’s sells freshly caught seafood and fish and well worth a try.
You can buy fresh eggs and locally produced vegetables direct from the farmer in the small Hamlet of Finvarra (first left at by the Russell Gallery and it’s a mile up the road). Pop up there and buy whatever they have before going to the big shops.
Also up this road towards the Martello tower is the Ice Creamery for great homemade ice cream cakes and jam.
Excellent organic Italian wine, prosecco, olive oil, cakes etc can be bought in the Russell Gallery.
Farmers Markets - Kinvara on Friday mornings. Ballyvaughan on Saturday mornings (not in the winter).
Fire wood and peat brickets - buy it in large bags from petrol stations or supermarkets.
Help yourselves to as much fruit from the orchard as you can pick! September is a great month for picking wild Blackberries along the local roads.
Cashpoints – In the supermarket in Kinvara. Or Galway, Gort and Ennis hight streets.
Pharmacy - next to the supermarket in Kinvara.
Hair Salon - Kinvara - next to the supermarket - A Touch of Class - 091 637 371 or (mob) 087 943 0386
