City Centre

Shopping in Galway is an interesting colourful experience with something to offer for everyone be it the shopping centres, the small craftshops, fashion shops, gift shops or the Saturday market.

Shopping can take place on a number of different levels from large cosmopolitian stores to small quality shops specialising in unique, beautiful handcrafted ware to interesting shops where you can spend hours browsing through alternative goods dealing with holistic health and new age approach to life.

Bookstores and small fashion boutiques nestle around every corner waiting to be discovered by the passerby.

As the regional shopping capital, shops are open Mondays to Satudays, excluding bank holiday. Most of the small craft and gift shops stay open on bankholidays and Sundays. Large shops stay open until 9pm on Thursdays and Fridays. Many of the corner delicatessens will stay open until 11pm at night.

This section will give information on where to buy gifts, souvenirs and quality craftware that are in abundance throughout the city.

Bohemian Galway is home to crafts people and artists who produce all types of wares ranging from pottery, jewellery, silkscren paintings, glassware, knitware, handwoven goods, fine china or unusual household goods.

For those of you interested in shopping for gifts and crafts, it is useful to divide Galway up into four main shopping areas.

• Eyre Square Area

• Shop Street / Middle Street

• High Street / Quay Street / Cross Street

• Dominick Street

If you follow this guide you will pass many other shops of interest en route such as fine clothing stores to exclusive stores to pocket money boutiques or indeed any one of the quirky unusual stores such as the fine range of antique and bric a brac shops in Galway that may catch your interest along the way.

Remember if you are a resident of a country located outside the European Community, you can claim a refund of tax on any goods bought once the shop displays a "cash back" sign. After completing the appropriate forms, this tax will be refunded to you at your point of exit from Ireland. You shoul pay with Irish currency or by using an internationaly recognised credit card. Quite a lot of shops have a bureau de change.

Advertisements