Dan and I visited Ireland’s Cliffs of Moher for the third time last December, when we spent the week between Christmas and New Years in Ireland. We got a bit of commentary from people telling us not to go to the Cliffs of Moher in the winter, but we had a great time with better weather than our prior visit (a May trip). Moral of the story – don’t let the time of year put you off from visiting stunning the Cliffs of Moher!
Some cow friends made en route to the Cliffs of Moher.
Dan and I spent a few days between Christmas and New Year’s in Galway, Ireland. This was our third trip to Galway, and we had a lovely time, despite it being winter. This article shares information on what we did and some tips for visiting Galway between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Galway on December 27th!
Galway is decorated beautifully for Christmas and Christmas decorations, with the exception of the small Christmas market on Eyre Square, stay up through New Year’s, possibly longer. As such, this is a great time to just stroll around Galway, take in the decorations, and simply enjoy the town. And that is just what we did. We didn’t have too much planned for our three days in Galway, but we ended up doing some shopping, some pubbing, some sightseeing and a day trip to the Cliffs of Moher.
Galway decorated for Christmas – with blue skies!
Sailboats with Christmas lights in the River Corrib.
We’ve been to Galway a few times, and Galway always offers fun restaurants serving good food. Some previous favorites are Ard Bia at Nimmos, the Dough Bros., and Kai Café. Ard Bia and Kai Café, my standbys, were closed this trip because we visited between Christmas and New Years, so I tried a new restaurant opened in 2020 – Ean! Self-described as “an inventive bakery, restaurant & wine bar,” Ean is a product of Galway’s Michelin-starred Loam (closed during my visit). Located on a quiet street, Ean’s interior is a clean space of large tables perfect for sharing. We made a reservation for 9 people via email about a month prior to our visit.
Galway during the holidays! Highly recommened.
Making the reservation was easy and an email confirmation was sent a day or two in advance. We arrived right on time and our table was waiting. While it changes daily, Ean’s dinner menu is a selection of dishes meant to be shared in a variety of sizes, ranging from small croquettes to large dishes that could serve as a main. The wait staff helped us select a number of things to share between nine people, which I’ll go thorough below.
Ean’s menu on 12/28/22.
First, happy St. Patrick’s Day!! My favorite holiday! Since I’m not in Ireland (too bad!), I will be spending St. Patrick’s Day at my favorite bar, Morgan’s, in Tappan, New York! With lots of inexpensive flights to and from Ireland these days, St. Patrick’s Day is a great time to plan your next getaway to Ireland. Dan and I went most recently last Thanksgiving, and we had a lovely time!!
St. Patrick’s Day 2017 at Morgan’s!
Pizza is almost certainly my favorite food, so when I noticed that the top restaurant in Galway is a pizza restaurant, I snuck it into Dan and my itinerary on our Thanksgiving trip to Ireland! Actually, it ended up being our Thanksgiving day lunch and despite being pizza in Ireland, it was excellent!
