Itinerary: Tuam

1 Getting There and Getting Around

Tuam is located on the west of Ireland in County Galway. It has a bus route the goes and comes to Ireland West Airport Knock, an International Airport servicing Ireland, Britain, Portugal, Spain and Italy. It also has a bus link to and from Galway. Galway is accessible to Ireland’s biggest airports Shannon and Dublin, which serve a range of destinations including a majority of Europe and USA. From Galway, a bus to Tuam is close to the Coach Station, at the edge of Eyre Square.

In Tuam, pedestrian transport is mostly used as most places aren’t far to get to but a number of taxi services are in the town if walking isn’t an option.

Budget: It all depends on the activities and where you go to. If you plan on using Tuam as a base to travel elsewhere, it would be wise to have a budget of 50-75 euro daily, depending on the trip.

2 Where to Stay

There are two main hotels in Tuam, both of which offer Mid-week and B&B deals suitable for getaways and weekend breaks:

·         The Correlea Court Hotel

·         The Ard Ri House Hotel

Both hotels offer live evening entertainment, charitable functions and other amenities which appeal to many holidayers!

Besides the two hotels, a couple of B&B’s within Tuam and on the road to Galway that offer reasonable rates for weekend and getaway breaks

3 Things to Do

Tuam is a historic town with a lot of historical importance throughout. A lot of sites contain a lot of history but here are the things to do:

•          Walk Knockma- Knockma is a site of rumoured mythical relevance as it is said that one of the most famous women in Irish legend, Queen Maeve, the Queen of Connaught is buried at the top of the hill along with King Fionbharr, the king of the Connaught Faeiries. The walk is a nice scenic view ad can be seen as a nature trail with a few stone monuments scattered around the walk.
•         Historic/Religious Monuments: A High Cross constructed in 1152 exists in St. Mary Protestant Cathedral in the town which is a cathedral which, in itself was first in construction in the 9^th Century. The Cathedral of the Assumption in Tuam was built in 1832 and has some unique busts of saints and a large alter. Kilbannon Monastic Site sits just outside the town and also has nice surrounding scenic views

There is recreational things to do also:

•       Golf- An 18 hole golf course sits just outside the town and offers a bar onsite and views of the countryside.
•       Day trips to Galway: Galway is a beautiful city to visit if staying in town and offers so much which will be discussed in more detail in a later post. But Galway would be a highly recommended spot for tourists to visit.

4 Places to Eat and Drink

Tuam has a wide variety of bars and restaurants to dine in, including the restaurants of the two hotels mentioned earlier. For breakfast, here are some nice places to eat:

·         Krugars Bar- The Correlea Court Hotel

·         The Palace Restaurant – Located on the Grounds of SuperValu

·         Dick Dowlings Bar- The Ard Ri House Hotel

And for lunch, these places I’d recommend for good food at good prices:

·         The Abbey Tavern- On the Square

·         The Galway Roast- On the Square

·         The News Café- On the Square

·         Pedro’s Café- Tuam Shopping Centre

And for dinner, here are some restaurants that are recommended with good prices and food:

·         La Vissuta (Italian Cuisine)- High Street

·         Bia Bella (Irish/Italian Cuisine)- End of High Street

·         Lumberjacks- Tuam Shopping Centre Car Park

·         Bonsai (Asian Food)- Above Lumberjacks

·         Santoori (Indian)- Egan’s Lane

In Tuam, live music is the source of entertainment within pubs with local talent, here are a few bars recommended:

·         The Brogue Bar- On the Square

·         Harpy’s Bar- Tullinadaly Hill

·         The Abbey Tavern- On the Square

·         Canavans Bar- High Street

·         Duddy’s Bar- Kilbannon

·         Krugers Bar- The Correlea Court Hotel

5 Why Tuam?

As said in the last two posts on Tuam, it’s a small town but it has potential to have a lot more to it. And I feel like the more people come to it and talk about it, as I’ve said, to use as a base to travel elsewhere, it could become a better town for tourists and better place for locals also. It may be a biased thing to say that Tuam could benefit but in all reality, other towns could use Tuam as an example to boost their own tourism and get more people coming and and staying.

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1.       In A small town, what kind of recommendations would you guys make to improve tourism?

2.       What kind of places do you like to see to make a place attractive?

Leave a comment with your thoughts!