The Aran Islands are a collection of three rocky islands off the coast of Galway. There are roughly 1200 Irish speaking inhabitants across all 3 islands. Fortunately for travelers, English is very commonly spoken on the Islands as well.

The Islands are all small enough to be easily traversed by bike, and Inisheer, the smallest is easily seen by foot in a morning. Inishmore is the largest, most popular for tourists, and disputably the most interesting. Any of the three make an excellent day trip from Galway for those curious.

There are hostels and hotels on the islands as well if you want to make an overnight journey of your trip. Although, most instances of this will mean locking yourself into a night at the local pub. There isn’t much else in the way of entertainment on the islands.

Those hoping to spend a day out can book a ticket via Aran Islands Ferries, or from Doolin Ferries. Both ferry ports are outside of Galway, but you can catch busses to the ferry terminals. Aran Island Ferries has an optional bus ticket you can include in your ferry pass. If you’re coming from Dublin it’s do-able as a day tour, but much easier as a two day affair.

I’d recommend a night in Galway, followed by the first ferry out. If you catch the last ferry back that day you can easily make the train to Dublin, or if you don’t feel like rushing things stay in Galway for another night.