The Galway Races, with a B&B bed within reach of Ballybrit
Seven days of racing at Ballybrit from the last Monday of July, and the busiest accommodation week in the west of Ireland. The B&Bs and guesthouses below are the closest in the directory, each one contactable direct.
A racing week like nowhere else in Ireland
The Galway Races Summer Festival is the biggest week in Irish racing and one of the biggest weeks in Irish life. First run at Ballybrit in 1869, the meeting now runs for seven consecutive days from the last Monday of July, spilling into early August, and draws well over 100,000 racegoers across the week.
Ballybrit Racecourse sits about six kilometres northeast of Galway city centre, which is what makes the week so distinctive. The racing and the city feed each other, with the course full all afternoon and Galway’s pubs and restaurants full all night, for seven days straight.
The shape of the week, Plate day, Ladies Day and the rest
The festival opens with evening meetings on Monday and Tuesday, a gentler run-in with racing going into the summer twilight. The week then builds to its two great set pieces in midweek.
Wednesday is Galway Plate day, the week’s biggest race, a handicap steeplechase first run in 1869, the same year as the course itself. Thursday is Ladies Day, the most famous day of the week, built around the best-dressed competition and carrying its own feature race, the Galway Hurdle, first run in 1913. The weekend then winds the festival down with big family crowds.
A useful rule for anyone planning around a B&B breakfast table: the earlier days are the quieter days. If the racing itself is the draw, Monday and Tuesday evenings offer the course at its most relaxed. If the spectacle is the draw, Wednesday and Thursday are the days everything you have heard about actually happens.
Getting to the course, and why the bed matters more this week
Shuttle buses run from Eyre Square in the city centre direct to the racecourse on race days, a journey of roughly fifteen minutes, which means a bed anywhere near the city or its bus and rail links puts the whole festival within reach without a car.
The accommodation squeeze is real: Galway city books out months ahead of race week. That is exactly where the B&Bs of the wider county earn their keep. Oughterard sits up the N59 within easy reach, Spiddal lies along the coast road west, and Athenry has a direct rail link into Galway of around twenty minutes, so a bed in any of them turns race week from impossible to easy.
Booking direct matters more this week than almost any other. An owner can tell you honestly what the roads are like on Plate day, when to leave for the shuttle, and which sessions the locals go to, the kind of knowledge no booking platform carries.
B&Bs and guesthouses near the Galway Races
The closest listings in the directory to Ballybrit Racecourse, with the distance to the course shown on each. Contact the owner directly, no platform fee.
Frequently asked
The Galway Races, common questions
How many days does the Galway Races run for?
Seven consecutive days, from the last Monday of July into early August, drawing well over 100,000 racegoers across the week.
What are the biggest days at the Galway Races?
Wednesday, Galway Plate day, and Thursday, Ladies Day, built around the best-dressed competition and the Galway Hurdle. Monday and Tuesday evenings are the quieter, more relaxed days.
Where do you stay for the Galway Races if the city is booked out?
Galway city books out months ahead, so Oughterard up the N59, Spiddal along the coast road, and Athenry, with a direct rail link into the city, are workable alternatives.
How do you get from Galway city to Ballybrit Racecourse?
Shuttle buses run from Eyre Square in the city centre direct to the racecourse on race days, a journey of roughly fifteen minutes.
Going this year?
Book a bed near the Races direct
Race week rooms vanish months out. The B&Bs and guesthouses of County Galway put a real breakfast and a local’s advice between you and the biggest racing week in Ireland.