Galway Private Walking Tour with a Local

Our guide Paula Moore did not show up. It took some time to get through to a human being about this. We had received numerous reminders and some of the emails contained contact information. One phone number was out of service. One was not being answered. Finally we got an agent in Los Vegas who could not get through to a local rep either (Galway). The agent formally cancelled the tour but I have not seen a refund yet. We've been on a few successful Viator tours before. This one uncovered some communication issues that need to be addressed.

Very informative. Learned a lot about the area and culture. Jacqueline did a great job keeping us all interested in the history and struggles in Ireland.

Tour booked weeks in advance. Tried to confirm with assigned guide who responded the night before that we weren’t in his tour. Got an email at midnight the night before that our guide had changed “due to unforeseen circumstances “. Tried contacting the new guide with no response by What’sApp, email and phone # provided but still no response. We were at the meeting point 15 minutes prior and waited over 40 minutes more but there were no other people that showed for the tour. I guess the guy thought it was only going to be just us and couldn’t be bothered. That’s probably why the other guide previous bailed too. I’ve have done numerous other tours including Dublin last week and it was wonderful.

Colm was the best guide! We had a wonderful tour! I highly recommend taking a tour with Colm. You will enjoy this tour.!

Colm was warm, funny, and clearly proud of Galway. He has a natural storyteller’s energy, and when the tour worked, it really worked. The strongest part was Forthill Cemetery and the story of the Spanish Armada sailors buried there, which was moving, memorable, and gave us a real sense of Galway’s place in the wider Atlantic world. At times, though, the history got a little loose. Some claims were presented with more confidence than the evidence probably deserves, and a few stops felt less like essential Galway history and more like places Colm personally found meaningful. We enjoyed his company, but we sometimes wished for more depth, more context, and fewer leaps from “interesting local tradition” to “historical fact.” St. Brendan deserves special mention. We loved the idea of an Irish monk sailing heroically into the Atlantic and possibly bumping into North America centuries before Columbus. It is a wonderful story — inspiring, improbable, and best served with a generous pour of legend. As history, it probably needed a few more caveats and a slightly smaller drumroll. Overall, Colm is personable, entertaining, and full of local pride. The tour had charm and some genuinely good moments, but it would be stronger with a clearer line between history, folklore, and affectionate Galway storytelling.

The cancelled our tour just an hour before without any explanation

Joshua was very nice, friendly, and knowledgeable. It was nice that he contacted me in advance to see what I was interested in seeing.

Cillian was very well informed and tailored the tour to our requirements. Would highly recommend.

Great history helping us understand Galway’s rise to prominence prior to Cromwell. Joe did a fantastic job telling us the stories with passion. Plenty of walking, though mainly flat and Joe definitely was patient and took us at our pace.

Great tour guide. Oisen did a fantastic job. You can tell that he loves history and made it enjoyable to learn about.