Galway With Kids: Aquarium, Pool and Gardens

November 5, 2026

Kid-friendly stops, by effort

Children usually need one easy win a day. Galway offers a few, and most are close together. All prices are in euro.

Easy and indoors

Galway Atlantaquaria in Salthill shows sharks, rays and an octopus among its native Irish species. Online tickets are €15 for adults, €10 for children and €12 for seniors or students. Family bundles cost €32 for one adult and two children, €36 for two adults and one child, and €45 for two adults and two children. Children aged 2 and under get in free. Walk-in prices run a little higher, and the last entry is an hour before closing. The official site lists hours.

Galway City Museum has free entry and sits beside the Spanish Arch. It opens Tuesday to Saturday.

Splash time

Leisureland on the Salthill seafront has a 25 m pool with six lanes, a plunge pool and an inflatable course at set times. Adults pay about €10 and children about €8 to €9. A funfair next door operates from mid-March to early September. Call for session times before you go.

Gentle outdoors

The Salthill Promenade is flat and wide, which makes it good for scooters and buggies.
At the Claddagh basin, you can watch swans. Hold small hands near quay edges, because the Corrib is quick and cold.
Brigit’s Garden at Roscahill, about 20 km north-west, has Celtic-themed gardens. Published prices are about €10 for adults, €7 for children and €29 for a family of four. Opening days change through the year, so check first.
Connemara National Park has free entry and parking. Stick to the lower trails with young children.

Day out by boat

The ferry from Rossaveel to Inis Mór takes about 40 minutes. Under-5s travel free if booked, and children aged 5 to 12 pay €17 return. Dún Aonghasa has an unfenced cliff, so only go with children who will stay beside you.

A Connemara day for families

Kylemore Abbey lists a family ticket of about €45 for two adults and up to six children under 12, and one ticket covers the castle, church and walled garden. Connemara National Park is a free stop nearby. Killary Fjord boats leave Nancy’s Point from April to October for a cruise of about 90 minutes, a good rainy-day option for older children. Public buses run from Galway toward Letterfrack, though the last ones go early.

Water safety

Keep children away from the Corrib and from the Blackrock tower. Both the river and the bay are cold, and there are no safe paddling spots in the city stretch.

A sample day

Museum in the morning, lunch in the Latin Quarter, aquarium or pool after, and the promenade at the end.