The city received the accolade in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2020, the highly anticipated annual collection of the best travel destinations, trends, journeys and experiences to have in the year ahead.
The Wild Atlantic Way destination features fourth in the list of top cities for 2020, behind Cairo, Washington DC and Salzburg, and ahead of the likes of Bonn, Vancouver and Dubai.
The travel bible describes Galway as “arguably Ireland’s most engaging city”, where “brightly painted pubs heave with live music” and “cafes offer front row seats to watch buskers perform”.
Galway’s renowned creative exuberance will be supercharged next year by a string of events marking the region’s role as the 2020 European Capital of Culture.
The largest and most complex cultural event ever held on the island of Ireland will start on 1 February with a week of fiery celebrations in County Galway’s towns and villages, culminating in a spectacular opening ceremony in Galway city on Saturday 8 February 2020.
Throughout the year there will be more than 1,900 events across projects, partnerships and collaborations with local, national, European and international artists and cultural organisations from more than 30 different countries.