I have heard how horrific the parking is in Dublin and to avoid renting a car at all costs while there. So I was planning on renting it the day I leave Dublin and heading to southern ireland then up to galway. What I was wonder though is parking in Galway City hard to come buy or not as bad as Dublin???

Parking in Dublin isn't that hard to come by - there are plenty of multi-story carparks that charge a fortune, or on-street parking that also charge a fortune and you have to "feed the meter" every couple of hours, so it really is just hassle and expense, not to mention driving in the city centre traffic, that makes it pointless. Besides, it's a small city and is easily walkable.

Again, you will find multi-story carparks in Galway as well as on-street meter parking. The traffic in the city isn't as bad as in Dublin and the parking isn't as expensive (although is still fairly pricey).

Hope that answers your question.

We had a car when we visited Galway last March. We were able to park it at our B&B (they had a very small parking "lot" and some on street parking). I think we only used it once while we were there. We stayed on College Road which is an easy walk to the city center. I have no idea what the parking situation is if you're staying in one of the hotels right in the city center.

Just read cailin's response and thought I should add that we didn't pay for parking, either in their lot or on the street (no meters). Again, if you're staying at a hotel in the city center, I'm sure it's a different situation.

Parking in Galway City in August was quite bad. We drove around maybe an hour for on-street parking space allowing more than 2 hours, but in the end had to go into a multi-story and paid something like 2-3 euro/hour. It was Saturday, so there were lots of shoppers, and even free parking lots in the shopping centre near the ring road were full. So I suggest you head straight for a multi-story and pay up, or park in the suburbs and be prepared for a long walk in or catch a bus into town.