Galway named as one of the top cities in the world to visit in 2019
Travel

Galway named as one of the top cities in the world to visit in 2019

GALWAY HAS been listed as one of the best cities to visit in 2019 according to National Geographic.

Ireland’s fourth-largest city was named in the publications annual list of the best trips on offer in the year to come.

Galway was listed at number 19 out of a ranking of 28 must-see locations for 2019.

Located on the west coast of Ireland, Galway was named European Capital of Culture for 2020 and garnered plenty of praise from National Geographic.

"Throughout 2019, new community heritage and arts projects, such as pop-up culture cafés and funambulism (tightrope walking) workshops, will be rolling out in conventional and unexpected venues (beaches, fields, remote villages, and rivers) across Galway city and county," they wrote.

"Homegrown programs include celebrating the old customs on the wild, unspoiled islands off the Galway coast and “Small Towns, Big Ideas,” an initiative based on the Irish tradition of meitheal (pronounced MEH-hel), or coming together for a common purpose."

(Picture: iStock)

Galway also won praise for its impressive array of restaurants and eateries.

"After the shows, there’s always that gastronomic scene to check out. Galway is especially known for its oysters. Sample some native and gigas oysters on the half shell at places such as Moran’s Oyster Cottage."

It comes just a few months after Galway was listed as a 2018 European Region of Gastronomy.

Mexico City in Mexico came out on top in the National Geographic countdown of the best trips on off across the world in 2019 with Cairo, Toronto, Belize and French Polynesia also ranking highly in the new study.

The National Geographic countdown can be accessed, in full, here.