[3] It is an angling centre for the eastern shore of Lough Corrib, and Greenfields, approximately 6.5 km west of the town, is its boating harbour.

The town is the centre of an area which contains a number of prehistoric burial cairns, Iron Age stone enclosures, early Norman and later castles, and several monastic sites.

These include Ross Errilly Friary, located northwest of Headford, which is one of the best preserved monastic ruins of its period in Ireland.

; it is a handsome modern building, erected on the ruins of the ancient castle; the extensive demesne, which is laid out with great taste, is entered from the town by a good gateway.

[5]The St. George's family ownership of the town is explored in "Headford, County Galway, 1775-1901" by Gerardine Candon (ISBN 1-85182-764-1).

The tradition of lacemaking in Headford has been covered in exhibitions and public artworks,[6] and in the Irish National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Killursa, a ruined medieval church dedicated to Saint Fursey, lies 2.6 kilometres (1.6 mi) to the west of Headford, in the Ower townland.

The ruins of Ross Errilly Friary, a 14th or 15th century monastery, lie approximately 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) northwest of the town, and appeared very briefly in John Ford's The Quiet Man (1952).