The Port of Vigo, Spain
ABOUT
Vigo is a city on Spain’s northwest coast. The mouth of the nearby Vigo Estuary is sheltered by the Cíes Islands, which form part of the Atlantic Islands National Park. The Cíes are known for their rich birdlife and crescent-shaped Rodas Beach. The city’s old quarter is home to the neoclassical Church of Santa María.
As one of Europe’s largest fishing ports and maritime centres Vigo is famed for its fresh seafood.
Population in 2018 was just under 264,000.
Currency is the Euro.
THINGS TO DO
Famed for it’s seafood, perhaps the most important thing to do is to sample the local food. Tapas bars entice you to try local delicacies accompanied by a coffee, glass of local beer or wine.
Outside of that there are museums celebrating the varied fishing and maritime past of this city. Go a little further out of the town and discover beautiful beaches or walks to take in the views.
It is possible to take day trips out of the city as well – perhaps to the historic Santiago de Compostela, or explore the wine region of Galicia.
OUR FAVOURITE THINGS TO DO
As mentioned above there are trips that can be taken from here to outlying areas – but for those who do not wish to take extensive tours there are still things to see and do.
Vigo is a very easy port to stroll around. Even when the majority of shops are closed, it is really nice just to be able to meander through the streets. Some parts of Vigo are really quite old and help create the wealth of history here.
There are parks to walk through and a real effort has been made to enhance the port and marina area. The Praza de Compostela is lovely and the colours change depending on time of year. It also contains a number of statues many of which depict local industry.
As you can see we found a cafe for coffee and cake – and the bar provided nibbles to go with the local beer.
OUR NEXT VISIT
Vigo is a destination that is frequently visited by ships from a number of Cruise Lines – especially if you are travelling to or from the UK.
We have visited here on a number of occasions and so we thought it would be nice to view the area from the sea.
On leaving our ship, Sky Princess, we saw that the queues to get on any of the sightseeing boats were very, very long. Our advice to anyone wishing to do this independently would be to get off the ship as soon as you can to try to avoid getting caught up in it. Having said that each of the boats we saw took a good number of passengers both inside and on the open top.
So with that idea thwarted, this time, we headed around the corner to photograph Sky Princess and then headed into the city itself.
This also gave us an opportunity to check out some of the local floral displays in the Praza de Compostela.
With time on our hands, and a beautiful sunny day, we decided to walk further into the City.
Strangely enough, although we have walked through a number of streets before, this time we found ourselves going further. This of course was largely uphill.
However much to our surprise we found that there were travelators and escalators that take you up several levels of the city.
On the first level was in the Porta do Sol. There are shops, cafes and sculptures here – including this one called El Sireno.
We also passed a number of liquor shops, including one that had HUGE bottles of wine in the window. Just right for a party, but not easy to carry home!
We still headed uphill after the last of escalators as we could see landscape in the distance. After a lot of steps we were surprised to find a park. This is called Parque de Castro and is the main inner city park of Vigo.
Oh yes, and there are more steps to climb to reach the central point – even travel guides describe this as a strenuous walk! The view though is amazing, even if some of the modern buildings get in the way.
We ventured no further than the main monument. However for those who wish to go a little further there is a ruin that heads the top of the hill. These are the remains of the once great fort called San Sebastian. There are also paths around the hill so that you can see different views.
And so we headed back down the hill after our little adventure. We even found some modern art. My step counter was saying I had gone far enough to warrant a cup of coffee and or a beer. We had a lovely time and if you are mobile enough its a good walk to do.
