Galicia Travel Guide

Camino de Santiago de Compostela:  A Modern Pilgrimage
Explore Northern Galicia
Ferrol and The Northern Coast of Galicia
Hunting For Treasures in Pontevedra
Stay in Southern Galicia
The province of Coruna in Spain
Vigo - A Tale of Two Cities
Visit The Rias Baixas Galicias Western Coast
 

Explore Northern Galicia   by Scott James

Northern Spain and Galicia particularly has long been an undiscovered jewel in the whole of the Spanish tourism industry and within that undiscovered jewel in particular we are going to take a look at Northern Galicia.

Overall of all of the autonomous regions of Spain possibly Galicia is the most remote and this makes Northern Galicia even more of an undiscovered treasure.

Traditionally, Galicia was seen as a poor agricultural region, whose economy did not lend itself to modernisation and yet as far as tourism is concerned it is this constant contact with the past that gives the region its appeal and charm.

The Galicians, whose origins are Celtic, are fiercely proud of their culture and language; it is what makes them unique (they feel) within modern day Spain.

It absorbed little in the way of outside influence being fiercely resistant to all forms of outside intervention (and we mean all forms of outside intervention), was never conquered by the Moors, and in the Middle Ages fell under the control of the kingdom of Asturias.

Thankfully slowly throughout the 20th century Galicia has begun to develop a way in which to manage the traditional lifestyles with a modern community to ensure that none of its rich history is lost and this is now starting to show very real and tangible benefits as far as the local tourism economy is concerned.

Northern Galicia covers an area north of a line to drawn from Santiago de Compostela in the West and Lugo and the Reserva Nacional De Os Ancares in the East.

If you include Santiago de Compostela in this region along with Coruna you actually have two of the biggest Cities of the region and two of the major tourist areas, the Costa de Morte and Rias Altas.

As has been mentioned, Santiago is the regions major tourist attraction and in many ways is the centrepiece of the entire region with regards to the "Way of Saint James" having routes leading to it literally from not only all of Galicia but from all of the Spain and beyond.

Other interesting towns and tourist destinations in Northern Galicia would consist of Lugo, Betanzos and Mondonedo. There is a nice coastal drive along the northern coast and the Rias Altas starting at Ribadeo in the East and travelling through Foz, Burela, Cervo, Viveiro, Ortigueira, Cediera and Ferrol finally arriving at Coruna in the west. As had been mentioned, this drive takes in the entire Rias Altas which is a beautiful area of the region in itself.

Heading westwards from Coruna you would then take in the area known as the Costa de Morta - the Coast of Death, so called because of the many shipwrecks found offshore.

The drive from Coruna takes in Caion and then leads slightly inland to Carballo before you arrive in Malpica. From there you would head south via Laxe and Camarinas arriving at the most westerly part of the Galician coastline in Cabo Finisterre. This drive is characterized by a wild and windswept landscape and the scenery is characterized by steep cliffs and a rugged coastline. Quite awesome natural beauty but also this has a strange feature in that at periodic intervals throughout the journey you'll find quite distinctive Cruceiros or Celtic crosses that indicate various stations of the Cross and in relation to this coastline where accidents and shipwrecks have occurred.

About the Author
Scott James writes about a great many Internet Travel based issues and more on the above can be found at Accommodation in Galicia . For a more complete overlook at Tourism in Galicia try http://www.turgalicia.es

With regards to the entire Spanish tourist industry Northern Spain and Galicia especially have been very much a hidden treasure and hidden within lies a further particular treasure called Southern Galicia.

Of all of the autonomous regions of Spain it is understandable given its location that Galicia is considered the most remote and therein lies the charm of Southern Galicia hidden away longing to be discovered.

The traditional concept of Galicia was always that it was supposedly a poor agricultural region and as such the economy would not be the easiest to modernize yet one of the fasted growing sub sectors within the Galician Economy is tourism and it is this very real relationship with its historical past that give the region its particular appeal.

The cultural and language origins of Galicia are very much rooted within the Celtic family of communities found elsewhere in North West Europe and has led to Galicia always having a sense of looking outwards from their regional base as opposed to looking inwards towards the rest of Spain.

Because of its location and partisan traditions Galicia was always fairly inward looking having managed to survive throughout the centuries without ever really been conquered by anybody and this degree of fierce independence has lasted and developed down through the centuries.

In what has been a mountain to climb slowly but surely Galicia is now trying to manage successfully the twin track of its regional lifestyle with a much more modern society and thankfully this appears to have had very positive results with regards to tourism with little sign of negative effects..

If you take a look at Galicia on a geographical basis and divide it into four quadrants or two halves then the southernmost part would be that area south of a line drawn between Santiago de Compostela in the west and possibly the Reserva Nacional de os Ancares in the east which as anyone who knows the area covers quite a wide area.

Included within this area is the major city of Vigo and just north is the provincial capital of Galicia's southern province, Pontevedra. Southern Galicia also includes further to the east Ribadevia, Ourense, Monasterio de Ribas de Sil and Monforte de Lemos. Further south almost on the Portuguese border you will find the Mino River Valley.

The Mino River is actually Galicia's longest river covering approximately 190 miles from its source high up in the Sierra de Mierra in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west. On its way downstream it flows through the towns of Lugo and Ourense entering the Atlantic at A Guarda. The river valley is actually a beautiful landscape of steep valleys and extremely good agricultural land and the hidden jewel in all of this is that it is here where the best wines in Galicia are grown. The area produces nice crisp white wine called Ribeiro.

There is an interesting drive through the valley for a tourist that is approximately 47 miles and there are many interesting stopping off places along the route. To the south of the route you will find Salvaterra de Mino leading next to Arbo, Crescente and finally leading up to Melon. Here you will find the Monasterio de Santa Maria de Melon which once belonged to the Cistercians. Fragments of the original buildings dating back to the 12th Century have survived and make this an interesting site to walk around.

About the Author
Stephen Morgan writes about a great many Internet Travel based issues and more on the above can be found at Accommodation in Galicia . For a more complete overlook at Tourism in Galicia try http://www.turgalicia.es

The province of A Coruna is to be found in northern Spain in the region known as Galicia.

Coruna has several claims to fame. Firstly it is home to the city of Santiago de Compostela (lit. "of the star field") whose massive cathedral holds the remains of the apostle Saint James. But another of the provinces cities, Ferrol, was the launching point for Spain's ill fated Armada against the English in 1588.

Most visitors to this area center their trip around Santiago de Compostela and with good reason. Santiago has a large medieval quarter that not only contains its impressive cathedral, but also an array of equally inspiring architectural gems including palaces, monasteries and museums. The city is also known for its pilgrimage called the "way of St. James" which attracts tens of thousands of Christian visitors every year. These pilgrims come from as far a field as France and make the entire journey on foot staying at specially designated hostels on route. Their reward, if and when they complete their journey, is a certificate and mass at the cathedral.

Santiago's pilgrims are also notable for another reason. In addition to walking with traditional long crooked staffs, they also attach a "clam" clam shell to the staff itself. It is thought that in earlier times this shell, now the symbol of Santiago, could have been used as a multi purpose utensil to scoop water from a river or act as a small dish.

Away from Santiago, A Coruna city also has a few sights of its own ranging from the worlds oldest working lighthouse, built by the Romans, to coastal forts and the regions biggest marina. Coruna is also renown for the glass fronted buildings lining its marina which have given rise to the city being known as the "glass city". In addition to its older buildings, A Coruna also has the futuristic "Domus" building which is a celebration of man - a museum of sorts!

As Galica's most prosperous province, Coruna has many towns and most of these have a location and history associated with the sea. Coruna has always derived much of its wealth from fishing and its deep water ports, including Ribeira, land vast quantities of fish and assorted seafood.

From a visitor's point of view places like Rianxo, a beautiful coastal town, along with neighbouring port town, A Pobra do Caraminal, offer an opportunity to see the less commercialised side of Coruna province. These towns have traditional central plazas called "alamedas" along with a look and feel all of their own. If you visit one of these places you will also notice that everything grinds to a halt at 2.00pm for afternoon siesta and only starts to come to life again between 4.30pm and 5.00pm. The compensation for this extended lunch is the long working "afternoon" which does not end until around 9.00pm at night!

Staying in A Coruna, but moving inland, there is plenty more to see including the ancient and once highly important town of Padron. 

Padron is a town of two halves. The new part is ugly and does not warrant a mention, but the old district is quaint, has a river running through it and also hails as the home of Galicia's most famous daughter, the author and poet Rosalia de Castro. Although not known outside Spain, Castro is a real folk hero and there is a museum dedicated to her in her former house. Padron is also famous for two other reasons, the hot chilli peppers it produces and its biblical location as the preaching point of Saint James.

About the Author
A visitor and vacationer to Galicia.  To find out more about the province of A Coruna and Galicia in general, visit galiciaguide.com a 250 page tourist information portal about the region.

Galicia in particular and Northern Spain in general have long been considered to be a hidden jewel in the entire Spanish tourist industry and hidden away within Galicia itself are some further jewels and we are going to examine Ferrol further.

If you look at all of the autonomous regions that make up modern day Spain, Galicia has to be the most remote and hidden away within that remoteness lies Ferrol.

Historically, always classed as the poorer cousin to some of the other richer regions Galicia had an economy that did not easily lend itself to modernisation and herein lies a paradox in that it is this very reluctance to embrace modernity throughout that gives the region much of its appeal as far as tourism is concerned.

The natives of Galicia if you trace them back far enough have origins very similar to their Celtic cousins in the north and are justifiably proud of their language and culture and these connections no matter how stretched or tenuous give them their sense of regionalism and uniqueness.

Galicia always seemed to be a very closed and inward looking area being fiercely resistant to any formal external invasion and in many ways this degree of isolation was very much driven by the geographical location of the region.

Slowly but surely in the 20th century, Galicia began to develop and today traditional lifestyles rub shoulders with modernity throughout the region whilst at the same time the region has lost none of its more traditional culture and within the tourism economy this is starting to show real benefits.

Ferrol can be found on the northern coast of Galicia and is mid way between the coastlines known as the Rias Altas and the Costa da Morte. It is located on the northern shores of the Ria de Betanzos.

Ferrol is perhaps better known for one of the towns most famous (or infamous) sons, a certain Francisco France y Bahamonde who later on in life became better known as just simply General Franco, leader of Spain between the between the 1930's up until the ate 1960's and extremely influential up until his death in 1975.

Perhaps it is something to do with the local approach to the whole General Franco association but Ferrol is very much a town that has possibly a schizophrenic approach to itself and its history.

As a naval port, Ferrol lost most of its influence (and Spanish fleet) in the peninsular war of the early 1800's but it still retains quite some influence us fall as being a port is concerned and evidence of the Spanish Navy can be found throughout the town.

Sadly as an area of quite high unemployment many would view that Ferrol's greatest days are behind it, however the streets around the harbour would tend to suggest otherwise.

Sadly the outskirts of the town have been described as some of most depressing urban landscapes in all of Spain but don't let this distract you from visiting the city centre is this still retains a certain charm.

Yes, the waterfront is mostly dominated and taken out by naval buildings and dockyards but if you walk along the waterfront you can get a good idea of just how large Ferrols natural harbour actually is.

About the Author
Stephen Morgan writes about a great many Internet Travel based issues and more on the above can be found at Accommodation in Galicia . For a more complete overlook at Tourism in Galicia try http://www.turgalicia.es