Vigo important information

This is a city of 200,000 people and a large port. Cruise ships pop in regularly, bringing 160,000 extra tourists into the city over the course of the year. During my most recent three day trip, we saw three different cruise liners.

Where is Vigo?

Vigo sits on the Ría de Vigo coast in southern Galicia.

The nearest city is Pontevedra but it’s only an hour to Santiago de Compostela by road.

How long do you need in Vigo?

Two nights is a good amount of time to see most of what the city has to offer. If you can stay longer you’ll get the chance to do more day trips, which of course, is always amazing.

Where to stay in Vigo?

What to do in Vigo

For such a large city, there’s actually relatively little to do here, and maybe that’s part of its charm. It’s a city in which to relax and take it slow, you’re not coming here with a massively packed schedule. You’re coming to eat well (yes, it’s Galicia, the seafood is amazing) and to admire the beautiful buildings (and if you’re like me, the street art too).

Castro de Vigo / Fortaleza de Santa María do Castro

Just on the edge of the Casco Antiguo is the Parque Monte do Castro, a steep park with many, many staircases and paths you can climb until you reach the summit (it’s not really a summit but it kind of feels like it) where upon you enter inside the ruins of the Fortaleza de Santa María do Castro and the Castro de Vigo.

It’s a steep walk but if you can, the views are stunning over the city and all the way to the Islas Cíes.

Water tip: there isn’t a water fountain anywhere to be found on this hill but there is a café, Café Bar O’Castro by the carpark. It’s not great but it does have cold drinks. We’d hoped to sit on the terrace but there is zero shade up there so it was impossible.

Port area

This is a delightfully modern and light area that’s teeming with life. In the centre is a small (and not super exciting mall). It’s a lovely area to walk around, and decide which boat you’d own if you were rich / which you’d steal because you’re not rich. Don’t miss the really lovely sculptures around here:

Xardíns da Laxe – Estrela – there’s a café here if you want a drink

⭐️ There are street sellers selling their wares, I found them perfectly friendly although I never really buy anything because I’m not a big shopper (unless I’m in a Mexican market).

Visor submarino Nautilus

This is a free exhibit in the port area where you can observe the marine life of the Ría de Pontevedra (right in the port). Visits are guided and last about thirty minutes. Be sure to check opening hours as they’re pretty restricted.

We had planned to visit but there wasn’t time since we decided to walk all the way to the Museo do Mar.

🦪 You can also take a mussel tour in the ría, visit the mussel rafts and even taste the mussels paired with a local wine. Highly recommended.

Museums

Museo do Mar de Galicia & Lighthouse

This is actually a pretty excellent museum. It’s well laid out, interesting and deals with various sea based themes. My favourite section is the castro remains and the information about the Vikings in the region. There is also a small aquarium (not worth the extra fee in my opinion) and the lighthouse is small but delightful. We sat at its base to watch sunset over the nearby Islas Cíes, which was really a fantastic experience.

We walked from town, right after climbing the hill to the Fortaleza de Santa María do Castro, which was probably wasn’t the smartest idea as it is a good 90 minute walk through a not super interesting part of the city. It would have been a better idea to get a cab or to drive ourselves, or even take the bus. Because we were leaving at 8.30pm, it was already dark and we were exhausted, we got an Uber back to town, which cost €10.

🏖️ Just another thirty minutes walking (or two minutes by car) and you’ll reach the beautiful Praia de Samil, the city’s most popular beach.

Explore the streets and plazas of Old Town

People say that Rúa de García Barbón & Rúa do Príncipe are the most interesting roads in Vigo. Where they meet, you’ll find the Farola de Urzáiz, a nice lamppost, a large Christmas bauble (around Christmas obviously) and my favourite of favourite things in the whole city: a vending machine selling frozen prawns (Photo above, left) 🦐 🦐 😆.

Or, of course, if you prefer not to buy your food from a frozen vending machine, the Mercado Progreso (photo above, right) is a good spot to visit.

The main plaza, Praza da Porta do Sol is a nice pedestrian space with shops, bars and El Sireno, a mermaid sculpture that often has happy pigeons on her head (above). Praza da Constitución and Alameda da Praza de Compostela are also pleasant places to explore.

Marked as the Mirador da Pedra on the map, here you’ll have a decent view over to the Islas de Cíes and you’ll see on the walls the names of various places in Latin America with dates of when they were founded. From here this leads to the Mercado da Pedra and the Calle de las Ostras, two places that you might like to walk through although personally I found them somewhat underwhelming.

I’d been hoping to buy my kids a nice little gift in Vigo but apart from very typical Spanish souvenirs, which obviously they don’t need or want, and cool but expensive t-shirts, I didn’t really find anything. I wound up buying them some expensive chocolates they didn’t really care for 😆.

Souvenir shops I do quite like in Vigo: Morriña, Nikkis (Galician chain of cool tshirts and more) and Vaidhé

For the teens, look out for the Stranger Things manhole cover right here

Keep an eye out on the street art

Obviously this is a changeable feast so I’ll just share a few photos from my adventures in Vigo. Aren’t they awesome?

Awesome day trips from Vigo

Vigo is nicely located on the Ría de Pontevedra and is an excellent spot to base yourself to explore this part of Galicia. There are various options for day trips, depending on your preferences.

Islas Cíes

This is by far the most popular of all day trip options from Vigo. You can take a boat ride to the islands and spend the day there, or you can book a tour.

I haven’t yet taken this tour because I visited in October and couldn’t guarantee good weather but it’s top of my list for spring next year. It’s one of the things I want to do most in all of Spain.

→ Check out this full day yacht tour to the Islas from Vigo that includes a guide, lunch on the yacht, paddle boarding fun, and more

→ or you can take the regular boat with guided tour by booking here, it’s a much cheaper option

Combarro

Praia dos cristais de Silleiro

Pontevedra

I haven’t yet made it to Pontevedra, but it’s also high on my list of places to visit asap. It’s known to be a delightful town with a lovely personality and great food.