Vigo - research results.

I've cut and pasted together some reseach I've done on Vigo. Some of the websites are very useful.

Vigo is the largest and most expensive city in Galicia. Most of it is without any charm. The old quarter is quite small and you should be able to visit all of the interesting spots in about half a day. Other places to visit, which we have not included in the half day are numerous museums ranging from art to local culture, Cesteiros, where you can purchase local crafts, The Concatedral de Santa María The Cathedral. Up the hill there is a castle too. Here you can get a nice view on the Rias your cruise ship entered in on.

Here is a link to the web site which gives the tourist information email. Contact them to see if they do a guided service. http://hoxe.vigo.org/conecenos/infoturistica.php?lang=cas

Going back to the bus service this web site states that it runs when a cruise docks. There is also contact details so maybe you should confirm this.

http://www.turismodevigo.org/busturismo_en.php

Wine is sold in any supermarket, local corner shops etc. There are very few specialist vendors of wine. Rias Baixas is a white wine; Galicia has a total of 5 Denominaciones de Origen. So you have plenty of choice.

http://www.infocruceros.com/vigo.asp

Vigo, Port of Call

Tips for cruising

Page under construction

Rande Bridge, in the Vigo estuary.

Are you arriving to Vigo on a cruise? You have probably lots of questions about my city. Let me show what to do in Vigo; my hometown.

Your will be probably offered a shore excursion to Santiago de Compostela, which I will tell you about it later. If you decide to spend all day in Vigo, you´ll find some tips about how to enjoy your stay in the city

General information.

Language: Spanish. It´s hard to find someone with a decent level of English, but probably you would success if you contact with young people.

Location: Vigo is located in the autonomous region Galicia, which has his own language called Gallego, besides own culture and ethnic traditions.

Culture and Traditions: Forget spanish cliches like Flamenco, Sevillanas songs and Andalusian dancers. Hard to find Paella and bullfighting simply doesn't exist in Vigo. Try to imagine Irish music. So ours is quite alike. Rapa das Bestas is the only “thing” our men do to animals, and consists of popular parties “Rodeo Like”, in which tough men lock down horses and cut their hair off without harming the animals. Locals eat seafood, and drink refreshing wines like “Albariño” and “Ribeiro”. We indeed have Celtic roots, and windpipe like the Scottish. Did you expect that?.

Currency: Euro (find information about currency exchange at http://www.xe.com)

Transportation

- Taxi: 2.23 Euros start (1800mts or 5.10 minutes). Then, 0.58 Euros Km

- Bus: 0.91 Euros. Information at http://www.vitrasa.es

- Touristic Bus:

From June 15 to September 26.

Adults it's 6 Euros

From age 3 to 12 it costs 4.25 Euros

Younger than 3, free.

Pay on the bus. Hop on, hop off bus. You can go up and down as many times as you want

The Bus usually stops at Canovas del Castillo street, but, when big cruises arrive, bus will wait for the passengers outside, just at the cruise gangway.

I am looking forward to having information about the conditions in 2005; and as soon as I get informed, I´ll post them.

Train: You can take a train to go Santiago de Compostela. The station is at the centre, not far from the harbour Info at http://www.renfe.es

Shopping: Principe Street is a pedestrian street with lots of shops, textile, clothes, shoes, leather & accessories, jewel & gifts, lens & photo, book, pharmacy, lottery, tobacco... Other important shopping streets are Urzaiz and Gran Via. The equivalent to Harrods in Spain (not as posh as the British one) is called El Corte Ingles and it´s located at Gran Via Street.

Please, be aware that if you arrive on Sunday, most of the shops will be closed

Nature.

You have probably seen Cies Islands in your way into the bay. Indeed a natural paradise, just a few miles away from Vigo. It´s easy to get there. A boat just opposite your ship, will take you there.

Beaches. Do you want beaches? take a taxi or a bus to Samil Beach. It´s a white sand beach with restaurants, pools, sports spaces and green areas

Musems.

Municipal Museum - Inside Castrelos Park, it´s the largest painting collection in Galicia.

MARCO - Museum of Contemporany Art, just in Principe Street

Sea Museum -

Words Museum - Located in Samil Beach

In the Old Town, there is a blue star. Fresh oysters are served here.

The park called "Parque Municipal do Castro" (Castro Municipal Park) is a hill with a castle on the top. From this point, you can enjoy beautiful views of Vigo bay. Be aware that all the area showed on the map is in slope to the hill.

I'll post pictures of blue locations and Castro Park in the next days

Cruise pier. Right now, there are new fences separating the cruises from the public. There´s also a plan to refit the area to make it more attractive and pleasant because of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005. Old town, with the medieval market which is Celebrated on the anniversary of Napoleon troops defeat when trying to occupy the city. Alameda walk

Tourist Information Points

"A PEDRA" TOURIST OFFICE

Address: C/ Teófilo Llorente, 5 Tel: 986 224 757 E-mail: turismo.apedra@vigo.org

• Open:

• Winter – from Monday to Saturday 10:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 19:30. Closed Sunday.

• Summer – from Monday to Sunday 10:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 19:30.

GALICIAN TOURIST INFORMATION OFFICE

Tourist information for Vigo and Galicia. Address: C/ Cánovas del Castillo, 22 Tel: 986 430 576

• Open:

o Winter – from Monday to Friday 9:30 to 14:00 and from 16:30 to 18:30, Saturday from 10:00 to 13:30. Closed Sunday.

o Summer – from Monday to Friday 9:30 to 14:00 and from 16:30 to 19:30. Saturday, Sunday and public holidays from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 19:00.

TOURIST INFORMATION POINTS At the following locations:

Plaza del Rey

• Plaza de España

• Puerta del Sol

• Port Area (Estación Marítima)

• Train Station (RENFE)

Tourist information points will open during Easter week and in summer from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 19:30 from Monday to Satruday. Sunday 10:00 to 14:00h.

Home -> Info -> City Walking Tours

City Walking Tours

A programme of guided walking tours called "Vigo en Ruta" has been organised around the city. They are free of charge and open both to tourists and locals.

Currently there are three tours: One Hundred Minutes of Culture, One Hundred Minutes by the Sea, and One Hundred Minutes of Nature.

• One Hundred Minutes of Culture: begins at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Marco) and ends at Pescadería Street, commonly known as Rúa das Ostreiras. Along the way we can admire some of the more interesting buildings, squares and monuments in the city.

• One Hundred Minutes by the Sea: begins at A Pedra square and ends at the traditional fishing neighbourhood of O Berbés. Along the route we can learn about the history of the port and its development and how important it has been to the city over the centuries.

• One Hundred Minutes of Nature: begins at the fort at O Castro Park and ends at the Cruz de los Caídos cross. Of interest along the way are sculptures, the plant life and history of the park.

The walks are organised in groups of 15 people maximum and in Spanish, Galician and English. Places on the tours must be reserved in advance.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

• Tel: 986 810 199 / 986 810 171 / 986 224 757

• Fax: 986 810 110

http://www.turismodevigo.org/identidad_en.php - GREAT WEBSITE

Lots of great information here. Thanks so much for sharing all your work.

I also want to thank you for taking the time to post all of the information. We will be visiting Virgo in May first time would you recommend going to Santiago de Compostela & how long would it take to get there from where the ship docks?

I advise to rent a cab. They are asking 120 euros return (waiting here a couple of hours).

Public transport a cab to train station 90 minutes by train, and back. You won´t see the city in a few hours, but you could have time for a nice look.

http://www.santiagoturismo.com/

I'm adding my thanks as well.... I've copied and pasted to my word document and will print it out...

I have not been to Vigo yet, we will be there in May from 10:00 to 6:00. I emailed one of the independent tour guides about a tour to Santiago de Compostela and the response was there was not enough time for this tour. Based on this response, I will not do this with a ship's excursion where you have to add on a half hour for a bathroom stop, and more time for everyone to get on the bus at the beginning of the excursion and then waiting for that last stragler to return to the bus to come home. I've emailed for information about the free 100 minute walking tours in English. I will post the response. If they do not have any of these tours at a convenient time when I am there, I've printed the maps off the website. Here's a link to one of the maps. It is in Spanish and English and it is easier to read once it is printed - better than you can read it on the computer screen. It takes a while to load. http://www.turismodevigo.org/docs/rutas/100minutos_cultura.pdf

Renting a cab at the port, and bargain, you will have time to do it. By motorway, you could get here in 50 minutes. I know it´s not much time, but it´s worthy.

Thank you for sharing! I also emailed the tourism department in Vigo and they sent me an awesome information packet and a wonderful DVD showing off Vigo.

Exarche02 - Can you give me the email address. I never received a response to my email. About how long did it take to get a response? Did you send your request in English or Spanish? Did they mail a packet to your home, or did you get the info by email?

Thanks

Exarche02 - Can you give me the email address. I never received a response to my email. About how long did it take to get a response? Did you send your request in English or Spanish? Did they mail a packet to your home, or did you get the info by email?

 

Thanks

I am not sure where I emailed them...I just typed Vigo,tourism into Google and found their website. From there I looked for a link that mentioned ordering information. It was all in English. I just requested info be sent to my home and it was fairly quickly, in a very nice package. Unfortunately, I didn't keep the email response they sent me. I am sorry I am not more help!

UPDATE: I just found their website address on the DVD...http://www.turismodevigo.org.

Thanks to taking the time to get the website. When will you be in Vigo? I am on the Brilliance of the Seas May 19 cruise.

Thanks to taking the time to get the website. When will you be in Vigo? I am on the Brilliance of the Seas May 19 cruise.

We will be there on NCL Jade leaving from Southampton June 13th.

For those of you going to Vigo, I really encourage you to get to Santiago de Compostela, one of Spain's jewels. With 8 hrs in Vigo I don't know why they are telling you you can't do a tour to Santiago. It's approx 1 hr by highway. 5 hours in Santiago is not a lot , but at least you have ample time to see the cathedral(magnificent!) and walk around the beautiful medieval town.

we are in vigo in late april on a T/A stop. What is the best way to get to Santiago de Compostela? I found a web site that states there are hourly trains between the cities. Or should I try to hire a driver to get there and back?

we are in vigo in late april on a T/A stop. What is the best way to get to Santiago de Compostela? I found a web site that states there are hourly trains between the cities. Or should I try to hire a driver to get there and back?

Hi,

Check this thread for ideas how to do it:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=356975&highlight=santiago

Train timetable can be checked here

http://www.renfe.es

The line is just 88 km, and trains should be faster. They usually take 80 minutes. I advise a cab to train station in Vigo dock, then Santiago train station is about 10 minutes walk from old town. Trains run every hour, and fares are 14 euros return. They are usually on time.