Thoughts on this plan for a DIY in Vigo?

Hi we will be in Vigo in a few weeks from 9:30 to 3, short so we are staying in Vigo and trying to plan out a good few hours! Here is my current plan, thoughts and recommendations are much appreciated!

Start out at Pazo Quiñones de León, which I think is also what is called the Municipal Museum? Not sure though if this is walkable from the ship or if we will need a taxi.

Next visit Parque Monte de Castro, again not sure if we can walk there from the Pazo Quiñones de León or if we will need transport.

Then head back to the Centro Principe, I would like to end up in the area of the oyster sellers for lunch and found a few restaurant recommendations on Trip Advisor but would love other thoughts. Also not sure whether the oyster sellers are near the Centro Principe. Then I think that some of the statutes I have seen are in the area of the cruise terminal so walk around and visit them before reboarding.

Thoughts? Thanks in advance so much if anyone can help!

We found Vigo particularly uninteresting. We would have loved to have visited the Isla Cies but like you our time in port would not allow a visit of any meaningful length.

We were there in Sept last year. We travelled with very small kids and felt that Santiago de Compostela might be too much for them. We decided to make it a beach day! It was wonderful aside from getting a puncture in the buggy! :mad:

You can read what we did here. You may have to scroll down a few posts to get to the section on Vigo!

http://www.cruisingmates.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=266&t=8937

Well, there wasn't much too Vigo, and the palace/garden areas were a drive away and we didn't want to spend that much time since our time in the area was so short. We did go into one of the tourist information offices right near the port and they told us about the spacing and recommended that we climb up to the park/castle building at the top of the city--it is a very hilly city! We started at the modern art museum called MARCO, that was a little bit of a walk from the port but easily manageable. The museum was chosen for my daughter and it was very interesting--there are only two or so exhibits at a time and they change but luckily for us we liked the artist who was exhibited and there was a very interesting more conceptual exhibit about the role of language which we enjoyed. We were probably there close to 1.5 hours, after which we continued the uphill hike to the park above the city. There wasn't much to it but there were nice views and some small, interesting garden areas and old buildings. There were also some sculptures on the hill on the way up. We walked around a bit and then headed back towards the port to find the oyster sales area--which was a lot harder to find than we expected. It wasn't right along the water but rather up a block or two and down an alley. By the time we found it we didn't have a ton of time but were glad we went--there are people shucking oysters at a few places in the alley and restaurants on either side. You buy a plate of oysters and then take them to one of the restaurants and order whatever else you want. Since we didn't have much time we just got some bread, sangria and fried squid and it was very enjoyable. The street sculpture was interesting although I don't think we saw it all. Vigo was definitely the least interesting of the ports we visited but it was a pleasant enough few hours.

The ship ran very few excursions, one garden one sounded interesting but I am still happy we stuck with what we did rather than spending time traveling around by bus, and the weather wasn't great the day we were in port anyway. From what the crew told us Santiago de Compostela is very meaningful if you are Catholic. Even less English spoken here than in our other stops, so it felt authentic, not touristy.

We found Vigo particularly uninteresting.

Well, there wasn't much to Vigo. .. From what the crew told us Santiago de Compostela is very meaningful if you are Catholic. Even less English spoken here than in our other stops, so it felt authentic, not touristy.

We had the same reaction to Vigo -- not much of a port stop (and no offense to anyone who lives there). I would strongly suggest a visit to Santiago de Compostela instead (we'd already been there). And you do NOT have to be Catholic to enjoy such a visit. I'm not, but I did appreciate the Cathedral -- the history, architecture, etc. -- and I very much enjoyed walking around the town itself.

Santiago de Compostela is a lovely city and if you haven't visited before, then I recommend going. When we stopped in Vigo on a cruise we had already stayed in Galicia on a land holiday, so just took the HOHO and did some shopping in the commercial centre next to the cruise terminal.

Vigo is actually a nice town with lots of good tapas bars and restaurants serving the best seafood in Spain.

Well, we really liked Vigo! We took the tour bus run by the city's tourism department, it started from outside the large shopping centre right by where our ship was docked. It's not a HOHO bus, you don't get off it, it takes you on a tour for about an hour and a half and cost 7.50 euros. We went all round the city, saw a lot of the statues and the castle and then went further out to a really nice beach area. As far as I can recall, the oyster restaurants were quite near the ship.

Just 15-20 minutes away by train from Vigo Urzaiz station is Pontevedra. Reasons to visit:

* After Santiago it has arguably the best preserved "casco viejo" or old quarter in Galicia with beautiful squares (Teucro, Leña, Verdura, Herrería, Mugartégui , Méndez Núñez etc), medieval churches (La Peregrina, San Bartolomé, Santa Clara, Santa María, Santa Domingo), 15th to 18th century mansion houses etc, etc.

* The Plaza de Abastos or Municipal Market, with the fish and seafood on the first (ground) floor, the veg & fruit vendors and butchers on the second floor is a must see in the mornings till around 1pm.

* The Museo Provincial is one the best of its kind in Spain, period. It houses a stunning collection of gold torques, rings, earrings and necklaces from the Celtic period before the Roman occupation. The perfectly integrated ship's cabin of the great Spanish admiral Méndez Núñez is fascinating. When you walk across the cabin floor, you get the impression you're really on the waves. The diverse art collection, painting and sculpture, is not to be sniffed at either.

* The province of Pontevedra alone has six Michelin starred restaurants. La Ultramar de Pepe Vieira behind the church of San Bartolomé, the Eirado da Leña in the Plaza de la Leña and Viñoteca Bagos just up from La Peregrina are all members of Grupo Nove, the association of restaurants that rule the Michelin star roost in Galicia.

* The Alameda and Las Palmeras (parks) are lovely places for a stroll after lunch.

When you arrive at the station just get a taxi to Alameda (5€) grab a map from the tourist office nearby and start exploring this lovely town. The train fare from Vigo is less than 5€.

Hope that helps.