Best tour or day trip from EL Ferrol Spain
 

In port from a sailboat.
Best to just walk around El Ferrol or take a day trip out of town

La Coruna is nearby. Perhaps an hour by train. It was the last port city in Spain that the Spanish Armada sailed from so there should be a lot on that in museums. The Roman Tower of Hercules lighthouse. Many seafood restaurants. El Ferrol was Franco's birthplace. Believe it's planned to enter him there once he's evicted from the Valley of the Fallen near Madrid. Something to investigate.

IMO, El Ferrol is not particularly interesting, though it is one of the official starting points for the Camino Inglés de Santiago. A Coruña is a big city, with a small historic core and tapas streets, a sea promenade, but I don't think it's really special either.

I'm not sure how you are planning to travel, but I have two suggestions that would require a car or a cab. One would be to go south to visit Pontedeume and Betanzos, both on the water, little places with some charm, or to go north and explore some of the coast. The Costa de Morte is quite spectacular. Playa as Catedrais is a do-able daytrip, but it is mobbed in summer and requires tickets to keep the crowds down (they ONLY let 2,000 in at a time, if you can believe that). And you need to go at low tide to see anything, so that might be complicated.

The tours we were considering from Windsurf sailboat are to Lugo or Betanzos.

It's my birthday.....everytime I hear that someone says "no it's not". Bruno Mars song, couldn't resist.

But it is my birthday that day so kind of wanted something nice.

Which would have more charm?

Which would have more charm?
Without doubt Lugo. But it is a longish bus ride.
This cruise is not going very well i it. First Ferrol and then Vigo not the best places in Galicia

Not getting good reports on El Ferrol or Vigo. The rest we have mostly planned out.

Dublin
Waterford
Scilly Islands
Brest
El Ferrol
Vigo
Porto
Lisbon

We booked it because:
We love the ship (Windsurf) and have sailed on her before.
The itinerary was so different, all places we have not been, except Dublin.
Always wanted to see Lisbon (we'll stay an extra 4 nites)
Dublin was so easy to get to from Chicago
As past customers we got a good rate
Sort of last minute, many other cruises we wanted were all booked (small ships only, no huge ones for us)

Any suggestions would be oh so welcome!

We will be on Windstar to El Ferrol in a few weeks and also checking into the excursions. Was Santiago de Compostela a choice? Thats what we are thinking of doing. I'd be interested to hear what you decided. Our itinerary is slightly different as we are in France before El Ferrol.

Lesley21.....are you on the Windsurf, Dublin to Lisbon, Sept. 10th?
We will be in France (Brest in Brittany) before El Ferrol.

Waterford...on our own as we've been to Ireland many times
Scilly...we are going to Tresco Gardens
Brest...we are going to Concarneau & Pont Aven (long tour)
Day at sea...then
El Ferrol....we are leaning towards Betanzos as it's a shorter tour and we have a long one in Brest. Haven't booked that yet so subject to change. Santiago d. C. Tour looks very nice as does the tout to Lugo. I must do more research.
Vigo....haven't decided yet

If you are on this same cruise maybe we can meet up for a drink or ?
Have you sailed with any of the Windstar ships before?

just stumbled onto this website - we are going to be on the Windsurf from Dublin to Lisbon on September 10. Have not been on a Windstar ship before and curious of your previous experiences. We have been on a number of cruises before on the bigger cruise ships. How is the experience on the Windsurf?
As for the ports and excursions we are not so sure yet on what to take. Tempted to do some of our own excursions or just walk arounds in some of the ports. Going to look for some good ideas if any come about

bgsyeg......we look forward to meeting some fellow FODORITES. Look at our photo on our profile and you can probably spot us on the ship.

We've sailed on Windspirit and Windsurf, both in the Caribbean.

What we like about The Windsurf:
Open decks, more yacht like feel than large ships
Fantastic food & service
24 hr. open bridge, except when in port, my husband likes to see how things work
300 people (with 200 crew)beats thousands any day
Easy on & off


What you won't find is large entertainment options at night, the small music combos
are fine for us. Leisurely dinner, walk out under the stars, weather permitting, and chatting easily with other guests fits our style.

As far as tours go, we usually don't want to spend time on a bus and tend to go on our own but not having been to Spain or Brittany we'd like to see some of the countryside. Also the ports of Brest and El Ferrol look rather industrial/shipyard with not much town to explore. We've driven over most of France but never been to Brittany so the Carn/Pont Aven appeals to us.

BonVoyage!

thanks for your notes- we look forward to the Windsurf experience and we will keep an eye out for you. For us all the ports will be a new experience so we look forward to the cruise

bgsyeg
We are on the same trip with you and Tpayt and this will be our fifth Windstar cruise. We usually do a combination of our own trips and excursions. We read about the areas - and enjoy meeting other guests. I think you will enjoy this boat immensely.

A Windsurf GTG is happening. Looks like there are 6 Fodorites already on the ship.
Maybe more will show up.