Galicia Road Trip
 

I'm planning a road trip to Galicia and hope folks can tell me if this is do-able. Here's what I am planning:

I arrive in Madrid on Saturday afternoon, pick up car and drive to Avila, spend the evening and next day
Sun - Avila in the a.m. and drive to Cambados
Mon - Cambados (spend the night)
Tues - Drive to Ferrol - spend the night
Wed - Ferrol to Asturias (Gijon)
Thurs - Gijon
Fri - Gijon to Madrid in the afternoon - spend the night at airport hotel for early flight home on Saturday.

I've gotten some conflicting driving distances, so I just wonder if this is a workable plan. I have been to Santiago and Leon and some of the other small towns before. This trip I'd like to see some wine regions and the coast.

Any and all suggestions would be welcome! thanks so much.

Vanessa

what time of year, Vanessa?

you say you've got some conflicting driving distances - what are they? IME one-night stands can work but to do so, the driving in between hasn't to be more than half a day if you're really to see anything when you get to your destination. And of course there may very well be things that you want to see en route.

Bearing in mind the region involved, have you thought simply about hiring a car and setting off without booking in advance? [save for the first night perhaps]. if there is only one of you or you are a couple, accommodation should be easy enough to find in that area.

Hi Ann,

I'm leaving in a few weeks. The longest stretch, it seems, is the drive from Avila to Cambados. Some sites said approx 5 hrs, but on Michelin it said 11 hours!

I should have mentioned that I do have accommodation in the Ferrol area and Gijon. I was just wondering if my timings were sufficient for travel from place to place. Or, if there is another wine region in the area that would be closer to the north. Thanks so much.

I don't know how much help I can be because I entered Spain from Northern Portugal and stayed in Galicia only for about a week. On thing I will say is that I encountered a lot more traffic in and around A Coruna than I anticipated. If you can

Ourense has a lot going for it as an historic town with good food, so you could shorten that very long drive from Avila by spending the night there if you don't absolutely need to be in Cambados. I drove all the coast between Pontevedra and Ferrol, and it took me a couple of days. Partly I wasn't in a hurry, but also the coast is, as you known, exceptionally crenellated, so while it looks compact on a map, if you stretched out the road in a line, it is probably 9 times longer than it tends to appear in terms of kilometers.

I don't know what is drawing you to personally to Avila, but if you don't mind skipping it, you can probably easily fly from Madrid to Vigo (Santiago de Compestela) and buy yourself more time to see the coast.

Another think you might consider is reversing the trip, and taking in some of the Ribero del Douro wine region, but dropping off the car in Vigo and flying from there to Madrid for your flight hone.

My post wasn't clear. Vigo and Santiago de Compestela each have their own airport. Also, my last suggestion is drive from Avila first to Gijon, and visiting the Ribera del Douro wine region on the way, and then loop west, ending in Cambados, dropping off the car at an airport in the vicinity and flying back to Madrid for the flight home.

Sounds like you will not have a lot of time to see the towns you are driving to.

IMDonehere,

Have you ever been to Galicia? When I road tripped around it, I never spent more than half a day in any one town. With very few exceptions (where the OP is not going anyway), the towns are very, very small and can be walked around totally in 2 hours tops, including visiting interiors. The towns generally come to life at night, so spending the night there and staying a bit in the morning is the the best way to see them. I skipped Santiago de Compostela, and were I to go, I would probably spend more than one night there. But many towns I visited in Galicia were perfect for a one hour + lunch stop, and the off for more scenic driving, maybe stopping at a church or a castle, and then reaching one's destination to enjoy an evening stroll with tapas, admiring the town. Galicia is really an ideal road tripper's destination in many ways.

I have spent considerable time in Galicia and have driven many of the roads. My FIL was born in a small town outside of Santiago. There are few multi-lane roads in Galicia. I must admit I have not been to Cambados.

Here are some of my favorite places in Galicia:

Castro de Barona-Celtic ruins
Lugo-An intact Roman walled city
Costa de Muerte-rugged beauty
Finisterre-the end of the Camino
Ile De Cies-a ferry boat boat ride from Vigo

(For others visit Santiago de Compostela but the OP has been there and that is why I did not include it for her.)

I live and work in Galicia.
I don't really understand what you are trying to achieve with this trip.
Here are my honest thoughts.
I assume you are flying from the States, so driving from Madrid to Avila whilst under the influence of let lag will be no fun at all.
One nighters do not work.
Visiting the Ribera del Duero on the way through is even worse. What do you hope to see?
What other wine regions are you hoping to visit? Galicia has 5 D.O. regions, in total, and I do not see any of them written about in your plans.
Is this your first visit to Spain? if not then I should warn you that Spain operates on a different time schedule. Things open up around 10ish, close around 2ish then opens up again around 5ish until 8ish. There is a big gap for lunch time closures and one should allow for that when planning sight seeing trips. Do your research as this is not hard and fast rule so a few things could be open all day.
Eat late and get up later.
Bodegas in Galicia are family run so sometimes one cannot just stroll in and have a tour. (Unlike what I have read in the States)
If you are not European do not forget your I.D.P. either.

The OP said in his or her first post:

"I have been to Santiago and Leon and some of the other small towns before."

I agree with this statement: "There is a big gap for lunch time closures and one should allow for that when planning sight seeing trips." It's one of the reasons so much of Spain is idea for road trips.

Ribe really know Galica.

Snadralist, may I ask you how much time you have spent in Galicia?

sandralist on Jun 17, 14 at 6:58pm "It's one of the reasons so much of Spain is idea for road trips."
I have totally the opposite view::: stay and absorb the country. Sit in a restaurant eat a hearty meal, sit and have a picnic beside a river, take an ice cream on a terrace what ever just relax you are on vacation. You never see anything through the windows of a bus, train or car that is worthy.
You have 50 odd weeks a year of rushing around, why spend 2 weeks vacation time doing the same thing?

Galicia is one area fewer Americans tend to visit and the topography stands in contrast to Andalucia and Castile. There is deep Celtic influence that should be noted.

I agree completely with Ribe.

While Snadralist is posting excessively elsewhere, she has seems to have disappeared from Galicia, when the question she posed is asked of her.

Thank you all for the good suggestions and interesting comments. I have been to Spain many times and this is my second visit to Galicia. I have some good ideas now and will be able to plan accordingly. Thanks again and hope everyone has a good day. :)

Boy, people on Fodor's really like to jump to conclusions don't they -- without even reading what they are reacting to!

I wrote that Spain is ideal for road trips based on my now 20 separate trips to Spain (not all of them road trips, by the way). As I said in my very first post in this thread, I spent a week road tripping in Galicia. So why am I supposed to rush back to answer a question you could find out on your simply by reading more carefully?

It is fine that ribierasacra has decided to stay and absorb Spain by living there. But I did every single think he or she mentioned as essential and important during the week I spent in Galicia, road tripping. I ate a hearty lunch every single day, and I ate by the riverside (and the seaside), and I sat on a terrace in the evening snacking (I hope it is OK I ate pastry or drank wine instead of eating ice cream, which I don-t care for, even though I prefer helados to gelato).

I think it is too bad that ribierasacra has never had the thrill of coming round the bend in Galicia -- there are so many -- and been struck by the extraordinary beauty of the landscape or seascape one sees at first glimpse. Most people who road trip know where and when to pull to the side of the road and enjoy the moment. Everywhere I went in Galicia, there were many, many turnouts for just such a purpose (as is the case in Catalonia, the Basque country, and other scenic parts of Spain that I have been to).

I don't know what CuriousG1 does when he or she isn't in Spain, but I don't rush around for 50 weeks out of the year.

Just so many ridiculous and unfounded assumptions. No wonder people just thank people and go do what they want to do. They absolutely should!

CurioiusG1, thank you for posting back I was beginning to think we had lost you.
Hope you enjoy your trip. Any more questions do not hesitate to ask.

When in Galicia be sure to try the seafood.

http://www.itrainsinspain.com/2013/s...ginners-guide/

Also you can visit the Rias Baixos and Pontevedra.

We stopped in Cambados and wished that we had stayed there longer. Enjoy your time on the northern coast of Spain!

I posted a pictural TR of my time in northwestern Spain last year. Here's a link to the pics. If you play it in slideshow mode, you can see the text I've added to a majority of the pics.

https://plus.google.com/photos/10755...87825290891645

Thanks again, all. I'm comfortable with my itinerary, even knowing that it might be a bit ambitious. I have been to Galicia before, as I mentioned, and have traveled a good deal throughout Spain. I am looking forward to Cambados and will definitely overnight there; and of course seafood (although I have developed a taste for pulpo just yet). I will end up in Asturias on my swing around and stay overnight two nights in that lovely region. I will post pics, etc., as I can. I leave next Friday evening - can't wait.

Joannyc - your pictures are beautiful! Looks like a fantastic trip - how long were you there? Any place you would return to or not?

I must get better at trying to ascertain who actually wants advice and who just wants affirmation.

No, IMDonehere. I think you need to question why it would be important to anybody that you are "against" their trip. I think it is fine that you and ribierasacra are committed to traveling one particular way in Spain or elsewhere. I'm not against you doing that. But what is puzzling is when people here announced they are against other people taking a different kind of trip. I have even seen people make these announcements AFTER somebody took the trip and wrote a trip report saying how much they enjoyed the trip they just took. Someone else like you makes a big show of being against it, saying it is wrong, etc etc.

It appears that you and ribierasacra have never taken a road trip through Galicia, and why would you or should you given your philosophy and your belief in the absolute rightness of it. But rather than continue to blindly insult people who are seeking advice here for failing to fall lockstep into your private travel religion, why don't you read their posts and see what they are really asking for? In this case, the OP was looking for logistical information, not a lecture on the One True Way To Travel Or You Will Be Damned. (Or post on Slow Travel and join the cult there.)

CuriousG1,

I am curious if you meant to write that perhaps you have NOT "developed a taste for pulpo just yet." My swing through Galicia was a birthday present to my husband to eat pulpo in as many places as possible. The place I most wanted to return to was Pontevedra. The entire area is quite interesting and tasty. But the real surprise for me was Tuy, right at the border of Portugal.

Sandralist

You are one of those one week wonders, who makes one trip and then makes a career out of it and then blindly questions someone else's experience. Yes yes you been other parts of Spain.

And of course you ignore that I gave the OP a dozen suggestions.

BTW, I have traveling to and through Galicia for over 40 years. And I am in almost daily contact with friends and family there. And my wife walked the 500 mile Camino that ended in Santiago and then walked the extra 12 miles to the farm where her father was born. So obviously your one week pulpo stuffed week trumps everything.

And then you demean the OP for not liking pulpo as much as you.

What silly arrogance.

I work in the hotel trade. I have done for around 11 years and in that time I can certainly say (100%) those who visit a place for just one night, or less, never ever see anything. However what they never see they will never miss. ;-)
Those years of experience and if you add in the man hours means my experience adds a lot to what I post.


As for pulpo there is pulpo and then there is pulpo. Not everywhere is the same. Boy there are some crappy joints around. The coast is especially known for worse puplo in Galicia.
Still Galicia is not only about eating Pulpo is it? Or maybe it is for some :-(

<< I work in the hotel trade. I have done for around 11 years and in that time I can certainly say (100%) those who visit a place for just one night, or less, never ever see anything. However what they never see they will never miss. >>

Respectfully, I disagree about one night stays. And do not understand the comment about working in the hotel industry having any impact on what people can or cannot see in one night or less.

I spent one night in Bilbao and saw everything that I wanted to see. As horrible as it may seem to some, I don't enjoy modern art and was sorry that I wasted my money to go into the Guggenheim... I enjoyed it much more from the outside. 1 night gave me time to see the great architecture of the city, visit the old town, including some interesting back streets, and cathedral and waste my time in the museum. Also got to walk around a large part of the city and have a good dinner. I saw everything I had on my itinerary, other than that boat mall thing as it was closed when I went by. Honestly, I could have not gone here and not missed it... in hindsight.

Luarca, a small fishing town, was the other one night stay that I had. Again, I had enough time to see what I wanted but it would have been nice to spend another leisurely day there, such a cute marina area!

So, OP... I would add a day or two to small fishing towns, I could have used a day in Cangas de Onis rather than the few hours it took me to see what I wanted (it worked for me) on my way to Our Lady of Covendanga shrine (for a couple of hours) before landing in Oviedo for a few nights.

I really did enjoy the old town area of Gijon and that amazing market area on the opposite side
of the beach that they have that sells everything from clothing, jewelry, housewares, cars, trucks, pools, food, everything!!!! It is next to the outdoor museum and allows you free entrance from within. The outdoor museum is quite worth it.

Lots to see in Oviedo. Most think a day in Santillana del Mar is ok, I enjoyed spending two nights there in a lovely hotel after the day trippers left. The walk along the coast in A Caruna is beautiful, need to get out of the downtown area.

If you are going to Avila, a great little town, no reason to go to Lugo. Both have the preserved walls but Avila is more interesting IMO. Spent 2 nights there on a previous trip and really enjoyed it. Stopped in Lugo last year but didn't find any reason to spend much time there.

Did stop in Astorga to see the bishop's palace and cathedral for a couple of hours... May have been interesting to see more of that town but I didn't have anymore on my list.

I think I had 25 days... 23 nights on the ground with 2 travel days

Please note

Avila is a long drive form Galicia.
Santillana del Mar is not in Galicia.
And if you look at road maps Gijon is about 4 hours from Santiago and Santillana is about 1 hour further.

I like all those towns but it just increases the driving time.
______

We once went to pulpo festival in Santiago and the pulpo was OK, and the wine was like listerine. You can get bad meals in Spain.

IAmDone, OP has Avila on their itinerary,

I understand that SdelMar is not in Galicia but OP did ask me as to where I would or would not return. Many of of the places I noted are not in Galicia specifically but in northwestern Spain.

BTW, mine was a road trip... picked up the rental car when leaving Burgos and dropped it after checking into my Madrid hotel.

joannyc on Jun 21, 14 at 6:27am

Respectfully, I disagree about one night stays. And do not understand the comment about working in the hotel industry having any impact on what people can or cannot see in one night or less.

I never said anything about any impact. I said my experience has illustrate what it has on someone’s vacation. I have had many one nighters here and I know what they miss. One arrives, one eats and one leaves. Many have a siesta if they arrive early.


Moving onto your visit of the Our Lady of Covadonga shrine. Did you not have a wonderful walk around the lagos? I agree you need not stay in Covadonga so long, but at least stay in the Picos for more time. The village is just one of many locations you could stay in.

Another point I think I had 25 days... 23 nights on the ground with 2 travel days
That does not make any sense all the days of your vacation you spent some hours travelling.

There are many things you did not see , like the walled city of Lugo.
The Celtic Castro of Viladonga.
The historic village of Taramundi, where they make knives the historic way.
The beach of As Catedrais, voted by TA the best beach in Spain.
Avilés with it’s wonderful historic centre.
Plus many many more locations.
Yes they may not be of interest to you, but you went to Bilbao even though did not hold much interest for you.

Reading about this trip, I feel you are a prime example of the what you never see you will never miss brigade.

IMDonehere on Jun 21, 14 at 7:04am

That wine could have been Rioja ;-)

It was a red wine.

As for eating pulpo.
here are 8 different ways of eating it. I have not tried them all and I do not wish to. This is in Spanish.
http://www.traveler.es/viajes/placer...n-galicia/4920

I don't agree that you don't see anything out of a car, train or bus window. My first experience of the Ribeira Sacra was seeing it from the car en route to a one nighter in the north of Galicia :)

Now I have been back many times. If I had not driven through it, it would never have been on my radar.

And I have had some memorable one night stays in various places... seeing plenty. Sometimes the journey is the destination.

That link to pulpo has a pizza with pulpo on it... I would LOVE to try that!