Vigo Things to Do

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Puerta del Sol is the end of a long pedestrian shopping street, where it meets another busy street, forming a triangular open space filled with motorbikes, mopeds and scooters. Standing tall above all this is a statue known as El Sireno, half-man half-god-knows-what! Fish maybe?

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The centre of modern Vigo is the expansive Praza de Espanha, a huge traffic island. It's not partuclarly beautiful, but in the centre is a striking sculpture of wild horses galloping up into the sky. It is something of an emblem for the city.

Leading back down towards the sea, Gran Via is one of Vigo's main shopping streets. At the bottom, another of Vigo's statues attracts photographers...the Monumento al Trabajo, known as Los Pescadores (the Fishermen)...a bunch of fishermen who look like they are hauling their nets full of fish from the middle of the pavement.

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Inside the castle proper are more gardens, filled with fountains and statues and bits of ancient ruin. There were many coach parties trooping through the gardens, taking quick photos before being whisked off to another vista. The rest of my family aslo passed by on their "Vigo Views" tour, although they didn't even have the chance to get out of the bus. If you happen to be on a cruise, and are tempted by a coach tour of Vigo, don't bother...most of the old town is pedestrian, the rest of the lanes too narrow and twisting for coaches, so the best of Vigo is ignored by these tours. Do it on foot...Vigo isn't that big, and it doesn't take long to climb up to the castle from the port.

Anyway, back to the castle. It isn't so impressive, but there are nice views of the city and over to Cangas on the opposite side of the bay. But it is free to enter the gardens and park.

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The real castle is further up the hill from the Ayuntamiento. Again, it isn't much of a castle, but it is far more tourist-friendly than the vaguely seedy streets around the ayuntamiento. You start by climbing through a wooded park, up to manicured gardens and a monument to the sea...three large anchors in a row next to another viewpoint. Castle tip continued below...

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The streets leading up to the Ayuntamiento are some of the most picturesque in all Vigo. If you like cobbled, cat-filled narrow alleyways, you'll enjoy walkinga round this district. It isn't anywhere enar as well-kept as the Casco Vella, and in some parts, it is downright seedy...at one point, I was shouted at by a group of girls in the distance...on the way down from the ayuntamiento, I realised why...I'd unwittingly wandered into Vigo's red-light district!

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It's an ugly building, a tall grey block of concrete, visible from all over Vigo, spoiling the skyline. So why am I recommending a trip up to the Ayuntamiento (town hall?)? Well, the gardens surrounding this hideous monstrosity are built inside an old castle, and if you clamber up the grassy verge to the walls, you're greeted with the best view in all Vigo. I'm not a hundred percent sure if you are meant to just wander in, as some of the officeworkers on the ground floor did seem a little startled, but the lady lawnmower at the gate didn't seem fazed at all by our arrival. I returned later that day when the weather brightened up a bit, and was asked by two Spanish tourists for directions...this sort of thing always makes me laugh, I can't have looked like a local, and it must have been very obvious from my broken Spanish response that I really didn't have a clue, but still they persevered!

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West of the Casco Vella, the old quarter continues in the old fishermen's area of Berbes. The street by the sea is full of restaurants and restored houses, but delve into the streets on the slopes behind, and its a world of dilapidated old houses, graffitti and cats. At the far end of the area is a church on a hill with a fairly good view of the city...not quite the cathedral, this church had a group of alcoholics sat on the steps, attracting some attention from the police, and the wall was covered in pro-Galicia graffitti.

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For great views over the Casco Vella and Berbes quarters, head over to the Paseo de Alfonso XII. looking uphill, it seems like any other street in Vigo, a mixture of modern office blocks and old stone houses with balconies, the odd piece of street art lurking in a corner. But the other side of the street acts as a balcony overlooking the city. Down below, the old quarter of Berbes has several narrow alleyways and old stone houses, all a bit more rundown than in the Casco Vella, but much more interesting and atmospheric.