5 must-visit places in the North of Galicia

Hello everyone, once again!

Today I am going to talk to you to a place which is nearer to where I live. Galicia is a box of surprises and I am sure that those who still don't know too much about it will love it.

In this post, I am going to talk about 5 places in the north of Galicia in particular which, in my opinion, are must-visits if you are lucky enough to visit one day. I went around all of them on a road trip which lasted approximately 3 days, but I have to say that I live in Rias Baixas, Cangas more specifically, so the journey to the Northern coast takes around 3 hours, but maybe it is possible to see all of them in less time.

San Andrés de Teixido

San Andes de Teixido is a small village in Cedeira. To get to it from Cedeira there is around a 12km journey through the A Capelada mountains.

As it usually occurs when one goes to small towns in Galicia like this one, the journey takes an age between the twists and turns through the woods, and it takes quite a lot of time to spot any trace of civilisation. However, it is quite well signposted, so it isn't difficult to find the place and on arrival, there is a place where you can leave the car which is only a 5 minute walk away from the famous church. On this short journey, we came across several small stalls where they sold typical home-made products of the area, such as cheeses, doughnuts, cakes, etc. We tried the coconut doughnuts and they were delicious.

San Andres de Teixido is the second most popular pilgrimage destination in Galicia, after Compostela of course. It was founded in the 12th century and it is a place where it seems like no time has passed. In fact there are some houses, but very few, and the population that lives there practically live off of pilgrimage tourism.

There is a legend about this place which says that San Andres de Teixido, who was one of the 12 disciples, woke up sad one morning because no pilgrim had been to visit his temple. It was then when God granted him that, from that day onwards, nobody could enter heaven without having visited his temple beforehand, and if they didn't do it during their lives, they would have to go there once they were dead. This is where the saying "To San Andrés de Teixido he goes dead, the man who did not go there alive" comes from.

This church is very strange due to its white walls full of stone "freckles". Along with the landscape, they form a beautiful picture.

We walked through the small town, we went inside the church and then we had a coffee in one of the cafes really close-by; before continuing on with our trip and going towards Loiba.

Look out. Very close to San Andres de Teixido you can find the cliffs of Vixia Herbeira. In fact, they are considered the highest cliffs in continental Europe that are in the sea, with their height which is 613 metres above sea level. Some Norwegian fjords exceed this hight but they are not located in the open sea. We preferred to go straight to Loiba so that we had time to see everything that we had planned for that day, but they are definitely worth seeing and they are barely a 10-minute drive away from San Andres de Teixido.

Loiba cliffs

These cliffs are between 80 and 160 metres high and they are located in Loiba. Also, they form impressive beaches such as the ones of O Picon, do Sarridal, do Coitelo, Praia Furada and many others, along with small coves. Most of them are difficult to access or direct access is impossible, but appreciating them from above is already impressive. The place, in general, is popular because here is where you can find the "most beautiful bench in the world", but the best thing is most definitely the whole landscape it offers.

Moreover, there is a beach very close to the car park where most tourists leave their car to then walk through the area. If from here you start walking towards the left (the opposite direction to the bench) you will come across a beautiful beach very soon.

I honestly can't even remember the name but it is probably one of the most well-known ones in the area. This, however, is very easy to access, there are some wooden stairs which take you directly to the beach. The best thing is that when we went there wasn't anybody there, we had the beach completely to ourselves.

From the famous Cadaval viewpoint, you can admire the incredible landscape and the Fabrega beach. Here you can find the bench which is known as the prettiest one in the world which I mentioned before; I don't know if it is the prettiest but from it the place itself is magical. Here is where we came across the most people and in fact we had to wait quite a while to take a photo of the bench without there being people in the shot.

Punta do Fuciño do Porco

This place is known by this name because the shape which sailors in the area can see whilst they are sailing, is the shape of a pig's snout.

It is located in Marina Lucensa, or specifically the area O Vicedo, which is very close to the Loiba cliffs which I previously mentioned (only 21km away). It is also really close to another one of the must-visit stops on this route through the North of Galicia; the Cathedrals' Beach, 60km away. I will talk about this place later.

It has very recently become one of the most popular places to go hiking. And I say recently because it was, in fact, in 2017 when they reinforced the route with wooden barriers, which made the route safer and provoked the interest of many more tourists.

To get to this place which reminds me a little of San Juan de Gaztelugatze in Basque Country, you have to park the car and then walk for around 1.5km along an earthy path amongst trees. Once I got there, the route in itself along the walkway between the cliffs of the Punta do Fucino do Porco isn't much more than half a kilometre I believe. You can do it quite quickly and it isn't too difficult, but as always, it is better to wear comfortable shoes and clothes for walking and going up the steps.

From this walkway, to the left you can spot the inaccessible Pereira beach.

Fragas do Eume

I would first like to highlight that "fraga" in Galician is a kind of wood with different kinds of trees. In this park you can find all kinds of trees, from oak and chestnut trees to birches, ash, hazelnut trees, trees with wild fruits, laurel trees, etc.

The Fragas del Eume are very close to the city of La Coruna, approximately an hour away. They are characterised by being one of the best-conserved woods in the Atlantic and for having a great variety of trees like those that I mentioned beforehand. It was declared a Natural Park in 1997. Entrance is free.

Inside the park, there is an infinite choice of things to do. You can carry out up to 7 different routes, most of which are low difficultly and some of them are round trips, so with the same start and finishing points, and others are one way. The names of the routes are: Camino de Pena Fesa, Os Encomendeiros, Os Crozos, Os Cerqueiros, A Ventureira, A Pasada Vella and Cumios de Sanguiñedo. Only three of these routes are suitable for cycling (Cumios de Sanguiñedo, Cerqueiros and Pena Fesa). If you are not very sure which of these routes to take or which is the best, at the entrance there is a tourist office next to a restaurant; where they can give you information and leaflets about the park. We went, and for the time that we had to spend there (it would be nightfall in three or four hours), they advised us to do the Os Encomendeiros route.

This route starts at Pontedeume, specifically at the Cal Grande bridge, going across the Fornelos bridge until you get to the O Caaveiro Monastery.

In total the route is around 5.5km, not including the way back of course. Roughly, it took us about 3 hours to get there and back. The route is beautiful and we also were lucky enough to have incredible weather, it wasn't hot since it was winter, but the sky was completely clear and when the sun reflected in the water, it turned a beautiful turquoise colour. Here is a photo.

As for the Monastery, they offer free guided visits every so often, I don't remember when exactly, but we only had to wait half an hour for ours to start. This monastery has more than 10 centuries of history and it offers incredible views of the forest. There is also a restaurant nearby where you can eat or have something to drink.

Playa de las Catedrales

This place is a must-visit for anybody who goes to Galicia. It is located 10km away from Ribadeo and it is an incredible beach, in fact, it is more a work of art than a beach. The sea, the wind and time itself have created shapes which make this beach a magical place.

Important! Before visiting the Playa de Catedrales, so that you don't make the trip in vain, you need to check the tide timings, since it is only possible to walk across it and enjoy it properly when the tide is low.

Another thing to keep in mind is that since a couple of years ago now, they have limited the number of visitors, so if you go there, particularly in summer or Semana Santa (Easter), which is when it is more packed with tourists. it is important to research before going to see if you need to make a reservation.

Anyway, if it is possible, it is better to go in seasons such as autumn or spring since even in these seasons there are people there, but you can walk along it peacefully; but in summer it is crazy.

These have been only five places, but the North of Galicia offers an infinite number of charming places to visit. As I said to you before, I personally live in Cangas and it takes quite a lot of time for me to get there; so the times that I have been, I have only been able to visit the places which I consider the most essential ones, but I encourage you to discover lots more places in the area which are worth visiting.

And this has been everything. And thank you once again for reading!

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