Vigo, Port of Call Tips for cruising Page under construction

Rande Bridge, in the Vigo estuary.

Are you arriving to Vigo on a cruise? You have probably lots of questions about my city. Let me show what to do in Vigo; my hometown.
Your will be probably offered a shore excursion to Santiago de Compostela, which I will tell you about it later. If you decide to spend all day in Vigo, you´ll find some tips about how to enjoy your stay in the city

Language: Spanish. It´s hard to find someone with a decent level of English, but probably you would success if you contact with young people.
Location: Vigo is located in the autonomous region Galicia, which has his own language called Gallego, besides own culture and ethnic traditions.
Culture and Traditions: Forget spanish cliches like Flamenco, Sevillanas songs and Andalusian dancers. Hard to find Paella and bullfighting simply doesn't exist in Vigo. Try to imagine Irish music. So ours is quite alike. Rapa das Bestas is the only “thing” our men do to animals, and consists of popular parties “Rodeo Like”, in which tough men lock down horses and cut their hair off without harming the animals. Locals eat seafood, and drink refreshing wines like “Albariño” and “Ribeiro”. We indeed have Celtic roots, and windpipe like the Scottish. Did you expect that?.

Currency: Euro (find information about currency exchange at www.xe.com)

Transportation
- Taxi: 2.23 Euros start (1800mts or 5.10 minutes). Then, 0.58 Euros Km
- Bus: 0.91 Euros. Information at www.vitrasa.es
- Touristic Bus:
   From June 15 to September 26.
   Adults it's 6 Euros
   From age 3 to 12 it costs 4.25 Euros
   Younger than 3, free.
   Pay on the bus. Hop on, hop off bus. You can go up and down as many times as you want
The Bus usually stops at Canovas del Castillo street, but, when big cruises arrive, bus will wait for the passengers outside, just at the cruise gangway.
I am looking forward to having information about the conditions in 2005; and as soon as I get informed, I´ll post them.
Train: You can take a train to go Santiago de Compostela. The station is at the centre, not far from the harbour Info at www.renfe.es

Shopping: Principe Street is a pedestrian street with lots of shops, textile, clothes, shoes, leather & accessories, jewel & gifts, lens & photo, book, pharmacy, lottery, tobacco... Other important shopping streets are Urzaiz and Gran Via. The equivalent to Harrods in Spain (not as posh as the British one) is called El Corte Ingles and it´s located at Gran Via Street.
Please, be aware that if you arrive on Sunday, most of the shops will be closed

Nature.
You have probably seen Cies Islands in your way into the bay. Indeed a natural paradise, just a few miles away from Vigo. It´s easy to get there. A boat just opposite your ship, will take you there.

Beaches. Do you want beaches? take a taxi or a bus to Samil Beach. It´s a white sand beach with restaurants, pools, sports spaces and green areas

Musems.
Municipal Museum - Inside Castrelos Park, it´s the largest painting collection in Galicia.
MARCO - Museum of Contemporany Art, just in Principe Street
Sea Museum -
Words Museum - Located in Samil Beach



In the Old Town, there is a blue star. Fresh oysters are served here.
The park called "Parque Municipal do Castro" (Castro Municipal Park) is a hill with a castle on the top. From this point, you can enjoy beautiful views of Vigo bay. Be aware that all the area showed on the map is in slope to the hill.

I'll post pictures of blue locations and Castro Park in the next days

Cruise pier. Right now, there are new fences separating the cruises from the public. There´s also a plan to refit the area to make it more attractive and pleasant because of the Volvo Ocean Race 2005.	Old town, with the medieval market which is Celebrated on the anniversary of Napoleon troops defeat when trying to occupy the city.	Alameda walk