A family field guide · Rías Baixas, Galicia
A few anchors, one map, and a coast worth wandering.
The dates
28 Jul → 4 Aug
Tuesday to Tuesday · 8 days
Home for the week
A house on the dunes — opposite the chapel where we got married. Sand under your feet in two minutes, the Atlantic in three. A brick BBQ in the garden does the rest of the work.
Sardines · albariño · long afternoons.
Part one
Everything else flexes around these.
Wednesday 28th
Long lunch with feet almost in the sand — Beach Paella in San Vicente do Mar. Terrace over the bay, paella for the table, and the Atlantic doing the rest.
Book ahead · San Vicente
Friday 30th & Saturday 31st
Spain's second-oldest wine festival, in Praza de Fefiñáns and along Paseo da Calzada. 40+ winery stalls, food, concerts, peñas in folk costume. Midnight fireworks over the waterfront.
Cambados · day & night
Sunday · optional
A village in costume re-enacting an 11th-century Norse raid on the Torres do Oeste. Drakkar landing ~13:00, mock battle, medieval market with mussels and Ulla wine for the warriors.
Catoira · ~35 min north
Also optional · a spare day
Half-day or full-day charter from Sanxenxo — skipper-led or rent-without-licence. Out to the mussel rafts, around Illa de Ons, or south to the Cíes. Browse what's free for your dates.
Part two
Everything from the lists below, pinned. Click a marker for the name.
Part three
Three clusters worth knowing — the open Atlantic at Lanzada, the rocky calm of San Vicente, and the quieter cove-belt of the Morrazo coast.
La Lanzada area
San Vicente do Mar
Bueu & the Morrazo coast
Part four
Working ports, granite squares, a pedestrian old town, and an island linked by a hyphen of a bridge.
Part five
The Atlantic Islands National Park — boat-only, white-sand, pine-shaded. Both go via the Mar de Ons / Nabia ferry operators.
Book this soon
Both islands run a strict daily visitor quota with Xunta authorisation. Lock the ferry + permit the moment dates are firm — summer slots vanish months ahead, and there's no walk-up route.
Ferry from Vigo, Cangas or Baiona. Day-trip — pack everything. Lighthouse walk, Rodas beach, no cars, no rubbish bins.
Ferry from Portonovo or Bueu. Smaller, more lived-in. Pulpo at the port, lighthouse, Praia de Melide.
Part six
An hour and a half east, the land buckles into deep canyons and terraced vineyards. The full day-trip pivot from coast to interior.
Heroic-viticulture country — Mencía and Godello grown on near-vertical terraces. A few cellars open for tastings, plus Romanesque monasteries.
Catamaran cruise along the river from Doade, or the cliff-edge mirador at Os Balcóns de Madrid.
Part seven
The week through a six-year-old's eyes.
Sanxenxo
Outdoor circuit just outside town — kid-sized karts available. Worth a morning if energy is high and the sea is cold.
Low tide
Bucket, net, a couple of hours either side of low tide on the rocks at Pedras Negras or anywhere granite meets sea. Free entertainment.
O Grove
Catamaran out to the bateas — pull a rope of mussels, eat some at sea with a glass of albariño, then loop the ría. ~90 min.
Charter
Samboat charters and the O Grove operators will rig handlines for kids — pollack, mackerel, the occasional surprise. Small thrill, huge memory.
Part eight