Vigo is a name that immediately conjures up memories of Ghostbusters II and how it isn’t anywhere near as good as the first movie. Sequels rarely are, to be fair. But if you’re someone who travels a bit, who’s on a cruise that’s passing by Portugal and northern Spain, or if you even live in the city itself, then Vigo is also a port in Galicia, and this would be the final port of call for us aboard Ventura on our 2021 Canary Islands cruise.
We’d been to Galicia before back in 2018 on Sapphire Princess when one of our ports included A Coruña on the northern coast of Spain. Vigo sits on the western coast but both cities offer similar excursion experiences for cruise travellers. On that previous occasion we’d hit the very impressive Santiago de Compostela so for this visit we were after something different. You’ll be able to see the main target we chose to explore in the next post in this travelogue series, but to start with here we’ll look at arrival in Vigo and the first part of the organised excursion to a popular viewpoint over the city.
The sun had not quite managed to climb over the horizon and hills that lined the Ria de Vigo estuary as Ventura made her way along it.
Cruise ship excursions are sometimes extremely early upon arrival at a port, sometimes quite a bit later, but on this occasion we’d have about an hour after breakfast to leisurely prepare for the moment we’d need to meet up and board the bus for the day’s activities. More photos of the Vigo skyline from Ventura’s berth, and of the empty pool area on the top of the ship then.
A final quick return to our room to use the loo, pick up water, etc. plus a few quick snaps from our balcony because you seriously can’t leave me alone for two minutes when we’re on holiday without me thinking “Yeah, another shot from here is exactly what everyone will be clamouring for when they come to read this drivel at some future point.”
The day’s excursion included just one location actually within what I’d consider the city of Vigo’s limits and that was the first stop of the tour. A drive through some cramped streets and up a hill with a spiralling-inwards road eventually brought us to Monte da Guía, a viewpoint a couple of kilometres north of where Ventura had docked.
In addition to some lovely views of Vigo and distant islands in the estuary the hilltop location housed a building which turned out to be the La Guía Hermitage. I won’t lie: it’s not the prettiest of buildings. Dedicated to Our Lady of the Guide and the Sacred Heart of Jesus this refuge for hermits to contemplate life and great beyond was built in 1951. The size of the stones that make up the hermitage would be better suited to a far larger, far grander structure, and indeed, the intention was for something on a bigger scale but the finances (or lack thereof) of the order that commissioned the building put a stop to that. There are some interesting architectural design decisions on show here, but overall it’s not something that really works for me.
Still, as a viewpoint for photos it’s a nice little spot, and in the pictures below you can see our ship docked at Vigo.
In the next part of this travelogue series I’ll cover our visit along the coast south of Vigo to the town of Baiona and the Monterreal Castle.