Museo do Mar de Galicia, in Alcabre (Vigo)

The Museo do Mar de Galicia (Galician Sea Museum) is the place to understand what you see from the boat to the Cíes: fishing, shellfish gathering, raft aquaculture, canneries and the biology of the ría. It is in Alcabre, on the south shore of the Ría de Vigo, towards the exit to the sea, at Avenida Atlántida, 160. It costs €5 and is closed on Mondays.

What is inside

The museum occupies the old Alcabre-Molino de Viento cannery, from 1887. The restoration was begun by the architects Aldo Rossi and César Portela, and after Rossi's death Portela finished it in 2002: five old halls recovered, a new building of another five and the old pier extended out to sea.

The permanent exhibition is organised in large illuminated cubes that recall port containers, with videos, audio, interactive screens and original objects on the history of fishing. There are sections devoted to the sea routes to Compostela, the Galician merchant navy and twenty-five centuries of oceanography. Since 2006 it has also housed what the Xunta's underwater heritage research recovers.

Outside, on the pier, are the aquarium, which recreates the ecosystems from the museum's pier to the cliffs of the Cíes, and a lighthouse. In the same grounds the hill fort of Punta del Muiño del Viento, an Iron Age settlement, is preserved and shown. Temporary exhibitions change; the museum also has a restaurant, O Croque.

Opening hours and price

• Winter (16 September to 20 June): Tuesday to Friday, 10:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 19:00; Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, 11:00 to 14:00 and 17:00 to 20:00.
• Summer (21 June to 15 September): Tuesday to Sunday, 11:00 to 14:00 and 16:30 to 20:30.
• Closed on Mondays, except public holidays, when it opens with Sunday hours. Entry ends half an hour before closing. It closes on 24, 25 and 31 December and on 1 and 6 January; on 5 January it only opens in the morning.

General admission costs €5. The reduced price, €3, is for young people aged 9 to 18, students, retirees, the unemployed, pilgrims, accredited large families and groups of more than ten. Under-8s go in free. For information and group bookings, call 986 247 750, Monday to Friday from 10:00 to 14:00.

Who it is for

It suits families, and above all on days when the sea doesn't allow the trip to the Cíes: the aquarium shows indoors the seabeds you won't see from Rodas beach. For an adult with an interest in the ría, the part on canneries and rafts complements the mussel boat. Note the split hours: between 14:00 and the afternoon the museum closes.