What to do · Cíes Islands
Oysters on Rúa da Pescadería and the Climb to Monte O Castro, in Vigo
Information
- Duration
- 2 h 30
- Season
- All year; oysters, every day
- Who it's for
- All ages
Vigo has a street that everyone calls the oyster street. It is Rúa da Pescadería, in the Casco Vello (old town), a few minutes' walk from the Estación Marítima, where the boat to the Cíes leaves. There the oyster sellers open oysters in front of you and you eat them at the next table. Afterwards, walking up through the centre, you reach Monte O Castro, the highest point of the centre, looking towards the islands you sailed past.
How the Pescadería oysters work
According to Turismo de Vigo, the oysters are raised in Arcade, at the head of the ría, and every morning they are taken straight from the nurseries to Rúa da Pescadería. They are sold daily by four oyster sellers in the Casco Vello. There is no restaurant in between: you buy the oysters from them, they open them on the spot and you sit at the tables put out by the street's bars. They are eaten raw, with lemon, and with an albariño, a ribeiro or a beer, which you order at the bar whose table you are using.
It is more a tapa tradition than a meal: a few oysters standing or sitting, a drink and on you go. Turismo de Vigo does not publish hours or prices. As the oysters arrive in the morning, the natural time to go is aperitif hour. Ask the price before ordering.
For parking, the tourist office lists three car parks nearby: Independencia, Areal and Pintor Colmeiro. If you come from the Cíes boat, there is no need to move the car: the street is right in the centre, above the port.
Up above, Monte O Castro
From the Casco Vello you walk up through the streets of the centre to O Castro park. At 149 metres, it is the highest point in central Vigo. From the viewpoint you see the city at your feet, the Morrazo mountains on the opposite shore and, to the west, the Cíes islands. Turismo de Galicia highlights its sunsets over the sea.
At the top are the walls, gates and loopholes of the castle that guarded the ría, and the interior of the enclosure has become a garden. The hill is a large park, with trees and a pine wood, and in the lower part a hill-fort settlement (castro) from the 3rd to 1st centuries BC is preserved, which later became a Roman fortification and then had the hermitage of Nosa Señora do Castro.
How to fit it in
It works as half a day in Vigo when you return from the last boat with time to spare, or as a morning plan if the sea doesn't allow the trip to the Cíes. With children, the park and the fortress offer more than the oysters. If you want to see up close the ría's other crop, mussels, the raft boat leaves from the same port.
Tips
- At aperitif hour The oysters reach the street every morning from Arcade.
- Ask the price first You pay the oyster seller for the oysters and the bar for the drink.
- Sunset at O Castro Go up at the end of the day to watch the sun fall behind the Cíes.
Frequently asked questions
Where do you eat oysters in Vigo?
On Rúa da Pescadería, in the Casco Vello, which Vigo people call the oyster street.
Where do the oysters come from?
From Arcade, according to Turismo de Vigo; they arrive on the street every morning.
Can you see the Cíes from Vigo?
Yes, from the Monte O Castro viewpoint, to the west.
What is at the top of O Castro?
The walls and loopholes of the castle, a garden inside the enclosure and the viewpoint over the ría.
As a family
