Getaways from Ourense: day trips and destinations close by.

The Galician city with the most different ways out

Ourense is the Galician city with the most different ways out: each road leads to a different landscape. The N-120 goes east via Monforte de Lemos, the gateway to the Ribeira Sacra, and follows the Sil towards O Barco and El Bierzo, where Las Médulas are. Via Luíntra you go down to the Santo Estevo landing stage, in the Sil canyon, in about 40 minutes. The A-52 leaves in two directions: east, via Verín, to Puebla de Sanabria and its lake; west, to Vigo, from where the boats leave for the Cíes Islands, and to the Tui border, on the way to Guimarães and Porto. To the south, the N-540 passes through Celanova, Bande and Lobios to the Portela do Homem border, where Peneda-Gerês begins. To the north, the AP-53 climbs via Lalín towards Santiago de Compostela.

The train works for Santiago: there is a direct service in about 40 minutes, with the station twenty minutes' walk from the cathedral. Monforte also has a station, with few trains on Sunday. For the Sil, the Gerês and Sanabria you need a car. When you cross into Portugal, remember that it is an hour earlier there.

Catamaran on the Sil and wineries at Doade

Less than an hour away is the Ribeira Sacra: Monforte, 47 minutes away, with El Greco, the Railway Museum and the Parador, and the A Abeleda catamaran with the Doade wineries, 63. In the city itself, the Miño thermal promenade.

Between an hour and an hour and a half there is room for a full Sunday in almost any direction. The Cíes are 78 minutes away counting the road to Vigo; Santiago, 85; Combarro and the Poio monastery, 89; the Gerês, 90, both along the Roman road of the Geira and for the granaries of Lindoso, and Puebla de Sanabria, 95.

A little further, between an hour and a half and two and a half hours, are Cambados (100 minutes), the Orellán viewpoint at Las Médulas (115) and Guimarães (133), with the cable car up to the Penha. The Costa da Morte (144) and Porto (148) are already better enjoyed with a night.

In winter, what has no ports or boats

In winter, the most convenient things are those without ports or boats: the Sunday in Monforte, Santiago from the cathedral roofs or the castle of Puebla de Sanabria and the monastery above the lake. In the city, the paid hot springs are open all year; the Miño public pools are closed until spring 2027.

In spring, the Gerês is at its best: the Sunday along the Roman road and the Caniçada viewpoints is recommended in April and May, and the one at Soajo and Lindoso, from April to June. In May the Sil canyon boat with lunch at a winery sails daily.

In summer it is best to head for the water: the Cíes, with the climb to the lighthouse and an afternoon at Rodas, with authorisation and boat booked, or Lake Sanabria in two nights. In July and August, the pools and the Portela do Homem road fill up.

In autumn, the plan is to stay close. In October and November, the terraced vineyards of the Sil turn ochre: the autumn Sunday with catamaran, Nova and the Outariz hot springs leaves from the city itself. From mid-September to mid-October is the deer rut in the Sierra de la Culebra, on a guided Saturday or a weekend in Puebla.

Santiago on a 40-minute train

• Without a car, in a day: Santiago from the cathedral roofs. A train of about 40 minutes, the Portico, the granite rooftops and lunch opposite the Mercado de Abastos.
• With two nights, close by: the Ribeira Sacra. 47 minutes away, with two boats through the canyon, the Balcones de Madrid at dawn and Santa Cristina among chestnut trees.
• With two nights, in Portugal: the Gerês. An hour and a half to the Portela do Homem on Friday, two nights in the village of Gerês or in Campo do Gerês and back on Sunday via Lindoso.