# A weekend in the Ribeira Sacra, an hour from Lugo and Ourense Two boats along the Sil canyon, wineries in Doade, the Balcones de Madrid at dawn, Santa Cristina among chestnut trees and Monforte de Lemos, sleeping in a Parador or a pazo. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/spain/galicia/ribeira-sacra/itineraries/ribeira-sacra-weekend-from-lugo · Revisado: 2026-11-12 Dónde: Ribeira Sacra and the Sil canyon The Ribeira Sacra deserves two days: one for water and wine, the other for viewpoints and monasteries. Monforte de Lemos, an hour from Lugo and under an hour from Ourense, is the base; the canyon starts 20 minutes away. This plan sleeps in the Parador, at the top of the town; if you prefer the countryside, swap it for Casa Grande de Rosende or the Rectoral de Anllo, in Sober. ## Where to sleep The Parador de Monforte occupies the monastery of San Vicente do Pino, with rooms around the cloister; it closes from 3 January to 1 March 2027. In Sober, Casa Grande de Rosende is a 16th-century pazo with a garden and vineyard that accepts dogs with notice, and the Rectoral de Anllo is a country house with a vegetable garden and home-cooked dinners. ## Getting around By car, without rushing. The canyon roads are narrow and winding, and to cross the Sil you have to go as far as a bridge: from Doade to Parada de Sil allow almost an hour. Don't try to see both banks on the same day. ## El plan ### Friday · 19:00 · Arrival in Monforte Leave the car at the Parador and walk down into the centre. Have dinner at the De Lemos restaurant, in the Parador itself. ### Saturday · 10:30 · Catamaran from A Abeleda Take the OU-0605 to the Ponte do Sil bridge. The 11:00 boat sails for 1 h 30 among terraced vineyards. Arrive half an hour early. ### Saturday · 13:30 · Lunch at the Algueira winery O Castelo, in Doade, has a terrace among the vines: caldo with turnip greens and kid from the Caurel. Closed on Wednesdays. ### Saturday · 16:00 · Tasting at Regina Viarum Three minutes away: a guided visit and a tasting of three to five wines, with a glass on the terrace above the canyon. ### Sunday · 9:30 · Balcones de Madrid Cross to the Ourense bank via Castro Caldelas to Parada de Sil. First thing, with the mist at the bottom of the canyon, the granite balconies are the best viewpoint in the Ribeira Sacra. ### Sunday · 11:00 · Monastery of Santa Cristina Romanesque among centuries-old chestnut trees, a few minutes away. Tuesday to Sunday, €2, booking on the Turismo Ribeira Sacra website. ### Sunday · 13:30 · Back through Monforte Lunch in Monforte and, if you make it, the Colegio de la Antigua at 16:45, with its El Greco paintings. Or a tasting at the Wine Centre before heading home. ## Un consejo más If you only have one day, keep the Saturday: boat, lunch at Algueira and a tasting. ## Cuándo no ir If you want a beach or nightlife. And at Christmas: the A Abeleda catamaran does not sail. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### How long does it take from Lugo or Ourense? A little under an hour to Monforte from both, and another 20 minutes to the canyon. ### How much does the weekend cost? With two nights at the Parador or a pazo, the boat, a tasting and meals, between €220 and €330 per person. ### Can I bring a dog? To the viewpoints and trails, on a lead. Not on the Diputación catamaran. Casa Grande de Rosende accepts animals with notice. ### When is the best time? In May and from September to October, with the grape harvest and the colour of the vines. ## Dónde dormir if you're driving - **Parador de Monforte de Lemos**: The Parador de Monforte occupies the San Vicente do Pino complex, at the top of the hill that dominates the town and the Lemos plain: the Benedictine monastery, the palace of the Counts of Lemos and, attached to them, the medieval keep. It is a four-star hotel. The monastic community dates back to the 9th century, but the building you see was built between 1626 and 1802, and the rooms are arranged around its neoclassical cloister. The common areas are in the palace's former rooms. Rooms around the cloister Paradores offers basic, standard and superior doubles, duplex rooms, a junior suite and an adapted room. Turismo de Galicia notes family rooms and a babysitting service, useful if you are travelling with small children. All have air conditioning, heating, wifi, television, minibar and safe. When booking, ask for yours to overlook the cloister. Pool over the plain, jacuzzi and gym In season an outdoor pool opens with views of the Lemos plain. There are also a jacuzzi and a gym. There is a lift, a laundry and a terrace with garden. Outdoor parking is free and the garage, paid, has an electric car charger. For eating you do not need to go out: the De Lemos restaurant serves inland Galician cooking at midday and at night, every day, and the café is open from 11:00 to midnight. The town on foot, the canyon by car From the door you walk down to the old quarter and the centre. In the town you have the Colegio de la Antigua, with its two paintings by El Greco, the Ribeira Sacra Wine Centre and, a little further away, the Galicia Railway Museum. The keep, next to the Parador, is temporarily closed according to the tourist office. For the canyon you need the car: the Ponte do Sil jetty, with the Provincial Council catamaran, is about 20 minutes along the Castro Caldelas road, and Doade, with its wineries, a little further on. Closed from 3 January to 1 March 2027 The Parador closes from 3 January to 1 March 2027. If you are travelling near those dates, confirm on 982 418 484. - **Casa Grande de Rosende**, desde 67 € / night: Casa Grande de Rosende is a pazo that the Díaz Varela family built in 1511 in Rosende, a hamlet of Sober in the Lugo part of the Ribeira Sacra, not far from the edge of the Sil canyon. The wall of the old manor house encloses more than 10,000 square metres of gardens and vineyard. Inside remain the chapel and the lounges with frescoes by Juan Bernardo de Castinandi, a Galician painter trained in Rome, and much of the period furniture. From the 16th century to the House of the Misses The house was extended in the late 18th century. In the mid-20th century some sisters of the family lived in it, and in the hamlet it was called the Casa de las Señoritas. In the late seventies the Vieitez family bought it and opened it to rural tourism in the late nineties. In 2005 a fire destroyed much of the building, and it was rebuilt respecting the original architecture. Thirteen rooms and one extra bed There is one special double room and twelve doubles, all with full bathroom, television and telephone. For rates, the website distinguishes standard, premium, suite and single. The extra bed only fits in the premium and costs €20 in low season and €22 in high: bear it in mind if you are travelling with a child. Prices include VAT: Standard: from €67 in low season and €82 in high. Premium: from €77 and €92. Suite: from €90 and €108. Single: from €54 and €65. High season is Easter and 15 July to 15 September. The website published a winter closure from mid-December to February; ask the dates for this winter before booking. House breakfast and tasting dinner Breakfast is not included: it is a buffet with home-made sweets, house cured meats and fruit from the garden, for €10. Dinner, of traditional inland cooking, is a tasting menu for €24 plus wine. There are two dining rooms, three indoor lounges and one outdoor, a library, a games room, a television room and a tennis court. Wifi and parking are free, there is a laundry service and they rent bicycles. Animals are admitted, with prior notice. For those who play, there is an 18-hole golf course about 5 km away, at Augas Santas, and a 9-hole one in Monforte, about 12 km away. Packages with boat and winery The house sells two-night packages outside high season that combine accommodation, breakfast and, depending on which, tasting dinner, a catamaran on the Sil, a winery visit with tasting and a visit to a pottery centre. See the day's price on its website. If you prefer to organise it yourself, from here you go down to Doade for the tasting at Adega Algueira and the catamaran from A Abeleda, or cross to the Ourense bank towards Santa Cristina de Ribas de Sil. - **Rectoral de Anllo**, desde 80 € / night: The Rectoral de Anllo is an 18th-century Galician manor house in Anllo, Sober, restored as a country house. It is surrounded by trees, in the Lugo part of the Ribeira Sacra, between the Cabe river and the Sil. It keeps original frescoes by Bernardo Pérez de Castinandi, an 18th-century Galician painter, and the cooking uses seasonal produce, much of it from its own garden. A bath in every room All rooms have a full bathroom with bath and bidet, and cotton bed linen and towels. The house lists three types: double, double A and suite; among the suites, the website highlights three with their own names, Marilín, Orballo and Amanece. It does not publish how many rooms it has in all or what distinguishes the double A from the double: ask if the view or size matters to you. 2026 prices by season The double costs €80 in low season, €90 in mid and €100 in high. The double A, €90, €100 and €110, and the suite, €100, €110 and €120. The extra bed is €20, or €25 in high season. High season is 2 to 5 April and all August; mid, from 27 March to 1 April, 15 to 31 July and 1 to 13 September; the rest of the year is low season. The house itself warns that the dates are indicative. Breakfast is extra: €9 for the basic and €15 for the full. Dinner costs €29 with bread and water; other drinks extra. It is zero-mile cooking, from the garden and in season. Library, sun gallery and garden Life in the house centres on the common areas: a garden where you can also eat, a terrace facing the sunset, a wooden sun gallery, the library with reading room and the fireplace, and the dining room. There is free wifi in the common areas, free private parking and a laundry service. The website says nothing about dogs or a policy for children: if you are travelling with either, check beforehand. The canyon around The house suggests hiking and fishing on the nearby rivers, the area's rural Romanesque and the Sil canyons. On the other bank, already in Ourense, are the Mao river walkways and the Santa Cristina de Ribas de Sil monastery. Os Chancís, with its jetty, is in the same parish of Anllo. Another historic house nearby, also with Castinandi frescoes, is Casa Grande de Rosende. - **Parador de Santo Estevo**, desde 119 € / night: Monks' cells above the canyon The monastery of Santo Estevo de Ribas de Sil was founded in the 10th century and grew over the centuries, so it mixes styles: it has three cloisters, one Romanesque, one Gothic and one Renaissance. Today it is a Parador. It is in Nogueira de Ramuín, on the Ourense bank of the Sil canyon, surrounded by forest and with views of the slopes of the river. The rooms occupy the monks' former cells. There are standard doubles, superior doubles and junior suites, with contemporary decor inside stone walls, air conditioning, minibar, safe and flat-screen television; there is a lift and accessible facilities. The spa is in the monastery's former cellars and has an outdoor jacuzzi looking onto the forest. Arriving by car along the Ourense bank The Parador is set apart from the villages, surrounded by forest, and you arrive by car: from Ourense it is 28 km on the A-52, or you follow the N-120 towards Monforte and turn off at Penalva towards Luintra. Large coaches cannot come down to the door. The outdoor car park is free, partly covered, and there is a charger for electric cars. Having dinner here makes sense, because there is little around. The restaurant serves inland Galician cooking, with chestnut and wines from the Ribeira Sacra, and fish from the rías. The spa circuit costs €35 for guests (€30 with the Amigo de Paradores card). If you are going with children, bear in mind that children under 4 do not enter the spa and that those aged 4 to 12 pay half and have a separate timetable worth asking about. When to go and what it costs It closes in winter: from 3 January to 1 March 2027. In the calendar on its website, a double for November 2026 comes from €119 room only, and some days reaches about €190–200. There are rates with breakfast, half board, non-refundable rates and special prices for Amigos de Paradores. From here, close by, are the monastery of Santa Cristina, in the forest on the same bank, and the Balcones de Madrid over the deepest part of the canyon.