What to see in Ourense 1 day
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Ourense’s capital boasts a great variety of historical monuments, and cultural and gastronomic experiences — not forgetting its thermal springs. If you are on holiday and you’d like to spend a day in Ourense, it is best to organise your itinerary so that it includes a range of activities that, together, will give you an accurate and attractive picture of the city as a whole. Your best plan would be to spend the night in Ourense, so that you can make an early start on your sightseeing, when the city is still lit by the light of its street lamps, because at this time of day, the atmosphere is even more special. Your day’s activities could include everything from visiting churches, palaces and museums to a bath at a thermal spa. Whatever your tastes, you definitely won’t want to miss a gastronomic tour of the Os Viños area, where you can go from bar to bar, enjoying tapas and good wines in every establishment in this maze of city centre streets.
As all distances within this city are quite manageable on foot, we recommend you wear comfortable footwear so that you can walk around every corner, every square and park, and along the banks of the river Miño. Just a single day in Ourense is enough to make you fall in love with its spirit and its calm beauty.
Itinerary day 1
10.00 a.m.-11.00 a.m.
As Burgas
Historical interest alone justifies starting your day with a visit to the As Burgas springs, as the archaeological remains found here show that this is where the Romans founded the city. The water that gushes from these springs at a temperature of over 60ºC comes up from a kilometre below the surface. Visit the three sections: the Burga de Abaixo, the esplanade with its swimming pool, and the Burga de Arriba, as well as the Interpretation Centre to get an in-depth idea of its history.
11.30 a.m.-12.00 noon
Plaza Mayor [Main Square]
Our tour continues in the Plaza Mayor [main square] — regarded as the heart of the historic quarter, and home to many of Ourense’s most iconic buildings. Although the Bishop’s Palace, the church of Santa María Madre and the Casa Consistorial [Town Hall] are all noteworthy, we can assure you that the beautiful colonnades and street terraces of the side of the square known as “Espolón” will remain in your memory forever.
12.15 p.m.-1.00 p.m.
Cathedral of San Martiño
From the Plaza de las Damas, you can reach the southern door of the Cathedral of San Martiño (also, take the opportunity to see the neighbouring square, the Plaza del Trigo). Inside, the cathedral has some not-to-be-missed treasures such as the Pórtico del Paraíso (take time to look at it because it truly is a wonder), the High Chapel, and the attractive Chapel of Santo Cristo.
1.15 p.m.-2.00 p.m.
Cloister of San Francisco
This old cloister is one of Galicia’s jewels of Gothic architecture. It has a rectangular floor plan and, curiously, none of the sides has the same number of arches. It is worth taking a careful look at the decoration of the areas between the arches and the capitals. The church to which this cloister belonged was transferred to San Lázaro Park in 1929.
2.30 p.m.-4.00 p.m.
Lunch at A Taberna
This traditionally-decorated restaurant specialises in food from the land — with no shortage of Galician stews, spider crab croquettes, grilled Galician scallops, turnip tops with seafood from the Atlantic Ocean, or good sirloins or fillets of Galician beef. Ribeiro wines feature heavily on the wine list, but there is also a selection of Portuguese and French wines.
4.30 p.m.-6.00 p.m
Thermal springs along the river Miño
As you let your lunch go down, we recommend the Ruta Termal del Miño [Miño Thermal Trail], which can be covered on foot, on a bicycle, or even on the train (the Tren de las Termas), which departs from the Plaza Mayor. Don’t forget to take a rucksack with your swimsuit, towel and flip-flops, and you can try out each of the thermal spas as you come across them along the 3 or 4 kilometres of the trail.
6.15 p.m.-7.00 p.m.
Bridges of Ourense
If you’re interested in works of engineering, we suggest that you might like to see some of the bridges that cross the river Miño as it courses through Ourense. There is a striking contrast between the Puente Mayor and the Puente del Milenio [Millennium Bridge]. The former dates from Roman times, while the latter was built at the start of the twenty-first century. Both are remarkable, but they are very different.
7.30 p.m.-8.30 p.m.
Souvenir shopping
Before dinner, you could spend some time looking around the streets close to San Lázaro Park, which have a good selection of shops. If you love fashion, you’ll already know that Ourense has nurtured some of the industry’s top designers, such as Roberto Verino and Adolfo Domínguez.
9.00 p.m.-11.00 p.m.
Dinner at Nova
This restaurant, headed up by Julio Sotomayor and Daniel Guzmán, two homegrown chefs, has a shiny Michelin star and a cuisine described as “de raíces” [with roots]. They offer three tasting menus that vary according to the seasons: “Raíces”, “Nova” and “Cima”, with prices that are very reasonable given the quality of the establishment.