Why visit Combarro in low season

Want to know what the Galician town of Combarro looks like on a gray, rainy day in the off-season? The answer is: authentic.

Why do I recommend traveling to Combarro at other times of the year than July and August?

Just take a look at the pictures and tell me what you "don't miss". you "don't miss" in them.

A word to the wise is enough 😉.

But there are other reasons:

Parking is easy to find.
You can eat in the restaurant you feel like (and with peace of mind).
You have the opportunity to talk to the locals without them being under the stress of a crowded store or a 10-meter queue at the door of the bar.
Galicia wouldn't be Galicia without a bit of fog and drizzle, wouldn't it?

So, Are you coming to visit Combarro at the end of September?

What to see in Combarro

Combarro is a small fishing village that you could walk around in less than an hour.

But if you really stop to breathe every detail, you can spend hours on it without getting tired:

Balconies full of flowers.
Infinite stone walls.
Hórreos overlooking the sea.
Crossroads on (almost) every corner...

In addition, you will find several informative signs throughout the village written in Galician, Spanish, English...

I recommend you to pay attention to them. In the absence of a flesh and blood guide, they are the perfect tool to immerse yourself in the history of Combarro.

For example? These are some of the curiosities I learned:

Hórreos

These typical Galician structures were generally used to store grain.

However, the hórreos of Combarro are special.

How so?

Because instead of being located next to country houses, they served as fish dryers for the fishermen of the village.

That is why most of them (although not all) are located on the seafront, giving that unique personality to the maritime profile of Combarro.

Cruceiros

Square with the cross of Combarro, Galicia

A cruceiro is a religious sculpture with a granite column on which rests a cross and sometimes also figures, such as a Christ, a Virgin or both.

They are usually located in squares or crossroads and in Combarro you will find up to 7 examples, almost all of them with the Virgin facing the sea and the Christ facing the land (one of them, the one on the beach of Padrón, is oriented just the opposite).

Beach and coast

Hórreos on the coast of Combarro, Galicia

One of the most spectacular views of Combarro is the one you get from its hórreos from the sand.

You can see them in high season (I imagine that taking a dip in the Padrón beach must be a luxury for the senses) or enjoy them while strolling along the shore out of season.

Here I saw for the first time the pots that have been used to catch octopus for centuries:

Octopus shells piled up on an old boat on Combarro beach

Curious, aren't they?

Where to eat

When we arrived in Combarro it was already 3 o'clock in the afternoon and we were getting hungry.

We thought it would be difficult to get a table in a place with such good reviews as O Bocoi restaurant, but we only had to wait 5 minutes to be seated in the lounge overlooking the Pontevedra estuary.

The food was fantastic (clams in sauce and octopus a feira).

But you know what?

The dolphins jumping in the sea by the window put the finishing touch to the evening.

I'm sure you can also eat very well in many other restaurants in Combarro. But I can recommend O Bocoi with full knowledge of the facts 😉.

Where to park

If you visit Combarro in your own vehicle and in low season, you can find free online parking on the main street that runs through the interior of the village or in the port area.

I have marked the areas where I saw available (ample) parking on the map at the bottom of the page.

Visiting in high season? Then... good luck! 🙂 🙂

Where to sleep near Combarro

There are many hotel offers in Combarro and surroundings.

But I can't tell you about any of them in first person because the day we visited the village we were on our way from Pontevedra to Cangas del Morrazo.

Are you interested in these sleeping locations? Then here is a short description:

Lodging in Pontevedra

The night before we spent the night at Teresa's penthouse in downtown Pontevedra (via Airbnb).

It is a very small but 100% functional apartment a few steps from the center of Pontevedra. I recommend it only for 2 people who are going to spend little time inside the apartment (because of its size).

However, if you just want it to sleep, take a shower and have a coffee before leaving home, this is your place 🙂 🙂

Hórreos in front of the beach in Combarro, Galicia, Spain.

Accommodation in Cangas del Morrazo

We decided to spend 3 days in Cangas doing "workation" (that is, working and vacationing at the same time, easier said than done, believe me 😉).

For this we chose the Casa Rural la Garita.

It is a beautiful B&B, very comfortable and with free parking at the east end of Cangas, right where the beach ends.

From there to the port where you take the boats to Vigo or the Cíes islands it takes 35-40 minutes walking along the promenade, but you save moving the car and looking for parking in the center of Cangas (a nightmare even in low season).

The best thing about the house is that it has few rooms (it is very quiet) and a large living room overlooking the estuary where we took the opportunity to advance some remote work.