Ribeira Sacra Tour: The Sil river Canyon
One day tour to the Ribeira Sacra and the Sil Canyon, departure from Ourense. It includes a boat trip, cultural visits and wine tasting.
Tour summary
IMPORTANT: this tour will resume its regular departures on March 2020. During low season, you can find available with regular departures our half day tours Ribeira Sacra Minitour and Ribeira Sacra Wine Tour.
The tour of The Sil river Canyon is the first tour offered by Excursion Ribeira Sacra, with regular departures from the citiy of Ourense. In this organized tour you will visit the most renowned places of the south side (province of Ourense) of the Ribeira Sacra.
Tour in a nutshell
- One-day tour around Ribeira Sacra
- Smal size groups, 21 people max
- Organized visits with Official Guide
- Departure from Ourense train station: 09:45 (you must arrive 10min earlier)
- Departure from Ourense city center: 10:00 (you must arrive 10min earlier)
- Arrival to Ourense: 20:30 (approximate time)
- Price per person: 70€
What is included
- Transportation from the chosen departure location
- Boat ride through the Sil river Canyon
- Visit to Monastery of San Pedro de Rocas
- Visit to Monastery of Santa Cristina (or Castle)
- Visit to two Viewpoints
- Visit to a local winery with wine tasting
Gallery
Video
Departure from Ourense train station after picking up customers at the bus stop of San Lazaro park, at the city center of Ourense. After completing the check-in of all passengers, we will head to the Monastery of San Pedro de Rocas, the oldest monastery in Galicia (Spain), with most of its church carved directly in rock.
After visiting the monastery, we will head to the pier of Santo Estevo to start the boat trip on the Sil River. During the navigation you will cross the Sil Canyon (the most abrupt area of the Ribeira Sacra), where you will be able to see terraces of vineyards located in areas of great slope, being one of the most representative images of the viticultura heroica (harvest of heroes) in that region.
Once the boat trip is finished, we will continue the excursion and on our way to Parada de Sil we will have time to visit a Sil Canyon viewpoint, we will stop at Cabezoas viewpoint, one of the most famous viewpoints in the Ribeira Sacra.
We will continue to a village called Parada de Sil, with several restaurants where we will have a 1h 20min break for lunch, and regain strength before continuing our tour through the Ribeira Sacra. Note: lunch is not included in the tour price, unless you request it during the reservation process.
Afterwards we will to visit the Monastery of Santa Cristina de Ribas de Sil, hidden among Chestnut trees and located in the slopes of the Sil Canyon, is one of the symbols of the Ribeira Sacra and one of the best examples of the Galician romanesque architecture.
Note: if for logistics constraints we cannot visit Santa Cristina, we will head to the village of Castro Caldelas, listed as one of the most beaufitul villages in Spain. Over there, we will visit the Castle of the Condes de Lemos.
After visiting this monument, we will head again to the riverside of Rio Sil where we will enjoy the incredible scenery that you can be seen from the Peña de Matacás viewpoint. From there you will be able to observe the vineyards located in the slopes of the riverbanks.
To end the day we will stop at the village of A Abeleda, where we will visit the winery "Adega Vella". In this winery the will explain us the whole wine making process, and also we will taste some of their wines.
After saying goodbye to the Ribeira Sacra, we will head back to Ourense and drop our customers off at their departure points.
Info: it might be possible that some tours are done in the opposite order of visits, for operational reasons.
Meeting Point and Schedule
Departure Time
- Ourense - Train station – 09:45 (open area in front of the train station)
- Ourense - San Lazaro park – 10:00 (bus stop at the bottom of the park)
IMPORTANT: departures times are very strict, the tour won't wait for customers that show up late. We recommend you to arrive 10 minutes before to the departure point.
Arrival Time (approximate)
- Ourense - Train station – 20:15 (open area in front of the train station)
- Ourense - San Lazaro park – 20:30 (bus stop at the bottom of the park)
Price
- Departure from Ourense:
- Price – Adults: 70€, Children: 35€, Babies: free
Details
- Approximate duration: 10h30min from Ourense.
- Language: Spanish / English (other languages please contact us).
- Included: Transportation by Bus, Boat trip, Visits and Tickets, Visit to winery and wine tasting, Travel Insurance.
- Not included: anything not mentioned in included.
- Ticket: you will need to print or show the receipt that you receive in your email to join the tour.
Recommendations and notices
- If you get dizzy easily, it is recommended that you take some medication for sickness because the roads in the area have many curves.
- There are not many places where you can go to the restroom, try to go when instructed by the guide.
Cancellations
The tour will take place as long as we have a group of at least 10 people, in other case the tour can be canceled by notifying with at least 5 days in advance.
If it gets cancelled we will offer the possibility of making the trip on another available date, or in other case the refund of the amounts that have been paid.
F.A.Q.
- Cancellation costs if any.
- A penalty, consisting of 5% of the total trip if the withdrawal occurs more than 10 days and less than 15 days before the date of departure of the trip; 15% between days 3 and 10, and 25% within 48 hours prior to departure. If you do not show up at the scheduled time for departure, you will not be entitled to any refund of the amount paid, unless otherwise agreed by the parties.
Departures
We use minibuses for transportation, with up to 21 seats. The goal is to offer the best experience possible to our customers, staying away from very big groups.
