A Guarda

A Guarda is exceptionally located at the mouth of the River Mino, facing the Atlantic Ocean the most southerly resort in Galicia next to the Portuguese border. It’s a fisherman’s port famous for its superb shellfish especially lobsters. It is easy to find a cheap, delightful meal usually caught from the sea the very same morning! There are some excellent local beaches close to the sea and river including Playa Area Grande.
 

View of A Guarda from Santa Tecla
by elchicogris @ flickr.com

It’s very famous for the extensive and well conserved remains of a pre-historic, fortified Celtic hill settlement (Santa Tecla) situated high up above the town in the wooded Monte Santa Tecla which was only discovered in 1913! The Celta as its known probably originates from about 500 years BC and there are remnants of over a 100 huts inside an encircling wall. Some have been fully restored with thatched roofs. There is also a stone circle, a church and Celtic museum. The views from the top in every direction either looking at the Atlantic Ocean or inland towards Portugal and the Mino river valley are out of this world and admiring the sunsets from here is one of the wonders of Galicia!

Santa Tecla

A Guarda and the south of Galicia also make for wonderful bases in which to explore the other side of the border and northern Portugal as far as Oporto which is less than an hour’s drive away thanks to the recent completion of a new motorway. This opens up numerous possibilities to visit the golden sandy beaches, and often, dunned coastline which stretches nearly a 100 kilometres from Oporto to A Guarda that includes numerous resorts such as Caminha, Viana do Castelo and Apullia, catering mainly for the Portuguese/Spanish. In addition, inland there are virtually undiscovered gems like the medieval cities with significant roman remains such as Braga, Barcelos, Guimarães and Ponte de Lima.

View from Santa Tecla Monte