The Best Beach in the World?

As the weather has been improving, the ferry's have once again began to run at the weekends to Las Islas Cies. Not many people know about these islands, which are situated off the coast of Vigo. The islands were declared a nature reserve in 1980, and there are lots of measures in place to protect them, for example there is one island where you cannot go. It is also possible to camp on the islands during the Summer, provided the weather is good.

Since arriving in Vigo, and enduring the worst winter possible, people had been trying to cheer me up with the prospect of Summer. "Oh in Summer, Galicia is beautiful", "Galicia has the best beaches" (or bitches as I was often told by mistake!). As well as this, I had been told by almost every Galician I had met about the Cies Islands: in 2007 one of the beaches, Praia das Rodas, was named by the Guardian Newspaper as the best beach in the world. This is the article if you are interested in having a read: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2007/feb/16/beach.top10 We decided to pay a visit to see what the fuss was all about and whether they were as beautiful as we had been told!! 

  

And we definitely weren't disappointed. The beaches were stunning, as was the whole island. We relaxed on the beach, and somehow Giuseppe managed to survive swimming in the freezing cold water, then walked up to the top to admire the views. It was about a 40 minute walk, and was definitely worth it. The views were spectacular, and it was lovely to relax at the top with a glass of Sangria and friends. We had a fantastic day, I just wish we could have stayed to camp and see the sun rise. The Guardian were not wrong about these beaches, and if you are ever in the area in the Summer, you MUST visit Las Islas Cies.... the ferry tickets are relatively cheap, you can spend the whole day there, and you will never forget it. 

The only thing I would say is watch out for the seagulls... speaking as someone who is completely terrified of birds, these are like nothing that I have seen before. When you are sitting on the beach, they swoop down in hoards at the slightest smell or sight of food. 

The trip wouldn't have been complete without a panic attack on my part because of the killer seagulls, heading off with Ella for a stroll to calm me down, and ending up wandering into a protected zone with a park keeper shouting at us for innocently paddling in a lake that was actually a protected wildlife pond.... oopsy!! But all in all, a perfect day with amazing company. I am truly so grateful for all of my experiences this year, and this is up there with one of my favourites.

Catherine x

P.S. As always I cannot take credit for all of these fantastic photos - thankyou Callie!!