La Coruna Galicia

This page offers a brief overview of the province and city of (la) A Coruna. If you want to explore la Coruna in more detail, use the orange buttons in the yellow menu bar to the right. From there you can find out about the old town, the city's many and varied sightseeing attractions, its different districts, buildings, architecture and much more. There are 17 la Coruna pages in total, some of which are included as links in the text below, so have a good look around - it is a great city and a stunning province.

To the right, the 2nd century Tower of Hercules lighthouse, the oldest and most famous image of la Coruna city.

Confusingly, "Corunna" in English is spelt "la Coruna" in Spanish and "A Coruna" in the region of Galicia (gallego), but all refer to the same district and conurbation in northern Spain. Just to keep you on your toes, we also interchange and jump between these alternate spellings.

The greater province of A Coruna is Galicia's most significant district and has the highest population, the greatest number of towns and cities and the most prosperous economy of the region. Its three main cities are Santiago de Compostela, the Galician capital (which has its own section in galiciaguide), la Coruna, the provincial capital, and the seaport city of Ferrol. The area is also famous for its many fishing villages, amongst the most notable of which are Ribeira and Finisterre, the latter of which lies on the infamous "coast of death" (costa da morte). If you visit our Galician towns section you can find out about these and many other villages and towns of the province.

After Santiago de Compostela, la Coruna is probably Galicia's most visited locality. As well as acting as the provincial capital, it is an important location in its own right and possesses the world's oldest working lighthouse, the Tower of Hercules and the galeria (glass fronted) harbour buildings that have given rise to it becoming known as the "glass city".

La Coruna city also has a medieval quarter, a 9 km promenade, a sea front tram system and an international port, offering UK flights to Heathrow via Iberia airlines. Its Maria Pita square, with the massive and palatial "Palacio Municipal" building is also a must see attraction for all visiting tourists.

La Coruna province

Moving away from the capital, the province of la Coruna offers the option of spectacular inland scenery, or a never ending supply of beaches punctuated with seaside towns. Many of the area's visitors, whilst initially exploring its main cities, ultimately get more enjoyment from renting a car and hopping around from town to town. Today there are also some tour companies (e.g Galicia Mystic Tours) offering trips that run down the la Coruna coast making stops at some of the larger towns and villages. Right, looking down part of the sea front promenade with the coastal castle of San Anton in the distance to the right.

Over recent years the province of la Coruna has definitely seen tourism take center stage with its large port becoming a regular disembarking point on the cruise liner schedule. More often than not, passengers are transported from these ships to A Coruna's more famous sister city of Santiago de Compostela, but an increasing number of tourists are now choosing to explore la Coruna city itself.

When looking at Galica's four provinces, it is A Coruna that seems most at ease with international tourism. There are plenty of tourist information points and an increasing number of guides and town maps are now becoming available in English, French and German. Hotels, villas and apartments are also more easily sourced in this locality than in say in Pontevedra or Lugo and the big cities, especially Santiago de Compostela, have something of a cosmopolitan air to them.

That said la Coruna is unmistakably a part of Galicia and it serves up the architecture, cuisine and Celtic ancestry of the region, but perhaps in a way that makes it a more easily accessible to the foreign tourist.

A few examples of must see localities in the province as a whole include la Coruna itself, the magnificent city of Santiago de Compostela, Betanzos and at least two or three of the areas coastal towns, with Noia, Muros and Porto Sin being some good examples.

Finally, reaching la Coruna has never been easier, especially if you live in the UK. The Province holds two of Galicia's three international airports at Santiago de Compostela and Coruna itself, and from the UK direct flights leave both Heathrow and Stansted airports on a daily basis. See our Getting there page (from the button in the left menu) for flight and airport details.

Left, one of the many glass faced buildings in la Coruna. This one is at the far end of the area for which the town has acquired the name of "glass city" and it features the galeria style enclosed balconies for which the older areas of the town are famous.

Exploring la Coruna city

To explore la Coruna in more detail, use the menu to the right from which you can read about and see, the Roman lighthouse, the old town and quay side glass city districts, the tomb of Sir John Moore, as well as finding out about Coruna's fiestas and beaches.

If you want to see the more rural side of the la Coruna province, see our Galician towns section which features over 30 different coastal and inland towns in this province.

Left, one of the many lighthouses on the coast of the province of la Coruna.