Visiting the Spanish port of A Coruña by cruise ship blew our expectations out of the water! This is your go-to guide for the best sights to see, the most affordable way to travel and how to keep the kids happy along the way!
Getting Around
Public transport around A Coruña is easy to use, with clearly marked bus stops, digitised stop announcements en route and patient drivers skilled at interpreting tourists with no Spanish vocabulary (like us)! The buses are operating with cash-only payments, so make sure you carry enough euros for all journeys and passengers to avoid problems later! Google Maps is useful for finding your nearest bus stop and scheduled departure times, and for live bus times, you can download the iTranvias app. There are taxis in the city centre, but we heard fellow cruise passengers say that they couldn’t get a taxi back to the port from the tower/aquarium area, so had to endure the 2.5km walk back with tired and grumpy kids in tow (if only they had considered public transport as an option – they could have got the bus)!
To get to the first stop of the day, Torre de Hércules, walk from the cruise port to the bus stop San Andrés, 33. Take bus number 6 or 6A in the direction of ‘Hércules’to ‘Av.Navarra, Rd.M.Alto’. The journey takes around 20 minutes and runs regularly throughout the day. A single ticket is €1.30* per person. When you alight, follow the signs towards the Tower of Hercules. The walk to the tower itself is around 10 minutes at a leisurely pace.
Torre de Hércules (Tower of Hercules AKA, the lighthouse)
A UNESCO World Heritage site, this monument has “served as a lighthouse and landmark at the entrance of La Coruña harbour in north-western Spain since the late 1st century AD.” [Unesco.org , 2026] It is the most iconic point of interest in the city, and is in remarkably good condition considering it’s age and position on the harsh Atlantic coast. You can purchase tickets to go up to the top, however we opted to just explore the area around the tower and surrounding sculpture park. I urge you to venture off the main path a little and explore the area a little as there are several interesting sculptures to see.
If you want to ascend the tower itself, the tickets can be purchased from the tourist information centre at the bottom of the slope, near the main road where your transportation will have dropped you off.
The ‘Secret Cove’ Beach
From a certain spot on the cliff at the foot of the tower, you may catch a glimpse of what my son calls “the secret beach”. He is not wrong – it is not on any tourist information guides or signposted in any way – but it does have a name: Praia das Lapas. If you follow the rough footpath west from the sculpture trail down the hill, as if you were heading towards the Aquarium via a short cut, you will stumble upon Lapas beach. There is a paved route suitable for push chairs from the main road, but we only discovered the beach as we were taking this short cut. We did use the paved route to head back to the bust stop after our beach time though, so we know its true to its word! As it is a natural beach, there are no amenities here (no shops, toilets or cafes), but there is sea, sand and utter tranquility. The day we visited, it was 28 degrees, the sun was shining and there was maybe 8 other people on the beach at any time. It really was special, and I urge anyone to dip their toes in the water here if the opportunity presents.
Aquarium Finisterrae
If the beach isn’t your thing, or you have kids with small bladders and a low tolerance for sitting still, head straight to the aquarium! Although we didn’t actually visit on our trip, we did meet other families at the bus stop who had been and had a wonderful time. The aquarium is home to many aquatic species, including seals, bull sharks, jellyfish, sea horses and much more. Tickets can only be purchased on arrival and cost €10* per adult, €4* per child (under 16). For more information, visit coruna.gal.
Ready to head back in to town?
The closest bus stop to the Aquarium, Tower of Hercules and Lapas beach is ‘Cidade Deport. Torr’. From here, take bus number 3 in the direction of ‘S.P.Visma’ to ‘P.Marítimo,f/C.Saúde’. The journey takes around 20 minutes, and you’ll find yourself alighting at the main beach area in the heart of town.
Playa del Orzán Beach
As you might imagine, the long stretch of white sandy beach can get very busy during peak season, but it wonderfully close to bars, shops and restaurants. There is also a viewing pier in the middle of the beach for those all-important beach snaps!
If you have kids, you may want to make a couple of detours on the way back towards the ship. The first of which is Juega Bien – a Lego specialist which is packed to the rafters, literally floor-to-ceiling stacks of lego sets, old and new. Unlike a conventional Lego store, there aren’t any play or display areas, but if you’re looking for a cool souvenir, definitely check it out! Before getting back on the ship, swing by the nearby park, where kids can play and adults can explore the gardens or enjoy some light refreshments with a view.
Jardines de Méndez Núñez
This landmark park area is conveniently close to the cruise port, packed with beautiful flowers, plenty of park benches and a thought-out playground for families with shady trees all around. It is in this park that you will find the famous Floral Calendar. Planted and maintained daily, a photo here it is the must-have souvenir, it is different every time and serves as the perfect memento for your day in A Coruña.
Top Tips
- Bring your beach supplies! Towels, sun cream, swimwear, buckets & spades, drinks and snacks… If you want to visit the ‘secret cove’ beach by the tower of Hercules, you will need to bring everything with you as there are no shops here – just a pure, untouched natural beach – as nature intended.
- Carry cash (euros) for the buses – card payments are not currently accepted on public transport here.
- A smart phone with plenty of battery and mobile data is really handy for checking live bus times, mapping out shortest walking routes to points of interest and snapping those all-important selfies!
Useful Links
A Coruña Tourist Board: coruna.gal/tourism
Aquarium Finisterrae: coruna.gal/mc2/es/aquarium-finisterrae
Juega Bien Coruña Facebook Page: facebook.com/DeLegoStore
Tranvias: tranviascoruna.com/en
TripAdvisor: tripadvisor.co.uk
UNESCO: whc.unesco.org/en
(*all prices and information correct at time of publishing, June 2026)
If you found this article useful, check out our other European ‘Tourist Guides’ here!
Have you been to A Coruña’s secret cove? Do your kids always seek out a play park? Let us know in the comments – we love to hear from you!
If you enjoy this kind of content, don’t forget to subscribe! You’ll receive an email every time a new post goes live on the blog (no more than once a week).
Our Whimsical World 