Beach Travel Wine Podcast · Leanne McCabe

142. Ourense, Galicia, Spain. Complete guide to visiting Ourense Spain

·28 min·1 clip

Termas de Outariz has 11 outdoor and 3 indoor pools across Zen and Celtic circuits.

1. Beach Travel Wine Podcast episode 142 focuses on Ourense in Galicia, Spain, and the city's thermal springs, old town, and riverfront walks. 2. The hosts are Lyle and Leonie, who compare notes on a trip through Galicia and explain why Ourense mattered more than a thermal stop. 3. The episode answers what Ourense offers beyond hot springs: a walkable city, Roman history, wine, and a stay that works best over several nights. 4. The hosts describe Ourense as the City of Water and the City of Gold, with the gold name linked to Roman deposits in the Minho River. 5. They explain that the city sits in inland Galicia, is the capital of the only landlocked province in Galicia, and has a historic old town. 6. The episode outlines Roman roots, later Suevi and Visigoth control, destruction by the Moors in the 8th century, and rebuilding along the Santiago pilgrimage route. 7. The hosts spend time on how thermal springs form, saying heated groundwater rises through fissures, rivers, and faults after circulating deep underground. 8. They note that Ourense has a four-kilometre thermal route with up to eight thermal areas, some free and some built as spa complexes. 9. The route begins near Chavasqueira, continues past O Tinteiro and the Mina de Vilarga ponds, and reaches the free pools near Berga de Canedo. 10. They single out Termas de Outariz as the spa they visited, describing its Japanese-inspired design and its 35 to 41 degree water. 11. The Outariz visit includes 11 outdoor pools, 3 indoor pools, Zen and Celtic circuits, saunas, lockers, and a quiet policy that keeps the space calm. 12. The hosts also mention the riverfront setting, where a deck and café look down over the spa and the pools sit beside the Minho River. 13. A thermal tourist train starts at Plaza Mayor on weekends and public holidays, costs 85 cents, and runs along the river with hop-on, hop-off stops. 14. They use the train to cross the Roman bridge, Ponte Vella, which cars cannot use and pedestrians can cross into the old city. 15. The walk through the old town includes the modern indoor market near the bridge, where they found fruit, seafood, restaurants, and cafés. 16. They also describe the pedestrian old town with escalators on steep streets, gardens, seating areas, and late-opening restaurants around Plaza Mayor. 17. The most surprising stop is As Burgas, the fountain outside Plaza Mayor where the water is more than 60 degrees Celsius and reaches 300 litres per minute at 67 degrees. 18. The episode has a conversational travel-report style, with both hosts reacting in real time to places they visited and small details they noticed. 19. Listeners who like spa towns, walkable cities, and Galicia travel will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners wanting a fast city guide without spa or river details may skip it.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Beach Travel Wine Podcast