Viveiro, Spain: Secret Seaside - Telegraph At one end of Covas beach, alongside apartment blocks devoid of any charm, I peered through the railings at a dilapidated but clearly once very grand mansion, where goats grazed in the garden. This turned out to be the Pazo de Grallal, parts of which were built at the end of the 16th century, making it one of the oldest palatial residences in Galicia. While Covas is very much an urban beach, you only have to walk around the coastal path for a few minutes to get to the quieter Seiramar, and another five minutes or so to reach Sacido, a lovely cove hidden under the cliffs below the Thalasso Cantábrico hotel. The Estaca de Bares headland west of Viveiro is the northernmost point in Spain. On the other side of the bay, however, I could see the tantalisingly long strip of sand of Area beach, glittering in the sunlight. Later on I drove around to have a look - about five miles from Sacido, passing Covas, Viveiro town and the harbour in Celeiro. The beach was even better than it had looked from across the inlet: nearly a mile long, totally unspoilt and backed by low dunes with a cluster of vines growing on them. There are two hotels set back from the beach, the Ego and the Louzao, a couple of dozen houses, a youth hostel and that's about it. I walked along the fine sand, with the clear, pale teal sea lapping the shore, to the end of the beach, where the vestiges of a Roman villa have been discovered, underneath ruins believed to date back to the ninth century. The following morning, a Thursday, I entered the old part of Viveiro through the Carlos V gate, built in the mid-16th century in Plateresque style and the grandest of the three remaining gates of the town walls. A market was under way in the main square, but instead of the tat you usually get in resorts, the stalls here were just selling fruit, vegetables, flowers, charcuterie and local cheeses. It was late June and the holiday season was getting under way, but life in Viveiro was carrying on as normal. I bought some juicy apricots the size of apples and sat on a bench to take in the gentle scene. Maybe I'm just easily pleased, but you can keep your glitzy resorts. I could happily have pottered around Viveiro and the Rías Altas all summer. Vueling (0906 7547541; vueling.com) flies from Heathrow to A Coruña (74 miles from Viveiro) and Santiago de Compostela (96 miles) from £136. EasyJet (0843 104 5000; easyjet.com) flies from Stansted to Asturias (100 miles) from £70. Europcar (0871 3841087; europcar.co.uk) offers a week's car hire from all three airports from around £160. Brittany Ferries (0871 2441400; brittanyferries.co.uk) sails to Santander (230 miles from Viveiro) from Plymouth with fares from £848 for a car and two passengers including a cabin, and from Portsmouth with fares from £928. Thalasso Cantábrico ££ This new four-star hotel is set on the cliff above Sacido beach and has 146 rooms. There is a small Thalasso spa, an outdoor pool (covered in bad weather) and a tennis court (982 560200; resortlassirenas.com; doubles from €70/£60 including breakfast). Ego ££ Overlooking the magnificent Area beach, the Ego is stylish without being overdesigned. Most of the 45 rooms have sea views, some with terraces and all with floor-to-ceiling windows. Nito restaurant, with a smart terrace, is one of the best in the region (982 560987; hotelego.es; doubles from €147/£125 including breakfast). Pazo da Trave £ In a rural location in the little village of Galdo, three miles south of Viveiro, this is a traditional granite country house with a 15th-century tower. The 18 rooms are all different and include two suites that sleep four and are ideal for families (982 598163; pazodatrave.com; doubles from €73/£62 including breakfast). Mesón Imperial € A traditional bar and restaurant, which sprawls down Pastor Díaz, the main street in the old town. This is a good place to try line-caught hake, octopus or conger eel (Pastor Díaz 66; 982 560117; about €23/£19 without wine, or €9/£8 for three-course lunch including wine). Boa Vista €€ On the main road between Viveiro and Area beach, just above Celeiro harbour, Boa Vista is a family-run hotel and restaurant that serves contemporary Galician cuisine using top-quality local produce (Carretera 642/Casanova 32, Celeiro; 982 562290; boavistahotel.com; around €30/£25 without wine). O'Asador €€ In the heart of the old town, O'Asador specialises in chargrilled steaks, roast lamb and ibérico pork, as well as local fish such as hake, turbot and monkfish (Melitón Cortiñas 15; 982 551865; oasador.com; about €35/£30 without wine). Platters of free appetisers are often handed around in bars. If you just want a snack, you may not actually need to order any food with your glass of wine or beer. The Feve (feve.es) narrow-gauge railway is a great - and inexpensive - way to explore the coast. Trains are too infrequent - four a day - to hop-on-hop-off, but you could go to the seaside town of Ortigueira, for example, for lunch and come back in the afternoon. The Galicia Rail Pass (€49/£42), available until the end of September, allows unlimited travel around Galicia for 10 days (renfe.com, turgalicia.es). At the Rapa das Bestas festival on July 7 in nearby Boimente, wild horses are rounded up to have their manes cut - a real spectacle and quite a party too. Celeiro harbour celebrates two of its prize catches - hake (July 20) and goose barnacles (August 2 and 3) with tastings on the quayside. There are lots of bars one block back from Covas, but take provisions with you to the quieter beaches around the bay. Beyond Viveiro Bay, As Catedrais, Esteiro, San Román and Xilloi are just a few of the spectacular beaches an easy drive away. Buses around the Ria de Viveiro are surprisingly infrequent, so check timetables at the tourist office or the bus station in Viveiro to avoid a long wait. If you don't like crowds, go in July or September rather than August, when many - but by no means all - of the beaches are busy. Getting soaked. Outside peak season, Galicia gets more than its fair share of rain. Read Annie Bennett's complete travel guides in Spain