'Vigo works, Santiago prays, A Coruña plays.' There is some truth in this Galician saying. Vigo, in spite of some fine beaches and views over the picturesque ría (inland waterway)is perhaps best known for its fishing industry. Santiago, of course, offers much in terms of religious history, but after resting for a day or two, footsore pilgrims might find the city, well, small.

Weary walkers could do a lot worse than head just forty miles north of the great holy place. On the western headland of Spain, lies A Coruńa. Sports fans will most likely associate the city with its football team, Deportivo. Champions League regulars until recently, their stadium is situated in a location in Riazor, a pleasant part of the city with an excellent beach.

I caught the tram from there to A Coruña’s most famous landmark, the Torre de Hércules. Perched on the edge of the windswept Atlantic since the days of the Roman Empire, the world’s oldest working lighthouse was restored in the late eighteenth century by Estaquio Giannini during the reign of Carlos III. The new tower surrounds the remains of the Roman structure, protecting it from choppy waters and fierce but not freezing winds. Check out the Roman remains inside before ascending the steps of this sixty metre building to enjoy views over the city, the green rugged coastline and the ocean.

Galicia is the wettest part of Spain so it is no great surprise when the heavens open. It is a good idea to have a few activities up your sleeve for a rainy day. No expense has been spared on a new cultural centre, La Fundación Caixa Galicia, (cost 35-40 million Euros). It is incorporated into a long row of traditional galería style buildings on A Coruńa’s waterfront. The galleries, which feature white frameworks and lots of glass are of a nineteenth century modernist style. The Fundación Caixa Galicia was designed by the English architect Nicholas Grimshaw who also created the Waterloo international terminal in London and the Ludwig Erhard Haus in Berlin.

If art is your thing then you may be interested to know that A Coruña played a formative role in the life of one of the world’s most innovative painters. The Ruiz Picasso family lived at number 14 Payo Gomez from 1891-95. I was delighted to learn that a free guided tour of the property was available. The flat is situated on the second floor of a modern street in the city centre but the interior design conjures up images of how family life might have been for young Picasso who was nine when he moved here. The walls are adorned with copies of his early efforts featuring the Galician landscape and A Coruña street life. Picasso attended the school of Fine Arts just round the corner, and it soon became clear that Pablo was a far more talented artist than his father who taught there. Pablo Picasso had his first exhibition on Calle Real, one of the city’s main thoroughfares where he had been inspired to paint local characters such as sailors and beggars.

Just a stone’s throw from Calle Real is the Plaza de María Pita. Picasso may be one of the local hero’s but there is no disputing the heroine. The Spanish Armada was defeated in 1588 but the English tend to forget the return leg a year later when the coruńeses put up a stout defence of their city, saving A Coruńa and hence Spain, from an English invasion led by Francis Drake. The public played their part that day, including the one and only María Pita, who is said to have wiped the floor with the English standard bearer just as he was about to ascend the city walls.

Exhausted by all that talk of blood and guts I decided to give red meat a bodyswerve. Galicia has a range of seafood, the vocabulary of which is mind blowing. If you know your velvet swincrabs (nécoras) from your sea spiders (centolas), then Galicia is heaven by the sea. Seafood rookies are encouraged to try goose barnacles (percebes) and octopus prepared in the traditional Galican way (polbo á feira). Another popular dish is cuttlefish in ink (chocos na súa tinta). Don’t dare to tell the locals that you thought cuttlefish was for budgies. I am a delicate diner, sensitive to the appearance of something that looks as if it has come straight out of a fisherman’s net. I might have enjoyed the chocos more had I been wearing a blindfold but my Galician girlfriend insists they are delicious.

Those with a taste for far flung places will be in their element in A Coruńa. The westernmost point of Spain is Fisterra on the Costa da morte, where many unfortunate sailors and smugglers met their end on the stormy seas. To the north, is Estaca de bares. My journey took me through landscapes dotted with wind farms and hillsides where wild horses run free.

Diagonally east across the water from A Coruńa, and some forty miles away by road is Ferrol, another city with a long seafaring tradition. The young Picasso, was separated by this short stretch of water from an opportunist contemporary who would have an even bigger influence on his people. In 1892, Francisco Franco Bahamonde (aka General Franco) was born into a family with a long naval tradition. Prior to this, Spanish ships had sailed out of Ferrol in the 18th and 19th century to take on the British or suppress uprisings in Spain’s Latin American colonies. Ferrol features a grid system of streets built in the 18th century during the reign of the aforementioned Carlos III. Much of the city has an air of having enjoyed better days before the decline of the naval industry. But Spanish speakers should listen out for the accents of the ferrolanos; the most beautiful lilting accents I have heard anywhere on my travels in Spain.