Playa de las Catedrales

As Catedrais - the Beach of the Cathedrals - earns its name twice a day: at low tide the sea withdraws from Galicia's Cantabrian shore to reveal a nave of slate and quartzite buttresses, flying arches rising close to 30 metres, and caves that run back into the dark like side chapels. The rock has been carved by the Atlantic into genuinely Gothic architecture, and walking the firm sand beneath the arches at a big spring low is one of Spain's great free spectacles - then the tide returns and the whole cathedral drowns until the next service. Fame has forced management: at Easter and through the summer season, access to the sand requires a free advance permit from the Galician authorities, bookable online. Above the beach, the green Rias Altas coastline rolls west in cliff and cove, about as far from postcard-Spain arid as the country gets.

What you actually see

• The great arches - flying buttresses of slate nearly 30 metres tall.
• The caves - side-chapel hollows running back from the sand.
• The spring-tide walk - the full nave open only at the lowest water.
• The clifftop path - the high-tide consolation view along the coast.

When to go

Everything obeys the tide tables - aim to arrive an hour or more before low water, ideally on a spring tide when the most sand opens. Summer needs the free permit booked ahead; shoulder seasons are quieter and permit-free outside Easter.

Honest expectations

Arrive at high tide and there is simply no beach - check the tables before driving out. The free summer permit books out for peak dates and is checked at the stairs; without it you stay on the clifftop. The returning tide comes in fast around the arches - keep an exit in mind and expect crowds at August lows.

Nearby

Ribadeo's harbour town, the Rias Altas coast and Luarca over the Asturian border.