Travelling

The simplest option is flying to A Coruña-Alvedro airport (LCG). Most flights to A Coruña come through Madrid (MAD) or Barcelona (BCN). However, depending on the dates, you may find direct flights from London/Gatwick (LGW), Milan/Malpensa (MXP), Geneve (GVA), Málaga (AGP), Valencia (VCL) or Gran Canaria (LPA). The best way to reach Exe Coruña Hotel from A Coruña airport is taking a taxi.

A second airport option, with more direct connections available, is Santiago-Rosalía de Castro Airport (SCQ). To reach the conference venue, the best combination is: (1) first take a taxi from Santiago airport to Santiago train station; (2) then take a train from Santiago to A Coruña: there are frequent connections that take 30 minutes; it is recommendable to book the train in advance and check the timetable in case you arrive too late; (3) finally, if you don’t carry heavy luggage, you can just walk to Exe Hotel from A Coruña train station (around 15 minutes).

A third option, for people travelling inside Spain or for those who plan to make a stop at Madrid, is coming by High Speed train (AVE) from Madrid-Chamartín to A Coruña. The trip takes around 4 hours, and depending on the time, it may imply a quick transfer in Ourense.

Venue

Hotel Exe Coruña is located in an active neighborhood near the bus and train stations, but relatively outside the city center. Taking the Obelisco as a reference for the city center, the hotel is at a 25 minutes walking distance. But, for instance, the restaurant for the gala dinner (Comarea) would take 45 minutes walking.

Public transportation is mostly covered by buses. You can check bus connections in Google maps. A single trip costs 1,30€ and can be payed in cash (but only using coins and 5€ banknotes) or using a smartphone with the application Coruña App (available for Android or iOS).

Another convenient option is using a taxi, especially at late hours when buses do not circulate. To call a taxi by phone:

• Radio taxi: +34 981243333 (English, French, Spanish)
• Tele-taxi: +34 981287777 (only Spanish)

But you can also use Google maps to check the nearest taxi stop to your current location. Two main taxi stops in the center area are the ones at Puerta Real and at Cantón Grande.

(Crazy) Spanish timetable

Spanish daily timetable goes a bit different from the rest of Europe or even the World. As a general approximation, think of adding 2 hours to the nominal time you would associate to any activity. For instance, as an orientation for cafeterias, bars or restaurants:

• Breakfast: usual time between 8:00 and 10:00
• Lunch: between 14:00 and 16:00
• Dinner: 21:00 to 23:00

Some drink/food places can be open the whole day, but the kitchen could only operate at the intervals above. As for local shops, the usual opening intervals are

• Morning: 10:00 – 13:30
• Afternoon/evening: 17:00 – 20:00

Spain is the most Western country following the Central European Time (CET) zone, and Galicia is the most Western region inside Spain. During the conference dates, the Sun rise and set times will be:

• Sunrise around 7:00 (CEST)
• Sunset around 22:00 (CEST)

Weather

A Coruña latitude is 3 degrees North from that of New York, but unlike the latter, it is touched by a branch of the Gulf Stream and its warm water. Besides, as a peninsula, it is (almost) surrounded by sea. This creates a very mild average weather, with low differences between day and night or between Summer and Winter. However, it is also very humid and it faces an active Atlantic Ocean, that may bring remainders of tropical storms from the Caribbean or big waves formed by oceanic winds (but mostly in Autum). Remember this: in A Coruña, it may rain at any moment. Rain can be accompanied by wind, so a raincoat is frequently more useful than an umbrella.

The weather in May can already be sunny (especially recently, with the global climate change) and there could be some chances to go to the beach. Check the weather forecast until the very last moment.

If you plan to go to the beach, a good option near the Exe Coruña hotel is Oza Beach (Playa de Oza). If you walk there, tell Google maps to lead you through Parque de San Diego: it is safer and nicer for walking.

An excellent beach you can also try is Santa Cristina, which you can reach by bus in around 30 minutes (check connections with Google maps).

Downtown beaches such as Orzan or Riazor are nice for some pictures but not so recommendable for bathing. They can even be dangerous depending on the waves status. Check the lifeguard indications and never go into the water if you don’t see a hoisted green flag.

Things you should try

First of all, don’t miss the social events in the conference. On Tuesday 21st, there will be a guided tour around A Coruña where we will visit the most typical places such as the Hercules Tower (the Roman lighthouse), Maria Pita Square and the Old Town. But apart from that, these are a few additional recommendations you can try.

Churros con chocolate: this is a typical choice for breakfast, but you can try them at any moment during the day. A popular place very near the Exe Hotel is churrería Timón. But if you like them, you may also try any of the two Bonilla cafeterias downtown (calle Galera or rúa Real) that serve a slightly different version, equally popular. Bonilla also became well-known for their white bags of fried potatoes.

Shopping: if you have to make some shopping (gifts, clothes, cosmetics, food, wine, etc) you are in a great place. The hotel is attached to a pair of malls: Centro Comercial Cuatro Caminos, where you can find multiple clothing brands and a Gadis Supermarket with all kind of typical products from Galicia and, connected to it, El Corte Inglés, a well-known mall chain in Spain, a multi-storey building where you may find from clothes to books, electronics, toys, sport material, etc. It also includes a supermarket with products from the rest of Spain and all over the world. But if you want to try local shops, a typical place is the pedestrian street Calle Real. 

Fishmarket at Plaza de Lugo: another interesting area where you will find one of the most popular fishmarkets in Galicia and even in Spain. It’s not that you will buy fish to travel back home, but it is an interesting place to visit and check all the types of fresh fish and seafood in the market. In the surroundings, you will find many shops from the Inditex group (Zara, Massimo Dutti, Oysho,…). The headquarters of Inditex are very near A Coruña (Arteixo) and is the most important company in the area.

Military Museum (Museo Militar): I end up this non-exhaustive list of recommendations with the Military Museum which is always nice to visit and learn a bit of history. Last time I was there, they still had an Enigma machine, the encryption device designed by the nazis, but bought by Franco and first used in Spain during the Spanish Civil War.