San Xoán de Río

The chestnut trees are dropping their leaves onto stone roofs when you first notice the altitude. At 800 metres, San Xoán de Río sits high enough that your ears might pop on the drive up from Ourense, 60 kilometres away. The air carries a bite that coastal Galicia never manages, and the clouds hang low enough to touch from the upper village lanes.

This isn't the Galicia of seafood and sandy coves. The village sprawls across the southern slopes of the Serra de San Mamede, where Portugal lies just 30 kilometres south but feels further thanks to winding mountain roads. Stone houses with wooden balconies cluster around the parish church, their gardens protected by the same dry-stone walls that divide the surrounding hills into a patchwork of chestnut groves, oak woodland and rough pasture.

Walking the High Ground

The best way to understand this landscape is on foot, though you'll need to abandon any expectations of well-marked trails. Local walking routes exist, but they're more suggestion than infrastructure. A decent OS map or GPS app becomes essential once you leave the immediate village centre, particularly if you're heading towards any of the scattered hamlets that make up the municipality.

Morning walks reward with views across the Terra de Trives, where the mountains roll away towards the Sil River valley. The altitude means temperature swings of ten degrees between sun and shade are normal, even in summer. Pack layers – that lightweight fleece you debated bringing will prove invaluable by 9am, particularly outside July and August.

Winter transforms the area completely. Snow isn't guaranteed but arrives often enough that locals keep chains in their car boots from November through March. When it falls, the village becomes temporarily cut off from the main road network, though this happens less frequently than a decade ago thanks to improved gritting routes.

Food That Follows the Seasons

The village's two cafés serve what's available, when it's available. Expect caldo gallego – the region's signature broth of potatoes, greens and chorizo – during the colder months, and simple grilled meats when the weather permits outdoor cooking. Chestnuts appear in everything come autumn: roasted as snacks, ground into flour for cakes, or stewed with local beef.

Don't arrive hunting for extensive menus or vegetarian options. This is farming country where dishes develop from whatever's growing or grazing nearby. The local honey, produced from heather and wildflowers that carpet the higher slopes in late spring, makes a decent souvenir if you're passing through. So does the small-scale cheese production, though you'll need to ask around – most sales happen directly from farmhouse kitchens rather than shops.

The Reality of Rural Galicia

San Xón de Río rewards patience and punishes haste. The single most common mistake visitors make is treating it as a quick stop between bigger destinations. Those 60 kilometres from Ourense? Allow ninety minutes minimum, more if you're driving in the rain that arrives on three days out of five. The roads narrow dramatically after the N-525 turn-off, and meeting a delivery van on a blind bend requires the reversing skills most British drivers last used on country lanes.

Parking requires similar care. The village centre offers limited spaces, and blocking farm access guarantees an angry farmer within minutes. Better to leave the car on the main approach road and walk the final 200 metres – you'll see more anyway, and nobody wants to explain to their hire company why there's a tractor-shaped dent in the door.

Accommodation options remain limited. The Casa do Comediante apartment offers self-catering in a converted village house, but booking ahead becomes essential during local festivals or autumn weekends when city-dwellers arrive for mushroom hunting. Alternative bases lie 20 kilometres away in A Pobra de Trives or further south in Verín, though this means committing to mountain driving after dark.

When to Time Your Visit

Spring brings wildflowers to the higher meadows and transforms the chestnut groves into a haze of fresh green. Temperatures hover around 15-20°C – perfect walking weather – though April showers arrive with genuine Galician commitment. May offers the best compromise of weather and accessibility before summer crowds appear.

Autumn equals colour, harvest and the annual castañada chestnut festivals that pop up across the region. The trees turn proper copper, wood smoke scents the air, and local restaurants extend their opening hours to accommodate weekend visitors. It's also mushroom season, though picking requires local knowledge and permits – the Guardia Civil take an dim view of foreigners filling carrier bags with fungi.

Summer nights stay cool enough that locals keep cardigans handy even in August. Daytime temperatures rarely exceed 25°C, making this an escape from Spanish coastal heat. Winter brings genuine mountain weather: beautiful when sunny, brutal when storms arrive. Unless you're experienced with mountain driving in potentially icy conditions, December through February requires careful planning and weather monitoring.

Beyond the Village Limits

The real appeal lies in using San Xoán de Río as a base for exploring the wider Terra de Trives region. Drive south towards the Portuguese border and you'll pass through landscapes unchanged since Roman times, complete with the ancient Via Nova that once connected Braga with Astorga. The local tourist office – open sporadically, ring ahead – stocks leaflets on Iron Age hillforts and Roman gold mining sites, though finding them requires determination and decent Spanish.

Northwards, the monastery at Xunqueira de Espadanedo offers proper medieval architecture an hour's drive away, while the Sil Canyon provides dramatic river views and proper wine country. But rushing between attractions misses the point of this particular corner of Spain. San Xoán de Río works best when you abandon the tick-list mentality and accept that watching clouds drift across mountain slopes can occupy an entire afternoon.

The village won't suit everyone. Those requiring nightlife, extensive restaurant choice or souvenir shopping should head elsewhere. But if you're content with early mornings, long walks and evenings spent listening to the wind across mountain ridges, this high-altitude slice of Galicia delivers something increasingly rare: a Spanish village that functions exactly as it always has, altitude and all.