Las Villas del Karting

If you’re looking for more sporty stuff to do, try your hand at ‘proper’ tennis or padel tennis on the courts at Cubillos del Sil (10 minutes’ drive), or head for ambles through oak and cork forests at Fuente del Ciervo (also 10 minutes). Embalse de Bárcena reservoir (20 minutes) is gateway to numerous rather-more-strenuous hiking and mountain biking routes. Take your offspring swimming from the river beach at Cacabelos, or on sightseeing jaunts to Ponferrada Castle (both 20 minutes), where they can poke around towers and ramparts while you view a copy of the illuminated Book of Kells in the library. Check out the mountain views from the alpine village of Peñalba de Santiago (55 minutes), renowned for the wooden balconies on its aged cottages, and take the kids on a short family-friendly ramble to the shrine in San Genadio Cave. If you’re holidaying over winter, rumour has it that Father Christmas sometimes visits Canedo Palace (20 minutes, don’t tell the kids), but whether that’s true or not, this wine estate is open year-round for tours, tasting and picking up local produce in its tempting gift shop.