Is it La Coruña or A Coruña?

La Coruña (pronounced "koh-roo-nyah") has two official languages: Castellano or Spanish, and Gallego.

In Gallego, the language of the region, the city's name is "A Coruña". This is now the official name of the city. In Spanish, it is called "La Coruña" and if you asked someone who is from here, this is what they would call it.

It is also worth pointing that the word "street" is "calle" in Spanish and "rúa" in Gallego as you will see both used interchangably on maps of the city.

Now that we've got that out of the way, here are some tips on getting the most out of your time in La Coruña.

Don't put your (body) clock forward

People here eat late.

Lunch is usually the main meal of the day and is taken about 2:30pm. In the evening most restaurants don't open about 8:30pm, which is also when they will start the food service on the Friday. There are some places where you can get a burger or take-away pizza before then, but if you want to have dinner at 6, you will struggle to find somewhere nice.

There's not a lot you can do about it except tell your body that in UK time 8:30pm is really only 7:30!

Also a lot of bars open a bit earlier than that, and they usually give you a free "pincho", or small snack, when you order a drink. These can be anything from a piece of tortilla or ham and cheese with bread. Or maybe just a bowl of crisps. But they can help you keep going!

And relax

There is a saying here, "mañana me toca", which means "tomorrow it's my turn".

The centre of La Coruña has the highest density population in Spain at 6,500 people per square km. At the same time it is incredibly safe and friendly. And one of the reasons for that is that most people here are very relaxed and chilled out. (I know that it can seem as though everyone is arguing but that's just because everyone here likes to talk all at the same time!)

Neighbours having a noisy party? A couple just pipped you to the last available table on the bar's terrace? Someone double-parked on the pedestrian crossing you are using?

No worries! "Mañana me toca".

Enjoy the walk

La Coruña is a walkable city.

One of my favourite things is the "paseo". This is where every evening at about 7 or 8, you go out and just wander around for an hour or so. Bump in to a couple of friends, have a caña (small beer), chew the fat a bit and continue on your way.

Some of the most popular places are:

• The Marina and Parrote
• Cantones and Calle Real
• Calles Estrella, Olmos, Galera and Franja (aka the "wine route")
• Plaza de Azcárrage in the old town
• Riazor and Orzán beaches
• Plaza de Vigo and Calle Emilia Pardo Bazán

And if you want to stretch your legs a bit there is the Paseo Marítimo.

Running from the Riazor Stadium, past the beaches of Riazor, Orzán and Matadero and up to the Torre de Hércules and then back round to the Marina it measures over 13km and is the longest urban seafront promenade in Europe.

More information

If you would like to know more about the city and its history, there is a good article on Wikipedia.