Santiago de Compostela is a small city in Galicia in the north of Spain and I spent three days there ona city break. Turns out, it’s just too good to gatekeep… You might recognise the name of the place because it’s the final destination and chequered flag of the famous Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. But it’s so much more than that. Whether you fancy taking on the challenge of a trek or not, this is a real Spanish secret, worthy of a city break in its own right.
Disclaimer – I didn’t walk here. There are loads of routes, starting in France, other parts of Spain and Portugal that take weeks, even months, but I caught a flight from London Stansted and was checking into my hotel three hours later. One of the best things about the city is how small it is, so three days was absolutely perfect. No tight schedule needed, just a handful of the best recs and a love for tapas.
So, 72 hours in Santiago de Compostela, let’s go…
Day 1
To make the most out of my three days, my friend and I landed pretty early around 9am. The city is super close to the airport, so it was only a 15-20-minute taxi to our hotel, the NH Collection Santiago. We left our bags there and freshened up, as check-in wasn’t available yet, but I couldn’t wait to get out and explore.
The walk into town takes you right past the Catedral de Santiago de Compostela, which is even more epic than the pictures. Top tip would be to tick this site off in the afternoon – the sun hits it perfectly to get that golden glow. We wanted to get our bearings, so kept on moving and didn’t even get out Google Maps. You can just let the little cobbled streets lead you through to buzzing plazas and what felt like a never-ending number of restaurants and tapas bars. Tarta de Santiago is a speciality here. It’s a super moist almond cake – no gluten or dairy as well for any allergen-conscious friends – and shop owners hand out tasters in their doorways, which are definitely worth a try.
Parque da Alameda is a lovely tree-lined square and park area, with shady benches for a little pit stop and pretty much marks the end of the old town. It’s also a hub for alfresco dining spots, so I had my first taste of tapas at Mesón Cestaños, featuring classic padrón peppers, patatas bravas and a sangria, of course. They have loads of tables on the street so you can watch the world go by and soak up some rays while you sip your drink. There were even some pilgrims arriving and everyone started cheering as they crossed the street and passed us – this was such a common thing and so nice how much support everyone gets.
After another round of wandering to find Praza da Quintana and the cathedral again to see it in full light, we headed back to the hotel to fully check in, shower and explore the facilities a bit. The rooms at the NH Collection Santiago were so spacious and I love a big bathroom for the ideal getting-ready set up. I chilled by the pool in the sun for a bit and started to work up an appetite again for dinner, so headed back into town. I know we were in Spain, but I just had a craving for some hearty Italian food and there are some great options here. I was immediately sold by the smells coming from Restaurante Pizzeria L’Incontro and ordered their prawn tagliatelle and an Estrella Galicia, which is the local go-to here. Seafood pasta has to be one of my favourite meals and this is the place for all things fishy, so it was so fresh! My friend Gina had a pizza and can confirm this was a great shout, too. We’d been up since about 4.30am, so it was an early night for us and we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep.
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Day 2
For our second day, we had a daytrip organised and booked through First Choice Experiences. We had to meet around 9am to set off, so we grabbed some breakfast in the hotel and headed towards the tour office. I promise I’m not a total coffee snob, but the machine stuff doesn’t always do it for me, so we found some really cute coffee shops on Rúa de San Pedro. There are a few down here I definitely recommend, and most cafés here do dairy-free milks – the hotel was also great at providing this.
Our trip was a full-day tour and boat trip to Rías Baixas from Santiago, so we set off with our guide on a minibus and the first stop was a winery in the village of Sanxenxo. We were told all about the process of making the local wine here, which is Albariño wine made from 100% Albariño grape. It’s a dry, acidic wine and its flavour is influenced by the cold winds that come off the Atlantic Ocean. Fun fact, China and Japan love it so much they tried to grow their own Albariño grapes but, because of the change in climate, it just didn’t taste the same. We got to try a glass, which had to be the best bit and it was right up my street. When you’re out and about and want to order it in a bar, make sure your bottle has the blue Rías Baixas sticker, which means it’s gone through all the quality control checks and is the real deal!
Then, it was back on the bus to O Grove for a boat ride to learn about the mussel production this area’s famous for. When we got on the boat we were met with bottles of more local wine on the tables, as well as loads of soft drink options, and the trays of mussels just kept coming. Gina doesn’t like them, so I took one for the team and helped myself to plenty. You could go down to the lower level of the boat and see them growing under the water through little windows, too. The tunes were playing, the sun was shining – this had to be the highlight of the day. When we docked back in the harbour there was a break for lunch – even though I was pretty full on mussels – so we just found a bench by the water as we’d brought some snacks with us. Empanadas are a bit of a thing here, also called Galician pie. I had a mixed one, which was almost like a quiche Lorraine in puff pastry and very tasty. The classic one is filled with tuna.
Next stop was Isla de la Toja, an island connected to the mainland by an old bridge. It’s also home to the famous Ermida da Toxa, which is a beautiful chapel completely covered in scallop shells. The scallop is a Galician symbol of healing and is used to mark the way of the Camino pilgrimage. You can also see pilgrims wearing them around their necks and many people buy one as they reach Santiago to commemorate their trek. The ones on the church are slightly tinged with pink and so create a pretty, pastel glow. Then, we moved on to a viewpoint of Praia de Lanzada, which is one of Galicia’s best-known beaches, famous for its surf. The water was so clear and blue – if you have time to go for a dip then do it. I could have spent the best part of a day here, but we had one more stop before getting back to the city, which was a town called Combarro. This was souvenir shopping heaven and a lovely spot right on the water, with shops and restaurants running along the seafront on one long cobbled street. I bagged myself a gorge turquoise necklace for just €8, had a Fanta Lemon on the beach and then we snoozed our way back to Santiago. We were out for about nine hours, ticked off so many sites, plus free food and drink for just £47 when we booked… it was unreal value!
You might think we’d been treated to enough good food today but the first thing we wanted to do after leaving our tour group was try the famous tortilla at Bar La Tita. This was the one place that kept coming up when I was researching what to do in Santiago de Compostela. The tiny little tapas bar is a bit of a legend here, serving up traditional Galician tortilla – top tip, all you have to do is order a drink and they bring you a single tapas portion for free! The whole tortilla is huge – we spied a group of about eight tucking into one – but the freebie is perfect and probably the best I’ve ever eaten, and that was just for starters… We then grabbed an outdoor table at Taberna Montes, which still gets a bit of sun in the evening in Praza de Fonesca, a cute square near the cathedral. Naturally, there are too many tapas to pick from and they did these really great-value tapas boards, where you get to try loads of different ones for way cheaper than ordering them individually. So, we got one that had a mix of fish, meat and veggie dishes, and it was HUGE! You know you’ve ordered the right thing when everyone’s turning their heads to try and work out what you got so they can get the same. Day two, done.
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Day 3
So, this was such a surprise, but it turns out my friend who’d been living in Seville for the past year was in Santiago at the same time as me – such a small world. We had a bit of a slow morning, got our brekkie and then arranged to meet her for lunch at the Mercado de Abastos. We hadn’t been to this side of the old town properly yet and we thought we’d seen it all but there we even more buzzing streets and squares we’d missed. The old market has fresh fruit and veg stalls, a butchers and fishmongers etc, as you’d expect, but also an indoor array of restaurants and bars. We picked a spot – my friend’s Spanish skills were much appreciated – and ordered the traditional pulpo (octopus), padrón peppers and tortilla to share. This time, I went for a glass of tinto de verano rather than sangria – it’s the local’s pick and less alcoholic than sangria, just red wine and lemonade. Pretty much all the restaurants in here have the same menu, so it’s just about where you can get a table to soak up the buzzy atmosphere.
Gina and I then went in search of a coffee. This café/bar called El Muelle was super cute and had records in the window and posters up about vinyl nights, plus their oat latte was tasty and so cheap – it was around €3 for two. Today was the day we had to go inside the cathedral, so we slowly made our way back up, via some more of the free Tarta de Santiago tasters for a sweet treat. The cathedral is actually free to visit, and the entrance is round by Praza da Quintana. It’s so impressive and my words can’t really do it justice but there’s so much intricate detail and the high altar of St James is completely golden. Of course, we had to climb the altar to see the bust of the Saint himself. Photos aren’t allowed up here, but part of the pilgrim tradition is to embrace the Saint and touch or kiss his cape – I thought I’d save this for when I come back and do the Camino myself (you heard it here first!)
If you fancy a bit more background, you can visit the museum and, if you go to the reception early enough to book onto a guided tour, you’ll also get to go on the cathedral’s roof for views of the city. The museum entrance is back round the main, western front of the cathedral, in Praza do Obradoiro. We missed the last group tour so just walked around the museum ourselves and you can still go outside on the roof, just not up to the highest points. Outside in the square, all the latest arrivals were lying down on the floor and looked completely exhausted. But, it’s also recommended to see the cathedral right from its base, and it gives the impression it’s falling down on you.
It was our final night, so we treated ourselves to some pre-dinner cocktails at Costa Vella Garden Café, which is literally like a secret garden. Then, after loads of tapas, we thought we’d take a little break and go for Mexican this time. We joined my friend and the fellow pilgrims she’d met on her trek at Pico de Galo, which was super tasty and a nice change up from all the tortilla I’d consumed! Santiago definitely does a bit of everything very well for such a small city. We were flying home early the next morning, so enjoyed our final glass of Rías Baixas wine and headed for bed.
Santiago de Compostela was one of the best surprises and a city break I didn’t expect to love so much. There aren’t many European cities you can do this well in just three days, and it really was the perfect amount of time, not just to explore the city itself but also to do an entire daytrip, too. Now, it’s my little secret that probably won’t last long, as I’m off to go and tell everyone I know that they have to visit…
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Author: Lily Owen
Last updated: 16/07/2024
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