How to spend a weekend in Santiago de Compostela

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We have consumed countless Padrón peppers and Estrella Galicias on our many trips to Spain over the years. Despite this, Sam and I had never actually traveled to Galicia – the northwestern region of Spain home to these delicacies. (Yes Estrella Galicia is a delicacy). Queue a weekend in Santiago de Compostela!

We had a last minute three day long weekend on our hands in the middle of September and we were open to going just about anywhere. With the power of the Skyscanner.net go “everywhere” function, we found the cheapest flights we could. These were whittled down by departure time as we wanted to leave on the Friday night, and return at a reasonable hour on Monday evening. The choice was obvious. A long weekend in Santiago de Compostela, the capital of Galicia.

Getting to Santiago de Compostela for a weekend

We booked our £70 return flights (outbound Ryanair at 7:00pm, inbound Vueling at 5:30pm) but then found ourselves surprised at the lack of last minute hotel availability. We wound up booking the “five star” NH Collection Hotel, a 15 minute walk north of the old town. (I use quotations because we joked our entire weekend in Santiago that this five star rating must have been self-awarded – although we always love staying at NH Hotels and do find them very comfortable). We also had an Amex offer on each of our credit cards to get £50 back on a £150 spend. What should have been a £400+ booking came in at less than £300 after the Amex offer and other cashback. Not bad for a long weekend in Spain booked six days in advance.

Given the tight timeline we didn’t have tons of time to research or plan this trip. It turned out this wasn’t entirely necessary for a weekend in Santiago de Compostela. 

We landed at 10.45pm, nearly an hour late thanks to a French air traffic control strike (yes, apparently that affected flights which didn’t involve France). We were seated near the front of the plane so didn’t have to queue for passport control. Near the exit we saw a fellow passenger running ahead with intent. In spite of my frowning at herd mentality, Sam rightfully picked up the pace, too. We were planning on grabbing a €22 taxi, but thanks to the runner we caught the half-hourly bus service into town. The journey was only €1 each and be warned it did not show up on Google maps.

Our first night in Santiago de Compostela

We got off at a stop near the old town and stopped for an Estrella Galicia at the first bar we found. Embora is not necessarily the first bar we’d recommend. Tucked away on the edge of town they seem quite lax about checking IDs. It was still early by Galician standards and a lazy cat lay in the middle of the dancefloor. We enjoyed our first bottles of Estrella Galicia in the actual region of Galicia for a meagre €2.50 a pop.

It was a bit chilly here in Northern Spain, but on our walk to the next bar the streets were filled with tables of people drinking. Modus Vivendi was our next stop.

Modus Vivendi became my favourite straight-up bar of the trip. (That’s to say one that just serves drinks, unlike a traditional taberna which would have a food offering). The ceiling was low, the walls were wood panelled, and the beers were €2.30. We didn’t want to ruin our first full day with a hangover, but if we wanted to, we would have joined everyone on the mojitos, each of which must have contained a good five ounces of rum.

From there we journeyed to our out-of-the-way hotel. It isn’t like us to book anywhere that isn’t smack in the centre of town, but it was among the only hotels with an outdoor space with loungers, and I was keen to catch some sun. The walk was about 15 minutes and we crashed immediately.

A morning wandering around Santiago

The next morning we productively went for a hotel gym workout, and then set off to explore the city. Even at 11am the town was still sleepy, and the streets were quiet. The buildings and architecture in Santiago are stunning and unique. Grey stone and granite buildings with intricately sculpted statues line the streets and take centre stage in every square.

We walked down Rua de San Francisco. All down the street shopkeepers were handing out samples of Tarta de Santiago. This almond cake with a dusting of sugar is an iconic regional treat. On our way to the main square, we stopped too soon for what was a very middling breakfast tortilla, clearly heated up from the night before. Do not go for food on Rua de San Francisco.

Praza do Obradoiro is the main square of Santiago de Compostela. It is a gigantic square overlooked by the equally impressive cathedral and palace. When we arrived it was packed with people with walking poles and cyclists who had just made it to Santiago after completing some variation of the famous Camino de Santiago. 

Tapas time

After taking it all in we continued walking and strolled down the main street of the city. Rua do Franco is home to seemingly all of the restaurants. Many of these had street-facing aquariums brandishing live blue lobsters, and dry agers holding enormous sides of beef. After a revitalising beer on a plaza in the sun we headed to Taberna do Bispo for some tapas at the bar. This place was upmarket without being snotty, and the Padrón peppers and solomillo were delicious.

We walked around the block to Restaurante Maria Castana, where we would have many beers during our weekend in Santiago de Compostela.

This was a restaurant which opened for late lunch and dinner services, but adjacent is a bar open outside those hours. We must have gone here five times in three days.

The beers were €2.50 and we were delighted by the tapas that came with each round. When we came back for dinner the following night, the food was delicious traditional taberna style food for excellent value.

Next we stopped for a quick glass of Albariño, Galicia’s native grape, at Vinoteca Ventosela.

Here they seemed to serve a charcuterie board with every round. We mentally noted to order a red the next time we went. Which, by the way, we did several times. The wine list was extensive and we needed to work our way through it. The owner of the bar was both hilarious and knowledgeable (and also patient with me for wanting to practice my Spanish). He very generously gave us a taste of anything we ordered before committing to a glass.

Lunch at O Gato Negro

We headed to Taberna O Gato Negro next. This was an experience in its own right and the most memorable meal of our weekend in Santiago de Compostela.

There are a handful of tables inside and out. All of these had waiting lists on that Saturday. There was also standing room at the bar which we could queue for. We ordered a couple of beers and waited 15 minutes for the standing space.

Once in place we ordered the house specialties: pulpo a feira (a Galician dish of octopus and paprika) and berberechos (cockles). The berberechos weren’t for me so I ordered an empanada too. Galicia is thought to be the birthplace of the empanada, and the style here might be unlike any you have tried before.

We ordered the house white which came in a ceramic jug with two ceramic cups. Another Galician tradition. Said jar was €4. 

We stopped for one more beer in the sun on the small and beautiful garden square of Praza de Fonseca before heading back for a siesta in the sun at our hotel. Taking a scenic route home, we soaked up the incredible buildings and architecture of the city.

Saturday evening in Santiago

We emerged just past 7pm. Back in town we stumbled across a little street party which we joined for a beer.

La Tita

When the DJ shut down the decks we moved on to La Tita. Oh wow did I ever love La Tita. We ordered dos cañas and each got a very generous portion of gooey tortilla served with fresh bread. This is the standard deal at La Tita. Whatever drink you order – even coffee – comes with a little taster of their delicious tortilla. It’s a try-before-you-buy vibe before you commit to something like their 30 egg tortilla, recommended for tables of five or six. We actually came back here for free breakfast the next morning. And came a third time the following day for a beer and a snack.

An important thing to note anywhere in Spain – if you say you are going to order food as well as drinks, you won’t get served a tapa. When the server asks if you are going to stay for food, just say no. Once they bring you your drink and tapa you can order the food. The tapa is gateway-snack designed to lure you into the food menu. If they know you are already hooked then why would you get a freebie?

BAR o’46

Next was BAR o’46, which might have been my favourite place in the town. It was run by two older men and women, for whom we enjoyed creating an intricate backstory. This is a real-deal locals place, with just the occasional in-the-know tourist. We ordered Padrón peppers with a couple of beers and were shocked that even this time capsule accepted credit card. On our third and final visit we ordered some delicious Galician chicharrones (like pulled pork without the bbq sauce), and a very generous plate of jamon. There was a strict ‘no photo’ policy which we adhered to religiously. Except for the chicharrones. We had to get a photo of the chicharrones.

Bar Trafalgar

Next we headed to Bar Trafalgar for a beer along with their famous tapas – mussels in spicy Tigres Rabiosos sauce. Bar Trafalgar also became a daily visit thanks to it’s great atmosphere and people-watching opportunities.

Restaurante a Barrola

Three dishes in we headed to Restaurante a Barrola. This was one of the restaurants with live blue lobsters and sides of beef on display. We had a t-bone steak served sizzling on a platter with potatoes, and washed it down with a couple of beers and Riojas. It’s possible these restaurants are more geared towards the tourist trade but we had a great time anyway. It was our most expensive meal yet still only €70 for the pair of us.

We ended our night back at Vinoteca Ventosela before heading back to our hotel for the night.

Completing our weekend in Santiago de Compostela

This one day pretty much summed up our entire long weekend in Santiago de Compostela. It covered all of the noteworthy stops that we made.

The only other place worth mentioning was visited on our final day, a Monday. We went to the stunning Mercado de Abastos de Santiago for a tortilla, cana and a wander. We massively regretted not making this a Saturday stop as it was pretty empty on Monday!

Santiago de Compostela is a small city but thanks to the camino it is geared for tourism. It is a great destination for two or three days. The whole city is walkable and the flights are surprisingly frequent. We went on this long weekend hot off the heels of our trip to Bilbao and San Sebastian. It was interesting to see the customs that the Basque and Galician regions shared (for example, calling small beers ‘zuritos’ and bigger beers ‘canas’), and those customs they didn’t share (like sending out a tapa with your drink, which is more Andalusian). The next time we come we will definitely be completing the Camino de Santiago. And we will probably refer back to this article to return to our favourite haunts! 

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