Santiago de Compostela

Santiago's cathedral roof, Rúa do Franco and the Mercado de Abastos

Santiago fills two days: the cathedral, the Pórtico da Gloria and the roof walk on the first, with octopus on Rúa do Franco and an afternoon at the Mercado de Abastos, then either the Galician People's Museum or a 30-minute train ride to A Coruña on the second, back for sunset in Alameda park.

Go to Praza do Obradoiro early, before the pilgrim crowds, and look at the west front in morning light. Visit the cathedral and the crypt, then book a guided visit of the Pórtico da Gloria or the roof walk if slots remain. Lunch on octopus along Rúa do Franco, then spend the afternoon circling the other squares and the Mercado de Abastos.

On day two, take the early train to A Coruña, about 30 minutes away, for the Roman lighthouse and the seafront, or stay in town for the Galician People's Museum in the old convent of San Domingos de Bonaval. Come back for sunset in Alameda park, then a last round of Padrón peppers and Albariño.

The 2027 holy year, 25 July fireworks and Santiago's rainy months

May and late September are the calmest months in Santiago, with soft light and quieter squares, and July is the dry window at about 30 mm of rain. October to January are very wet. The great date is 25 July, the feast of Saint James, and 2027 is a Holy Year, so book far ahead.

The rain is no myth. October is the wettest month at over 200 mm, and November to January each bring close to that again. Highs stay mild, around 12 to 13°C in midwinter, and frost is rare, so a winter visit calls for an umbrella rather than a heavy coat. Summer is the dry window: July sees only about 30 mm and highs of 25°C, fine weather for the last stages of the Camino.

The city's great date is 25 July, the feast of Saint James and Galicia's national day. On the night of the 24th, fireworks and projections light up the cathedral's west front from Praza do Obradoiro, and the following days bring concerts and packed masses in the cathedral.

Whenever 25 July falls on a Sunday the year becomes a Holy Year, or Xacobeo, and 2027 is one. The Holy Door facing Praza da Quintana opens at the very end of the previous December, and pilgrim numbers climb steeply through the year, so book rooms far ahead and expect long queues for the cathedral.

Pulpo á feira, Padrón peppers and tarta de Santiago

Order pulpo á feira, octopus dressed with olive oil, salt and paprika, with a plate of Padrón peppers, and finish with tarta de Santiago, the almond cake marked with the cross of Saint James. Rúa do Franco and Rúa da Raíña are the main eating strip, and a crisp Albariño goes with all of it.

Galician cooking starts with the sea, and in Santiago it starts with octopus. Pulpo á feira is boiled, snipped into rounds with scissors, laid on a wooden plate and dressed with olive oil, coarse salt and paprika, usually with boiled potatoes. Order it with pimientos de Padrón, small green peppers from the town 20 km south, fried and salted; most are mild but the odd one is fiery, and locals have a rhyme about exactly that.

The two alleys south of the cathedral, Rúa do Franco and Rúa da Raíña, are the main eating strip, lined with seafood windows and tapas bars. They are busy with pilgrims, so standards vary; read the menu of the day and look for places full of Galician voices. At the Mercado de Abastos you can buy shellfish at the stalls and have it cooked on the spot, the freshest lunch in town on a market morning.

Bakeries sell slabs of empanada, a flat pie often filled with tuna or scallops, and the cone-shaped tetilla cheese is a good picnic buy. For dessert there is only one choice: tarta de Santiago, a dense almond cake dusted with sugar around the stencilled cross of Saint James. Drink a crisp Albariño from the Rías Baixas.