Santiago de Compostela in 2 days, on foot

This 2-day self-guided walking plan for Santiago de Compostela covers 18 narrated sights in an easy day-by-day order. Each day is split into a morning and an afternoon loop, and every stop has a two to three minute audio story in the Gingerguide app.

You set the pace: this is a suggested order, not a schedule. Walk it in 2 days, or stretch it out. Reorder freely; Santiago de Compostela rewards a detour.

Day 1

Morning

1. Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela: One of the great pilgrimage destinations of the medieval world, the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, built over the tomb of Saint James the Apostle, is the endpoint of the Camino de Santiago. Its Romanesque nave (11th-13th c.) and Baroque Obradoiro façade (1750) are architectural masterpieces.
2. Praza do Obradoiro: The main square of Santiago de Compostela, where pilgrims arrive at the end of the Camino, surrounded by the cathedral, the Hostal dos Reis Católicos, the Pazo de Raxoi, and the Colexio de San Xerome. One of the great architectural ensembles in Europe.
3. Santiago Old Town (Casco Histórico): A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985, the medieval old town of Santiago is built almost entirely of granite, with arcaded streets, pilgrim hospitals, Romanesque and Baroque churches, and a density of religious architecture unmatched in northern Spain.
4. Pórtico de la Gloria: The masterpiece of Romanesque sculpture in the Iberian Peninsula, carved by Master Mateo around 1188, the Pórtico de la Gloria inside the cathedral's west entrance features 200 carved figures in a theological programme of extraordinary sophistication. Restored 2017 after 16 years of conservation.
5. Museo Catedral de Santiago: The cathedral museum occupying the Romanesque cloister and adjacent buildings, with collections including medieval sculpture, Romanesque capitals, the original Botafumeiro, tapestries by Goya, and access to the cathedral roof terrace with panoramic views over the Praza do Obradoiro.

Afternoon

1. Praza da Quintana: The most intimate of Santiago's cathedral squares, divided by a stone terrace into an upper 'Quintana de los Muertos' (historic cemetery) and lower 'Quintana de los Vivos', with the Cathedral's 12th-century Romanesque south façade and the Puerta Santa (Holy Door), opened only in Holy Years.
2. Camino to Finisterre (Cape of the World's End): The traditional endpoint of the Camino de Santiago beyond the city, Cabo de Fisterra (Cape Finisterre), 90km west of Santiago, is the westernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula and was considered the edge of the known world in antiquity. Pilgrims have been walking here since medieval times.
3. Mercado de Abastos: The largest covered market in Galicia, built in 1941 on the site of the old Convent of Santo Agostiño, Mercado de Abastos is the best place to experience Galician gastronomy: fresh fish, octopus, shellfish, Galician cheeses, and local produce from the surrounding countryside.
4. Rías Baixas: Galician Wine Coast: The Atlantic wine region south of Santiago, the Rías Baixas DO produces Spain's finest white wines from the Albariño grape, grown on granite hillsides above the drowned river valleys (rías) of the Galician coast. Characterised by aromatic, high-acid wines ideal with Galician seafood.

Day 2

Morning

1. Colegio de Fonseca: University of Santiago: The Renaissance gem of Santiago's old town, the Colegio de Fonseca (1532), built by Archbishop Alonso de Fonseca as a student college, is considered the finest example of Plateresque Renaissance architecture in Galicia, with an exquisite arcaded courtyard now serving as the University Library.
2. Museo do Pobo Galego: The museum of Galician culture and identity, housed in the 17th-century Convento de Santo Domingo de Bonaval, it contains the extraordinary triple-helix spiral staircase (the 'Escaleira de Santo Domingo') and the Pantheon of Illustrious Galicians, where the poet Rosalía de Castro is interred.
3. Pilgrim Office & Compostela Experience: The Pilgrim Office of Santiago de Compostela, where pilgrims present their completed Credencial to receive the Compostela certificate of completion, the final official act of the pilgrimage, drawing pilgrims from over 100 countries each year.
4. Monte Pedroso & Views of Santiago: The hill overlooking Santiago de Compostela from the west, Monte Pedroso (463m) provides the finest panoramic views of the cathedral towers rising above the granite old town, with forests, pathways, and the Santa Susana park at its base.
5. Praza da Inmaculada & Cathedral North Façade: The quiet square on the north side of the cathedral, site of the Baroque north façade (Azabachería), the massive Monastery of San Martino Pinario, and the traditional arrival square for pilgrims coming on the Camino del Norte. Less visited than the Obradoiro, it has an atmosphere of contemplative stillness.

Afternoon

1. Galician Gastronomy & Tarta de Santiago: The culinary traditions of Galicia centred in the streets of Santiago's old town, from the Rúa do Franco restaurant district to the tarta de Santiago (almond cake dusted with the cross of Saint James), Galician gastronomy is one of Spain's richest regional food cultures.
2. Vía de la Plata: The Silver Route Camino: The ancient Roman road from Seville to Santiago, the Vía de la Plata (Silver Way) follows a 1,000km route through Extremadura and Galicia, making it the longest Camino route and one of the most challenging, through remote countryside with sparse pilgrim infrastructure.
3. Hostal dos Reis Católicos: The former royal pilgrim hospital commissioned by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1501, now operating as a Parador luxury hotel, it is the finest building in the Praza do Obradoiro and a masterpiece of Spanish Plateresque architecture, with four Gothic courtyards and a richly carved chapel.
4. Collegiate Church of Santa María de Sar: A remarkable 12th-century Romanesque church on the southern edge of Santiago, the Collegiate of Santa María de Sar (1137) is famous for its dramatically tilted columns, leaning outward at alarming angles as the foundations settled over the centuries, giving the interior a surreal quality.

Full Santiago de Compostela guide and all stops →