Santiago de Compostela

[basil1]

I am going to do one of the ships tours from Vigo to Santiago de Compostela. I can't decide whether to take the 5 hour tour that is guided and includes admission to the cathedral or the 'own your own' tour that is 7 hours & doesn't include admission. Are there long lines to get into the cathedral and does having a guided tour allow you to skip the lines (que)? I am wondering why anyone would do the guided tour if you can squeeze out 2 additional hours without the guide. It's a Princess cruise BTW.

[cruiseluv]

Hi Basil,

 

Admission to the Cathedral is Free. I have been to Santiago three times and there have never been lines to go into the Cathedral.

 

Is your trip next year? In that case there might be more crowds as it is a "Holy Year" ( the feast of St. James falls on a Sunday).

 

If you are going this year I would suggest taking the 7 hrs "on your own". In addition to the fantastic Cathedral, Santiago is a beautiful medieval town , lovely to walk around and not be tied to a group.

[basil1]

Thanks CruiseLuv-

My cruise is in September 2009. Anything else I should see/ do other than the cathedral and the main square? Tapas maybe? :-)

 

 

Hi Basil,

 

Admission to the Cathedral is Free. I have been to Santiago three times and there have never been lines to go into the Cathedral.

 

Is your trip next year? In that case there might be more crowds as it is a "Holy Year" ( the feast of St. James falls on a Sunday).

 

If you are going this year I would suggest taking the 7 hrs "on your own". In addition to the fantastic Cathedral, Santiago is a beautiful medieval town , lovely to walk around and not be tied to a group.

[stipmom]

I just got off the Grand Princess and took the guided 5 hour tour. It rained that day so I was glad to have taken the shorter tour. We had about 45 minutes on our own to spend more time in the church or walk around the town

[cruiseluv]

Thanks CruiseLuv-

My cruise is in September 2009. Anything else I should see/ do other than the cathedral and the main square? Tapas maybe? :-)

 

Another building that is very impressive is the Church of San Martin Pinairo, located on Plaza San Martiño, behind the Cathedral. You can visit the inside which is very impressive.

Part of the joy of being in Santiago is walk among the old , medieval granite buildings. Since it is mainly a pedestrian city it is very pleasant to walk around.

 

Regarding "tapas", this is not as common a concept here as in other parts of Spain. Many times in restaurants/cafes you will find what they call "raciones', which are small dishes of whatever that can be shared. "Raciones" are usually bigger than tapas. If you have a nice sunny day, I suggest you go to Casa Felisa on Rua Porta da Pena. It has a lovely garden where you can seat and have something to eat/ drink. On Rua Franco ( as you are looking at the Cathedral, this street is to the right) you have Casa Camilo on the left (also has outside tables) and O'42 further down on the right.

 

To maximize your time in Santiago I suggest you send an e-mail to one of the Spain Tourism offices in the US and request an information booklet and city map for Santiago. These are free and are excellent. The booklet will have suggested walking tours that you can do on your own. Following is the link to their e-mails addresses:

http://www.spain.info/US/TourSpain/Reportajes/0/About+us.htm?SubSys=ToOfAb

 

Even if it is a rainy day, Santiago is lovely as the granite buildings take on a special shiny look in the rain. Just come prepared with a rain proof jacket and umbrella!

 

PS If you enjoy wine, make sure you try a glass (or more!) of their albariño or Ribeiro white wine!

[keltic]

Welcome to my place. Entrance to the cathedral is free. I suppose they mean the catedral museums, which has two entrances and several parts in the catedral buildings. Of course they are worth it, if it´s your first time here just get a good map and wonder around the old town streets. It´s never a line, a little bit if you want to embrace St James Statue. Even to get into the saint tomb there´s not lines. They were planning to close it only during the mass services, but it´s not popular.

 

So, get the on your own version. The buses stop at only 200 metres from the old town, at the touristic bus station. Then you have a local tourist office where you can get a map. The main one it´s at Rua do Vilar. City tourist board it´s http://www.santiagoturismo.com. Some tips would be cathedral of course, the main four squares. San Martin Pinario, local market, Museo do Povo Galego, parks of Bonaval, and Alameda, inclined church of Sar (need a local taxi of 30 minutes walk). And then areas of Rua do Medio, El Carmen, Belvis Park, and with more time a nice walk along the Sarela Promenade.

 

That´s a must list. If the weather is nice, which is usually fine in summer the livest areas areas, appart from Franco are Porta Faxaeira, Praza Roxa (our of the old town where most shops are) and perhaps San Clement. Plenty of outdoors bars, and nice setting.

 

Just ask.

[browneyes7]

You can also do Santiago de Compostella on your own. We rode the train from Vigo to Santiago and took a very short Taxi ride to the church. The train ride took about an hour and fifteen minutes. We spent several hours there, walked back to the train station and rode the train back to Vigo. We then walked from the Vigo train station to the ship. It is all very doable on your own.:)

[basil1]

Thank you so much for all the advice and for taking your time to post the information.

Keltic & Cruiseluv, you are awesome.

Browneyes, I may have to investigate taking the train. I am a little apprehensive about taking the train, but you make it sound so easy.