48 hours in Santiago de Compostela

WHY GO NOW?

WHY GO NOW?

For Santiago de Compostela, 2004 will be a "holy year", when St James's Day (25 July) falls on a Sunday. Ten million pilgrims and tourists from all over the world will visit this beautiful medieval hilltop city, so from springtime onwards it will be difficult to find a room in town. Luckily, Santiago is a fine winter destination. It may rain a lot, but they say the city looks even better wet - and until the end of February a city-wide promotion cuts the weekend prices of a number of hotels so you can enjoy a relatively inexpensive trip before the crowds arrive. Ask at the tourist office at Rua do Vilar 63 (00 34 981 55 51 29; www.santiagoturismo.com, open 10am-3pm daily, 9am-9pm from Easter) for a 48 Hours card (€12/£8.50 per couple), which also gives you discounts in some hotels, restaurants, shops and bars.

BEAM DOWN

If you can't walk, fly. Iberia (0845 601 2845; www.iberia.com) flies from Heathrow to Santiago's international airport. You could get a budget ticket to Madrid on an airline such as easyJet (0871 750 0100; www.easyJet.com), and a domestic flight from there - again try Iberia, or Spanair (00 34 902 131 415; www.spanair.com). Alternatively, Ryanair (0871 246 0000; www.ryanair.com) flies from Stansted to Valladolid, about 200km from Santiago.

GET YOUR BEARINGS

The airport is 12km east of town, a 20-minute bus ride. Buses cost €1.40 (£1) and leave hourly, dropping you on Rua do Xeneral Pardiñas in the modern part of town. A short walk up the hill, through the Campo de Estrella park, finds you in the pedestrianised old town. From here, several parallel streets run northwards: Rua do Franco is the best street for restaurants and tapas bars; Rua do Vilar, which houses the excellent tourist office , and Rua Nova are the best shopping streets. The west of the town is dominated by the city's vast cathedral ; inside are the bones of St James the Apostle, whose decapitated body is said to have been brought here from Jerusalem shortly after his death, and rediscovered by the hermit Pelayo at this spot early in the ninth century. The 17th-century façade of the cathedral looks on to one of the most beautiful squares in Europe, the Praza do Obradoiro, and overshadows the Hostal de los Reyes Catolicos . This was built in the 14th century as a shelter for pilgrims. It now claims to be the oldest hotel in the world, because it has become the city's parador - see below.

CHECK IN

The state-run Parador de Santiago de Compostela , Plaza do Obradoiro (00 34 981 582 200; www.parador.es), is by some stretch the best place in town to stay. The setting and interior are superb, which is possibly why it does not feel it necessary to offer winter specials. A double room costs €126 (£90) per night (breakfast included). Even if you don't stay there, try out the cocktail of the day in the restaurant bar. The five-star Palacio del Carmen , on Rua das Oblatas (00 34 981 552 444; www.ac-hotels.com/english/santiago.htm), is a former convent situated in the hills overlooking the town, which offers a fine view of the city. The discount rate is €89 (£64), breakfast not included. For a cheap but clean alternative try the two-star San Lorenzo at Rua San Lorenzo 2 (00 34 981 580 133), which charges a discount rate of €54 (£39), breakfast not included. This is a family-run affair, offering good local food, in the old part of town.

TAKE A VIEW

The Paso de Leons in the Alameda Park leads you past the one-armed bronze statue of the writer Ramon del Valle Inclan and up to a dominating eucalyptus tree, with peeling bark, moss-filled graffiti and scimitar leaves. A bench at its base gives a wonderful rooftop view of the old city, dominated by the outrageous Baroque spires of the cathedral .

TAKE A HIKE

Catch the last stretch of the pilgrims' route. From the Parque de San Domingos, walk into the old town through the Porta do Camino , and turn left into Rua do Olivera, which will take you past the grey, church-like market ; don't miss the fighting angels on the clocktower. Continue along Praza da Universidade and Praza de Mazarelos through the university district, with its august classical buildings. Turn into the shopping district round Canton and Praza do Toural, then turn right down porticoed Rua do Vila, a street of shops and bars where the pilgrims' progress traditionally quickens a step. Turn left into Rua De Fonseca, take a deep breath, and turn right into the Praza do Obradoiro. The cathedral awaits you.

WINDOW SHOPPING

Few pilgrims return from Santiago without souvenirs. Some go for the decorative: there are scores of shops selling traditional silver cockle shells and silver necklaces in the old quarter - try Relojeria Calvo de Paz at Rua das Orfas 7 (00 34 981 571 384). Others choose more functional goods: the area is famous for its ceramics. For a good selection of bowls, vases and hanging witches, try Ceramica Tipica at Rua Da Conga 2 (00 34 686 026 679). Epicurean visitors go for more transitory reminders: A Cesta at Rua do Franco 52 (00 34 981 587 276) is the best place to buy orujo (Galician grappa) and tetilla (soft cheese).

LUNCH ON THE RUN

The old vaults where they used to keep the cathedral's canons are now the Crêperie Cre-Cottée at Praza da Quintana 1 (00 34 981 564 379). This is the ideal place to try out a filloa - a Galician crêpe, with a variety of local fishy fillings.

CULTURAL AFTERNOON

You can't walk far in the city centre without finding an art gallery. The most distinctive is the concrete block CGAC , on Calle Ramon del Valle Inclan (00 34 981 546 629; www.cgac.org) - a nine-year-old structure that gives ample space to young conceptual artists. It opens from 11am-8pm daily except Monday, and admission is free. Opposite it is the more traditional Museo do Pobo Galego on Calle San Domingos de Bonoval (00 34 981 583 620; www.museodopobo.es), which opens Tuesday to Saturday 10am-2pm and 4-8pm, Sunday 11am-2pm, and is closed on Monday; admission free.

AN APERITIF

Galicia is proud of its wine, and two local varieties are particularly worth trying out - the Ribeiro, a simple red, and the Albaniño, a finer white. A number of bars around Rua da Raina have a good selection of local wines. O Beiro at Rua da Raina 3 (00 34 981 581 370, closed on Sunday) is one good bet, with the wine of the day on the blackboard and a free tapa with every glass.

DINNER WITH THE LOCALS

Galicia is famed for its seafood, which is reflected in the menus in most of the city's restaurants. L'Incontro at Rua de Franco 50 (00 34 981 585 975) serves fresh oysters followed by a selection of fresh local fish, which you can see in the window before it is cooked. A meal for two with wine will cost around €75 (£53.50). The San Clemente at Rua de San Clemente 6 (00 34 981 580 882, closed Monday) offers arroz con bogovante (rice with lobster) and rabada a gallega (Galician monkfish). The zamburiñas (baby scallops) are particularly recommended. Expect to pay up to €50 (£35.50) per person. Way downmarket, but at superb value, Manolo's on Plaza Cervantes (00 34 981 58 29 50) is popular with students. It offers a three-course set menu for just €5.50 (£4) a head. Try the seafood soup and chargrilled sole.

SUNDAY MORNING: GO TO CHURCH

The daily midday pilgrims' service in the cathedral in which the newly arrived worshippers praise God for their journey's end, is not to be missed. At the end of the mass there's a remarkable ceremony. The priest lights the Botafumeiro, a bulky silver incense-burner attached by rope to a pulley system way up in the vaults above the altar. The other end of the rope is divided into eight sections. A huddle of priests pull at these, and the contraption starts swinging from side to side, smoke billowing out. The harder they pull the higher it swings, until it nearly reaches the ceiling. As it slows down, a burly priest catches it to signal the end of the service. In 1962 the pot flew out of control and landed in the congregation; miraculously no one was hurt. The Portico de la Gloria, inside the main entrance of the cathedral, is a masterpiece of Romanesque art, a set of 12th-century columns engraved with figures representing Christ, the four evangelists and the 24 old men of the apocalypse.

OUT TO BRUNCH

In the morning, many of Santiago's bars bring out monster-sized round pies (empanadas) filled with onions, saffron and salted cod, tuna or pork, which they serve in slices. A single slice fills a large hole. Try Maria Castaña , Sexto or the atmospheric Gato Negro , all on Rua da Raina.

TAKE A RIDE

If you fancy a break from Santiago's medieval mystique, catch a bus to a different world. From the bus stop on Avenida do Mestre Mateo, or the bus station on Rua de Rodrigues de Viguri, take a Castromil bus out to Noia, a fishing village 20km away. This is where the cockles that have become the pilgrims' symbol are caught.

A WALK IN THE PARK

In the Parque de Bonoval, built into the hill behind the Museo do Poblo Gallego you can stretch your legs and escape the hubbub. The Basque sculptor Eduardo Chillida was commissioned to come up with a sculpture for its redesign in 1994 and the 19th-century cemetery, now bodiless, is a quiet spot to sit.

THE ICING ON THE CAKE

Is the cake itself. Tarta de Santiago is a moist almond cake with an icing-sugar Santiago cross on the top, and is available from most bars and bakeries. Make sure you buy the genuine article "sin harina" (without flour). Santiagueños joke that this delicacy is the real reason pilgrims come to town.

WRITE A POSTCARD

In fine weather, the benches under the birch trees in the picturesque Campo da Estrela by the Alameda offer an inspiring location to choose what to write home about. If it's raining, try the otherworldly Cafe Casino on Rua do Vila (00 34 981 577 503), a former private club dominated inside by grotesque wooden friezes.

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