First morning 

10:00 - Everyone to see the apostle

It could not be any other way. Your first visit must be to Santiago Cathedral (1075-1211). Starting with the most photographed and well-known image of all: its main door in the Plaza del Obradoiro square. There, among its 74-metre high towers, the apostle awaits on the Renaissance stairway dressed as a pilgrim. Entering the cathedral you will see the Pórtico de la Gloria (Portico of Glory), but take great care, since it is wearing out from being touched so much. As you cross the central nave, try not to miss a thing, though it is difficult with so much to see. At the back, behind the chancel, lies the crypt with the apostle's relics. Behind it is the image of the saint that all embrace as a symbol of thanks. You can linger inside of the cathedral for as long as we want, but remember there is still a lot left to see. For example, the visit to the cathedral roof, from where you can see the roofs of all Santiago. The view is monumental, but then everything here is monumental. So give yourselves some time to take it all in. Outside again, in the Plaza del Obradoiro, you will find some of the most important buildings: the Hostal de los Reyes Católicos (Hostal of the Catholic Monarchs), the Colegio de San Xerome (School of San Xerome) and the Palacio Raxoi (Raxzoi Palace). There is architecture and art on all four sides. To the right, in Calle Fonseca, you can buy souvenirs. (There are even some in quite good taste). The typical shells are the symbol of a successful pilgrim. Although your pilgrimage, instead of finishing here, is just beginning, and you will find shops again throughout the route. 
Open every day from 07:00 to 21:00. 

Further information:
www.catedraldesantiago.es
www.santiagoturismo.com/rutapanoramica/ruta.asp?rta=obradoiro
http://www.parador.es/es/tratarFichaParadorCabecera.do?parador=103

12:00 noon - Shopping in Abastos market

Leaving Plaza Quintana through Rúa da Conga and turning left along Rúa de Altamira, you will come to Plaza de Abastos. If it is not Sunday, the market will be open. It is full of products from the land and sea, very fresh and even sometimes still alive. Here you can buy fish, seafood, fruit and vegetables. However, you should wait until midday, when the haggling starts, which is extremely typical here. The products are good, but you will also what to see the permanent stalls, the huts in the square.You can even see how locals come to sell what they have harvested that very day.Sometimes there are more than 100! Without a doubt, this market has a real taste. 
And while you are there, take Rúa das Rodas towards Rúa San Pedro, where there is a tavern called El Mosquito where you will find the best coffee liqueur and the best home-made eau-de-vie in the whole of Santiago. They make it themselves and they sell it in a glass bottle wrapped in daily newspaper.That is its charm!

Further information:
http://www.santiagoturismo.com/rutapanoramica/ruta.asp?rta=mercado

First afternoon 

14:00 - Tasting a tixola

Staying in this same area. If go back along Rúa San Pedro, you will come to Rúa das Rodas; go along this street until reaching the restaurant called La Bodeguilla de San Roque. You will have to go there fairly early, as it is always full. Ask for octopus tixola with king prawns, cooked and served in a frying pan. It is a spectacular typical dish. You can also order portions of seafood, vegetables sautéed with egg or bacon to go with it.Of course, always with a good wine, which is plentiful here. Coffee you can leave for later at a very special place.
If you do not want to do any walking, go from the Mercado de Abastos market along Rúa del Xelmirez, to Rúa Nova, where the Don Gaiferos restaurant awaits you (Rúa Nova, 23) and its dishes of king prawns, Galician veal and apple tart, to start trying the taste of Santiago. 

16:00 - Coffee in the park

Leaving the La Bodeguilla de San Roque restaurant, just opposite lies the Parque de Santo Domingo de Bonaval park and beside it the Alameda park, your next destination. For the time being carry on towards Bonaval. Going back along the streets you already know, you will find the Centro Galego de Arte Contemporáneo (Galician Modern Art Centre) (CGAG) on a corner. Its bookshop is well worthwhile, but its cafeteria with windows and views of the park is where it is worth stopping to have an after-lunch coffee.
The Parque de Santo Domingo de Bonaval park is very pretty, so cross through it to reach Parque da Alameda. 
The Alameda is the place where the Santiagueses (inhabitants of Santiago) come to lose themselves and walk. It goes round the old, and most monumental, part of the city. The views as you cross the Rúa de Teo are magnificent and give another perspective of the most typical Santiago. From Paseo da Alameda to Carballeira de Santa Susana or Paseo de la Herradura, you will find curious details along the way. There is a curious music stand within the park. Beside it, there is a surprising acoustic bench in the form of a half-moon. If you sit at the ends you will see for yourself how, when speaking towards the bench, its back creates an echo effect that allows you to hear clearly what is being said at the other end. Lovers went there, to whisper to one another without raising suspicions. Two typical ladies in this park are also suspicious: they are known as the Dos Marías (Two Marys) and they are normally found around the entrance. You will be able to tell who they are when you come across them due to their heavy make-up and odd appearances. In fact, the Dos Marías is a statue that plays tribute to these peculiar ladies, known by this name throughout Santiago de Compostela, having been legendary characters in the city for many years. They are also known as Las dos en punto (Two o'clock), as they went out every day at two o'clock to walk along the Alameda, where they flirted, despite their advanced years, with students walking home to have lunch. They always were always dressed to the nines.

Further information:
http://www.cgac.org/
http://www.santiagoturismo.com/rutaJardines/rutas.asp?rutas=alameda

18:00 - Buying T-shirts

Do not be surprised if you pass by the same place more than once. You will end up going back to where you started. That is what Santiago is like. Now, from the Alameda go to Rúa Fonte de San Antonio, which is no more than 5 minutes away. After going past Hotel Compostela take the next street, Rúa do Xeneral Pardiñas, to go shopping. You will now be in the Ensanche, the shopping district better known as Centro Comercial Abierto Santiago Centro shopping centre. In Rúa República del Salvador stands the "other cathedral": Zara. It is the flagship of Galicia's famous fashion brand, since the entire Inditex empire, of which Zara is the main brand, was created in Santiago. You will find shops of the different brands and franchises in these streets. However, in Santiago there is one must-have purchase that many will find surprising: a T-shirt. These are not "normal" T-shirts however, but T-shirts with designs, slogans and sayings that have become a craze in Europe and are mainly sold via Internet. To get one, go straight to Rei ZenTolo (Santiago de Chile, 4), where the most fashionable and amusing T-shirts in the whole of Santiago can be found.
Before sunset, there is a remote spot where you can go and rest for a little while away from all the hustle and bustle. La Casa Felisa is a bar, restaurant and guest-house (Porta de Pena, 5) close to Rúa de San Roque, where we suggested you eat. Out the back, it has a private garden, perfect for having a glass of beer with tapas and listening to music. It is a charming place, where you can rest for a while before going for dinner and, of course, getting to know Santiago by night. 

Further information: 

http://www.santiagoturismo.com/visitarSantiago/DondeComprar/ensanche.asp
http://www.santiagoturismo.com/visitarsantiago/agendacultural/espacios/contenedores.asp?id=13http://www.reizentolo.com/http://www.casafelisahostel.com/

20:30 - Dinner for "buen xantar" (Good eating)

After walking such a lot you will need a good dinner, sitting in one of the best known new restaurants in Santiago. We are talking about O Dezaseis (Rúa de San Pedro, 16). To start with, try its tapas menu, or if you are very hungry the raciones (larger portions). It offers the most local types of dishes: táboa de bacallao afumado com pementos del piquillo (smoked cod with piquillo peppers), cold bacon, polbo a feira (Galician-style octopus) and polbo a grella (grilled octopus), Galician broth, cockles with allada (garlic and parsley) or Galician-style scallops. The difficulty will be to choose between the traditionally prepared and very fresh fish or the famous and tender Galician meat in traditional recipes. A hard choice for anyone!
Just on the other side of the old district of Santiago, passing by the cathedral, along Rúa das Hortas, you will come straight onto Rúa das Galeras. Here you will and have dinner in the El Mercadito restaurant (Rúa das Galeras, 18), an exquisite and also young place, but essential, or the La Tacita D’Juan restaurant (Rúa de Hórreo, 31) a temple of textbook Galician cooking, in the midst of the Ensanche, were you went shopping. 
After dinner, you can join in the Santiago nightlife in the old quarter. As everything is so close, the best thing is to walk there and enjoy the atmosphere and the streets, which are always filled with people. That is what they do here and that is its charm. At night, the whole of the historical part of the city has a special light; it is the other facet of the monuments. Walking along, you may come across all sorts of improvised shows in the Plaza de Platerías, in the Plaza de Quintana, in the Plaza del Obradoiro... When your feet start complaining, go for a drink in El Atlántico, a bohemian establishment that is always full, or in the typical Reixa, where rock music is always played. Curruncho, Medusa and Camalea, are all along these streets. However, do not get too carried away as before going to bed there is still the Paseo de Ferradura to visit. From here, we can see the entire old district lit up at night And it is amazing!

Further information:
http://www.dezaseis.com/
http://www.latacita.com/
http://www.santiagoturismo.com/VisitarSantiago/SalirdeNoche/index.asp?pagina=pasear

Second morning 

10:00 - Charming squares

Start the day by walking through Santiago's most charming squares. And the best thing is that they are found so close together: they are the three squares surrounding the cathedral. 
We will start with Quintana square or writers' square. It is a special and spacious square. You can sit on the steps and simply watch the hustle and bustle of people and pilgrims that pass through or stop off. The 18 steps divide it in Quintana "dos vivos" (of the alive) –in the upper part– and Quintana "dos mortos" (of the dead). And people from Santiago usually go there to relax. It is pedestrian and spacious, perfect for relaxing and gazing at the cathedral façade where you can see the Puerta Santa (Holy Door). This door only opens to pilgrims in an Año Santo (Holy Year). 
From here, you can go to Plaza de Las Platerías. This amazing square was the setting for the well-known Galician filmmaker Anton Reixa El lápiz del carpintero and Fuente de los Caballos inspired Federico García Lorca to write his Danza de lúa. Here is the south façade of the cathedral, the only one built in Romanesque style. With its impressive 70 m high Clock Tower, where the always punctual Berenguela has chimed every day for thousands of years.The lantern, which guided the pilgrims towards the city is also found in this tower and it is only lit in Jacobean Years (when 25 June falls on a Sunday). On one side of the square, you will see El Cabildo (sacerdotal school in charge of safekeeping the apostle's relics) and the Pilgrim's Office, where the Compostelana (certificated accrediting the pilgrimage) is given out. 
You can finish your walk through the Plaza de la Inmaculada, Plaza de la Azabachería or Plaza del Paraíso squares, opposite the Neoclassical façade of the Azabachería. In its covachuelas –little shops leased by the archbishopric– pieces of jet are sold even today. This square was remodelled a short time ago, together with the façade of the Monastery of San Martín Pinario and the new Palacio Episcopal (Episcopal Palace). The pilgrims come here along the North, English and French Ways (pilgrim's routes)

 12:00 noon - Combing the old town

The Rúa Nova, Rúa do Franco and Rúa do Vilar streets are pure old town. Yesterday, you enjoyed them at night and today you can do so by day. The Rúa Nova, with its hippie street market, is the most alternative. It is riddled with Internet cafés, tattoo, piercing and clothes shops. The classic Sastrería Pepecillo do made-to-measure suits or cassocks. Also in this district are Sargadelos, the official shop of the international and highly-renowned Galician ceramics, and the Eiira biocentro; the first organic shop that opened in Santiago. Likewise, Rúa Nova houses an “old-fashioned” bookstore, La Vetusta, selling second-hand books. And among all the shops, you must stop-off at number 22: the Teatro Principal, which, aside from its wonderful architecture, always has an interesting and varied programme. One week a month there are thematic films in their original language, very popular in the city. In November, the European Film Series is shown: quality cinema, at all hours. 
Walking towards Rúa do Vilar will take you to the most famous and sophisticated shops in the city. The hats in the Sombrerería Iglesias, open since 1912, are excellent (a whim in the 21st century), and then there is the classic silversmith with a modern touch, Baraka and not forgetting the mouth-watering Pastelería Mora cake shop, where you should ask for tiramisu or any of the little millefeuille or, of course, Santiago cake! You will not find it as good anywhere else, especially because it is home-made, something that only the city's cake shops can guarantee. 
And now, we are going to see shop windows full of velvet crabs, spider crabs, oysters, goose barnacles, clams, fresh fish or pieces of Galician veal. They are all in Rúa do Franco, a restaurant street par excellence. This is a medieval legacy, because the taverns that took in the pilgrims in the Middle Ages are found here. There is good wine, cheese and Galician cold meats, ideal for getting your appetite going at this time of day. 

Further information:
http://www.santiagodecompostela.org/
http://www.sargadelos.com/
http://www.barakajoyas.com/

Second afternoon   

14:00 - Lunch of raciones (portions)

You cannot enjoy Santiago without trying a good chilled Albariño or Ribeiro wine and not to do so while you are here would be almost heresy.Between Rúa Raíña and Rúa do Franco we have the best. There are tapas and raciones bars to feast on. Why not stop by at Raíña, in El Trafalgar, where we recommend “tigres rabiosos”, mussels in unbeatable spicy fried onion. You can then continue with Galician cheese –cebreiro, arzúa, tetilla or San Simón– and pulpo a feira (Galician-style octopus). Next, go to El Coruña and head straight for a squid roll, which is among the best in the city, in addition to the zorza (chorizo mince) and omelette rolls and all types of portions. From here to El Abellá, in Rúa do Franco, to try its “cocodrilos” (crocodiles), which are pork filets on a bed of potatoes, and are to die for! If you have any space left, you can go on to other bars that you will find as you walk along these two streets, such as O Gato Negro, O Bigotes and O Orella, without forgetting to try the empanada (savoury pastry) –with cod, variegated scallops, pork–, zorza (chorizo mince), carne ao Caldeiro (stewed meat) or Padrón peppers. 
If you are tired and prefer to sit down, go to eat at San Clodio (Rúa San Pedro, 32). Here you will find good Galician veal, both sirloin steak and chops, or even better, char-grilled steak at a good price.
It is essential to stop off at Café Casino (Rúa do Vilar, 35), which is close by.It is always full, because it its the café par excellence of the city, old and well-preserved (from 1848), with a piano often played live and the best coffee and pastries of the district. If the weather is nice, you can sit in the sun and admire the views from its pavement café. If not, inside you can enjoy a good conversation or one of the concerts regular customers are used to enjoying. 

Further information:
http://www.cafecasino.es/

16:00 - From Santiago to San Domingos

“Sunday is sacred”. This saying takes on a different meaning in the first destination we suggest. Revisiting the Parque del Bonaval, which you will find on route to the Alameda, to visit the Gothic cathedral of St. Domingos, a church built in the 16th century, with rich architecture, containing the Panteón de los Gallegos Ilustres (Pantheon of the Illustrious Galicians). Buried here are Rosalía de Castro, Castelao, Alfredo Brañas, Ramón Cabanillas and Francisco Asorey, and for this reason it is a place very closely linked to Galicians and their memory. It also holds the Museo do Pobo Galego (Museum of the Galician People), devoted to researching, conserving, disseminating, defending and promoting all aspects of Galician culture. It has rooms devoted to the sea, agriculture, artisans and Galician dress, among others. But if that seems curious, the triple spiral stairway will be, at least, surprising: each one of its three ramps lead to a floor of the convent. They are worthy of Umberto Eco. 

Further information:
www.museodopobo.es

18:00 - Farewell in the convents

You must not leave Santiago de Compostela without visiting its convents, which brings an end to the route through the city that surely transmits most spirituality per square metre.You will reach the first in just a few minutes. Go down Rúa San Roque until you come to Rúa Loureiros and, from there, link up with Rúa Santa Clara, where the Convent del Carmen (18th century) is found. This convent is large and sober, but discrete and austere. It is the house of the Carmelitas Descalzas, followers of St. Teresa de Jesús. Here the Holy Communion wafers are made, which are then distributed throughout the city's churches. 
Opposite it, we have the Convent of Santa Clara, in Baroque style typical of Santiago. This convent is full of surprises: the original authentic temple is concealed inside, behind the small garden. It was founded in the 13th century by Doña Violante, wife of King Alfonso X the Wise.
From Rúa San Roque you can go on to your final destination, the old hospital of San Roque. Its construction stems from the plague, as it was built just at the time when the epidemics were devastating the population. Fortunately, today it is the headquarters of different cultural institutions. Inside, you can see a model of the future Cidade da Cultura (City of Culture) by Peter Eisenman, being built on Mount Gaiás. Architects as prestigious as Ricardo Bofill, Jean Nouvel, Dominique Perrault and César Portela, among others, entered the tender. Eisenman was awarded the project, which is based on the five routes of pilgrimage to the city, with buildings carved in the ground. The future and the past come together in this convent, a reflection of Santiago de Compostela today. 

Further information:
hwww.cidadedacultura.org/
www.santiagoturismo.com/