City Guide to Santiago de Compostela, Gaicia, Spain from The Opportunistic Travelers

We spent an incredible three weeks in Santiago de Compostela (and the surrounding area) in April of 2015, Known mostly for "The Camino", we found excellent activities for anyone regardless of religious affiliation. And while much of this is walking-friendly, some will be better enjoyed with a bus. Luckily, they run on a regular basis and take you just about anywhere you'd like to go in Galicia. Enjoy your travels to this incredible part of Spain!

Santiago de Compostela, Galicia In Pictures

While in Santiago de Compostela, Sheila took 256 photos of the town and a few nearby cities. Below is a sampling of some of those from the area. The full set is on Flickr.

Santiago At Night

Noia Cathedral

Reflections On The River

Bridge To The Other Side

Shells Tell All

Outside Comes Inside

Beauty

Cast Away

Low Tide

Beautiful Walk

Street Musicians

Street Art

Lute Player

Calla Lilies

Housing

Road Work

Church Of The Rising Sun

Archway

Horse Fountain

Nice Knockers

Diving

Streets

Flowers In Bloom

Flowers Are The Street Vendors Shield

University of Santiago de Compostela

Places To Visit In Santiago de Compostela, Galicia

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Alameda Park overlooking USC Campus

Alameda Park, just west of the Cathedral, is a well-maintained public park that offers gorgeous views of Santiago. Be sure to walk through the park, about as far as you can to the wester edge. There you'll find a stunning vista of the USC -- that's University of Santiago de Compostela, not the other USC -- that's worth enjoying for several minutes, or an hour.

A Photo Walk -- Quite Literally -- Around Noia, Galicia.

Noia started out as a small fishing village over one thousand years ago. Today, it's still a small fishing village, but a decent-sized city has grown up around it, with all the modern trappings you'd expect to find.

Audio Expeditions For Santiago de Compostela, Galicia

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Can Beer Boost Your Language Skills?

Beer probably won't make you more articulate, but it will open international doors for you.

Thailand's Deadly Roads: Why You Can't Fail To Pass

If you worried about passing your drivers' test when you were a kid, you'll be overjoyed to learn how easy it is in Thailand. And then terrified to drive there.

The ONLY Two Things You Need To Travel The World

There are lots of people out there telling you how to live a life of travel. But when you break it all down, it comes down to only two things.

How We Traveled Europe On The Cheap

If your impression of Europe is an expensive place to travel with crappy beer, we have a different story to tell.

Street Musicians from Europe

During our walk about the Earth, we've encountered a fair number of street musicians. And since we've always got an audio recorder on us... we recorded some of them. This week, it's a musical interlude on our show. Enjoy the sounds of a few street musicians we've met all across Europe!

Come For The Camino, Stay For The Cervexa

The best walk in Santiago de Compostela has nothing to do with pilgrims, and everything to do with quality craft beer.

Galicia Makes A Great First Impression

Our first week in Galicia -- northern Spain -- was outstanding. We made plenty of friends, stumbled across a protest, and managed to find the place with quality craft beer. Surprised? No, probably not.

One Minute Memories of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia

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Diving Into The Fountain

Taking a video of art is always an interesting proposition. How do you position the camera to capture the essence of the piece, yet still create your own work of art? This One Minute Memories video does just that.

Shimmering Noia - Another Relaxing One Minute Memories Video

This hidden little spot looks like a it's in the middle of nowhere, but it's actually nestled in the middle of a busy residential area. No can't tell it from this area, even when you pan back. Just a lovely place on a lovely day.

Street Musician Playing Medieval Music

There are so many street musicians in Santiago de Compostela. They move around from spot to spot within the old section of town by the Cathedral. We heard hand pans, bagpipes, harps and more while we were in Santiago.

Food Choices In Santiago de Compostela, Galicia

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Best coffee in Briòn at the Cafe Bar Altamira

Cafe Bar Altamira is more than a coffee shop, as you can probably guess from the name. The place gets lively around mid-day and stays that way. There's a pool table and dart board in the back, with plenty of room for a large-ish party to have a good time. And like any good bar in this part of Spain, tapas keeps on flowing from the kitchen.

Super-fresh seafood at Albomar in Noia

But at Albomar, it was fall-apart flaky and good, almost like a firm fish. By not chewy, we mean NOT CHEWY in the slightest. Almost freaky great. And their breading was fantastic and light, adding to the experience.

Grab some grub at Cafetería Pizzería A Fonte in Bertamiráns

The pizza? Just fine. I (Evo) enjoyed a few more traditional Spanish dishes and found them all tasty and quite inexpensive. The staff was friendly, one speaking better English than we did!

A Taste at La Tasquita A Tasquiña

Galicia is thick with places to grab a quick meal. Only don't show up at noon, as that's not the time for eating. We didn't know that when we first arrived, so our choices at La Tasquita A Tasquiña were a little on the light side. However, the food was delish.

Cafetería Pizzería A Fonte - Restaurant

Wet, hungry, and disappointed to find most businesses closed, we chose Cafetería Pizzería A Fonte because a) it was open and b) they had veggie pizza, a safe-haven for Sheila in a land where pork flavors everything.

Bars & Pubs In Santiago de Compostella, Galicia

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La Atlántica is Serious About Galician Craft Beer

As if out trip to Santiago couldn't get any better, we managed to get invited to a semi-private beer tasting at La Atlántica! Only one of the beers was actually a Galician craft beer, a home-brewed Gose, oddly enough. It was lovely. Brewed with actual seawater, if you can believe it!

O Bandullo do Lambón - Craft Beer & Speciality Shop

Hidden away in the back streets of Santiago de Compostela is a small shop called O Bandullo do Lambón. Good craft beer found!

BeerLab Cerveceria - Restaurant & Beer Garden

BeerLab looks and feels like any other craft beer bar and restaurant you'd stumble across in Denver, Portland, or even Phoenix. Four of the six tap handles rotate through mostly Galician craft beer.

Fillos da Malte - Craft Beer Store

The craft beer revolution is alive and well in Galicia! Fillos de Malta is a small little bottle shop specializing in both homebrew supplies and Galician cervexas atresás.

cafe o sotano - Bar

This unassuming watering hole can be a pretty lively place at night, when the locals show up, the beers start flowing, and the guitar is passed around. Yes, a guitar. Yes, it will wind up in your lap. Yes, you must at least strum something. They'll love it.