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Quintana de mortos, Santiago de Compostela

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Santiago de Compostela Local time

Travel to Santiago De Compostela

Flying to Santiago De Compostela

Airlines offering flights to Santiago de Compostela from the UK include British Airways, Iberia, Lufthansa and Ryanair. Cheap flights to Santiago de Compostela are easily found if you book early and fly with a no-frills airline such as Ryanair.

Flight times: 

From London - 2 hours; New York - 9 hours 40 minutes; Los Angeles - 16 hours; Toronto - 11 hours; Sydney - 26 hours.

Travel by road

Summary:

Traffic in Santiago drives on the right and the minimum driving age is 18 years. Speed limits are 120kph (74mph) on motorways, 100kph (62mph) on dual carriageways, 90kph (56mph) on roads outside built-up areas and 50kph (31mph) within towns. A valid driving licence and third-party insurance are required to drive in Spain. National licences from EU countries are accepted, although drivers are advised to obtain an International Driving Permit. A Green Card is strongly recommended for all visitors and is compulsory for those from outside the EU.

Real Automóvil Club de España (RACE) (tel: 902 404 545; www.race.es) has reciprocal agreements with the AA and RAC in Britain and the AAA in America.

* The speed limit on motorways in Spain has temporarily been reduced to 110kph (68mph). The new limit will remain in effect until the end of June 2011 at the earliest. The slowdown is intended to save energy in response to the surge in oil prices sparked by the unrest in Libya and elsewhere in the Arab world.

Emergency breakdown service:

RACE (tel: 902 404 545).

Routes:

Santiago de Compostela can be reached by road from major cities in Spain and Portugal but a common alternative route is along the Pilgrim's Way via Santander, running parallel to Spain's north coast. The AP-9 is the major north-south route running through the city. The national roads, N547 and N525, have route connections to the A6/NVI, which branches off southeasterly toward León (connected by the N120 and N630), Valladolid (connected by the E80/N620) and finally to the capital, Madrid.

From Britain, a ferry to Bilbao or Santander cuts down on road mileage and driver fatigue but is usually more expensive and a little longer than driving through France.

Driving times:

From León - 4 hours; Valladolid - 6 hours 45 minutes; Madrid - 6 hours.

Coaches:

Santiago’s Estación Central de Autobuses, San Caetano, to the northeast of the city centre, is the terminus for national and international coach services. Monbus (tel: 902 292 900; www.monbus.es) operates coach services from Madrid and other major Spanish cities, as well as from Portugal and other foreign destinations. The other major coach operator is Alsa (tel: 902 422 242; www.alsa.es).

Eurolines (tel: 0871 781 8181, in the UK only; www.eurolines.com) run international coach services from London to Santiago with a couple of changes. The journey takes around 34 hours.

Travel by rail

Services:

Spanish trains are relatively punctual, reasonably priced and usually clean. Seat reservations are required on all inter-city trains.
The main railway station in Santiago de Compostela, Rúa de Hórreo, off Avenida de Lugo, is centrally located, just to the south of the Old Quarter. There’s a day train and a night train to Santiago from Madrid. There’s also a daily train to/from the French border at Irún/Hendaye via Bilbao and San Sebastián.

You can get to Santiago from London by train via Paris in about 26 hours. The first leg is operated by Eurostar (tel: 0843 218 6186, in the UK only; www.eurostar.com). There are also connections to Oporto in Portugal via Vigo and regular local services to A Coruña.

Operators:

RENFE (tel: 902 240 202; www.renfe.es) operates the Spanish rail network, which radiates from Madrid to all the major cities.

Journey times:

From Madrid – 7 hours; London – 26 hours.

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