Night Tour of Secrets and Legends Through the Old Town

Santiago at night, with empty squares and wet stone under the streetlamps, lends itself to stories. There are two ways to walk it with a guide. Compos Tours runs a two-hour night tour for €15 that leaves from Praza da Quintana and ends at the foot of the cathedral, at Praterías. Optimus Tours has a free tour of mysteries and legends lasting an hour and a half, pay-what-you-like, in groups of up to six people, which leaves from the Obradoiro.

Secrets of Compostela, with Compos Tours

Compos Tours is the project of Juan Segade, an official guide of Galicia with licence GE-364-XG and more than eleven years in the trade, according to his website. His night tour passes through the best-known corners and monuments of the old town as night begins to fall, and talks about symbols, legends, the city's Roman past and the medieval Jewish quarter; Turismo de Santiago adds that it also touches on taboo subjects, such as sex and death. It ends in Praza de Praterías with an explanation linked to the pilgrimage. It leaves from the arcades of the Casa da Conga, in the Quintana. The website offers it every day, and Turismo de Santiago's activities centre gives the departure as 20:00. It costs €15 and includes an official guide, public liability insurance and a gift for each attendee; Turismo de Santiago says under-12s don't pay. It is in Spanish, with places for about 20 people, and is not adapted for wheelchairs. The weather may affect the departure. Book on its website, on 678 894 867 or at [email protected].

Mysteries and legends, with Optimus Tours

The free tour by Optimus Tours, the same agency as the guided cathedral visit, lasts an hour and a half. It goes from the Obradoiro to Praterías, the Quintana, the Inmaculada and Praza de Cervantes, passes the university and the Porta do Camiño and ends at Bonaval park. It is led by an official guide, is held in Spanish and allows pets. It has no price: you pay at the end whatever you think fit. The group is six people at most, so you must book on its website; the listing does not publish departure times, which you see when you choose a date. You meet at the Obradoiro with the guide with the orange umbrella, five minutes early.

Which to choose

If you want a night-time route in the dark, at a fixed price and with places for more people, the Compos Tours one. If you prefer a very small group, are going with a dog or want to see Bonaval park, the Optimus Tours one. Both are on foot over paving that is slippery in rain and are in Spanish. Afterwards, cross to the Alameda to see the illuminated cathedral head-on.