What's on in Santiago de Compostela (Camino de Santiago), Spain through the year

Peak crowds — Christmas and Reyes, Christmas holidays in Spain

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Christmas and Reyes (15 Dec – 6 Jan)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in February.

Peak crowds — Holy Week, Semana Santa (Easter) holidays in Spain

• Holiday

  Holy Week

  29 Mar – 5 AprCrowdedBook early

  Quieter and wetter than the Andalusian version, and the first serious week of pilgrim arrivals. Cathedral masses are standing room only and the botafumeiro swings most days. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Holy Week, Camino walking season

• Season

  Camino walking season

  1 Apr – 15 Oct · usuallyTrail seasonCrowdedBook early

  Most people walk between April and October, and the last hundred kilometres from Sarria are a queue in July and August. May and late September are the two weeks worth aiming for.

Still on: Holy Week (29 Mar – 5 Apr)

Busy — Camino walking season, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Festas da Ascension

  1 May – 5 Jun · usuallyMajor festival

  The city's other fair, forty days after Easter and so usually in May: a livestock fair on the Santa Susana hill, pulpo stalls in the Alameda and a week of concerts. Locals rate it above July. Source ↗

Still on: Camino walking season (1 Apr – 15 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Camino walking season, Summer holidays in Spain

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Camino walking season (1 Apr – 15 Oct (usually)), Festas da Ascension (1 May – 5 Jun (usually))

Peak crowds — Camino walking season, Peak pilgrim summer

• Season

  Peak pilgrim summer

  1 Jul – 31 AugSchool holidaysCrowdedBook early

  Spanish holidays and the busiest Camino months land together. The pilgrim office queue for a compostela can run to two hours and beds in Sarria need booking rather than walking into.

• Festival

  Festa do Apostolo

  20–26 JulMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  Fireworks off the Obradoiro facade on the night of 24 July, then the saint's day on the 25th, which is also Galicia's national day. When the 25th falls on a Sunday it opens a Holy Year, next in 2027. Source ↗

Still on: Camino walking season (1 Apr – 15 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Camino walking season, Peak pilgrim summer

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Camino walking season (1 Apr – 15 Oct (usually)), Peak pilgrim summer (1 Jul – 31 Aug)

Peak crowds — Camino walking season, Summer holidays in Spain

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Camino walking season (1 Apr – 15 Oct (usually))

Busy — Camino walking season, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Magosto, chestnuts and new wine

  20 Oct – 15 Nov · usuallyForaging season

  Braziers of chestnuts and the year's young wine around 1 November, in a month when the pilgrims have gone and Galicia is doing what it does for itself.

Still on: Camino walking season (1 Apr – 15 Oct (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Magosto, chestnuts and new wine (20 Oct – 15 Nov (usually))

Peak crowds — Christmas and Reyes, Christmas holidays in Spain

• Holiday

  Christmas and Reyes

  15 Dec – 6 JanChristmas & New Year

  Granite, rain and lit arcades, with the cathedral half empty for the first time all year. Most of the pilgrim infrastructure along the route is shut until spring. Source ↗