Santiago de Compostela

Alternative Spain

A look at the other options for travellers considering Spain 

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Santiago de Compostela has many other places to see amongst the town and like a lot of Spanish Towns and Cities a highlight is just walking around the streets looking for bars and cafes. The Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos was built as a castle for the Christian monarchs after the defeat of the Islamic Moors and it was from here that the terrifying Inquisition was based.

Walking around south of the Mezquita you will come across the restored Roman Bridge, the pretty little Islamic water wheel and the 14th Century tower of Torre de la Calahorra. The Plaza del Potro is another pretty place to take a walk and was a meeting point for hundreds of years for traders and explorers; it also has a few decent art centres and is close to a partly restored Roman Temple.

There are some fine restaurants in Cordoba which have some great regional dishes like Salmorejo, a thick Tomato Gazpacho with grated egg and Rabo de Toro, an Oxtail soup. There are quite a few restaurants which overlook the Mezquita; unfortunately these are either really expensive or not very good at all. But hey treat yourselves!

Accommodation in Cordoba is plentiful and a lot of the options available are in the traditional style with balconies and patios galore. During the main festivals of summer it can get busy and pre-booking will be needed, though in the height of summer some Hotels lower their prices as the heat puts many tourists off visiting Cordoba. We here at Travel Llama recommend staying at some of the small guesthouses around the Mezquita and these can be as low as €25 per night. A great bargain!

Trip Fact File
 
Location: Santiago de Compostela - Alternative Spain

Getting to Santiago de Compostela: For visitors from North America and Australia/New Zealand, we recommend getting flights to London. From London you can get one of the many budget flights across to Spain. Direct flights from the USA/Australia/New Zealand do exist but the cost does not make this a good option.

Flights from the USA start from US$300 from the east coast and around $400 from the west coast.

Flights from Australia and New Zealand will be around A$2000 and NZ$2500. Flights from Europe are very cheap with the budget airlines dominating the competition. Budget flights from London to Santiago de Compostela with Ryan Air cost around £50 return though checked in baggage will cost £5 per piece.

Getting to San Sebastian: Again it will best for you to fly into London and from there catch a flight to Spain. Flights from London go to the nearby City of Bilbao for around £96 return with BA and from Bilbao it’s just a 3 hour train ride to San Sebastian which costs around €7.

Getting to Cordoba: Once again like all flights from outside the United Kingdom, we recommend catching a flight to London. From here a Budget flight can take you to Sevilla, which is linked by rail to Cordoba. A flight to Sevilla is £75 with Ryan Air, though remember the baggage surcharge. Alternatively BA has a flight from London for £80 return. Trains from Sevilla to Cordoba run regularly throughout the day and will only take around an hour and will set you back about €9.
Currency: The currency of Spain is the Euro which is divided up into 100 cents.

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