Santiago's weather and when to visit

Santiago de Compostela has a temperate oceanic climate, with mild winters and moderate summers, but it's mostly known for its rain: somewhere between 1,400 and 1,900 mm a year, spread across around 140 wet days, which makes it Spain's second-rainiest city, behind only San Sebastián. That said, Compostela rain is rarely a downpour that ruins the whole day; it's usually a fine, intermittent drizzle, the famous Galician orbayo, that comes and goes several times in one afternoon.

Temperatures: nothing extreme, everything damp

The warmest month is July, running from about 14°C before dawn to 23°C in mid-afternoon; the coldest is January, 6-11°C. The two figures in the table below are exactly that, the overnight low and the daytime high, not an average: if you walk before sunrise or sleep with the window open, the first number is the one that matters. Through the whole year the city rarely strays outside a 5-25°C range, so you don't need to pack for extreme heat or cold. The real factor to watch isn't temperature, it's the constant humidity: even on a mild day, you'll feel the chill as soon as the sun goes down without a light layer on.

Month by month

This table is a guide, built from the city's average patterns; the actual weather on any given day can vary quite a bit from year to year.

The best time, depending on what you're after

There's no single "best time" — it depends on your priority. For general sightseeing, May to September offers the best balance of dry weather and a lively city, though July and August also bring the biggest crowds and the highest accommodation prices, especially around 25 July. For walking the Camino de Santiago, many pilgrims prefer May-June or September: good weather, long days and less extreme heat on the stages than in the middle of August. If saving money is the priority, winter (outside Christmas) brings the lowest hotel and hostel prices, a much quieter city, and, in exchange, more consecutive days of rain. That said, from November on many albergues and services along the routes close until spring, so walking the Camino in winter means planning your beds more carefully than in peak season.

What to pack

• A waterproof jacket or windbreaker — better than an umbrella if you'll be walking a lot.
• Footwear that won't soak through: the old town's wet granite is slippery.
• Layers: a t-shirt, a light jumper and a rain layer on top cover almost any day of the year.
• A spare change of clothes if you're walking the Camino: arriving soaked to a hostel with no dry clothes is no fun.
• Sun protection too, for the summer days when the sun really does have some bite.

The honest charm of the rain

Worth saying plainly: it's quite likely to rain during your visit, whenever you come. The good news is that Santiago is built for it. The arcades on Rúa do Vilar exist precisely so you can walk under cover from one end of the old town to the other, the taverns have the warmth and atmosphere to more than make up for a spell outside, and the wet granite, with that dark, glossy patina, is largely responsible for the look that makes this city recognisable in any photo. This isn't a city you enjoy despite the rain — you enjoy it with the rain. If a wet day does land on your trip, we've written down exactly what to do in Santiago when it rains: which museums and churches you can spend hours in, and where you can walk without an umbrella.