What to do in Santiago in January

Christmas takes its leave of Santiago with the Three Kings parade on the evening of 5 January, when the Magi — and before them, in Galician tradition, the Apalpadora, the figure who hands out chestnuts and sweets around these dates — close a season that has kept the Praza da Quintana lit for weeks. From the 6th the city exhales: the lights come down, the stalls are packed away and the old town goes back to its ordinary rhythm, far quieter than December.

It is comfortably the coldest month of the year, around 8-11 °C on average, and one of the wettest, so it is not a season for outdoor plans. In exchange, January brings low-season prices: hotels and hostels drop their rates, there are no queues at the monuments, and the sales fill the shop windows along Rúa do Vilar and in the Ensanche.

If what you want is to see Santiago without the summer or Holy Year crowds, this is its month: the city looks the way it looks to the people who live in it all year round.

What happens in January

Three Kings parade (5-6 January). Closes the Christmas season on the night of 5 January, with the lights in the centre staying on through the 6th.

Things to do in January

• Catch the last days of the Christmas lights in the Praza da Quintana without December's crowds
• Museums and monuments at low-season prices and with no queues
• A caldo galego or a cocido in any casa de comidas in the old town
• The January sales in the shops of the Ensanche and Rúa do Vilar

For the full calendar of festivals and events, see what’s on in Santiago.