---
title: "Leaving Santiago: Madrid, Porto, Ferrol and the coast"
description: "Bus, train and plane to Madrid, Porto, Ferrol or Fisterra when the Camino ends: indicative prices, how far ahead to book and what to do with no tickets."
url: https://santiago.es/en/leaving-santiago
locale: en
---

# Leaving Santiago: Madrid, Porto, Ferrol and the coast

After the Camino

Getting to Santiago is explained everywhere; leaving it isn't. This is the guide in reverse: where people go when they finish, how to get there, and what to do on the day there isn't a single ticket left.

![Brújula antigua sobre un plano del casco histórico, grabado dorado](https://santiago.es/img/illus/brujula.jpg)

[© santiago.es · Ilustración](https://santiago.es)

By [Cesar Rodriguez](https://santiago.es/en/author) · updated 14 September 2026

The problem with leaving Santiago is almost never a shortage of options. It's that people book late, search only for departures *from Santiago*, and take a "sold out" screen at face value when it isn't quite true. Santiago is the end of the Camino, but it isn't Galicia's transport hub: on the rails that's **Ourense**, and for long-distance coaches half the region has its own departures. Most last-minute panics are solved by changing the station you leave from, not the day you travel.

## The detour almost nobody uses: change your departure station

Fast trains from Galicia to Madrid run through Ourense, and many of them start there. When Renfe's site says there's nothing left from Santiago, it's worth running the search again with **Ourense** as the origin: it's 30-40 minutes away by high-speed train and it opens up services that don't show up otherwise. The same trick works with **Vigo** (a little over an hour on a regional train, around €10) and, for coaches, with **Lugo**, **A Coruña** and **Ferrol**, which have long-distance departures of their own.

This isn't a theoretical tip — it's what locals do when they're in a hurry. It adds an hour or two, and it's almost always cheaper than the rescue taxi.

## To Madrid

It's the most common exit and the first one to sell out. Three ways, all reasonable depending on whether you have more time or more money.

**By train**, from the Intermodal station, the fastest services come in under three hours while the Alvia trains with more stops run past four, so check the specific departure rather than just the fare. Booked ahead you'll find tickets from around €20-30; without that head start the jump is steep. Renfe also runs **Avlo**, its low-cost brand, stopping in Santiago.

**By coach**, ALSA lists more than seventeen daily departures to Madrid, the first around 05:45 and the last at 22:30, taking between 7h55 and 8h45. It's the network that copes best on the day the train fills up, and the overnight services get you in at dawn.

**By plane** — and here's a detail almost nobody has up to date: Santiago-Madrid is **flown only by Iberia** (including Air Nostrum services as Iberia Regional), roughly three flights a day, a little over an hour in the air. Ryanair closed its Santiago base and dropped the route, so any guide still naming two airlines is out of date. With a single operator and three frequencies, fares climb fast once the train sells out: it's still the last resort that usually has a seat, but at last-resort prices.

**Leaving Santiago for Madrid (indicative, August 2026)**

| Mode | Duration | Frequency | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Train (Renfe, incl. Avlo) | From ~3 h; over 4 h on Alvia | Several daily | From ~€20-30 booked ahead |
| Coach (ALSA) | 7h55 - 8h45 | 17+ daily, 05:45 to 22:30 | Copes best with peaks |
| Plane (Iberia only) | ~1h10 in the air | ~3 daily | Add the transfer to the airport |
| Train departing from Ourense | +30-40 min overall | Plan B | Re-run the search with Ourense as origin |

For the plane, count the transfer too: **city bus 6A** links the centre and the Intermodal station with the airport for €1, every 20-30 minutes and in about half an hour; a taxi is €20-25 and 15-20 minutes. It's all in the [airport guide](https://santiago.es/en/airport).

## To Porto and the rest of Portugal

This is the second most common exit — plenty of people fly home from Porto because it's considerably cheaper — and the worst explained, because some of the connections don't show up in the mapping apps everyone uses. If you're crossing this border a lot, there's a dedicated [Santiago to Porto guide](https://santiago.es/en/santiago-to-porto) with the timetables both ways.

The part almost nobody tells you: **there are direct morning coaches and they are cheap**. **BlaBlaCar Bus** runs several departures a day from the Intermodal, and some of them **end at Francisco Sá Carneiro airport itself**, which is the one that matters if you're flying out: getting off at the airport without crossing Porto saves a whole morning. Checked on their site on 17 August 2026 and indicative, because both the fare and the timetable move with the date.

**BlaBlaCar Bus direct coaches Santiago to Porto, as they stood on 17 Aug 2026 (indicative)**

| Departs | Arrives at | Duration | Price |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 08:00 | Sá Carneiro airport | 3 h 10 | €26.99 |
| 08:00 | Porto-Campanhã | 3 h 35 | €24.99 |
| 09:55 | Sá Carneiro airport | 3 h 30 | €26.99 |
| 09:55 | Porto-Campanhã | 3 h 55 | €24.99 |
| 12:25 | Sá Carneiro airport | 3 h 25 | €29.99 |
| 16:45 | Porto-Campanhã | 3 h 40 | €22.99 |

**ALSA** also covers the route and takes bicycles for a supplement of around €10, in a **bike bag, not a box** (sold at the ticket desk for about €15).**FlixBus** has another direct, but it leaves in the late afternoon, around 17:05, takes 3 hours 10 minutes to Campanhã and was costing between €53 and €80 depending on the date: three times the eight o'clock coach for the same trip. Its cheap alternative, from about €21, is the same route **with a change in Vigo** and stretches the journey to four or six hours. With direct morning coaches at €25, that detour no longer pays. Separate warning: FlixBus's own site advertises "2h10" and 24 daily services, and that doesn't show up when you search real dates.

Then there's the classic pilgrim alternative: a coach to **Valença do Minho**, on the border, and a Portuguese train from there. The CP train Valença-Porto is the easy, cheap part: about **€11.30** on a Regional service, with thirteen or fourteen departures a day and a journey of ninety minutes to two hours. One detail that throws people: the Portuguese operator Rede Expressos, which covers part of these journeys, doesn't appear in Google Maps, which is why many conclude the route doesn't exist.

The Celta train to Porto doesn't run end to end until April 2027

The Celta international train links Vigo with Porto and it's the first thing everyone looks up, but **right now you can't do Vigo-Porto by train the whole way**. Because of Adif works, and per CP's notice, from **6 April 2026 to 7 April 2027** trains 420, 421, 422 and 423 keep their timetable and single ticket, but the **Vigo-Guixar–Valença** section is covered by bus, with no intermediate stops.

What matters most to anyone coming off the Camino: that replacement bus takes **no wheelchairs, no bicycles or scooters** — unless boxed and within 140 × 90 × 40 cm — **and no pets**. Finishing with a bike or a dog, this is not your route: take the coach.

With that in mind it's still a reasonable option: two services each way per day — leaving Vigo at 08:58 and 18:05, into Porto-Campanhã around 10:24 and 19:35 — at roughly **€16.75 one way** Porto-Vigo, €26.80 return, with youth and senior fares at €12.55.

And a fine trap: the Celta leaves from **Vigo-Guixar**, while fast trains from Santiago arrive at **Vigo-Urzáiz**. Different stations, a kilometre and a half apart. Budget for that transfer or you'll miss the connection.

## To Ferrol: the Camino Inglés in reverse

Plenty of people make this trip after finishing in Santiago in order to start the Camino Inglés, or the other way round. **Monbus** covers it from the Intermodal station: eight departures on weekdays — six on Saturdays, five on Sundays — taking between 1h20 and 1h45 depending on the stops, at **€8.40** for a single with no discount. None of them is a pure express: even the fastest calls at San Caetano, As Cancelas, San Lázaro and Fene.

Worth knowing: **there is no direct train Santiago-Ferrol**. You'd have to go via A Coruña, where works at the station through 2026 forced road transfers, so the coach doesn't just win on time — it's also the one that doesn't change.

There is a direct bus from the airport to Ferrol (even though Aena doesn't list it)

The received wisdom is that you have to go down into Santiago first. Not true. The regional Ferrol–Lavacolla Airport–Pontevedra–Vigo line **stops at the airport itself**, and Monbus sells it as a direct journey, one vehicle, no change: on weekdays it leaves the airport at **09:10 and 20:35**, takes **1h25** and costs **€8.40**. On Sundays there's a single departure, at 21:05.

There's a reason for the confusion: Aena's website only lists airport buses to Lugo, Sobrado and A Coruña, plus the 6A city line. Ferrol isn't there. Check monbus.es for your date, because there are few departures and missing one costs three hours.

## Carrying on to the sea: Fisterra and Muxía

Not everyone goes home. The classic continuation is to [walk three or four more stages to Fisterra and Muxía](https://santiago.es/en/camino-de-santiago/finisterre-muxia), but you can also go by bus and come back. **Monbus** links Santiago with Fisterra from the Intermodal — **six departures a day**, weekdays and Sundays alike, **€7.35** single — and with Muxía — four a day, **€6.85**.

And here's the detail that decides your morning: **most services take a long detour via Noia, Muros and Cee**, running 2h10 to 2h55. **There is no fast run to Fisterra any more**: the 08:00 express that did it in 1h15 in high season went with the September timetable change, and the best of the morning is now the **09:00**, at 2h10. Leaving at 09:30 instead of 09:00 now costs five minutes, not the hour and a half it used to. The Muxía shortcut does survive: the **14:30** gets there in **1h16**, less than half of anything else that day.

If you want to see both in one day, one line links all three points inland via Negreira and Dumbría, and since September it leaves at a different hour depending on the day: **on Sundays** at 09:00, reaching Fisterra at 11:15 and Muxía at 11:48; **on weekdays** at 09:30, reaching Muxía at 12:18. Everything in this section was checked against the Monbus booking system on **2 September 2026**, the week the summer timetable expired; confirm on monbus.es for your date anyway, because it shifts again in high season.

## If you have three to five days left in Galicia

It is the question that comes right after the Compostela: "I have three more days, what do I do?". The [day trips from Santiago](https://santiago.es/en/day-trips) take care of a single spare day; for several, it pays to chain places, because coming back to Santiago every night burns half a day on buses. Four plans that work without a car, from most to least "Camino":

**Three-to-five-day plans after the Camino, no car, indicative**

| Plan | Days | How you get around | Where you sleep |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Costa da Morte on foot: Fisterra and Muxía | 3-6 | Walking: 90 km to Fisterra in 3-4 days, 118 with Muxía in 5-6; back by Monbus, €7.35 from Fisterra | Albergues in Negreira, Olveiroa, Fisterra and Muxía |
| Costa da Morte by bus | 2 | Monbus to Fisterra (09:00, 2h10) and the inland line to Muxía; back from Muxía | One night in Fisterra or Muxía |
| Rías Baixas and the Cíes | 2-3 | Train to Pontevedra or Vigo; boat to the Cíes from Vigo (Xunta permit needed in high season) | Vigo or Pontevedra |
| Ourense and Lugo | 2-3 | Train to Ourense (30-40 min by high-speed rail); bus to Lugo (about two hours from Santiago) | One night in each city |

The first two are the natural continuation and are laid out stage by stage in the [Camino to Fisterra and Muxía](https://santiago.es/en/camino-de-santiago/finisterre-muxia) guide: people who have been walking for weeks tend to pick the first, and people whose legs are done pick the second. The Rías Baixas plan makes most sense in the heat, but the Cíes mean an early start and, between 15 May and 15 September, a permit in advance: that is why it is better to sleep in Vigo than to attempt it from Santiago. And the fourth is the one almost nobody does: Ourense has open-air hot springs on the banks of the Miño and is Galicia's rail hub, so it doubles as your way out towards Madrid; Lugo keeps its Roman wall intact, a World Heritage Site, and you walk the top of it in an hour. None of the four needs months of booking ahead, except a bed in Fisterra in August.

## Which airport should you fly from?

Santiago (SCQ) is 12 km from the centre and it's the convenient choice, but it has shrunk: it now serves around 29 destinations, considerably fewer than two years ago. Less than an hour away by train or bus are **A Coruña (LCG)** and **Vigo (VGO)**, but they're smaller still and rarely justify the transfer.

The one that does change the arithmetic is **Porto (OPO)**, about three hours away by direct coach: Ryanair alone flies there to more than seventy destinations, and the price gap to the rest of Europe is usually wide. The practical rule: if the saving doesn't justify five or six hours of transfer and the risk of missing the flight, leave from SCQ.

## How far ahead to book

In August and September, when most people finish the Camino, the short answer is "sooner than you think". One measurement taken the day we wrote this, for the Santiago-Barcelona flight: leaving that same day cost around €312; in ten days' time, €179; in a month, €47. Nearly seven times more expensive for booking late — and that's the pattern across every exit from Santiago in high season.

The real bottleneck is thin supply meeting a lot of simultaneous arrivals: Santiago-Madrid is flown by one airline with three frequencies. Coaches cope far better because they run many more services.

And watch out for **Sundays and public holidays**, because the drop in frequency is real and written into the lines' official calendars. Measured in August 2026: A Coruña has 25 departures on a Thursday, 14 on Saturday and 15 on Sunday; Ferrol has 8, 6 and 5. On **non-transferable national holidays** — 15 August, 1 November, 6 and 8 December — the Sunday calendar applies and it drops further still: A Coruña to 10 departures, Ferrol to 4. Monbus timetables flag it service by service with a note along the lines of "except 15/08". If you're travelling on a holiday, check first.

The underlying advice: **book your journey home the day you book the bed for your last night in Santiago**, not the day you arrive. It's the most repeated mistake and the most expensive.

## Where to leave your backpack on your last day

If you're leaving in the afternoon and don't want to drag your pack around the city, there are two public options. The **Intermodal station has left luggage** for bags and cases, which is the convenient one if your coach or train leaves from there. And Correos has another at **Rúa do Franco 4**, 150 metres from Obradoiro — with a discount for anyone who used Paq Mochila along the way, as we explain in [the luggage transfer guide](https://santiago.es/en/camino-de-santiago/luggage-transfer) — taking backpacks, suitcases, poles and bicycles.

The station one doesn't publish rates, so you have to ask on the spot. The Correos one does: €4 a day for a backpack or small suitcase, €6 for a large one, €7 for a bicycle and €1 for a walking pole, open 8:30 to 20:30 daily in season and bookable online. The prices doing the rounds on forums are usually from private operators, which is a different thing. And one warning against a widely repeated claim: the Pilgrim's Reception Office at Rúa Carretas 33 — open 9:00 to 19:00 every day except 25 December and 1 January — **does not offer left luggage on a regular basis**. That's no longer our inference: the Turismo de Santiago FAQ lists the city's luggage storage points and files the Pilgrim's Office under **«puntualmente»**, occasionally, which is the opposite of a service you can plan around.

For pharmacies, emergencies and the rest of the last-day admin, the [practical information guide](https://santiago.es/en/practical-info) covers what's left.

Something that changes

Train and coach timetables, frequencies and prices move with the season and with how far ahead you book, and they drop on Sundays and public holidays. Everything on this page is indicative and was checked on 14 August 2026 (the Fisterra and Muxía buses, on 2 September): always confirm on renfe.com, alsa.es, monbus.es, flixbus.com or cp.pt before booking.

## Frequently asked questions

**What do I do if there are no trains left from Santiago to Madrid?**

Run the search again with Ourense or Vigo as the departure station: the fast trains to Madrid run through there and many start there, so seats often exist that don't show up from Santiago. Failing that, there's the ALSA coach, with more than seventeen daily departures, and the direct flight to Madrid, which usually has a seat when the train no longer does.

**Which airlines fly from Santiago to Madrid?**

Only Iberia, including flights operated by Air Nostrum as Iberia Regional, with about three flights a day and a little over an hour in the air. Ryanair closed its Santiago base and no longer flies the route, so any source naming two airlines is out of date.

**Is there a direct bus from Santiago to Porto?**

Yes, and cheaper than you'd think. BlaBlaCar Bus runs several directs a day from the Intermodal station, between €22.99 and €29.99, and some of them end at Francisco Sá Carneiro airport itself: the 08:00 takes 3 h 10 to the terminal. ALSA also covers the route. FlixBus has another direct at 17:05, same duration, but it was costing between €53 and €80 on the day we checked. August 2026 prices, indicative, and timetables change with the season: check them on the operator's own site.

**Is the Celta train between Vigo and Porto running?**

Not end to end. Per CP's notice, because of Adif works and from 6 April 2026 to 7 April 2027, trains 420, 421, 422 and 423 keep their timetable and single ticket but the Vigo-Guixar–Valença section is covered by bus. That replacement bus takes no wheelchairs, no unboxed bicycles or scooters and no pets. There are two services each way per day and a Porto-Vigo single is around €16.75.

**How do I get from Santiago to Ferrol to start the Camino Inglés?**

By Monbus coach from the Intermodal station: eight departures on weekdays, between 1h20 and 1h45, €8.40 for a single. There's no direct train — you'd go via A Coruña, where station works through 2026 forced road transfers.

**Is there a direct bus from Santiago airport to Ferrol?**

Yes, even though Aena's website doesn't list it. The regional Ferrol-Lavacolla Airport-Pontevedra-Vigo line stops at the airport itself: on weekdays it leaves at 09:10 and 20:35, takes 1h25 and costs €8.40, in a single vehicle with no change. On Sundays there is one departure, at 21:05.

**How much is the bus from Santiago to Fisterra?**

€7.35 for a single with no discount to Fisterra, and €6.85 to Muxía. What really matters is which one you take: all six daily services detour via Noia, Muros and Cee and take 2h10 to 2h55. There is no fast option to Fisterra any more: the 08:00 direct disappeared on 1 September 2026, and the best morning departure is now the 09:00, which takes 2h10. The only shortcut left is the 14:30 to Muxía, in 1h16.

**Do bus frequencies drop on Sundays and public holidays?**

Yes, considerably. Measured in August 2026: A Coruña has 25 departures on a Thursday, 14 on Saturday and 15 on Sunday; Ferrol has 8, 6 and 5. Non-transferable national holidays — 15 August, 1 November, 6 and 8 December — follow the Sunday calendar even midweek, dropping further: 10 departures to A Coruña and 4 to Ferrol.

**Where can I leave my backpack on my last day in Santiago?**

The Intermodal station has left luggage for bags and cases, and Correos has another at Rúa do Franco 4, 150 metres from Obradoiro, taking backpacks, suitcases, poles and bicycles, bookable online and open 8:30 to 20:30 every day. The station one doesn't publish rates, so ask on the spot. The Pilgrim's Reception Office does not offer left luggage on a regular basis, despite what's frequently claimed: the Turismo de Santiago FAQ lists it as «puntualmente», occasionally.

**How far in advance should I book my journey home in August?**

As far as you can. Measuring the Santiago-Barcelona flight on 14 August 2026, leaving that same day cost around €312 and leaving a month later, €47. The practical rule is to book your way home the same day you book the bed for your last night in Santiago, not once you've already arrived.

## Keep reading

**[Getting to Santiago](https://santiago.es/en/getting-there)** — The reverse guide — Train, bus, car and plane into the city, with real times and prices. — Read the guide

**[Santiago airport](https://santiago.es/en/airport)** — Flying from SCQ — Airlines, destinations and how to reach the airport from the centre. — Read the guide

**[Where to donate your gear](https://santiago.es/en/camino-de-santiago/donate-gear)** — Before you go — Poles, boots and clothing you don't want to carry home. — Read the guide