---
title: "The green walk"
description: "A 90-minute self-guided walk through Santiago's parks: the Alameda, Galeras by the river Sarela, Bonaval and Belvís. Pram-friendly except for Bonaval."
url: https://santiago.es/en/walks/green
locale: en
generated: 2026-11-01T04:52:15.812Z
---

# The green walk

Self-guided walk

Parks, a small river and an old convent cemetery turned into a garden: the quiet side of Santiago, for walking with children or simply without a schedule.

![Parque de San Domingos de Bonaval en Santiago, con los muros de piedra del antiguo convento entre árboles](https://santiago.es/img/bonaval.jpg)

[© Bene Riobó · CC BY-SA 4.0](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parque_de_Bonaval_01.jpg)

By [Cesar Rodriguez](https://santiago.es/en/author) · updated 1 November 2026

**Time**

~1h30

**Distance**

~3 km

**Difficulty**

Low, with a slope at Bonaval

**Pram / wheelchair**

Fine except Bonaval

Santiago is not all granite and cathedral. A few minutes out of the old town there is a chain of parks, linked to one another, that almost no visitor on a tight schedule ever sets foot in. It is the right plan for a morning with children, for a hot day when you have had enough of [the heat](https://santiago.es/en/weather), or simply for when you want grass underfoot instead of cobbles. The four parks sit close together: if you would rather see how they line up first, they are all on the [map of Santiago](https://santiago.es/en/map).

1. **Parque da Alameda.** The starting point, and the most central park in the city — five minutes from the Obradoiro. Its playground was rebuilt as an inclusive one: a spiral slide, a carousel, a zip line and a rubber surface that takes wheelchairs, designed for children between 3 and 12.
2. **Parque de Galeras, beside the river Sarela.** Follow the river west to this park of some 40,000 m², smaller and far less visited than the Alameda, with a playground of its own and a [wheelchair-accessible path](https://santiago.es/en/accessible) along the water. This is the quietest stretch of the whole walk.
3. **Parque de Bonaval.** The old orchard and cemetery of the convent of San Domingos de Bonaval, redesigned by the architects Álvaro Siza and Isabel Aguirre, with a sculpture by Eduardo Chillida. It is terraced into the hillside, so the slope is real — a pram here takes some pushing — but from the top you get the rooftops of the old town from an angle almost nobody photographs.
4. **Parque de Belvís.** The end of the walk, 25 metres from the Mercado de Abastos, the city food market: three hectares with a stream running through it, a small viewpoint, meadows and drinking fountains, plus a playground and access designed for people with disabilities. A good place to finish and then walk into the market late in the morning, when the [pulperías](https://santiago.es/en/where-to-eat/best-pulperias) have their pots on.

With a pram

The whole route is manageable except for the terraced part of Bonaval. If you are pushing a pram, the easier option is to skip that park and link Galeras straight to Belvís: the walk comes down to a little over an hour and you lose very little.

## Keep reading

**[The squares walk](https://santiago.es/en/walks/squares)** — Another walk — If you would rather have stone than grass, this route takes in the Cathedral's four squares in an hour. — Read the guide

**[The viewpoints walk](https://santiago.es/en/walks/viewpoints)** — Another walk — From the Alameda to Monte Pedroso: the best views of the Cathedral and of the whole city. — Read the guide

**[Santiago with kids](https://santiago.es/en/with-kids)** — Keep planning — Museums, ice cream and more family plans in the city, beyond this walk. — Read the guide