Best Time of Day to Get Compostela

[DSWalker]

I’ve gotten so much useful information from this wonderful group of forum participants. Thank You! I’m currently on Camino Frances with my adult daughter. We will be in Santiago on June 10 or 11. I hear the line to receive a Compostela can be hours long. What is the best (least busy) time to go to this office?

 

[RJM]

The last time I was there was after the new pilgrim's office was opened and I got my compostela early in the morning when they first opened up. There were maybe a dozen pilgrims ahead of me. I had spent the night before at Monte de Gozo, and arrived at the cathedral by 7:00 am.
Most pilgrims seem to arrive in Santiago in the early afternoon. If you try to get a compostela then during the busy season there will be a line.
If you are arriving in the afternoon and and are spending the night and want to avoid a long wait at the pilgrim's office, wake up early the next morning and get it then.

 

[DSWalker]

Thank you. That’s helpful. After posting this question, I found the other recent thread on the topic. Sorry for the duplication.

 

[RJM]

Thank you. That’s helpful. After posting this question, I found the other recent thread on the topic. Sorry for the duplication.

The hours for the pilgrims's office in Santiago per their website:
"Monday to Sunday 8.00 a.m. – 9.00 p.m.: At Easter and in Summer from 1st April to 30th October. "

 

[DSWalker]

Thanks!

 

[Walking Lover]

I’ve gotten so much useful information from this wonderful group of forum participants. Thank You! I’m currently on Camino Frances with my adult daughter. We will be in Santiago on June 10 or 11. I hear the line to receive a Compostela can be hours long. What is the best (least busy) time to go to this office?

9 in the morning; be there when the office opens. In 2016, we stayed in Lavacolla, arrived in Santiago around 9, waited 15 min. In '17, we arrived in the afternoon and waited 3 hrs.

 

[CA_Pilgrim]

Thank you. That’s helpful. After posting this question, I found the other recent thread on the topic. Sorry for the duplication.

No Need to apologize, sometimes duplication is good for us newbies. I never even thought to search for that information, so reading the post and the replies provided me with information I probably wouldn't have sought out until the second to the last day on my Camino. Now I know the answer! EARLY!

 

[Vacajoe]

CA_Pilgrim: that thread is outdated and the process has completely changed. When you arrive in Santiago now, you head straight to the Pilgrim Credential Office to get a number. Later on during the day, that number will have a time period during which to return and pick up your Compostela. There is no more first come, first served queuing at the office. The new process allows you to rest and eat instead of standing in a line for hours.

 

[C clearly]

As mentioned, this thread is outdated. For more recent discussion of the Pilgrim Office process, see threads tagged with "credencial/sellos/compostella" or click here.