So you have finished and it’s time to travel home. There are several options from Santiago to travel back to the United States.
First, you can take the train back to Madrid. There are several trains each day. The quickest takes roughly 5 hrs while the longest takes over 9 hrs. Be careful when making your reservations to double check the duración of the trip. The cost is between 22€ pp and as high as 55€ pp.
The next option is to take the bus. The bus takes between 7 and 9 hours and costs between 12€ and 57€ pp. Many will go directly to the Madrid Barajas Airport terminal 4 (T4). You can also take the ALSA bus to Porto or Lisbon. When you are shopping on the website make sure to choose the international choice when returning to Portugal.
The last option is to fly from Santiago de Compostela airport (SCQ), A Coruña airport (LCG) or Vigo-Peinador airport (VGO). Ryanair Typically has very low cost flights to Madrid. I have paid as little as 24€ for a quick 1 hr flight. Iberia Also has flights from Santiago, as well as A Coruna and Vigo to Madrid, as well as other cities throughout Europe. Aer Lingus Also has some direct flights from Santiago to Dublin but only during the summer season.