Europe's most famous pilgrimage destination is also one of Spain's most stunning – and under-explored – cities. Now, the city is keen to show off its artsy side.

For the last 1,200 years, the Unesco World Heritage city of Santiago de Compostela has best been known as a pilgrimage destination for devout Catholics. Last year alone, nearly 500,000 faithful hikers set out along the series of well-trodden trails called "the Camino", journeying through the lush wooded hills and river-flecked valleys of Galicia in north-west Spain to reach the city's towering Romanesque cathedral.

For years, I'd heard about Santiago's beauty from friends and fellow travellers who had gazed upon its towering church spires and twisting honey-coloured lanes. Yet, one of the great ironies is that many of those who had walked for weeks or even months to get there admitted that once they arrived, they shuffled alongside the masses into the cathedral to see the tomb of St James, slumped into one of the many touristy tapas bars around Rua Franco and then quickly headed home. If they had just taken a few more steps, I'd always wondered, would they have discovered more?

I wanted to dig deeper into the city's medieval and more modern heart, but I didn't have the time or energy to trek the demanding trail myself. Fortunately, a high-speed rail route now whisks travellers across the nation to Santiago, giving visitors a blister-free way to explore one of Spain's most stunning – and under-explored – cities.

Though Spain boasts Europe's longest and most-advanced high-speed train network (second in the world only to China's), it wasn't until December 2021 that the nation extended its three-decade-old high-speed Alta Velocidad Española (AVE) network to Santiago. "We're in an isolated corner of Spain," Ana Munín, from the Santiago de Compostela Convention Bureau, tells me. "We get things last."

Stepping onto the platform at Madrid's Chamartin station, the white flanks of my streamlined AVE train were adorned with proclamations of its top speed (330km/h) plus a logo indicating that it was powered by 100% renewable energy. According to Munín, the arrival of these high-speed trains has brought an increase of Spanish travellers to Santiago, while simultaneously reducing the number of flights arriving at its small regional airport. "A one-hour flight – it is just wrong," she remarks.

As my train leaves Madrid, I watch the seat-back speedometer rise inexorably until, after 20 minutes, I'm cruising serenely along at 300km/h. Arid plains dotted with weathered ochre-coloured villages and clusters of hardy trees scrolls by. Passing the city of Zamora, moorland gives way to sylvan valleys where mountain streams glint below the tracks. The train eases across the wide span of the Miño, Galicia's longest river, as we reach the ancient hot springs town of Ourense. From here, a series of viaducts carry us across hills carpeted by a tight arboreal tapestry, dotted with colourful villages whose facades seem brighter in the clear hill air.

Barely more than three hours after leaving Madrid, I step off the train into the heart of Santiago.

Pilgrims approaching Santiago on the Camino's network of trails often describe their first glimpse of the cathedral's ornate spires. Instead, I was struck by the dramatic rollercoaster curves and soaring glass facades of the City of Culture architectural complex, which rises atop Mount Gaiás and........

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