A compact graph-like space is a triple (X, V, E) where X is a compact, metrizable space, V ⊆ X is a closed zero-dimensional subset, and E is an index set such that X \ V ∼ = E × (0, 1). New characterizations of compact graph-like spaces are given, connecting them to certain classes of continua, and to standard subspaces of Freudenthal compactifications of locally finite graphs. These are applied to characterize Eulerian graph-like compacta.2010 Mathematics Subject Classification. 05C38, 05C45, 05C63, 54F15, 57M15.