Sarria to Santiago: The Essentials Trip

Welcome to Sarria, the starting point for your exciting journey! If you arrive in the morning on this first day you can spend exploring the city of Sarria and all it has to offer. Sarria is a busy, modern town with plenty of shops, hotels, restaurants and bars, but its origins are Celtic and it was an important and major medieval centre for pilgrims. Remnants of its ancient past can still be seen in the old quarter along Rua Major. The church of Igrexia de Santa Maria has an ancient pilgrim’s mural. If you follow the Camino route to the top end of town you will see the ancient convent Monasterio da Madalena, the ruins of the castle and the medieval bridge Ponte Aspera that crosses the River Celerio. The town is bustling with peregrinos, including those who started their Camino hundreds of kilometres back to pilgrims like you who are walking the final 100km to Santiago de Compostela to qualify for their Compostela.

Time to finally get onto the Camino Trail and on your way to Santiago. The majority of your first walk is a great introduction as it is along sheltered woodland pathways or quiet country roads and passes through many hamlets and small villages. The scenery along the way is wonderfully green and lush and very rural. The trail climbs and falls repeatedly as it passes tiny hamlets full of history.

The high point of the day (660m) at Pina dos Corvos has wonderful views over the reservoir and surrounding countryside. From here begin your steep descent, crossing the Mino Reservoir over its modern bridge into Portomarin.

Portomarin has been inhabited for thousands of years and its importance grew with the popularity of the Camino in the middle ages. At one time it had three orders of Knights: the Knights Templar, the Knights of St John and the Knights of Jerusalem, which may go some way to explaining the castle like edifice of the 12th century Romanesque Igelsia San Nicolas church which still stands in the square at the centre of town. The town was previously divided by the Rio Mino but was flooded in 1960 to create the Mino Reservoir. Every historic monument was moved brick by brick to the town that stands on the hill today; you can see pictures of the old town in some of the bars and cafes that line the main street.

Meals: B

Today’s walk is uphill for pretty much all the way, however the gradient is never too steep. The path crosses and runs parallel to the main road to Gonzar, though you spend most of your days walking on woodland tracks and quiet roads. A climb takes you to Sierra Ligonde, today’s high point at 720m. The walk is then downhill to Ligonde and Eirexe and onto A Calzada. There is a detour here of 2km to the National Monument, Vilar de Donas where the Knights of Santiago are buried and is worthy of a visit if you have time. A gentle climb now takes you through several small hamlets to Alto Rosario, a good vantage point on a clear day and then down into Palas de Rei.

Palas de Rei – Palace of the King – has little to remind you that it was once home to a king. This small country town has plenty of shops, bars, cafes, ATMs and a peregrino equipment shop in case you need to stock up on any items.

Meals: B

Today’s walk is mostly on paths through quiet woodland, crossing over the main road to Arzua several times and guiding you through six river valleys to reach a high point of 515m at Coto. The Camino takes you out of Palas de Rei over the main road and up into woodland to Carabell and its 12th century church, Iglesia de San Xulian. The path crosses the Rio Pambre passing through the hamlet of Pontecambre before climbing to oak woodland until it reaches the road and into the hamlet of Casanova and onwards to Campanilla where you leave the province of Lugo to enter the province of A Coruna. The Camino now follows the road to Cornixa then leaves the road for a pathway to Leboreiro where you will find the 13th century Iglesia de Santa Maria and the old pilgrim’s hospital Casa Enfermeria.

The path now crosses the medieval bridge over the river Seco and skirts an industrial estate through the village of Furelos and onto Melide. Melide is a busy town founded in the 13th century and has many historic buildings and churches including the Capilla de San Pedro and San Roque next to which stands a 14th century stone cross said to be the oldest in Galicia. The museum and the buildings around the Plaza de Convento are well worth a visit. Melide is also famous for Pulpo Gallego, octopus cooked Galician style and reputed to be the best in Spain. Much of the path after Melide winds through woodlands of oak, pine and eucalypt, passing over several valleys through Boente, Castañeda and then Ribadiso from where you can see the Hospital San Anton, one of the oldest pilgrim hospitals in existence.

From Ribadiso follow the country road on a steep uphill climb and through the outer suburbs before entering Arzua.

Meals: B

The majority of today’s walk to O Pedrouzo is through wonderful pine and eucalyptus scented woodland. The path is mostly level, passing through three shallow river valleys with a gradual climb up to Alto de Santa Irene at 404m. The country lanes and woodland paths pass through many small hamlets. The final section climbs steeply to a main road, into eucalyptus woodland and onto A Rua and the village to O Pedrouzo. O Pedrouzo /Arco do Pino is a small but busy town with plenty of shops, restaurants and bars and the staging point for the last section of the Camino before entering Santiago de Compostela.

Meals: B

Today’s route will likely be busier as pilgrims begin the last stage of their walk into Santiago, filled with excitement and anticipation. The pilgrims mass at Santiago Cathedral begins at midday so you will need to leave early to arrive on time. The first section of today’s route passes through eucalypt forests with most of the route on quiet roads and pathways before the final kilometres and a climb to Mount Gozo before descending into the suburbs of Santiago. The path runs alongside the airport and you will see many crosses of twigs and branches used by pilgrims to decorate the fence.

Lavacolla village is where pilgrims traditionally washed to purify themselves before entering Santiago and Lavacolla literally means to wash your tail. At Monte Gozo, Mount of Joy, you will first sight the stunning Catedral de Santiago spires.

The final section is well signposted into the old quarter with its wonderful historical buildings and narrow shop filled alleyways, until you finally reach the Praza Obradoiro in the heart of Santiago de Compostela, and the wonderful ancient Cathedral.

Meals: B

Today you have the whole day to enjoy and explore historic Santiago de Compostela with its many enticing tapas bars and restaurants. You can attend the midday pilgrims mass and look around the famous Cathedral of St James which forms the city’s heart and watch the steady stream of pilgrims arriving into the square as they finish their epic journey. Alternatively you may like to take a day trip out to visit Finisterre, the ‘end of the world’ or a shorter rooftop tour of Santiago, both of which can easily be arranged locally.

Meals: B

You are free to check out of your hotel any time before 10am. If you would like to explore Santiago further you are able to leave your bags with reception.

Meals: B

• 7 nights in accommodation that is clean, comfortable and well-located
• Private ensuite rooms on a twin share basis
• Daily breakfast
• Luggage transfer each day from hotel to hotel (1 x 20kg bag per person)
• RAW Travel navigation app with maps of your hotel locations and emergency contact numbers
• Local and Australian emergency contact numbers
• Pre-trip Camino guidance and planning
• Dedicated local support person in Spain for reassurance

• Single supplement $535
• Travel insurance
• Flights

Take a private transfer from Santiago airport to your hotel in Sarria at an additional cost from $320 per vehicle (based on 4 people), so that you can start your trip as smoothly as possible.

For an extra indulgence, upgrade your hotel in Santiago to a Parador from $200 per person/per night twin share and $300 per person/per night single occupancy, when booked 6 months in advance (subject to availability).

You may like to extend your trip and stay an extra night in Sarria and/or Santiago – price available on request.