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Wise Pilgrim APPRestaurants, hostals, and a municipal albergue. To reach the town turn right at the little bridge underpass at the entrance to the town. Bar el Castillo, reached by a short detour under the bridge, opens at 11 a.m.
Municipal albergue is straight ahead along the river. It may be hard to find the building, because there are no signs identifying it from the side the camino passes. It is the second to last building on the Sil waterfront, and is close to a small football field and open-air swimming pool.
Hostal-Restaurant Marbella, Calle Cervantes 32. About 500 m from Camino in town. Tel. 988 300 025. Pilgrim prices reported at 15€ for single room.
Hostal Restaurante Pancho y Pilar, tel. 988 300 073. Located on main street in town, Rúa de Cervantes.
Recently re-opened cafetería El Castillo (50m off Camino, under the road bridge and to the right, before you get to the tree lined area by the river). Reported nice with great outside covered terrace.
Vilamartín also has a documented old Camino story. According to the parish archives, in 1712, a peregrina on her way to Santiago died and was buried underneath the “Puertas del Sol” at the church of San Jorge. The note indicates that because she was poor, there was no charge for burial. Though she said her name was Isabel, the author of the document wrote that he could not understand her last name, but that she was a resident of Navarra.
From Vilamartín, the Camino continues along the riverside, past the dam and spillway of the Embalse de Santiago, with views over vineyards, bee boxes, quarries, and tree farms, and a skyful of circling birds of prey. At the dam, you cross over the railroad tracks and go left. Walk on the sparsely used N-536. At the intersection with N-120, sign points left into A Rúa.
On the long slog from the hilltop to the center of town, one pilgrim reported a fantastic and very inexpensive breakfast in Panadería/Cafetería Peyma.
Coming into A Rúa, there is an arrow to the right for the Camino if you don’t plan to stop in A Rúa. Going straight takes you into the town center, with its stores, bars, Casa de Cultura, etc. If you go into town and plan to continue walking, it is easy to get back on the Camino. Just turn right at the ayuntamiento, which is located on the main street.
It is a fair distance from the town entrance to the town center or to the albergue, about 20 minutes by most counts.
