- Time of past OR future Camino
- .
I walked the Ingles from Ferrol in the last week of August 2013. I walked it in five days staying in the albergues at Pontedueme, Bezantos and Hospital de Bruma, plus a roadhouse near Baxoia on the n-550 called Hospedaje la Ruta (which was good).
Waymarking
Generally very good.
Start – there's no map of the town in the Ferrol bus station, so it's worth checking the town on an internet map before you depart. Basically you walk down towards the docks, turn right when you reach the dock buildings and walk about 1km. There's a point where it looks like the road stops, but you keep going round to the right to the old dock where the tourist booth issues credentials and a useful map of the town and the route around the bay. I didn't note down the opening times but I was there about mid-day on a Saturday.
After about 6/7k at the church of St Martin de Xubia it is possible to go right, down to the railway line and take a path alongside the Feve track across the bay. This takes out about 8-10k around the bay and also cuts out Neda and its albergue. I haven't seen this mentioned in any English guide but Spanish folk were doing this!
For the Pontedueme albergue you turn right after going over the old bridge. It's not obvious where it is from a distance as its buried halfway along a long low building that may have been a fishmarket, so you have to keep the faith. Coming out of Pontedueme I also missed the arrow on the road at the top of the hill and came out onto the main road. I think it's because all the other markers are on tile shells so you're not looking at the road.
For the new albergue in Betanzos, the waymarkers take you up into the old town. Then the way is marked left and the sign to the albergue is to the right, taking you into the main square. Hug the r/h side of the square and when you leave it the albergue is about 150m further on. There's probably a quicker way to reach the albergue from the town gate, so the signage may get updated at some point (but this is Galicia!).
On the Betanzos-Hospital de Bruma section the waymarking gets very economical in the last 5km. Basically you keep going unless a turn-off is indicated. But you do need to pay attention.
Sigueiro - I got lost twice. If you end up walking round the park like me, head for the square at then end on the l/h side. And if that fails head for the main high street and pick up the markers on the main bridge over the river. For the last 5km into Santiago the marking becomes very economical, so you have to be patient and continue along roads until a turn-off is marked. I finally lost the markers completely about 1.5k from the Cathedral but as you will have seen the spires well before then, you have a pretty good idea which way to head.
Accommodation
The albergues at Neda, Pontedueme, Betanzos and Hospital de Bruma are all modern. I didn't visit the one at Minho. Pontedueme has phone numbers on the door to call the hospitalero/s at different times. Betanzos and Hospital have hospitaleros who seemed to be there during the day. Pontedueme is nice but spartan and could do with a donation of some chairs and a table! It's useful to have a washing line with you too. Betanzos is beautifully restored and a great location in the old town. The bathrooms are sensationally good. Hospital is also well restored and has more facilities than the others, including a real cooking ring and some pots and pans and plates, but no shop in the immediate village to buy stuff from. A local restaurant delivers sandwiches and/or meals at 4pm and 8pm and you telephone your order in, in good time before the deliveries. The 3-course menu has a number of options and currently costs €10.
The group I was walking with didn't fancy the Hostal Miras in Sigueuro which they said wasn't great. So we arranged accommodation elsewhere which was good but meant a short day, leaving about 24k for the final stage into Santiago.
Impressions
I very much enjoyed this camino. The walking the first day wasn't great, with some pretty foul factory air and smelly polluted water up at the dam before Neda. And most of that day is on small roads or pavements in built-up areas, even though you do get some great vistas and a sense of progress walking round the bay. But things get better and the towns with albergues are all very interesting, so this would make an excellent slow camino. The only issue for a short stager is really the Betanzos to Hospital section which everyone found to be a hard 28k. The Cicerone guide gives the total ascent for this stage as 480m but given you start at sea level and go up to about 480m, it's actually more like 650m or more. In fact the Cicerone figures are generally dodgy and need sorting out in the 2nd edition. Cicerone gives the total ascent from Ferrol to Pontedueme as 50m more than the descent, even though you are starting and finishing right beside the sea... how does that work???
The hinterland after Betanzos depressed me at first because all the forest was eucalyptus. I tried to imagine a pre-eucalyptus Galicia.. and then to my surprise, I found that after Hospital de Bruma you do actually get many beautiful old woods. The last 'day' into Santiago from around Sigureo has to be the nicest last 20k into Santiago of any of the main routes. OK, the last 5k has its commerce, but before then there are many peaceful paths to enjoy and reflect upon.
I came to the Ingles from the Norte which was pretty busy, with albergues usually full by mid-afternoon. Then from Arca on the Frances it was manic. By contrast, all of the Ingles albergues were about half full and there was absolutely no bed racing - even in August. I was the only native English speaker I met (other than in the the queue for the chippie van at Betanzos!) and I could have done with better Spanish speaking skills on this occasion. The festas and markets were great fun too. All of which makes this a great option either as a pre-planned camino or something you do on the spur-of-the-moment when you find yourself faced with the prospect of 6 days in Santiago...
PS An albergue in the vicinity of Sigureo would be a great addition/opportunity
Photos best viewed as a slideshow in full screen or F11
http://www.flickr.com/photos/peregrino_tom/sets/72157635446868325/
cheers, tom
Waymarking
Generally very good.
Start – there's no map of the town in the Ferrol bus station, so it's worth checking the town on an internet map before you depart. Basically you walk down towards the docks, turn right when you reach the dock buildings and walk about 1km. There's a point where it looks like the road stops, but you keep going round to the right to the old dock where the tourist booth issues credentials and a useful map of the town and the route around the bay. I didn't note down the opening times but I was there about mid-day on a Saturday.
After about 6/7k at the church of St Martin de Xubia it is possible to go right, down to the railway line and take a path alongside the Feve track across the bay. This takes out about 8-10k around the bay and also cuts out Neda and its albergue. I haven't seen this mentioned in any English guide but Spanish folk were doing this!
For the Pontedueme albergue you turn right after going over the old bridge. It's not obvious where it is from a distance as its buried halfway along a long low building that may have been a fishmarket, so you have to keep the faith. Coming out of Pontedueme I also missed the arrow on the road at the top of the hill and came out onto the main road. I think it's because all the other markers are on tile shells so you're not looking at the road.
For the new albergue in Betanzos, the waymarkers take you up into the old town. Then the way is marked left and the sign to the albergue is to the right, taking you into the main square. Hug the r/h side of the square and when you leave it the albergue is about 150m further on. There's probably a quicker way to reach the albergue from the town gate, so the signage may get updated at some point (but this is Galicia!).
On the Betanzos-Hospital de Bruma section the waymarking gets very economical in the last 5km. Basically you keep going unless a turn-off is indicated. But you do need to pay attention.
Sigueiro - I got lost twice. If you end up walking round the park like me, head for the square at then end on the l/h side. And if that fails head for the main high street and pick up the markers on the main bridge over the river. For the last 5km into Santiago the marking becomes very economical, so you have to be patient and continue along roads until a turn-off is marked. I finally lost the markers completely about 1.5k from the Cathedral but as you will have seen the spires well before then, you have a pretty good idea which way to head.
Accommodation
The albergues at Neda, Pontedueme, Betanzos and Hospital de Bruma are all modern. I didn't visit the one at Minho. Pontedueme has phone numbers on the door to call the hospitalero/s at different times. Betanzos and Hospital have hospitaleros who seemed to be there during the day. Pontedueme is nice but spartan and could do with a donation of some chairs and a table! It's useful to have a washing line with you too. Betanzos is beautifully restored and a great location in the old town. The bathrooms are sensationally good. Hospital is also well restored and has more facilities than the others, including a real cooking ring and some pots and pans and plates, but no shop in the immediate village to buy stuff from. A local restaurant delivers sandwiches and/or meals at 4pm and 8pm and you telephone your order in, in good time before the deliveries. The 3-course menu has a number of options and currently costs €10.
The group I was walking with didn't fancy the Hostal Miras in Sigueuro which they said wasn't great. So we arranged accommodation elsewhere which was good but meant a short day, leaving about 24k for the final stage into Santiago.
Impressions
I very much enjoyed this camino. The walking the first day wasn't great, with some pretty foul factory air and smelly polluted water up at the dam before Neda. And most of that day is on small roads or pavements in built-up areas, even though you do get some great vistas and a sense of progress walking round the bay. But things get better and the towns with albergues are all very interesting, so this would make an excellent slow camino. The only issue for a short stager is really the Betanzos to Hospital section which everyone found to be a hard 28k. The Cicerone guide gives the total ascent for this stage as 480m but given you start at sea level and go up to about 480m, it's actually more like 650m or more. In fact the Cicerone figures are generally dodgy and need sorting out in the 2nd edition. Cicerone gives the total ascent from Ferrol to Pontedueme as 50m more than the descent, even though you are starting and finishing right beside the sea... how does that work???
The hinterland after Betanzos depressed me at first because all the forest was eucalyptus. I tried to imagine a pre-eucalyptus Galicia.. and then to my surprise, I found that after Hospital de Bruma you do actually get many beautiful old woods. The last 'day' into Santiago from around Sigureo has to be the nicest last 20k into Santiago of any of the main routes. OK, the last 5k has its commerce, but before then there are many peaceful paths to enjoy and reflect upon.
I came to the Ingles from the Norte which was pretty busy, with albergues usually full by mid-afternoon. Then from Arca on the Frances it was manic. By contrast, all of the Ingles albergues were about half full and there was absolutely no bed racing - even in August. I was the only native English speaker I met (other than in the the queue for the chippie van at Betanzos!) and I could have done with better Spanish speaking skills on this occasion. The festas and markets were great fun too. All of which makes this a great option either as a pre-planned camino or something you do on the spur-of-the-moment when you find yourself faced with the prospect of 6 days in Santiago...
PS An albergue in the vicinity of Sigureo would be a great addition/opportunity
Photos best viewed as a slideshow in full screen or F11
http://www.flickr.com/photos/peregrino_tom/sets/72157635446868325/
cheers, tom
