peregrina nicole
RIP 2016
Live from the Camino Muxia-Fisterra-Santiago
Well, almost live! I arrived in Santiago last Sunday and I’m now working as a volunteer in the Oficina del Peregrino (see my Live from the Oficina post which will soon be up).
For years people have been walking or cycling from Santigo to Fisterra (Finisterre) and then onto Muxia or to Muxia and then to Fisterra. If you do this and continue to collect sellos on the way you will be given a Fisterana certificate in the Albergue de la Xunta in Fisterra and a Muxiana at the Oficina de Tourismo de Muxia.
Note: Finisterre is Spanish and Fisterra is Gallego, so I'm using Fisterra.
Now, if you do this in reverse (Muxia to Fisterra to Santiago OR Fisterra to Muxia to Santiago) it counts as an official route TO Santiago and you can get a Compostela as it is over 100km. Please note that you have to do the bit between Muxia and Fisterra as simply doing Fisterra to Santiago or Muxia to Santiago doesn’t get you over the 100km minimum requirement. According to the Brierly guide book (recommended below) it is 86.7km from Santiago to Fisterra. If you continue on to Muxia, this is 115.2km. According to my distance certificate from the Oficina del Peregrino, Muxia to Fisterra to Santiago is 120km. According to the guide book, it is 84.8 km between Santiago and Muxia and adding on Fisterra brings it to 113.3km. I’m not sure what the official Oficina del Peregrino distance is for this, but I imagine that it would be a couple of km less than 120.
This is a beautiful route! I would highly recommend it as a way of getting a Compostella. One of the very nice things about doing this route is that you come into Santiago via a totally different entry point from the Caminos Frances, Portugues and Ingles. As wonderful as this route is, until the way marking is improved I WOULD NOT recommend this for a first Camino. The way marking between Finisterre and Muxia is good. The shells on the mojons point downwards, but there are double ended yellow arrows (sometimes with the addition of a F and M). Coming from Santiago to Fisterra, the way marking is good. There are fewer markers than on the Camino Frances, but they still point the way. HOWEVER, there are many places where if you are going the other way (i.e. from Fisterra) the way to go isn’t obvious. In some places, there are helpful blue arrows pointing towards the route to Santiago or even signs saying ‘a Santiago’. In most places, however, you have to guess the route by imaging that you were coming from Santiago and positioning yourself where the mojon would be visible to you (and then you go that way). There were many times when the route was made clear because I could see people with backpacks coming from Santiago. At other times, seeing the back end of signs advertising albergues and taxi services reassured me that I was on route.
While on this route, I only met two Irish women and two German women going ‘my way’. We all had the John Brierley Camino Finisterre book. My copy was published in 2011 and was a gift from Thomas, an American peregrino I helped out when I last worked as a volunteer in the Oficina del Peregrino. This book has useful maps and I would regard it as an essential thing to have if you are going to do this route. Even with the book, all of us got lost at some point or another. I was also helped with my route finding by very helpful locals, including farmers on tractors, who I waived down. You have to make it clear that you are going TO Santiago, as they will try to direct you to Fisterra. I was told after I arrived in Santiago that there is an app you can download to your Smartphone that can help with route finding using GPS. It would have been nice to have been told this before, but I would still have wanted to have the Brierley book.
Note: I picked up my credencial the last time I was in Santiago, so I didn’t have to try to find one in Muxia. Given that very few people start in Muxia, I would strongly recommend getting your credencial before you start.
Please note that if you have a mobile phone that isn’t based in Spain, you need to add the Spanish country code. I have a UK phone and so added 0034 to all of the numbers below.
Day 1: Muxia to Lires (16.5 km)
A big thanks to Falcon for posting the link to the bus timetable to Fisterra and Muxia! Buses leave from the Bus Station.
http://antigo.quepasanacosta.com/busescostadamorte.html
The first bus to Muxia left at 8:45am and arrived around 10: 45am. I don’t walk quickly (I’m closer to 3km/hour than 4km/hour). So my aim for day 1 was Lires which is between Muxia and Fisterra. I passed this when going on to Muxia and Fisterra after finishing the Camino Portugues in 2009 and I always thought that it looked like a nice place to stay. At the bus station, I met Santina from Italy who walked with me. I got my first sello at Tourist Information. It said: ‘Muxia Fin do Camino’. I liked the irony of starting my Camino at the end of the Camino. Tourist Info is one street up from where the bus drops you off. The Tourist Info Office is where you would get your Muxiana if you were coming from Santiago or Fisterra.
There is an Albergue in Muxia and the route to Fisterra is signposted from the Albergue. However, it is much nicer to follow the signs to the Sanctuario de Virxe de Barco (the Virgin of the Stone Boat-which brought Santiago to the shores of Galicia). It is a beautiful site and a great place to watch the sunset if you are staying over night in Muxia. From the Santuary, you can join the route by going uphill to the very striking looking modern sculpture. Here there is a mohon (marker with shell) so you can get your first ‘I’m on the Camino’ photo. The route between Muxia and Fisterra is well marked. If you come to a junction, stop and look around. You will find arrows or mojones. You will also see people going the other way. There is NOTHING between Muxia and Lires in terms of cafes or bars, so make sure that you have enough water and food before you set out. It is a beautiful route which passes lovely beaches and eventually climbs up and drops down into Lires. The first time I did this in 2009, I had to ford the river. There were stepping stones but they were slippery. Now, thankfully, there is a bridge. To the right you can see the old stepping stones. In Lires, we stayed at As Eiras (981 685 013). As Eiras is well sign posted once you cross the bridge and enter Lires. This has hotel rooms and also an alberge. We phoned ahead to reserve a room. As Eiras does a wonderful menu with massive portions. I kept the left overs for lunch the next day.
Day 2: Lires to Fisterra (12 km)
Directly opposite As Eiras, there is a lane that heads downhill and rejoins the route. As the staff to point this out to you. Again, route finding on this bit was easy. After Castrexe a new Albergue is being built. In the meantime, the lovely person who will run the Albergue has set up a stall where you can sit under a tarp and enjoy some coffee/tea and cupcakes. He has a sello (Aurora de Buxan). This was a very welcome stop. As you approach Fisterra the way marked route skirts around to the left. While this might look like the most obvious way of getting to Fisterra, it does take you to the old part of town. You continue following the arrows until you hit the beach boardwalk at Praia de Langosteira. You return here the following day. I didn’t see any signs pointing to Muxia so I have no idea how you would know that this is where you had to turn uphill. To go into town, you turn right (if you are facing the beach). You follow the boardwalk to a stone cross with shells at the bottom. You continue along the road and you will eventually arrive at the centre of the old town. The Albergue de la Xunta is right in front of you. They also have a sello. The pilgrim info office is here. This is where you would get your Fisterana if you were coming from Santiago or Muxia. The bus stop (to go to Santiago) is next to the Albergue. There are a number of albergues and hotels in Fisterra, so finding a place to stay wouldn’t be a problem. I stayed at the Hotel Mariquito (. Santina took a bus. First, however, we went to the light house (Faro). This is signposted to get you out of town. The light house is 3.5km out of town. When I first did this, you walked on the road and were passed by cars, taxis and buses. Now, thankfully!!!!!, there is a path on the left side of the road. So you can walk in relative safety. Bicigrinos take note: this is only for pedestrians. The Faro is a lot more touristy than in 2009. There is now a large tourist trap kiosk with toilets and a lot of soveniers. You can now enter the Faro and you can get a sello, but you have to pay for it. I can’t remember exactly how much it was, because Santina paid for the both of us. I think it was 2.50 euros. It is worth spending some time at the Faro. There is a mojon which says 0km. You have to queue up to take a photo. You can see the area where people burn stuff. You can also watch the sunset from here. Make sure that you have a headtorch for the return journey if you are going to do this.
Day 3: Fisterra to Olveiroa (31.2 km)
The Brierley guide says that this stage is 31.2km. It felt a LOT longer than that! Other people I met said the same thing. There are not very many places to stay in Olveiroa, so I phoned ahead and booked. I’m glad I did because I arrived around 8:30pm and ran into other late arrivals who were looking for places that weren’t full. I stayed at Casa Loncho (981 741 673) which has a private albergue, a hotel and a restaurant that opens at 6am for breakfast!
From Fisterra, you retrace your steps to where you arrived at the boardwalk coming down from Muxia. You continue along the boardwalk following the beach. Because of dunes, you don’t get much of a view of the beach if you stick to the boardwalk. At the end of the beach, the boardwalk gives way to a road which takes you straight to the main road. You continue on this. At places, you are directed away from the main road to follow paths that run parallel to the road. The first path-detour drops and comes back up to the main road. Off this, there is a smaller path that would lead you to the lovely little beach below, which I think is Praia Talon. As you climb back up, look back and you will get an excellent view of Fisterra and the lighthouse. When you come back onto the main road there is an excellent view point with a picnic area. You are on the road for most of the way into Sardineiro. Here there is a hostel and a few bars with sellos. You are on th road until Estorde and they you follow the way markings up to San Roque where there is an albergue. There is an option where you can drop down to Corcubion, but if you are going onto Cee, stick to the higher route. When you drop into Cee (many hotels and restaurants and albergues) you follow the path by the shore. You continue on this until you come to a bit where it looks like a river empties into the bay. You cross this and then start looking for markers to start taking you uphill. I met people who got lost here, but I just followed the peregrinos coming the other way. You pass a bar (last one until Hospitales) which is popular with peregrinos. You start seeing signs ‘a Santiago’ these lead uphill. You end up on a dirt track on moorland and you just keep on going straight ahead. Between San Pedro Martir and the Ermita des Neves, there is a little drink stall which is run by Carlos. This isn’t always open. There is supposed to be a fuente at San Pedro. I didn’t check this out as it was of route. There is also supposed to be one a Ermita des Neves, but this wasn’t running. You need to bring sufficient water for this section. This is where I first met the lost Irish ladies while talking to some English cyclists. They missed the turn off uphill, took another route up and where heading to Cee (which they had left). So we pointed them in right direction. The route is pretty obvious until you hit the Ermita des Neves, where there is NOTHING to indicate the way. I was lucky enough to flag down a passing farmer on his tractor. Across from the Ermita, there is a picnic area. If you take the road between the Ermita and picknic area you start heading up hill. You then take a right turn at a junction, then a left turn. You come to a stone cross. At this point you cross the road and continue straight ahead on a track. You pass some piles of stones on either side of the track and then hit a main road. Here, you turn left and arrive at Fabrica, which is a horrible factory, but if you can smell hot tar, you know you are close. You then come to a round about where the route from Santiago divides. You’ve just come in from the Fisterra direction. There is an arrow pointing to Muxia, so you bear right onto the highway. I think that there is supposed to be a path here, but I missed it I stayed on the road until I arrived at Hospital. This just used to be a bar, but it now also has an albergue. This is called the Albergue, Restaurant, Bar O Castelino (981 747 387) or (615 997 169). At this point, you are 5km from Olveiroa. The lady at the bar suggested that I follow the national highway into Olveiroa. The guide book suggested a path, so I took this. You can see a very faint arrow which leads to a dirt path. This goes to Logoso, which also has an albergue. The camino then follows a track that contours the mountain and ends up in Olveiroa. This seemed a lot longer than 5km to me. When the path hits the road again, you turn right and this takes you to the albergue and other accommodation. Olveiroa wins the prize for lovely stone horreos. (grain storage huts on stilts which you see all over Galicia).
Day 4 Olveiroa to Negreira (33.1 km)
According to John Brierley, this is the longest day. It is also a day with some route finding challenges unless you are lucky enough to meet peregrinos coming the other way. On this stretch, you really do have to imagine that you are coming from Santiago, position yourself to see the mojon and then turn around and go the way your back was pointing.
Leaving Olveiroa is straight forward. You walk out of the town on road in front of Casa Loncho (i.e. leaving Casa Loncho, you turn left onto the road). You continue on to a bridge (Ponte Olveiroa) where there is a pension. Just after this, you turn left. Watch out for markers. This takes you past farms. You come to a Y junction and watch out for marker that indicate that you need to take the right hand branch (the arrows are for people coming from Santiago). From here, you follow the markers going in the opposite way. At one point, you will see signs advertising a temporary diversion (desvio). Ignore this and stick to the road. I followed the diversion and ended up in a farm yard where helpful lady told me I needed to go back. You pass houses and villages but there is not a single bar, café, shop or even a fuente until you hit the bar/Albergue Santa Maria (981 852 897)just before Maronas. So again, make sure that you are well provisioned. There are two bars here. Shortly after the second bar, you take a road that bears off to the right. You continue on this until it becomes a track. At this point, there are few markers, but seeing the back end of signs advertising albergues and taxis does reassure you. For here to Vilaserio, you have to be careful about the route, particularly when it ends up at a T junction with the main road. At the first T junction, you go right onto the road and then shortly after, you go left off the road onto a track again. There are mojones here but its not obvious which way to turn if you are going to Santiago. I was lucky enough to see people coming the other way. There is nothing in the way of provisions until you arrive in Vilaseria.As you enter the village, you pass the municipal albergue, which is a school room with mattresses. After this, you take a right turn off the main road. This takes you past two bars. The first serves food and has an albergue (A Nosa Casa 981 89 35 61). I met the Irish ladies here too. They had gotten lost on the bit where I was lucky enough to spot peregrinos coming the other way.
From Vilarserio, its about 12km to Negreira. Near the second bar, you will see a roughly painted sign and an arrow pointing you up a dirt path to the left. This eventually takes you to the main highway to Negreira. You climb gradually until you there is a turn off to the left on a dirt track. This is not well indicated and I was lucky enough to be directed there by a local. The track comes eventually comes back to the main road. Before Portocamino, you are directed to turn off the main road to the left. I totally missed this. This is supposed to take you through track in the forest which leads to the albergue. I ended up on the main road and by the time I figured out that I had missed this turn off, another local person told me to just stick to the main road and I would come into Negreira. So I did this for 7km and at least got to count down the kms according to the signs on the road. As I came into town, I saw that the main bit of Negreira was to the left, so I headed there and went through a lovely stone gate. I was exhausted and so stayed in the first hotel I saw, which was the Mezquita Pension which also has the El Carmen Albergue. (981 8816 52 or 636 12 96 91). The Albergue was full, but the hotel bit had rooms, so I happily took one of these. The shower had sit down bit which was wonderful for soaking tired feet. Breakfast is included in the hotel price, but not in the albergue price.
Day 5: Negreira to Santiago de Compostela (22.4km)
This is another day were you can have route finding issues. From the hotel, I was directed to go left and I would be on the Camino and after the little wooden Camino Info Office (left hand side of the road) I was to vere up to the right, following markers. This I managed to do and I followed arrows going the other way until I came to a T junction. There were painted arrows on the road saying RC. I thought this might mean ‘routa camino’ and so followed these. There were more RC arrows, but nothing indicating the camino, so I turned around and went back to the turn off. Then I noticed the back end of taxi and albergue signes. So ignore any RC arrows. The Irish ladies also got lost in the same spot and for the same reason. The camino skirts along side the main road and then after Barquina takes a path that crosses under the main road and continues along a forest along a river. You pass under an old looking bridge and then you need to take care with the markings and come to Ponte Maceira. This is a stunning bridge and a bus load of day trippers were taking photos of it. You cross over the bridge and follow markers in the opposite direct and end up climbing into Trasmonte. Here is the first bar since Negreira (Café Pancho). The next bar is in Augapesada. You go through Trasmonte on the road. Look out for a turn off onto a dirt track on the left after you pass the Fonte St Maria. This goes down hill all the way to Augapesada. You meet a lot of tired looking people coming up hill on their way to Fisterra. At Augapesada the route comes out onto the main road, crosses it and then comes back near a bar that does meals. I met the Irish ladies here and we compared stories about getting lost at the RC arrows. From here, you go against the yellow arrows and shells and eventually make your way up to Alto do Vento, where I met the German ladies going to Santiago. This is a massive roadside bar/restaurant. Just after the Alto do Vento, you need to watch out for faint arrows pointing you to the left. I missed this and stayed on the main road, came to a round about and followed the sign to Santiago. I figured that I had missed a turn off and so stopped at a hotel/restaurant for directions to get back to the Camino. Thankfully, I didn’t have to back track. Once back on the Camino, I followed the arrows/shells backwards, but was also helped out by spotting people on their way to Fisterra. There is one turn off in a small village which I would have missed if it hadn’t been from some cyclists wizzing thorugh. I followed the road, which started to climb. Then I came to a T junction with a dirt road going off to the left uphill and a very faint paint marking which might or might not have been an arrow. I stopped a local in his car and he advised me to go straight. This got me to Santiago, but not on the Camino, I should have taken the dirt track. As it was, I walked through a village and ended up on the highway going into Santiago. So I arrived, but not by the scenic route. I ended up coming into Santiago near the hospital and ended up on Rosalia de Castro. I then spotted the very distinctive looking Hotel Compostella near Plaza Galica and I knew where I was. I arrive at the Oficina del Peregrino around 5pm and got my Compostela and distance certificate (120 km).
The next day, Monday, I started my first volunteer shift of this season. I was given time off to go to the Pilgrim mass. I arrived at 11:30 and was lucky to get a seat in the trancept. The cathedral was packed by then. I’d recommend going at 11am and taking something to read while you wait. I heard ‘and from Muxia, one from Canada’. I was the only Muxia person read out at the mass. I was also lucky enough to see the botafumeiro.
I thought that this was a lovely route. The scenery is wonderful and the ups and down’s aren’t too bad. I took 5 days to do it, but you could take longer and chop this down into shorter stages by using some of the intermediate albergues. Given that this is now an official route for getting a Compostella, I would highly recommend that the people in charge of sections of this route get out there with some blue spray paint to clearly mark the way to Sangtiago.
The app that was recommended (after I arrived of course was Camino Fisterra-by wise pilgrim. You don’t need an internet connection because it works through GPS. I’d be interested in hearing from anyone who has actually used this on the route!
Buen Camino!
Well, almost live! I arrived in Santiago last Sunday and I’m now working as a volunteer in the Oficina del Peregrino (see my Live from the Oficina post which will soon be up).
For years people have been walking or cycling from Santigo to Fisterra (Finisterre) and then onto Muxia or to Muxia and then to Fisterra. If you do this and continue to collect sellos on the way you will be given a Fisterana certificate in the Albergue de la Xunta in Fisterra and a Muxiana at the Oficina de Tourismo de Muxia.
Note: Finisterre is Spanish and Fisterra is Gallego, so I'm using Fisterra.
Now, if you do this in reverse (Muxia to Fisterra to Santiago OR Fisterra to Muxia to Santiago) it counts as an official route TO Santiago and you can get a Compostela as it is over 100km. Please note that you have to do the bit between Muxia and Fisterra as simply doing Fisterra to Santiago or Muxia to Santiago doesn’t get you over the 100km minimum requirement. According to the Brierly guide book (recommended below) it is 86.7km from Santiago to Fisterra. If you continue on to Muxia, this is 115.2km. According to my distance certificate from the Oficina del Peregrino, Muxia to Fisterra to Santiago is 120km. According to the guide book, it is 84.8 km between Santiago and Muxia and adding on Fisterra brings it to 113.3km. I’m not sure what the official Oficina del Peregrino distance is for this, but I imagine that it would be a couple of km less than 120.
This is a beautiful route! I would highly recommend it as a way of getting a Compostella. One of the very nice things about doing this route is that you come into Santiago via a totally different entry point from the Caminos Frances, Portugues and Ingles. As wonderful as this route is, until the way marking is improved I WOULD NOT recommend this for a first Camino. The way marking between Finisterre and Muxia is good. The shells on the mojons point downwards, but there are double ended yellow arrows (sometimes with the addition of a F and M). Coming from Santiago to Fisterra, the way marking is good. There are fewer markers than on the Camino Frances, but they still point the way. HOWEVER, there are many places where if you are going the other way (i.e. from Fisterra) the way to go isn’t obvious. In some places, there are helpful blue arrows pointing towards the route to Santiago or even signs saying ‘a Santiago’. In most places, however, you have to guess the route by imaging that you were coming from Santiago and positioning yourself where the mojon would be visible to you (and then you go that way). There were many times when the route was made clear because I could see people with backpacks coming from Santiago. At other times, seeing the back end of signs advertising albergues and taxi services reassured me that I was on route.
While on this route, I only met two Irish women and two German women going ‘my way’. We all had the John Brierley Camino Finisterre book. My copy was published in 2011 and was a gift from Thomas, an American peregrino I helped out when I last worked as a volunteer in the Oficina del Peregrino. This book has useful maps and I would regard it as an essential thing to have if you are going to do this route. Even with the book, all of us got lost at some point or another. I was also helped with my route finding by very helpful locals, including farmers on tractors, who I waived down. You have to make it clear that you are going TO Santiago, as they will try to direct you to Fisterra. I was told after I arrived in Santiago that there is an app you can download to your Smartphone that can help with route finding using GPS. It would have been nice to have been told this before, but I would still have wanted to have the Brierley book.
Note: I picked up my credencial the last time I was in Santiago, so I didn’t have to try to find one in Muxia. Given that very few people start in Muxia, I would strongly recommend getting your credencial before you start.
Please note that if you have a mobile phone that isn’t based in Spain, you need to add the Spanish country code. I have a UK phone and so added 0034 to all of the numbers below.
Day 1: Muxia to Lires (16.5 km)
A big thanks to Falcon for posting the link to the bus timetable to Fisterra and Muxia! Buses leave from the Bus Station.
http://antigo.quepasanacosta.com/busescostadamorte.html
The first bus to Muxia left at 8:45am and arrived around 10: 45am. I don’t walk quickly (I’m closer to 3km/hour than 4km/hour). So my aim for day 1 was Lires which is between Muxia and Fisterra. I passed this when going on to Muxia and Fisterra after finishing the Camino Portugues in 2009 and I always thought that it looked like a nice place to stay. At the bus station, I met Santina from Italy who walked with me. I got my first sello at Tourist Information. It said: ‘Muxia Fin do Camino’. I liked the irony of starting my Camino at the end of the Camino. Tourist Info is one street up from where the bus drops you off. The Tourist Info Office is where you would get your Muxiana if you were coming from Santiago or Fisterra.
There is an Albergue in Muxia and the route to Fisterra is signposted from the Albergue. However, it is much nicer to follow the signs to the Sanctuario de Virxe de Barco (the Virgin of the Stone Boat-which brought Santiago to the shores of Galicia). It is a beautiful site and a great place to watch the sunset if you are staying over night in Muxia. From the Santuary, you can join the route by going uphill to the very striking looking modern sculpture. Here there is a mohon (marker with shell) so you can get your first ‘I’m on the Camino’ photo. The route between Muxia and Fisterra is well marked. If you come to a junction, stop and look around. You will find arrows or mojones. You will also see people going the other way. There is NOTHING between Muxia and Lires in terms of cafes or bars, so make sure that you have enough water and food before you set out. It is a beautiful route which passes lovely beaches and eventually climbs up and drops down into Lires. The first time I did this in 2009, I had to ford the river. There were stepping stones but they were slippery. Now, thankfully, there is a bridge. To the right you can see the old stepping stones. In Lires, we stayed at As Eiras (981 685 013). As Eiras is well sign posted once you cross the bridge and enter Lires. This has hotel rooms and also an alberge. We phoned ahead to reserve a room. As Eiras does a wonderful menu with massive portions. I kept the left overs for lunch the next day.
Day 2: Lires to Fisterra (12 km)
Directly opposite As Eiras, there is a lane that heads downhill and rejoins the route. As the staff to point this out to you. Again, route finding on this bit was easy. After Castrexe a new Albergue is being built. In the meantime, the lovely person who will run the Albergue has set up a stall where you can sit under a tarp and enjoy some coffee/tea and cupcakes. He has a sello (Aurora de Buxan). This was a very welcome stop. As you approach Fisterra the way marked route skirts around to the left. While this might look like the most obvious way of getting to Fisterra, it does take you to the old part of town. You continue following the arrows until you hit the beach boardwalk at Praia de Langosteira. You return here the following day. I didn’t see any signs pointing to Muxia so I have no idea how you would know that this is where you had to turn uphill. To go into town, you turn right (if you are facing the beach). You follow the boardwalk to a stone cross with shells at the bottom. You continue along the road and you will eventually arrive at the centre of the old town. The Albergue de la Xunta is right in front of you. They also have a sello. The pilgrim info office is here. This is where you would get your Fisterana if you were coming from Santiago or Muxia. The bus stop (to go to Santiago) is next to the Albergue. There are a number of albergues and hotels in Fisterra, so finding a place to stay wouldn’t be a problem. I stayed at the Hotel Mariquito (. Santina took a bus. First, however, we went to the light house (Faro). This is signposted to get you out of town. The light house is 3.5km out of town. When I first did this, you walked on the road and were passed by cars, taxis and buses. Now, thankfully!!!!!, there is a path on the left side of the road. So you can walk in relative safety. Bicigrinos take note: this is only for pedestrians. The Faro is a lot more touristy than in 2009. There is now a large tourist trap kiosk with toilets and a lot of soveniers. You can now enter the Faro and you can get a sello, but you have to pay for it. I can’t remember exactly how much it was, because Santina paid for the both of us. I think it was 2.50 euros. It is worth spending some time at the Faro. There is a mojon which says 0km. You have to queue up to take a photo. You can see the area where people burn stuff. You can also watch the sunset from here. Make sure that you have a headtorch for the return journey if you are going to do this.
Day 3: Fisterra to Olveiroa (31.2 km)
The Brierley guide says that this stage is 31.2km. It felt a LOT longer than that! Other people I met said the same thing. There are not very many places to stay in Olveiroa, so I phoned ahead and booked. I’m glad I did because I arrived around 8:30pm and ran into other late arrivals who were looking for places that weren’t full. I stayed at Casa Loncho (981 741 673) which has a private albergue, a hotel and a restaurant that opens at 6am for breakfast!
From Fisterra, you retrace your steps to where you arrived at the boardwalk coming down from Muxia. You continue along the boardwalk following the beach. Because of dunes, you don’t get much of a view of the beach if you stick to the boardwalk. At the end of the beach, the boardwalk gives way to a road which takes you straight to the main road. You continue on this. At places, you are directed away from the main road to follow paths that run parallel to the road. The first path-detour drops and comes back up to the main road. Off this, there is a smaller path that would lead you to the lovely little beach below, which I think is Praia Talon. As you climb back up, look back and you will get an excellent view of Fisterra and the lighthouse. When you come back onto the main road there is an excellent view point with a picnic area. You are on the road for most of the way into Sardineiro. Here there is a hostel and a few bars with sellos. You are on th road until Estorde and they you follow the way markings up to San Roque where there is an albergue. There is an option where you can drop down to Corcubion, but if you are going onto Cee, stick to the higher route. When you drop into Cee (many hotels and restaurants and albergues) you follow the path by the shore. You continue on this until you come to a bit where it looks like a river empties into the bay. You cross this and then start looking for markers to start taking you uphill. I met people who got lost here, but I just followed the peregrinos coming the other way. You pass a bar (last one until Hospitales) which is popular with peregrinos. You start seeing signs ‘a Santiago’ these lead uphill. You end up on a dirt track on moorland and you just keep on going straight ahead. Between San Pedro Martir and the Ermita des Neves, there is a little drink stall which is run by Carlos. This isn’t always open. There is supposed to be a fuente at San Pedro. I didn’t check this out as it was of route. There is also supposed to be one a Ermita des Neves, but this wasn’t running. You need to bring sufficient water for this section. This is where I first met the lost Irish ladies while talking to some English cyclists. They missed the turn off uphill, took another route up and where heading to Cee (which they had left). So we pointed them in right direction. The route is pretty obvious until you hit the Ermita des Neves, where there is NOTHING to indicate the way. I was lucky enough to flag down a passing farmer on his tractor. Across from the Ermita, there is a picnic area. If you take the road between the Ermita and picknic area you start heading up hill. You then take a right turn at a junction, then a left turn. You come to a stone cross. At this point you cross the road and continue straight ahead on a track. You pass some piles of stones on either side of the track and then hit a main road. Here, you turn left and arrive at Fabrica, which is a horrible factory, but if you can smell hot tar, you know you are close. You then come to a round about where the route from Santiago divides. You’ve just come in from the Fisterra direction. There is an arrow pointing to Muxia, so you bear right onto the highway. I think that there is supposed to be a path here, but I missed it I stayed on the road until I arrived at Hospital. This just used to be a bar, but it now also has an albergue. This is called the Albergue, Restaurant, Bar O Castelino (981 747 387) or (615 997 169). At this point, you are 5km from Olveiroa. The lady at the bar suggested that I follow the national highway into Olveiroa. The guide book suggested a path, so I took this. You can see a very faint arrow which leads to a dirt path. This goes to Logoso, which also has an albergue. The camino then follows a track that contours the mountain and ends up in Olveiroa. This seemed a lot longer than 5km to me. When the path hits the road again, you turn right and this takes you to the albergue and other accommodation. Olveiroa wins the prize for lovely stone horreos. (grain storage huts on stilts which you see all over Galicia).
Day 4 Olveiroa to Negreira (33.1 km)
According to John Brierley, this is the longest day. It is also a day with some route finding challenges unless you are lucky enough to meet peregrinos coming the other way. On this stretch, you really do have to imagine that you are coming from Santiago, position yourself to see the mojon and then turn around and go the way your back was pointing.
Leaving Olveiroa is straight forward. You walk out of the town on road in front of Casa Loncho (i.e. leaving Casa Loncho, you turn left onto the road). You continue on to a bridge (Ponte Olveiroa) where there is a pension. Just after this, you turn left. Watch out for markers. This takes you past farms. You come to a Y junction and watch out for marker that indicate that you need to take the right hand branch (the arrows are for people coming from Santiago). From here, you follow the markers going in the opposite way. At one point, you will see signs advertising a temporary diversion (desvio). Ignore this and stick to the road. I followed the diversion and ended up in a farm yard where helpful lady told me I needed to go back. You pass houses and villages but there is not a single bar, café, shop or even a fuente until you hit the bar/Albergue Santa Maria (981 852 897)just before Maronas. So again, make sure that you are well provisioned. There are two bars here. Shortly after the second bar, you take a road that bears off to the right. You continue on this until it becomes a track. At this point, there are few markers, but seeing the back end of signs advertising albergues and taxis does reassure you. For here to Vilaserio, you have to be careful about the route, particularly when it ends up at a T junction with the main road. At the first T junction, you go right onto the road and then shortly after, you go left off the road onto a track again. There are mojones here but its not obvious which way to turn if you are going to Santiago. I was lucky enough to see people coming the other way. There is nothing in the way of provisions until you arrive in Vilaseria.As you enter the village, you pass the municipal albergue, which is a school room with mattresses. After this, you take a right turn off the main road. This takes you past two bars. The first serves food and has an albergue (A Nosa Casa 981 89 35 61). I met the Irish ladies here too. They had gotten lost on the bit where I was lucky enough to spot peregrinos coming the other way.
From Vilarserio, its about 12km to Negreira. Near the second bar, you will see a roughly painted sign and an arrow pointing you up a dirt path to the left. This eventually takes you to the main highway to Negreira. You climb gradually until you there is a turn off to the left on a dirt track. This is not well indicated and I was lucky enough to be directed there by a local. The track comes eventually comes back to the main road. Before Portocamino, you are directed to turn off the main road to the left. I totally missed this. This is supposed to take you through track in the forest which leads to the albergue. I ended up on the main road and by the time I figured out that I had missed this turn off, another local person told me to just stick to the main road and I would come into Negreira. So I did this for 7km and at least got to count down the kms according to the signs on the road. As I came into town, I saw that the main bit of Negreira was to the left, so I headed there and went through a lovely stone gate. I was exhausted and so stayed in the first hotel I saw, which was the Mezquita Pension which also has the El Carmen Albergue. (981 8816 52 or 636 12 96 91). The Albergue was full, but the hotel bit had rooms, so I happily took one of these. The shower had sit down bit which was wonderful for soaking tired feet. Breakfast is included in the hotel price, but not in the albergue price.
Day 5: Negreira to Santiago de Compostela (22.4km)
This is another day were you can have route finding issues. From the hotel, I was directed to go left and I would be on the Camino and after the little wooden Camino Info Office (left hand side of the road) I was to vere up to the right, following markers. This I managed to do and I followed arrows going the other way until I came to a T junction. There were painted arrows on the road saying RC. I thought this might mean ‘routa camino’ and so followed these. There were more RC arrows, but nothing indicating the camino, so I turned around and went back to the turn off. Then I noticed the back end of taxi and albergue signes. So ignore any RC arrows. The Irish ladies also got lost in the same spot and for the same reason. The camino skirts along side the main road and then after Barquina takes a path that crosses under the main road and continues along a forest along a river. You pass under an old looking bridge and then you need to take care with the markings and come to Ponte Maceira. This is a stunning bridge and a bus load of day trippers were taking photos of it. You cross over the bridge and follow markers in the opposite direct and end up climbing into Trasmonte. Here is the first bar since Negreira (Café Pancho). The next bar is in Augapesada. You go through Trasmonte on the road. Look out for a turn off onto a dirt track on the left after you pass the Fonte St Maria. This goes down hill all the way to Augapesada. You meet a lot of tired looking people coming up hill on their way to Fisterra. At Augapesada the route comes out onto the main road, crosses it and then comes back near a bar that does meals. I met the Irish ladies here and we compared stories about getting lost at the RC arrows. From here, you go against the yellow arrows and shells and eventually make your way up to Alto do Vento, where I met the German ladies going to Santiago. This is a massive roadside bar/restaurant. Just after the Alto do Vento, you need to watch out for faint arrows pointing you to the left. I missed this and stayed on the main road, came to a round about and followed the sign to Santiago. I figured that I had missed a turn off and so stopped at a hotel/restaurant for directions to get back to the Camino. Thankfully, I didn’t have to back track. Once back on the Camino, I followed the arrows/shells backwards, but was also helped out by spotting people on their way to Fisterra. There is one turn off in a small village which I would have missed if it hadn’t been from some cyclists wizzing thorugh. I followed the road, which started to climb. Then I came to a T junction with a dirt road going off to the left uphill and a very faint paint marking which might or might not have been an arrow. I stopped a local in his car and he advised me to go straight. This got me to Santiago, but not on the Camino, I should have taken the dirt track. As it was, I walked through a village and ended up on the highway going into Santiago. So I arrived, but not by the scenic route. I ended up coming into Santiago near the hospital and ended up on Rosalia de Castro. I then spotted the very distinctive looking Hotel Compostella near Plaza Galica and I knew where I was. I arrive at the Oficina del Peregrino around 5pm and got my Compostela and distance certificate (120 km).
The next day, Monday, I started my first volunteer shift of this season. I was given time off to go to the Pilgrim mass. I arrived at 11:30 and was lucky to get a seat in the trancept. The cathedral was packed by then. I’d recommend going at 11am and taking something to read while you wait. I heard ‘and from Muxia, one from Canada’. I was the only Muxia person read out at the mass. I was also lucky enough to see the botafumeiro.
I thought that this was a lovely route. The scenery is wonderful and the ups and down’s aren’t too bad. I took 5 days to do it, but you could take longer and chop this down into shorter stages by using some of the intermediate albergues. Given that this is now an official route for getting a Compostella, I would highly recommend that the people in charge of sections of this route get out there with some blue spray paint to clearly mark the way to Sangtiago.
The app that was recommended (after I arrived of course was Camino Fisterra-by wise pilgrim. You don’t need an internet connection because it works through GPS. I’d be interested in hearing from anyone who has actually used this on the route!
Buen Camino!
). Last year the distance between Santiago Cathedral and Albergue Alecrin on the marked entrance to Negreira was 24,36kms.
