Oviedo to Santiago – 253 kms

This is the earliest pilgrimage route and is considered one of the most challenging but beautiful variants. In particular, the fifth stage, from Borres to Burducedo, and the sixth stage, past the reservoir to Grandas de Salime, are wild, hilly and remote, with very few facilities.

Camino stages and Alburgues

1)     OVIEDO to GRADO 25.5 kms

I got a little lost leaving Oviedo but eventually came to the end of town and the start of the trail. It was a shock to see half a dozen pilgrims hanging around a detailed map of the next stage. I never encountered a group like this on the San Salvador route. The trail quickly became a pretty path overlooking fields and distant hills.

Stayed at the Quintana Private albergue in a rather depressing town. It is a large building with dormitories in the garden, The combo plate dinner of chicken, fries and salad was quite good.

2)     SALAS 22.7 km

Wildfires in northern Portugal made the views quite misty. Path passes under some major roads.

  The Figal of Xugabolos   2 km before Salas, on the route. Converted farm buildings. It is a lovely hotel with a dorm room. Good food. Highly recommended.

3)     TINEO 19.8 kms

Nice town on a hillside. If I had needed a rest day so early in the walk, I could have happily stayed here. Slept at the Meras Palace. Big complex in the town centre. Hotel and large dorm. Nice Pilgrims meal in a fancy (white tablecloth) restaurant. It was new and clean, but I did not like the institutional vibe. I needed to email Credit Card info to confirm the reservation.

4)     BORRES 15.6 km

Beautiful views looking back tot he town of Tineo, shrouded in mist.

Pilgrims Hostel Casa Pascual 2 km short of Borres. Genuine donativo in a converted farmhouse. We hung our wet gear in an outbuilding; then the sun came out. The hostess did our laundry for us and cooked a communal Italian meal, which was served in the kitchen. Simple breakfast. Highly recommended. Leave a donation on the way out.

5)     BERDUCEDO 24.3 kms

From this point there are two options. The weather seemed fair, so I took the more remote but slightly shorter “hospitales” route. This is not a particularly hard hike for people used to walking in hilly areas, but there is a complete absence of places to shelter and drink coffee or buy food, so this seems weird to many pilgrims. Unfortunately, the weather became cloudy as we got higher, and the views were obscured. Annoyingly, people who left a few hours later got clear weather and took great photos.

Primitive Way Hostel. OK private alburgue with bar and restaurant. Exit by the back door in the morning. No breakfast, but one of the 5 cafes in town was open at 8 am.

6)     GRANDAS DE SALIMES 20.7 km

Spectacular views of the reservoir. I was not looking forward either to the long descent to the reservoir or the long climb up to the town, which you can just see in the top left of the photo below. However, the hike down was pretty and partly wooded. Shortly after crossing the dam, there is a hotel and cafe. The patio has nice views and the coffee ( the first in many hours) was excellent. Part of the hike up into own was on a shady woodland path.

Porta de Grandas private alburgue on left as you enter town. I liked the place, with a first floor patio and some outdoor seating area. Nice town with several restaurants.

7)     O FONSAGRADA 25.7 km

Long walk in the rain passed quickly due to good company. I was not impressed by the town, but maybe I just arrived at siesta time and all but one cafe was closed.

Pension Complex Pineiral about 3 km beyind town. It is a strange, large hotel and albergue complex. Had a very small private room. Nice restaurant. I found the place too corporate, but I have no real complaints.

8)   Bus to  LUGO instead of  O CADAVO (It would have been 24.3kms to O Cavado and then 30.2 kms to Lugo) I was not feeling well and it was raining so I took the bus from right outside the complex to Lugo. Minos Apartment. Two- bedroom apartment to myself with a full kitchen and washing machine (no dryer) right by the wall and cathedral. They let me check in early. Recommended.

How far can I walk without a break? Turns out its 280 kms.

At that stage the combination of a mild flu bug and the forecast of more rain, after an 8 hr (29 km) hike in the wet the previous day, was a bit too much for me. Instead of walking for two days (54 kms and about 20 hiking hours) to Lugo Itook the bus and arrived in 90 minutes!

Will rest up here for three days then plan to walk the last 100km to Santiago.

I did the 6-day,124 km Camino San Salvador took a rest day in Oviedo. I then walked 7 days and 156 km on the Camino Primitivo to just beyond Fonsagrada.

9 and 10)     LUGO Hotel Brios (I booked this before I got ill, but could not get it for a third night, hence Minos). It is a very nice, warm, and friendly family-run hotel with an attached cafe/restaurant in a residential part of town about 15 minutes beyond the city walls. I really liked the place.

11) FERREIRA.26.1 km

Some farmers have provided basic facilities for pilgrims. A shelter with a washroom and a coffee maker and snacks on sale was very welcome early in the day but later, I upgraded to an omelette sandwich at a sunny cafe.

Nave of Ferriera private alburgue. Not much to look at from outside but has all the basics. Nice private room. Next to a bar/restaurant with a decent dinner. I had the buffet breakfast which was quite good for 7 euros. Ferreiera is just a small collection of houses. The alternative Ponte alburgue looked nice from outside.

112)  MELIDE 21.1 kms (but I hiked another 5kms)

A nice sunny day with some open countryside and eventually, distant views of the town of Melide. The first picture shows a typical Galician farmer’s storage building designed to avoid rats.

German Hostel at Boente, 5 km after Melide. This evens up the distance if your next stop is O Pedrouz0. Nice new hostel right on the path. Small unheated swimming pool! Nice restaurant and bar area. Quiet, even after the Frances pilgrim group joins the Primitive group.

13)  O PEDROUZO (Also called Arca) 33.0 (but only 28 for me, from German Hostel) Peregrina Pension 1. This was a rather weird shared apartment in a roadside complex at the far end of town. I had my own room, shared a bathroom, kitchen and laundry room with two other groups. It worked out very well as I cooked my own dinner while using the (free) washer and dryer, then had a soak in the bathtub.

Writing this from the first hot bath of the trip..

Especially welcome after 26 km walking, from 06:45 to 2:30 in warm damp weather, so  very sweaty..

360 km done, 20 more to Santiago…

Walked with a  loose group…

Began w Susan,  a retired chemistry teachher from Minnesota. After 2hrs her friend Larry showed up, but then went on ahead.. Victoria, a British child protection lawyer from Stratford was having coffee outside so I joined her, and her friend Shankutar, a Bengali woman who lives in Vancouver joined us.. 

For a while the five of us walked together, moving past the people who started 2 days ago in Sarria in their clean and trendy hiking gear with tiny backpacks as their luggage gets transferred for them.

Couple more coffee stops.. Susan and Larry disappear. Eventually Victoria and Sakunaer peel off for their dorm room. I walked alone for30 mins. I am now staying in a shared apartment. I have an attic room to myself and share a bathroom kitchen and laundry room with two other groups. Seems like it will work out OK. Going to do a big load of washing and drying as they have machines. Also sorting out my backpack.

Seems unreal that tomorrow I will be in Santiago. A bunch of is have booked private rooms in The Minor Seminary so we will likely meet up there or arrange things by WhatsApp.

14)  SANTIAGO 20.0 kms

This was supposed to be a fun day, jubilantly marching into Santiago with my camino buddies, but it rained all day. I had forgotten how much it can rain in Europe! The path was much quieter than yesterday. Several people, including most of my hiking buddies, chose to skip this stage and take a bus into Santiago, as they had done this section before. The outer suburbs of the city are un-inspiring, and not much fun to hike by yourself in the rain.

Seminario Menor. I stayed here for a total of five nights, four in a private room and once in a dorm room, before and after going to Finisterre. A huge old building with 81 private rooms at 25 euro/night, and 169 dorm rooms (single beds only, no bunks). Kitchen and café, laundry area, lots of people to talk to. It’s a 15-minute walk out of town through a park. I liked it.

SUPPLEMENT: CAMINO FINISTERRE, LIGHTHOUSE ROUTE AND CAMINO FINISTERRE-MUXIA

I took the bus from Santiago to Cee and then walked about 15 kms to Finisterre. If you do not have the time or energy to walk all the way there, this is a good option as you get a bit of a coastal and beach walk. Hotel VIDA in town centre. It is a nice, friendly modern hotel with a restaurant. Recommended.

I stayed two nights. On the second day I walked to the lighthouse then along the coast on the Lighthouse trail to about 5 kms north of town, then cut across and came back to town on the Camino route.

Lighthouse Route and Camino Finisterre Muxia

The Lighthouse route runs north/south along the “Coast of Death,” named because of the number of shipwrecks. Finisterre is the southernmost end. The following stages are Lires and Muxia. I only walked the first 5km and on a misty day. It may be spectacular in good weather. I found the trial was not well marked, with many intersecting paths. There were a lot of ups and downs and it seemed pretty remote. It would make a good extension to the Camino for someone who was very fit and craved some solitude.

I also walked the southernmost 5 km of the route between Muxia and Finisterre. It was curious to see that the trail was labelled in both directions. The section I walked was mostly along paved roads near farms and through the outskirts of Finisterre.

FINISTERRE

I liked Finisterre but there is not enough to do to justify more than a night there. The docks and fishing market are interesting. The short walk to the lighthouse is almost a mandatory end to the Camino. There are a few nice restaurants. I especially liked hanging out at the cafe in the town square, watching all the locals gossip as their kids played.