Way of Saint James in 10 days

Starting from Astorga Cathedral, one heads to Calle Portería, then turns right onto Calle Sancti Spiritu, continues following the signs and arrives on the provincial road, pointing toward Santa Colomba de Somoza.

Going further on you come to Murias de Rechivaldo, from which you must follow a path parallel to the provincial road to Santa Catalina de Somoza.

At this point continue following the very well marked route to the locality of El Ganso. Now you walk mostly inside a forest and continue to Rabanal del Camino, where a climb begins that leads up to Foncebadón.

Once out of Foncebadón you follow the path and about 45 minutes later you reach the Cruz de Ferro (a very important place for pilgrims who, historically, lay a stone in front of the cross as they pass) from which you then continue along a slight descent, passing by Manjarín and beginning the ascent again (which will take about 1 hour), which will then turn into a steep descent to the town of El Acebo.

You then follow the provincial road and then head along a path on the left to Riego de Ambrós. A little more than an hour later you will reach Molinaseca and then Campo.

We then cross a bridge over the río Boeza and, following the signs, arrive at the Templar Castle of Ponferrada.

From Ponferrada Castle take Calle Gil y Carrasco and shortly after turn right. Following the turns of the route within the city, you will pass through Compostilla and Columbrianos.

You then continue on the road to Fuentes Nuevas and thus head to Camponaraya, where you turn off the road onto a rural trail and cross the A-6.

After about half an hour of walking surrounded by nature, you reach Cacabelos and another 30 minutes later the village of Pieros. Shortly after exiting the hamlet you turn right and a few hundred meters later you head left instead, until you reach Valtville de Arriba.

Continuing for about an hour, we finally reach Villafranca del Bierzo.

This stage begins by following rúa del Agua to a plaza where you must turn left and then cross río Burbía.

Shortly afterwards there is a choice of two variants, one easy and one much more strenuous, which I do not recommend to the inexperienced. If you follow the easy variant you will walk along a trail that follows the road and goes all the way to Trabadelo, passing through Pereje. Once in Trabadelo continue in the direction of “La Portela de Valcarce,” and then turn left toward Vega de Valcarce.

Continuing on the trail at one point a fairly steep climb begins and you arrive at Las Herrerías.

Departing from Las Herrerías, shortly afterwards you will encounter the locality of Hospital and, after a strenuous climb, also the locality of La Faba. From here we continue for about an hour toward La Laguna and, continuing to follow the trail, finally enter the Galicia region (a point marked by a boundary stone).

Continue uphill to O Cebreiro and then head along a path that for the most part passes within a forested slope. This leads to the San Roque pass and shortly afterwards also to Hospital de Condesa. From here a very strenuous climb begins again, but it is perhaps the last of its kind until the arrival in Santiago.

It then passes through the villages of Fonfría and O Biduedo and descends to Fillobal. Continuing a few kilometers along the path we arrive at Triacastela.

This stage can be travelled according to two variants, one route passing through Samos and one passing through San Xil instead. In this case, we will treat the route that passes through San Xil;

Leaving Triacastela, turn right and follow the trail, crossing A Balsa and arriving at San Xil. From here you travel just under an hour along a paved road and then turn right into a forest.

After coming out of the forest, you take a provincial road and arrive in Montán. Shortly afterwards we rejoin the path of the other variant and, parallel to the road, arrive in Sarria.

For those who decide to take the variant route via Samos, it is really worth taking some time to visit the splendid monastery; of Samos and its 18th century cloister;

The stage begins by leaving Sarria walking through a wooded path and heading toward Barbadelo, from where it continues through some small towns, to A Brea, shortly after which there is a sign that there are only 100 km to go before arriving in Santiago de Compostela.

After about 20 minutes you reach Ferreiros and continuing for another hour to Mercadoiro.

We continue along the Camino trail and descend almost to the height of río Mino, where we cross a long and iconic bridge that leads to the town of Portomarín.

From the center of Portomarín go down the main road and cross a bridge, then follow the path and turn right at a factory.

You will cross the road twice and reach in order the towns of Gonzar, Castromaior and Hospital da Cruz. From here we head towards Ligonde and Portos.

Continuing to walk we then pass through some small villages and arrive at Palas de Rei.

Starting from Palas de Rei, about 45 minutes later, you will encounter the church of San Xulián do Camino and shortly after enter the province of A Coruna, arriving at Leboreiro.

We then continue along the road, always following the signs until we reach Mélide, a locality well known for its famous octopus, which we highly recommend trying in one of the many ‘pulperias’;

Departing from Sarria, after some ups and downs and about an hour and a half, you arrive at the village of Boente and continue along ascents and descents to Ribadiso da Baixo;

At this point, it is just under an hour to reach Arzúa, where the ‘queso de Arzúa-Ulloa’ is produced, a typical cheese of the area for which a festival is even held on the first weekend of March;

This stage is undoubtedly the longest and perhaps the most challenging of these 10 days of walking, so it could be broken up by stopping to sleep in Pedrouzo.

From Arzúa you walk for about half an hour, to Pregontono and continuing along the Camino you pass through many other localities, until you reach Salceda. In the following section you will cross the N-547 road more than once and head through dirt and wooded paths to A Rúa.

Continuing through the forest we reach the town of San Antón, from where we continue and approach the Santiago airport, which we skirt for a stretch; You then come to a traffic circle (from which there are 12 km to the finish) and still later reach Lavacolla and Villamaior.

Keep walking and following the signs and you will arrive at the ascent of Monte do Gozo, from which you will descend to Santiago. You are now practically there and just follow the signs within the city or simply the flow of pilgrims to arrive at praza do Obradoiro, at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.