Camino de Santiago: the last 100 km from Sarria to Santiago

1. Jour 1 : Arrive and drive to Sarria

   Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ) to Sarria

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Welcome dinner
   • Nuit : Sarria
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into Santiago de Compostela's Rosalía de Castro Airport (SCQ) by early afternoon; the exact latest arrival for the group transfer is confirmed with your final itinerary. Our driver meets you in the arrivals hall, and we drive east about an hour and a half, through green Galician farmland and eucalyptus, to Sarria, about 115 km from Santiago on foot and the most popular starting point for the last 100 km. After checking in, your guide walks the group up the stepped Rúa Maior through the old town to the Romanesque church of El Salvador, the stump of the medieval castle and the Convento da Madalena, with views back over the valley you will leave in the morning. On the way you collect your credencial, the pilgrim passport, and its first stamp. At the evening briefing we cover the week: stage lengths, what to carry in your daypack, and how the vehicle works. Then we sit down to a welcome dinner.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ) and transfer to Sarria
   • Old-town walk in Sarria with your guide: Rúa Maior, El Salvador church and the Convento da Madalena
   • Your credencial (pilgrim passport) and first stamp
   • Welcome briefing
   • Welcome dinner

   Temps libre : Free time before dinner to settle in

   Activité : About 2 km on foot, with steps up through the old town.

2. Jour 2 : Sarria to Portomarin

   Sarria on foot to Portomarin, then by our vehicle to Palas de Rei

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Palas de Rei
   Détail du jour 2

   We set off at about 8 am, ahead of most of the day walkers who start in Sarria, and climb out of town over a small medieval bridge into oak and chestnut woods. The route runs past the church at Barbadelo and through hamlets of stone farmhouses, hórreos (raised granaries) and dairy fields; cafes along the way stamp your credencial. A few hours in you pass the 100 km waymarker, a concrete pillar covered in pilgrims' notes, and most of the group stops for a photo. From there the path descends to the Belesar reservoir on the Mino. Old Portomarin lies under the water: when the dam was built in the 1960s, the fortress church of San Nicolás was taken down and rebuilt stone by stone on the hill above. We cross the long bridge, climb the steps into the new village and sit down to a late lunch near the church. Then our vehicle takes the group about 30 minutes on to Palas de Rei, your base for two nights.

   Compris

   • Guided walk from Sarria to Portomarin, about 22 km
   • The 100 km waymarker
   • Sit-down lunch in Portomarin
   • The church of San Nicolás, rebuilt above the reservoir
   • Vehicle transfer to Palas de Rei, with your luggage carried ahead

   Option plus facile : Join the vehicle at the cafe stop about halfway and ride to Portomarin, or ride to lunch and skip the steep final descent to the river.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Palas de Rei

   Activité : About 22 km, five to six hours on foot with stops; rolling farm lanes and woodland, a steady climb out of Sarria and a steep descent to the Mino.

3. Jour 3 : Castromaior and the painted church of Vilar de Donas

   By our vehicle back to Portomarin, then on foot to Palas de Rei, with a side trip to Vilar de Donas

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Palas de Rei
   Détail du jour 3

   Our vehicle takes the group back to the bridge at Portomarin, so the walk picks up exactly where it ended, and we start at about 8 am, usually in morning mist over the reservoir. The day climbs steadily through pine and farmland to Gonzar. Just beyond, at Castromaior, we leave the path for twenty minutes to walk round the ramparts of an Iron Age hillfort, with the route laid out below you. Lunch is a proper sit-down meal at Ventas de Narón or Ligonde, the high point of the day, near 720 m. From Lestedo our vehicle runs the group a few minutes up a side road to Vilar de Donas, a Romanesque church linked to the Order of Santiago, whose apse is painted with 15th-century frescoes of saints and elegant ladies. It keeps short, seasonal opening days, so the visit depends on the day; your guide arranges it with the caretaker, and if it is closed we stop instead at the small Romanesque church in Leboreiro on day 4. Then we walk the last few kilometres downhill into Palas de Rei. No packing tonight.

   Compris

   • Guided walk from Portomarin to Palas de Rei, about 25 km
   • Castro de Castromaior, the Iron Age hillfort
   • Sit-down lunch on the route
   • Vilar de Donas church and its frescoes when it is open, arranged by your guide with the caretaker (otherwise the church at Leboreiro on day 4)

   Option plus facile : Ride from Portomarin to Gonzar, about 8 km, and walk the rest of the stage (the Compostela requires the whole stage on foot).

   Temps libre : Late afternoon and evening free in Palas de Rei

   Activité : About 25 km, six hours on foot with stops; a long, gentle climb in the morning and a gradual descent after lunch. Vilar de Donas keeps a limited, seasonal schedule and is not a promised visit; we confirm it for your dates.

   

4. Jour 4 : Octopus in Melide, on to Arzua

   Palas de Rei on foot through Melide to Arzua

   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Arzua
   Détail du jour 4

   The longest stage, so we leave at about 8 am. The path crosses into the province of A Coruña through Leboreiro, a hamlet with a stone hórreo and a small Romanesque church, and over the medieval bridge at Furelos, its arches low over the river. Melide, the halfway point, is where the Camino Primitivo from Oviedo joins the Camino Frances, and it is famous for pulpo a feira: octopus boiled in copper pots and cut with scissors onto wooden plates with olive oil, salt and paprika. We sit down to lunch at a pulpería around midday. The afternoon runs through eucalyptus and oak, with several short climbs and drops across streams, to the stone bridge and old pilgrim hospital at Ribadiso, a good place to soak your feet in the river. From there it is a last climb into Arzua, known for its soft cow's milk cheese, and your base for two nights.

   Compris

   • Guided walk from Palas de Rei to Arzua, about 29 km
   • The medieval bridge at Furelos
   • Pulpo a feira lunch in Melide
   • The bridge and old pilgrim hospital at Ribadiso

   Option plus facile : End the walk in Melide after lunch (about 15 km) and ride the vehicle to Arzua, about 20 minutes, for a free afternoon (the Compostela requires the whole stage on foot).

   Temps libre : Evening free in Arzua

   Activité : About 29 km, seven hours on foot with a long lunch; several short climbs and descents after Melide. This is the hardest day; the Melide option halves it.

   

5. Jour 5 : Through the woods to O Pedrouzo

   Arzua on foot to O Pedrouzo, then by our vehicle back to Arzua

   • Environ 18 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Arzua
   Détail du jour 5

   A shorter day after the long one, and one of the prettiest. We leave Arzua at about 8 am with the luggage left behind, since tonight we come back to the same hotel. The path runs almost entirely through woods of eucalyptus, oak and pine, between small farms and hamlets with their hórreos and stone crosses, and the numbers on the waymarkers drop below 40 km. Walkers on the Camino del Norte, which joined at Arzua, now share the path, so the cafes are busier and the mood lifts. We stop for a sit-down lunch on the way and pass the chapel and fountain of Santa Irene, whose water was once believed to heal, before reaching O Pedrouzo in the early afternoon. The vehicle collects the group and brings everyone back to Arzua, about 20 minutes, for a free late afternoon. Try the local cheese in a bar on the main street.

   Compris

   • Guided walk from Arzua to O Pedrouzo, about 19 km
   • Sit-down lunch on the route
   • The chapel and fountain of Santa Irene
   • Vehicle transfer back to Arzua

   Option plus facile : Ride to the lunch stop and walk the shaded last section to O Pedrouzo, or take the afternoon off (the Compostela requires the whole stage on foot).

   Temps libre : Late afternoon and evening free in Arzua

   Activité : About 19 km, four and a half to five hours on foot; gentle ups and downs, mostly shaded forest tracks.

6. Jour 6 : Into Santiago de Compostela

   By our vehicle to O Pedrouzo, then on foot to Santiago de Compostela

   • Environ 18 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Santiago de Compostela
   Détail du jour 6

   Our vehicle drops the group back in O Pedrouzo at about 7:30 am, and the luggage goes straight to the hotel in Santiago. The last stage starts in quiet eucalyptus woods, skirts the end of the airport runway, and passes Lavacolla, where medieval pilgrims washed in the stream before entering the city. A climb brings you to Monte do Gozo, the hill of joy, where pilgrims had their first sight of the cathedral towers. From there it is about 5 km of city streets, through the Porta do Camiño and down into the old town, until you come out under the arch of the archbishop's palace, often to the sound of a Galician bagpipe, into the Praza do Obradoiro. Lunch is a late, celebratory one. Afterwards your guide takes the group to the pilgrim office to collect your Compostela, and in the evening you can attend the pilgrim mass in the cathedral.

   Compris

   • Guided walk from O Pedrouzo to Santiago de Compostela, about 20 km
   • Monte do Gozo
   • Arrival in the Praza do Obradoiro
   • Sit-down lunch in the old town
   • The pilgrim office with your guide to collect your Compostela
   • The evening pilgrim mass in the cathedral

   Option plus facile : Ride to Monte do Gozo and walk the last 5 km into the city with the group (the Compostela requires the whole stage on foot).

   Temps libre : Late afternoon free in the old town

   Activité : About 20 km, five hours on foot; gentle until the climb to Monte do Gozo, then city pavements. Mass times are set by the cathedral and confirmed with your final itinerary.

7. Jour 7 : The cathedral and the old town

   A day on foot in Santiago de Compostela

   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Santiago de Compostela
   Détail du jour 7

   A morning inside the city you walked to. We start early at the Mercado de Abastos, the food market, while the stalls are filling with Galician cheese, shellfish and peppers. Then a local guide takes the group into the cathedral: the Romanesque nave, the silver altar and the crypt said to hold the remains of St James, and the Pórtico da Gloria, Master Mateo's carved 12th-century doorway, seen in a booked slot. After that we climb onto the cathedral rooftops, walking on the granite steps of the roof with views over the old town's slate and stone, which UNESCO listed in 1985. On the way down we pass the Holy Door on the Praza da Quintana, open only in Holy Years such as 2027 and sealed otherwise. The noon pilgrim mass follows for those who want it; on some days the Botafumeiro, the huge censer, swings across the transept, but the cathedral does not publish a fixed schedule. The afternoon is yours: the Pilgrimage Museum, the Alameda park, or a long lunch. In the evening we gather for a farewell dinner.

   Compris

   • Mercado de Abastos with your guide
   • Guided visit of Santiago Cathedral with a local guide
   • The Pórtico da Gloria in a booked slot
   • Cathedral rooftop tour
   • The noon pilgrim mass (optional to attend)
   • Farewell dinner

   Activités en option

   • Day trip to Cape Fisterra and Muxía on the Atlantic coast (in place of the free afternoon, priced at booking)

   Temps libre : Afternoon free in Santiago

   Activité : About 4 km on foot on cobbles, with stairs on the rooftop tour.

   

8. Jour 8 : Depart from Santiago

   Santiago de Compostela to Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ)

   • Environ 18 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   Détail du jour 8

   A last breakfast, and a last walk through the old town if your flight allows: the Praza do Obradoiro is quiet first thing, before the day's new pilgrims arrive, and it is a different place when you are not the ones arriving. Our driver takes you to Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ), about 13 km and 20 minutes from the old town, at a time that fits your flight; we arrange the transfers when we have everyone's flight details. Santiago has direct flights to Madrid, Barcelona and several European hubs, and fast trains to Madrid if you are travelling on. If you would like more time, we can book extra nights in Santiago, or you can join our northern Spain trip, which also visits Santiago, for the Basque Country, Rioja and Asturias. Luggage storage is available at the hotel if you leave later in the day.

   Compris

   • Drop-off at Santiago de Compostela Airport (SCQ)

   Temps libre : Free until your transfer

   Activité : Book a flight leaving after about 11 am to enjoy a slow last morning.

Faune et météo : Galicia is green because it rains: expect at least one wet day in spring or autumn, and morning mist in the valleys that burns off by midday. June and September are warm in the afternoons, which is why we start walking at about 8 am.

• Sarria1 nuit
• Palas de Rei2 nuits
• Arzua2 nuits
• Santiago de Compostela2 nuits