Camino de Invierno
20 km, 296 m up and 24 m down, through 5 places, 4 of which have somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from Astorga. Most are too small to sleep in — a fountain, a chapel, a bar that may or may not be open — but they are what the day is actually made of.
The camino exits Astorga through the western gate and enters the Maragatería — the hilly, depopulated country that was the Maragato homeland. The terrain changes immediately: the flat meseta is behind you, and the road ahead climbs gradually through stone villages toward the mountains.
Valdeviejas is a small village immediately outside Astorga's western gate. A bar and a small shop serve as a last stop before the quieter villages ahead. The Maragato architecture — stone houses with wide doorways built …
Murias de Rechivaldo is the first proper Maragato village on the route, with the characteristic stone houses and wide entrance gates that allowed mule trains to pass through. A couple of albergues and a bar provide servi…
Castrillo de los Polvazares is a perfectly preserved Maragato village — cobblestone streets, stone houses with massive wooden doors, and an atmosphere that feels like stepping into another century. It has been designated…
Santa Catalina de Somoza continues the Maragato pattern: stone houses, wide doors, and a village designed around mule transport. The difference is that Santa Catalina is less restored and more lived-in — which gives it a…
El Ganso ('The Goose') is a village in various states of ruin and restoration. Some houses have been beautifully rehabilitated; others are crumbling. The Cowboy Bar — decorated in an incongruous Wild West theme — has bec…
From Rabanal the camino climbs steadily through heath and scrubland toward Foncebadón and the Cruz de Ferro. The ascent is gradual but persistent, gaining about 350 m over 6 km. The landscape becomes increasingly wild as you climb above the tree line.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 256 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 20 km.
Esta entidad ha sido beneficiaria de una ayuda del Programa de incentivos a la movilidad eficiente y sostenible (MOVES III), gestionado por la Xunta de Galicia a través del Instituto Enerxético de Galicia (INEGA) en el marco del Real Decreto 266/2021, y cofinanciada por la Unión Europea — NextGenerationEU, dentro del Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia.