Camino del Norte
27.3 km, 387 m up and 655 m down, through 12 places, 5 of which have somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from Casacamiños. 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.
From town, the camino turns north to O Hospital das Siexas, the last hamlet in Lugo. Shortly beyond, on the ridge of the Sierra del Careón, it enters the region of La Coruña.
The camino goes up and over the ridge that divides Lugo from La Coruña. A short distance beyond it leaves the road for a trail and descends through the hamlets of Vilouriz and Vilamor before entering Irago de Arriba.
Between Irago and Melide there are a number of small villages and urban sprawl. The first bars appear on the road into Melide.
The traffic through Melide can be dangerous, particularly on market days when booths line the crowded streets and the arrows through town become difficult to spot. Arrows direct you towards a small side street through the old part of town that parallels the main road. There are many other yellow arrows that direct you towards the many albergues in town, they are often attached to adverts or are painted alongside a simple ‘A’. These can be ignored.
A hamlet between Melide and Boente. No services.
1037
Past the church, the camino turns right and descends. The hills ahead involve steep ups and downs — take it easy on tired legs.
It is uphill once more, followed by a steady descent into the valley below, steep at points.
The climb from Ribadiso to Arzúa is steady. By the time you reach the road, it levels off and the remaining distance into town is flat.
An albergue operates in the upper part of Ribadiso, at the top of the climb before Arzúa. Useful if the lower riverside spot is full.
The camino leaves Arzúa along a footpath, NOT the road. If you arrived at the main square, walk past the church (with your back to the road) and turn right onto the side street. The terrain is pleasant, a blend of trails and paved roads through small towns and lots of forests. There are a few steep sections but none of any considerable length.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 495 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 27.4 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.