Camino del Norte
27.4 km, 470 m up and 599 m down, through 13 places, 3 of which have somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from Castrelo. 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 follows the country lane out of Castrelo. It passes the village of Burgo de Negral 77.6 (with picnic area) and Pacio 75.6. The next town is Ferreira and one of the albergues there (Cruz Ferreira) is actually located along the road 1km before town.
A tiny hamlet with no services. Keep moving.
Ferreira is one of the slightly larger hamlets between San Roman and Melide, with a bar and a chapel. The walking through this section is quintessentially Galician -- eucalyptus forests alternating with small farms, ston…
Shortly beyond the church in San Xurxo, near the stone marked 68.3, the camino splits. It is possible, but not at all recommended, to follow the LU-P-2901 south to Palas del Rei. To avoid doing so, look for the arrows which have you leave the road in favor of a trail on your right. The trail doesn’t last long and soon you are on a different paved road and entering the hamlet of Merlán.
Shortly after passing through Merlán turn off the road to your left. This narrow lane will deliver you to As Seixas.
Beyond As Seixas the camino leaves the road and follows a trail to Casacamiños.
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.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 675 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 27.6 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.