Pilgrims on the road and friends along the way send me changes every day, and they go out the same day. The Camino del Norte app carries all of it offline, and it's still being built — new features arrive routinely.
Get the appMelide is where the Primitivo joins the Camino Frances for the final 55 kilometers to Santiago. After days of mountain solitude, the sudden crowd of pilgrims can be disorienting -- or energizing, depending on your temperament.
The town itself has been welcoming pilgrims for centuries. The Iglesia de San Pedro dates to the 14th century and contains notable medieval frescoes, while the Iglesia de Sancti Spiritus holds a 14th-century stone crucifix considered one of the oldest in Galicia. The small Museo da Terra de Melide occupies the former Hospital del Sancti Spiritus and is worth a visit if it's open.
But Melide's real claim to fame is its pulpo. The town has been the unofficial capital of pulpo a feira since long before the camino became fashionable, and the pulperias here are the real thing -- octopus cooked in copper pots, served on wooden plates with paprika, olive oil, coarse salt, and heavy bread. A Garnacha and Ezequiel are two of the most established. Arrive at lunch and eat as the Galicians do -- standing at the bar, with a glass of Ribeiro wine and your sleeves rolled up.
From Melide the route to Santiago is shared with the Frances. The terrain is gentler, the services more frequent, and the company considerably more abundant. You've earned the easy finish.
Melide's strategic position at the junction of two major camino routes made it an important medieval town. Several pilgrim hospitals operated here, and the 14th-century stone cross near the Iglesia de San Roque is one of the oldest surviving cruceiros in Galicia. The frescoes inside San Pedro -- depicting the Assumption and other biblical scenes -- are rare survivors from the 14th century and worth seeing before the crowds make quiet contemplation impossible.
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.
15. July 2026 - 7:55
This guide mentions that it uses only the complementario route, but just outside of melide the Camino split into once again. Just be aware that in this case, the complementario is not the one the map follows. 
11. September 2025 - 15:12
Three story albergue. The man that owns/runs the place was very friendly and helpful. The place was clean and a good deal. I would recommend.
8. July 2024 - 22:24
As we neared Santiago de Compostela we encountered more and more bicycles, sometimes in groups of 6 to 8. Sadly, the greater majority did not call out or use bells until they were just behind us. Their speeds were frightening, as they went downhill to catch speed to get uphill.
8. July 2024 - 18:44
Great grilled vegetables and the chicken burger is also excellent
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.
