Camino del Norte
11.7 km, 116 m up and 137 m down, through 4 places, 1 of which has somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from Sobrado dos Monxes. 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 leaves Sobrado along the AC-934. At the first small hamlet, Ponte Pedra, it leaves the road by turning left, but then turns right almost immediately to follow a smaller road. You will wind your way through the hamlets of Castro, and Madelos, before entering Corredoiras.
A hamlet between Sobrado and Corredoiras. No services.
A hamlet between Sobrado and Corredoiras. No services.
Cross straight through Corredoiras to keep on the AC-234. A short distance on the camino merges with the new route which left from San Breixo, and shortly beyond that the municipal albergue of Gandara is on your right along a side road.
Heavy traffic here. Cross with caution.
The convergence point for the old and new routes. From here the camino continues to A Gándara.
The camino beyond Boimorto splits into three distinct routes before each joins the Camino Francés. All three re-join near the Lavacolla airport. From A Gándara you have to choose between two options, the third option is a derivation of one of the two.
When choosing between the options consider that the Camino Francés may be quite busy depending on the season; relative to the Camino del Norte there are a great deal more pilgrims on the way.
All distances shown are from A Gándara to San Paio, which is the first village after the Lavacolla airport. The number in [brackets] is the distance remaining to Santiago.
Option 1: The NEW OFFICIAL ROUTE - 28.3 [40.7]
The new official route goes from A Gándara directly to Lavacolla where it joins the Camino Francés; this is the shortest route to Santiago. There are very little services along the way (a few bars, and one Pension) and no albergues as of yet. Be prepared for a long day, and follow the AC-0603 straight out of town.
Option 2: VIA BREA / O Pedrouzo - 30.5 [42.9]
Along the way there is an option to rejoin the Camino Francés near Brea, and the next large town along the Camino Francés from this point is O Pedrouzo. The turn towards Brea occurs 9.9km from A Gándara. If you miss the turn, it is not necessary to retrace your steps. Instead keep on this trail until you reach the N-624 (another 7.3km). Shortly after joining it a paved road marked O Pedrouzo turns left, follow it to the start of O Pedrouzo.
To Brea is 17.9km and to O Pedrouzo 23.5km.
Option 3: The OLD OFFICIAL ROUTE - 35.8 [48.2]
The old route to rejoin the Camino Francés in Arzúa is still marked and still walkable. It is the longer of the two options but has a lot more services to offer because it reaches the Camino Francés sooner.
To follow this route, turn left at the end of A Gándara to follow the AC-0602 in the direction of Arzua.
You will pass the hamlet of Sendelle along the way.
To Arzua is 9.7km.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 158 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 12.1 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.