Camino to Finisterre and Muxía
Santiago de Compostela → Muxía
The only route that starts in Santiago instead of ending there. 88 km out to the cape at Finisterre, 80 km to Muxía, three or four days either way.
New information comes in every day — from pilgrims on the road and people I know along the way — and it goes out the moment it does. The app carries all of it offline, and it's still being built: new features arrive routinely.
Pilgrims on the road and friends along the way send me changes every day, and they go out the same day. The Camino Muxía app carries all of it offline, and it's still being built — new features arrive routinely.
Get the appFrom the listings on this site, recalculated as they change.
Every other camino ends in Santiago. This one begins there, and that is its whole character. It is for anyone who has just finished and has three or four days left, and for the surprising number of people who walk it on its own as a short, coastal camino with a real destination at the end. It is the most pleasant walking on this site, precisely because it no longer counts.
Who it isn't for: nobody, honestly. It is short, gentle, well supplied and beautiful. The only people who should skip it are the ones whose flight leaves tomorrow.
Two destinations on the same coast. Finisterre is 88 km west of Santiago, three or four days, out through the eucalyptus and the small farms of the Galician interior, over the hills to Cee and the sea, and along the bay to the town and the cape beyond it. The Romans thought this was the end of the world, which is what the name says, and standing at the lighthouse with nothing but Atlantic in front of you it is easy to see how they got there.
Muxía is 80 km, a similar walk to a different point on the same coast, ending at the sanctuary of the Virxe da Barca on the rocks above the sea. Most people with the time do both: out to one, along the coast for a day between them, and back from the other. The two ways are both on this page.
Gentle. The climb over the Hospital ridge before the descent to Cee is the only real hill, and the day it falls on is the longest. Otherwise it is rolling country, forest track and quiet road, and then coast. After five weeks on the Francés your legs will barely notice. Walked on its own, fresh, it is a fair introduction to what a camino feels like.
Beds are plentiful for a route this short, in the Xunta albergues and the private ones that have opened along it, and in Finisterre and Muxía themselves, which are small seaside towns with everything. Negreira and Olveiroa are the usual first and second nights and fill in summer. Every town on this page lists every bed, and the table on each town's page shows every place with beds within a day's walk.
The prices at the top of this page come from the listings on this site, recalculated as they change. This is Galicia, and it is cheap: Xunta albergues at the standard price, seafood at the coast for less than it costs anywhere else in Spain. Donativo albergues exist here too, and donativo does not mean free.
Whenever you finish. The coast is mild in every month; wet from October to April, warm and clear in summer, rarely above 28 °C (82 °F) even in August. The sunset at the cape is the point, and it is worth checking the forecast for the day you plan to arrive.
You are already in Santiago. From Finisterre and Muxía, buses run back to Santiago several times a day and take about two hours. The old custom is to burn your boots at the cape. Do not: they are perfectly good boots and the fire service is tired of it.
There is nowhere further west. This is where the road stops.
Show or hide:
You've arrived in Santiago, but the camino doesn't have to end here. Two ancient paths lead west from the Cathedral to the Atlantic coast -- one to Finisterre (the End of the World) and one to Muxia (the sanctuary on the rocks). Most pilgrims walk both, connecting them in a loop. The shared route from Santiago to Olveiroa covers roughly 55 km of quiet Galician countryside, after which the path splits at a roundabout known as The Great Divide.
The walk to the coast is different from everything that came before. There are no pilgrim crowds, the villages are smaller, the services thinner. The terrain is rolling Galician forest and farmland -- eucalyptus, granite, horreos, and the occasional cow. It's a decompression walk, and many pilgrims find it more emotionally satisfying than the arrival in Santiago itself.
Pick up supplies before you leave. The first reliable bar isn't until Alto do Vento, roughly 15 km into the walk.
The start of the camino to Finisterre is poorly marked, and the fading yellow arrows are hard to find. Fortunately, the way is easy to describe and is very brief; you will be in the forest in less than 1km. Facing the Parador (with the Cathedral to your right) exit the square along the road to your left. It goes downhill along the Rúa da Hortas (named for the gardens which are behind the homes that line this road). The cobbled road ends at an intersection, and here there are several crosswalks, you want the one that takes you over the larger of the roads. The camino follows along the Rúa da Poza de Bar, you can recognize this street for the popular Café Tertulia (perfect for breakfast). It continues straight down this road to a small park at the end, and here the first official marker of the way can be found.It directs you through the park and towards your right, and eventually downhill to cross the river at Ponte Sarela.
The remains of an old watermill sit beside the Rio Sarela on the outskirts of Santiago. This is where the city ends and the countryside begins -- a surprisingly quick transition. The stone bridge over the river is your gateway west.
A hamlet on the first climb out of Santiago. Look back for a pleasant view of the Cathedral -- it's the last time you'll see it.
Look back towards Santiago for a pleasant view of the Cathedral.
The camino turns left where it meets the mountain road and follows it for 100m before turning to the right.
What the ground between two towns is actually like: everything you pass through, the climbing, and where you could stop along the way. Not a plan — a description.
Route index
80 km from Santiago de Compostela to Muxía. Most pilgrims walk it in 3 to 4 days. Every town below has its own page.
Often referred to as the "Camino Finisterre," is a unique route that starts, rather than ends, in Santiago de Compostela. This path, stretching approximately 120 kilometers or about 75 miles to Finisterre, and an additional 29 kilometers or 18 miles to Muxía, is an attractive option for those who feel their journey isn't quite complete at Santiago and yearn to reach what was once considered the end of the known world.
The journey predominantly passes through the rural landscapes of Galicia, brimming with eucalyptus forests, serene farmland, and charming villages. The last leg of the journey, particularly, is marked by stunning views of the Atlantic coastline. From a cultural perspective, the destination itself, Finisterre, is steeped in ancient lore, with its legendary "end of the world" status and the iconic lighthouse. Adding the trip to Muxía allows pilgrims to visit the Sanctuary of A Virxe da Barca, a site of a religious miracle according to local belief.
In terms of difficulty, the route is relatively moderate but with some hilly areas that will give your legs a good workout. As for the cuisine, expect to enjoy some of Galicia's finest seafood, with delicacies such as pulpo a la gallega (Galician-style octopus) and empanadas, coupled with the region's crisp white Albariño wine. Walking from Santiago to Finisterre and Muxía is like a beautiful encore to the Camino de Santiago, a path that insists the journey is just as important, if not more so, than the destination.
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.
