We say goodbye to Portomarín and cross the Miño river again.

On our route we'll admire the pre-Roman Castromaior, the double-sided cruceiro in Os Lameiros, and the chapel of San Marcos.

There are numerous places to stop for pilgrims on this phase, but keep in mind that we have to walk a little over 22 kilometers, 5 hours and 20 minutes (not counting stops) to get to Palas de Rei.

After two days of walking long hours, you'll start to feel the fatigue, so we have designed our third stop to be only 14 Km away, in Melide! 

Arriving in Melide, we have been advised by the locals to order octopus and padrón peppers. If you like, you can have it with a glass of their local wine or a beer! There are other delicious pulpeiras and restaurants, as this is a place where many pilgrims stop to eat and get "fuel".

On this phase, we'll walk 14 Km to Arzúa, one of the most beautiful places on this stretch of the Camino. 

This will also be a day to take it slow with a shorter walk to gain strength for the last 2 days of our Camino!

There is a small river beach on the river Iso, where we'll enjoy the scenery and have time to explore, settle, or just be outdoors.

We have about 38 Km left in our Camino!

This is probably one of the easiest stages as almost all the way there is flat.

After what we have done, this phase would seem like a walk in the park. We've entered the province of La Coruña and continue through sections with forests, we have to cross roads on a couple of occasions, be careful.

There are several "beergardens" along the way under the brand of Estrella Galicia, the nicest one is in Burres, 33 km from Santiago, it's called Taberna Nova, if we have time, we can stop for a bite after leaving Arzúa.

Another must stop is "Tia Dolores" to taste their craft beer and see its garden decorated with empty bottles with messages from the pilgrims!

We are planning on arriving early to Santiago, so we'll get up early and start walking before dawn ☀️ 

It's really fulfilling experience to see the sunrise while you walk the first kilometers in the area of O Pino.

You can plan on bringing a small flashlight in your luggage or use your cell phone light.

In this phase you'll begin to see the city feel, such as the area around Lavacolla airport or San Marcos, where we'll walk by the studios of Radio Televisión de Galicia. All changes when we get to Monte do Gozo 🍃

Monte do Gozo is a joyful mountain it's from up there that you can begin to see the towers of the Cathedral of Santiago! and the feeling of seeing them after long days of endurance is very exciting.

After this, it's all downhill until you enter the old part of the city of Santiago through the Porta do Camino.

Once in Santiago, all the streets lead to the Obradoiro square! We don't stop and continue to this acclaimed square to complete the wonderful life experience that is the Camino de Santiago - Your Camino... your way!

There is a lot to see in Santiago, we recommend getting lost in the streets of the old town, there are many churches, bars and restaurants to go to. The Plaza de Abastos is one of the favorite places and it isn't crowded with pilgrims.  

Sitting on the stairs of the Plaza de la Quintana and going into the Cathedral are two things a pilgrim must do.  

If you'd like to go into the cathedral you'd want to avoid the long lines. We advise that you book a visit to the Portico de la Gloria. The non-guided visit is free, but you must book a day and time. The ticket is a QR with which lets you enter without waiting in line, but only at the scheduled time.

The cathedral is worth visiting to see the newly restored Portico and from there, once the visit is over, you have access to see the rest of the cathedral.

And finally, you can go with your stamped credential to the pilgrim's office to pick up your Compostela credential. In some months hey have volunteers at Monte do Gozo who had a QR code so we could reserve the pickup of our Compostela that same day and avoid the long line waiting in the Cathedral. We are going to look for those!

The best views of the city and the Cathedral are from the gardens of the Alameda, and also from the park of Santo Domingo de Bonaval, another place we recommend you go if you have time and energy!