We now had only 33 miles (53km) left to Santiago and could have walked it over 2 days, but we chose to slow down the pace in order to give us more time to look around. Also, it is nice to stroll into Santiago and arrive in the main square just after lunch, and watch everyone else arrive. Today is the final day of the Camino Norte, with about 40 pilgrims a day walking this route. We will join the Camino Frances in Arzua, we had seen on-line that there were upwards of 1,000 people a day on the route (this was May). We were looking forward to seeing if this was true.
It was a beautiful morning when we left at 7.45am, with a slight mist over the hills and the promise of a perfect day ahead. We thought of breakfast in Plaza Cafe bar, but with about 15 people in already we thought better of it. The other bars were all shut. We followed the path passing an outdoor pool-handy for the summer months. There are fabulous views back to the monastery and hills in the distance. Following the path, then going left to Ponte Pedra, over a river, passing picnic benches, uphill with beautiful views, left at a bus stop, to Casanova with beautiful houses and more resplendent views. Then passing through more forest. It was a beautiful sunny morning; we have walked through Galicia twice before and not seen much due to heavy rain.
At a crossroads where we saw the first road sign for Santiago, we turned right (the Camino goes straight on) and went for breakfast in cafe Bar Rico (9.30am), once more joined by our Spanish friends. (Coffee and toast for 2 €6.40) We left at 10am along the main road towards Boimorto. On the right just before Boimorto the short cut that we could have continued on from Parga joins, (but we had opted to go via Sobrado monastery). Arriving in Boimorte at 10.35am (7 miles), we visited the supermarket and walked through town. On the outskirts we could not resist another café-Casa Moncho, this also sells bread and is the last one before Arzua. There is a choice of paths here again, a faster route straight to Lavacolla (8km shorter), or the slower one we took via Arzua.
Passing the church of Santa Maria with benches outside, we continued and later stopped to eat lunch at the side of the empty road.
We arrived in the busy town of Arzua at 1.30pm, joining the French Camino. When we had booked our hotel 3 days previously there weren’t many hotel rooms left in Arzua. We stayed at Pension O’ Retiro which is on the edge of town in the opposite direction to Santiago, so we were walking against the flow of pilgrims coming along the French path. We arrived at the hotel at 1.50pm, and realised we had stayed there previously. It is modern and clean with an English-speaking owner, and had a handy laundrette €4.00 washer €3.00 drier, but only one machine of each.
Later we walked into the town, seeing our friends again. We visited the lovely church, open as there is a Pilgrims mass at 7pm. We went to Encontro restaurant on the main road, for a delicious pilgrim’s meal. Arzua is a busy town with many bars, restaurants, accommodation and supermarkets. Unusually for Spain it does not have a by-pass, and was slightly spoilt by large lorries thundering through loaded up with cut logs.
We had enjoyed the day, and it is really interesting to experience the contrast between the 2 routes, the Norte having being very quiet with about 40 people a day walking it. We had booked our remaining accommodation about 5 days in advance, including a few nights in Santiago, unlike the Norte where it could be booked on the day. Distance 14 Miles (22.85 km)
Duration of Walk 6.25 Hours
Average Pace 16.5 Min/Mile
Steps 27915
Elevation Gained 830 feet (253 m)
Websites used
www.bookings.com Pension O’ Retiro, Arzua hotel with a restaurant
[ Ссылка ] very good restaurant in Arzu
