Our Camino Journey: Spanish Stages and Santiago de Compostela

Sunset reflecting on the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela 

This is the fourth post in Our Camino Journey. Other entries include Discovery, Porto, and Portuguese Stages.

A Guarda to Baiona Day 6 of the Camino was a long day from A Guarda to Baiona. The trek was 19.5 miles, over 2000 ft of eleven gain, and took about 6.5 hours. Our route was mostly along the Atlantic coast and quiet along a major highway with a wide bike path, so mostly level and smooth. About eight miles north of Oia with the Cape Silleiro Lighthouse in our sights, we crossed the highway inland to join a more traditional hiking trail towards Baiona, where we climbed quite a bit to navigate around a mountain. We saw our first sheep herder and made our way back down to the harbor in Baiona, our destination for the night.

On March 1, 1493, the Pinta, one of the ships from Columbus' voyage to the New World returned to Europe and arrived in Baiona, making the town's port the first to receive news of the discovery of America. You can tour a replica of the ship (which we thought looked so small!) and the event is celebrated every year.

Steps: 49113 | Miles: 19.5 | Miles so far: 87.62

Baiona to Vigo After seeing the gorgeous sunrise over the marina, we set out knowing we had another long day ahead of us, and longer than planned for a few reasons. First, we lost the company of a few Camino friends who spent the night in Oia instead of pressing on to Baiona. Second, we’ve gotten used to coffee after about 4 or 5 miles, and today’s adventure out of Baiona just didn’t have anything until about 11 miles. We made do with some energy bars and some water. The route took us to the hills above the suburbs which allowed us to enjoy great views of the coast. After another few hours of what felt like a continuous climb, we finally emerged from a forest trail, and by then it was time for lunch and a cerveza. The first place we found was nice and quiet with a slice of tortilla (in Spain that’s basically scalloped potatoes) and a beer for 4 euros.

Onward, we went to the hotel but quickly found that Vigo is a very large city. We had a lot of missed turns, a brief stop to remember 9/11, and finally made our way to our hotel. We had another crazy search for food at our 'normal’ dinner time and ended up finding the one place open in the entire city, a deli where you pay by the kg for food. At least they had cerveza.  

Steps: 44309 | Miles: 16.9 | Miles so far: 104.52

Vigo to Arcade

Today was advertised as an easy walking day according to my Camino guidebook. Getting out of Vigo was just annoying. We endured the steep climbs out of the city through the suburbs to a trail above the suburbs, and we enjoyed the views and the occasional level walking path. Lovely trails for the most part but mixed in with torturous climbs and steep descents. We found a cute little coffee shop run by a woman and her father nested in the hills with a cat who could care less there were a dozen or so strangers in her house.

After another few hours, we went slightly off the trail to get lunch and the restaurant was closed for vacation. This was not the first time this has happened on our trek and we vowed not to do that again as we cannot afford the extra steps! Once again, we grabbed an energy bar and an apple for lunch and perched on a curb to rest. A light lunch results in a much-needed dinner. We did not have a meal as part of our package in Arcade, so Tim was off to the market, where he bought meat, cheese, bread, and wine for around 10 euro.

We’re at just about 80km to go.

Steps: 36148 | Miles: 15 | Miles so far:119.52

Arcade to Pontevedra Arcade to Pontevedra was going to be a test of the feet. Blisters found their way to my left foot. I only had two small ones, or so I thought then. Luckily after a quick search on Google I found the best treatment was fairly simple but not much fun. We also went to the Farmacia where the Pharmacist was quite familiar with the situation and somewhat fascinated by American politics (the 2024 election was just two months away). Today was a shorter day which was good overall.

We crossed the Verdugo River over Ponte Sampaio, where Napoleon’s army suffered one of its greatest defeats in Galici. Cars cross over this one-lane bridge, taking turns without a light. After navigating through small villages we found ourselves in an area with many open fields, and once again, up and up. We finally descended to the Pontevedra area, a fairly large city with an old town center and many epic sites including the Basilica of Saint Mary Major (16th century), the Baroque Church of the Pilgrim Virgin (18th century), and the ruins of the Gothic Convent of San Domingo (13th century). We enjoyed navigating to each location, finding our way through this maze of wonders.

Steps: 26726 | Miles:  8.1 | Miles so far: 127.62

Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis
Day 10 of our Camino was 15-ish miles that went pretty well even with some blister annoyance. One major climb in the middle but not straight up at least. The trail was mostly gravel and luckily we found a lot of shade on a day that eventually got pretty warm. We enjoyed great views of farms and grape vines and cows and horses. Another quaint coffee shop where we were lucky to get a seat. For our afternoon break, a wonderful little spot where we could rest and grab a bite, with a meat and cheese platter large enough to feed a family.

It was good to be out of the big towns again. We never imagined we could walk these paths! We definitely started to see a lot more people since we were getting closer to our goal and all the paths began merging. Dinner at the hotel was definitely the most rustic we had. After ten days we have finished 142 miles and have about 27 miles to go!

Steps: 36187 | Miles: 14.5 | Miles so far: 142.12

Caldas de Reis to Padron Day 11 of our trek was quite enjoyable, with mild temps and not too many steep climbs. It was still somewhat of a challenge with some rocky uphill terrain but overall a nice day. We were getting used to aching joints that felt a bit better after a few hours. We were both trying to enjoy the day and focus on the present vs. thinking about the next day!

Once again we were treated to sights we never thought we would see: beautiful flowers, churches, kittens roaming the streets, and such wonderful people. In Padron, we ate octopus for the first time, and I attempted to order our drinks in Spanish. We ended up with a vase of wine and a huge bottle of water instead of a glass of wine, one beer, and water for both. We made the best of it.

Steps: 33397 | Miles: 14 | Miles so far: 156.12

Padron to Santiago de Compostela It was the last day of our Camino, and we knew it would be 15 miles and the last half all uphill. Oh boy, did the Camino throw everything at us. Village walking, which we like, city walking, which is not so enjoyable, flat forest trails with soft gravel and cobblestones, and forest trails with large boulders to navigate—we had it all. We had a wonderful coffee stop after about six miles.  

As we entered the city we could see the crowds start to grow. Entering the official Cathedral platform was amazing and truly a capstone to our adventure. It was such a joy to commune with everyone reveling in the atmosphere. After receiving our Compostela (the Pilgrims Certificate of Completing at least 100km) and a celebratory cerveza with our California friends, we checked in at the hotel and rested. Returning to the Cathedral to attend mass at 730pm, we were lucky to see the Botafumerio!!! So many amazing people, sights, and experiences.

See a short video of our last day: https://youtu.be/uJ1ireV1wr4

Steps: 42689 | Miles: 16.5 | Miles so far: 172.62

The Camino may not be for everyone - but anyone can do it. We ended up at 42,689 steps and 16.45 miles on Day 12 for us, but you can do as many steps and miles as you want, and take as long as you want. Pilgrims will find many accommodations at many different price points, and wonderful services along the way. Many people do 5-7 days at a time and complete as much as their schedules allow over time. As they say, it's your Camino.

The last entry of our Camino experience outlines the sights of Madrid.  Click here to view.

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