Camino Stage 5 - O Cebreiro to Santiago
- Hike the final 150km (93 miles) of the Camino Frances ending in Santiago de Compostela
- Pass through charming rural villages, farmlands, and leafy woodlands
- Enjoy a pilgrim’s mass at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
- Receive your ‘Compostela’ certificate on arrival in Santiago
- Discover churches and historic landmarks on this UNSECO heritage route
Gallery
Itinerary
Day 1 Arrive in O Cebreiro and overnightEnjoy a night in the picturesque village of O'Cebreiro before settling in to get ready for the start of your walk tomorrow.
The hotel is located in a building that was renovated in 2002. It has 5 rooms with en suite bathrooms. The accommodation also has a café and restaurant services as well as a craft and souvenir shop.
This rural stone house is located next to the Camino. It offers 10 comfortable rooms and there is a restaurant with panoramic views and a menu with all traditional Galician ingredients.
This traditional stone house property offers simple yet comfortable rooms. The accommodation faces the 9th century church of Santa Maria la Real.
Embark on a day of downhill walking today, take extra care to protect your knees whilest walking down. There a several villages along the path where you can take a break and enjoy spectacular views.
Located in the small town of Triacastela, Pension Complexo Xacobeo with comfortable rooms and its own restaurant. Surrounded by a beautiful landscape between the mountains, this accommodation offers a good rest.
Triacastela is a town of three castles, none of which remain. It is an attractive stop and the guest house offers comfortable rooms.
The hotel resembles a 20th-century building that has been renovated respecting the original materials. Located in the main square next to the Romanesque church of Triacastela, the accommodation offers rest and relaxation through its comfort.
Make a decision today if you would like to walk the southern detour route via Samos or the northern direct route via San Xil, both options are detailed in the travel documents.
The shorter northern route has new woodland paths which have increased the natural paths by 60% and it takes you up a steep climb to alto do Riocabo, which has beautiful views. The southern route takes you along the busy LU-633 and via the Benedctine monastery of Samos which is one of the oldest and largest monastries in Spain.
NH Alfonso IX Hotel is located in the heart of Camino de Santiago within the urban part of the town, in incomparable natural beauty, surrounded by gardens and bordering the river, it is very close to the monumental zone and the Roman route. You can also enjoy the famous street of the Anticuarios, (Antique dealers).
Hotel Roma is located in a peaceful location, just next to the railway station and close to the Camino Frances. The accommodation has 18 rooms, all of them with telephone, heating, private bathroom and TV. Furthermore, the hotel has a guests´ living room, parking area, terrace, bar and a restaurant which offers best of Galician gastronomy.
Located in Sarria, the Hotel Mar de Plata is much more than just a place to rest; it is the living testimony of a family history that has been cultivating Galician tradition since the 1970s.
Leaving Sarria you pass Sarria Castle, with its one remaining tower, the rest destroyed in the peasants’ uprising against the aristocracy in the 15th Century.
You will be walking along shady tree-lined roads and pathways this morning, passing through pretty small hamlets such as Cortinas and A Brea, before reaching the stone marker; a photo opportunity before taking the first step on the final 100km to Santiago.
The Camino ascends to a high point at Pena dos Corvos; at 660m you will enjoy panoramic views, before descending into the lush Rio Mino valley, to Mercadoiro and then Portomarin. Enjoy the Galician ambience as you stroll up the cobbled main street and end your day by relaxing in one of the cafés surrounding the square.
Opened in 2018, this accommodation with Spa is situated before reaching the portical buildings and 2-minute walk to the church and next to the communal gardens. Every room is equipped with air-conditioning, Wifi, TV and private bathroom with shower and free toiletries. It also has a cafeteria where the breakfast buffet is served. There are also outdoors common areas.
Located right on the Camino de Santiago, the property is on the outskirts of Portomarin with impressive views of the hotel's natural surroundings. The Miño River is just a few meters from the hotel.
Cross the Minho river then follow the Camino route as it climbs steadily upwards, then pass through the settlement of Gonzar and Castromaior, where you’ll find the tiny Romanesque Church of Santa Maria.
Continue along country roads edged by bright yellow gorse, pine and oak trees. Upon reaching the high point of today’s Camino at Sierra de Ligonde (750 m), descend to the ancient hamlet of Ligonde. After passing Eirexe you cross the Alto Rosario, and descend into the village of Palas de Rei.
Located at the foot of the Camino de Santiago, the Hotel Mica offers its guests a comfortable and pleasant stay. The family-run accommodation ensures that you can enjoy your free time, just a step away from the city's best gastronomy, leisure and culture.
Casa Benilde is a local and welcoming hotel in Palas de Rei. Often spoken of as the friendliest accommodation on the route, you will be sure of a delightful stay here.
Pension As Hortas is located in the heart of Palas de Rei, only a stone's throw away from a variety of cafes, restaurants and shops, as well as some useful amenities you may need on your trip. It is also located nearby the San Tirso church, which is worth visiting while staying here.
Leaving Palas de Rei, you will soon reach San Xulian do Camino, a classical Camino village with a tiny 12th Century church dedicated to Saint Julian. After crossing the provincial border you pass through the hamlet of O Coto and village of Leboreiro. Perhaps stopping for lunch at the town of Melide, famed for its octopus dishes ‘pulpo Galega’.
The shaded forests of oak and chestnut give way to eucalyptus and pine before you ascend to Arzúa.
All rooms are decorated differently to offer customers the greatest sense of comfort. All rooms are equipped with plasma TV, heating, wooden floors, toiletries, towels, hairdryer and WIFI.
This accommodation is located in the heart of Arzúa, with 29 bedrooms. They all have TV, heating, private bathroom but not air conditioning. There is an elevator, a guests´ lounge and a small cafeteria. On the ground floor you´ll find the restaurant which serves traditional Galician cuisine.
Its privileged location on the Camino de Santiago and in the heart of the city of Arzúa allows guests to reach the main services and attractions of the city and its surroundings in a very short time.
Leave the old quarter of Arzúa as the Camino leads past oak tree forests, that give way to lush meadows. Visit the medieval shrine at Santa Irene, dedicated to a martyr saint from Portugal, and the Baroque fountain of healing waters.
Throughout the day you’ll be passing different villages: Brea, Calzada, Rua and A Calle; the meaning of which is synonymous with ‘Camino’.
The rural and rustic hotel provides 15 comfortable, well-tended and handsome decorated rooms each with its own indoor furnishing and special ambience. The Hotel offers its pilgrims a pleasant nights stay before the final section of their walk to Santiago de Compostela.
This property offers comfortable cottages with 3 double bedrooms and 1 single, all with private bathroom and TV, living room with gallery. There are also 3 tourist apartments for 2-4 persons, each consisting of 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, living room with fireplace and terrace. Dining is available. It has swimming pool and garden to relax into the summer.
Located only 10 minutes away from the historic city of Santiago de Compostela, Pension Residencial Platas is a comfortable spot on your journey on the Camino de Santiago. Pension Platas is next door to two cafes, and Pub Che Copas nearby offers an opportunity for drinking and dancing.
Today you can look forward to a fabulous day walking to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. The Camino leads first to San Paio and Lavacolla, where it was traditional for pilgrims to wash in the river before reaching Santiago.
Tall eucalyptus trees sway in the wind as you make your way to the ‘Mount of Joy’ of Monte del Gozo (368 m). From here, catch sight of your goal - the impressive spires of Santiago de Compostela’s cathedral. The final kilometres of your walk take you through the beautiful streets of Santiago, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Lux Santiago Hotel is located in the centre of the Galician capital. It has an exceptional location that allows you to explore the city in depth. The hotel is just 800 metres from the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
In the heart of Santiago de Compostela, this hotel combines modernity with tradition, offering a cozy and comfortable stay. located next to La Alameda Gardens, hotel rooms are equipped with every comfort, the hotel also offers a 24-hour coffee shop.
After breakfast your walking holiday will come to an end. See the Travel Info section for some useful details for your onward travel.
This trip has a carbon score of 10kg per person per night, meaning it’s one of our best trips! For comparison, a carbon count of 10kg is equivalent to 18 lattes. Here at Macs, we pride ourselves on being a responsible travel company and continue to adopt, develop and innovate ways to positively impact the environment. Find out more information about how we've carbon counted our trips.
Other Information
Is it for me?This itinerary covers 7 days of hiking around 13 miles per day. The terrain is reasonably even to allow for longer distances. Join the trail in O’Cebreiro, and end in Santiago de Compostela where you will be qualified to collect your ‘Compostela’ certificate. The Camino brings together people from all over the world who participate for a variety of reasons. Expect to celebrate this huge accomplishment with fellow pilgrims upon completion of this itinerary!
Pilgrimages | For those looking to follow a path of self-discovery. Our Pilgrimage and Camino routes take you on a journey through diverse landscapes and local flavours, while meeting like-minded adventurers along the way.
Inn to Inn Walking | Walk from place-to-place changing accommodations each night. Generally staying in B&Bs, inns, and guesthouses.
Solo Travellers, Families with Teens
The minimum age for this tour is: 12 Years
This itinerary is graded moderate and includes 7 days of hiking 11-17 miles per day. You can expect to hike between 5-8 hours per day. On the Camino, you will follow a mixture of dirt tracks, minor roads, and established footpaths.
Although the route mostly leads along wide, relatively easy-to-walk paths, the unpaved sections and the daily distances of between 9 and 30 kilometres require a good basic level of fitness and a certain amount of hiking experience. The first section from St Jean-Pied-de-Port with steep ascents and descents in the Pyrenees is the most difficult. The entire 40-day Way of St James naturally requires a great deal of stamina. But the longer you are on the road, the fitter you will become. Pamplona, Logroño, Burgos and León are fascinating cities that you must visit and the smaller towns are also very charming and often offer wonderful regional delicacies.
Our Camino Tours include small rural hotels and hostels close to the route of the Camino. You will always have a private room and en-suite (attached) bathroom. When staying in Leon, Pamplona, Sarria and Santiago, you will stay in 3* hotels, the other nights will be in a mixture of rural hotels and hostels.
Single Rooms
Single rooms are available, although a supplement is payable. The price for a single room is available on the included tab of this tour and in the booking engine.
Meals
A light continental breakfast is included each morning, which can sometimes just be coffee, bread and orange juice. Lunch and dinner are not included so you are free to choose from the available options. Every place you stop will have evening meals available, you can get a pilgrims menu for about 10 Euros which includes 3 courses, wine and water!
Extra Nights
We can add extra nights if you wish, allowing you to have rest days in between the longer hiking days.
The Camino is very easy to follow. The route is marked with yellow painted arrows and a yellow shell on a blue background. The detailed travel pack we supply includes a detailed information pack for planning and preparing for your Camino, detailed instructions of how to find your overnight accommodation and everything you need for your Camino.
In addition to the printed route notes, you will receive in your travel pack, you will also have access to our Macs Adventure App, allowing you to follow the route on richly detailed mapping on your cell.
Recommended Reading
Although not essential, if you would like more information on the route please see our recommendation below:
- A Guidebook to the Camino de Santiago by John Brierly
- Accommodation in small rural hotels and hostels, twin/double rooms with en-suite W/C.
- Daily breakfast
- Baggage Transfers
- All your trip documents provided digitally through your online Macs “My Account”
- Access to maps, GPX tracks and daily route information with the Macs Adventure smartphone navigation app
- Emergency support from our local and UK offices in the event of a problem.
- Return travel to France/Spain.
- Lunches, snacks or drinks.
- Travel Insurance.
- Personal Equipment.
- Taxi transfers or public transport should you need to skip a stage.
- Additional nights’ accommodation
You can start your Camino anytime between April and Mid October.
The weather on the Camino will change slightly as you travel from the Pyrenees over to Galicia. The spring months of April and May tend to offer nice mild conditions for walking although the nights can be quite cold at this time of year and there can be quite a lot of rain in the region of Galicia at this time. The summer months of July and August can get very hot and humid. The autumn from late September through to October offers cooler temperatures again although daylight hours start to become less at this time. The region of Galicia in particular experiences higher rainfall than the rest of Spain so you should come prepared with waterproofs!
The best place to fly in and out from would be Santiago de Compostela. From Santiago you can either take a private transfer with Macs Adventure to O'Cebriero, or you can take a bus with ALSA to Piedrafita do Cebriero which takes around 2 and a half hours. From there you would take a short taxi journey up the hill to O'Cebriero.
Alternatively we can arrange private transfers to take you straight from Santiago Airport to O Cebreiro for a hassle-free start to your trip!
You can fly directly from Santiago back to the UK with Ryanair who fly direct to Stansted and Easyjet who fly direct to Gatwick. Another good point to connect through to travel internationally is Paris. You can fly from Santiago to Paris with Vueling or from Madrid with Ryanair.
We can arrange private transfers to take you from your hotel directly to Santiago Airport.
At Macs Adventure, we work in partnership with many luggage transfer providers who set a limit on how many bags/suitcases they will transfer per person, and also the weight of the bag/suitcase. Your booking includes transfer of 1 bag per person. It is very important that you read the luggage information specific to your tour before departure. If you do not adhere to these limits, there is a great possibility that you will be charged locally both for extra bags or if they are too heavy. This limitation can be a challenge, especially as airlines generally have limits that are higher. However, our luggage providers have reasons for these limits (usually due to the Health and Safety of their employees), which we must respect.
Baggage transfers are included (max 20kg / 44lbs per person). Your main bag will be transferred each day between your overnight accommodation so that you only need to hike with a day backpack.
The distances and ascent/descents are approximations of the recommended routes. Please be prepared by packing all necessary items, for example, proper rain gear (jacket and pants), sun hat, sunscreen. Your information pack has a detailed equipment list which includes standard walking gear such as good walking boots or shoes, warm and waterproof clothes for the cooler months and lightweight clothing for summer, and a day pack.
Online Documents
At Macs Adventure we care about the environment! We’re taking action to minimize the impact we have by converting the majority of our tour documentation for online delivery.
On this tour, all your detailed tour information will be digitally delivered. You will have access to this documentation via “My Account” on our website.
Pilgrim Passport
The Pilgrim Passport is issued by the Church of St James, you will find this in your pack waiting for you at your first hotel. Alternatively, you can obtain one at the start of your walk in the Pilgrims’ Office or the local church in town. You need to get the passport stamped in churches, restaurants and hotels along the way. At the end of the walk, in Santiago, you can obtain your Compostela Certificate (only if you have walked the last 100km).
Your information pack has a detailed equipment list which includes standard hiking gear such as good hiking boots or shoes, lightweight clothes, waterproofs and a day pack.
The average daily distance of our Camino tours are between 20 and 25 kilometers and you can expect to walk for between five and eight hours each day. You should do as much walking as possible prior to your walk as this will simply add to your enjoyment. That said if you are not at peak fitness you will find you will soon walk yourself fit.
A mixture of farm/dirt tracks, minor roads and footpaths. The route is marked with yellow painted arrows but please take care at intersections. There will always be other walkers around in case you are looking for help.
We suggest you book as far in advance as possible as the Camino is extremely popular especially in Holy Years (when 25 July is on a Sunday ) when numbers rise by up to 100 000 people. We will always try and accommodate late bookings but realistically you need to book at least 6 weeks prior to departure.
Yes, some people prefer to walk carrying their own bags as a true pilgrim would have. You can select the option for removing the baggage transfers in Step 2 of the Booking Engine.
Your information pack has a detailed equipment list which includes standard walking gear such as good walking boots or shoes, lightweight clothes, waterproofs and a day pack.
I would recommend April/May when the spring flowers are at their best and September/October when the colours are just lovely. June, July and August can be very hot if you are not used to walking in the heat while the temperatures can fall sharply in the winter with some accommodation closing down for the end of season.
Public transport and taxis are available, if you are need of support our local partner in Spain will be more than happy to help.
Unfortunately we are unable to change your accommodation bookings and itinerary once you start walking as alternative accommodation is generally not available at such short notice.
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