Camino Norte (last week from Terra Che)

1.)   Summary | Contribution

The last week of the Camino Norte, from Villalba, in the province of Lugo, to Santiago de Compostela is approximately 110km | A non-refundable deposit of €175 is requested to reserve your place. The total contribution per XirCammini member (including the deposit) is €575 and this covers the local transport (Airport in Spain or Portugal) to Villalba and, vice versa, from Santiago de Compostela to the Airport, daily baggage transfers (max 10kg cabin bag per person), daily accommodation in a variety of hotels, pensions, a monastery on a bed & breakfast basis where available. The Camino is spread on 6 (not 5) walking days and due to the inavilability of accommodation, other than donativos and municipal albergues at various etapas, we have included multiple nights in the some accommodations and daily person transfers. Thank you.

Please follow this link to register your interest and to pay the deposit. A non-refundable deposit of €175 is requested to reserve your place.

2.)   Flights

Pilgrims are requested to book the following flights. On Vueling anyone sending ‘hold’ luggage can send it all the way through to Santiago de Compostela airport despite the connection in Barcelona (and vice versa):

Outward (13th April): Malta – Barcelona – Santiago de Compostela leaving Malta at 15:15 and arriving in Santiago de Compostela at 23:10 (VY8741 | VY1679)

Inward (20th April): Santiago – Barcelona – Malta leaving Santiago at 06:45 and arriving in Malta at 14:30 (VY1672 | VY8740)

3.)   Important Notes

XirCammini is not a tour operator or travel agent. We are a not-for-profits, membership-based association registered in Malta with the Office of the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations (VO: 1646). This explains why our pricing is some 15% – 30% lower than that of other organisations and generally offers more, i.e. our walks are not self-guided (although one can walk part or all of the way on their own). We set off as a group with a group leader from among our members who is an experienced Camino afficionado. This means that, at all times, you have someone to assist and, if required, trouble-shoot. Even with very well planned an executed itineraries, occasionally there could be a last minute issue with, say, accommodation or land transport, a mis-directed baggage that does not arrive at a particular accommodation, an injury etc. So, having the support of a group and a group leader can be a relief. In terms of accommodation we tend to choose varied accommodation (i.e. a monastery, a hotel, pension and where available, a casa rural etc.) almost without exception on a twin room basis (other than where we add a private albergue experience). From the baggage that arrives at our daily destination we can also safely assume that our accommodation is generally the same as the ones used by more established Camino tour operators. What we try to achieve is that pilgrims travelling with us have all the basic essentials catered for while in Spain, leaving you to concentrate on the spiritual journey, social interaction and camaraderie. Being in a group also means that you will make new friends from different walks of life but who share the same passion for the Camino.

4.)   Membership

Since we are a membership-based association, people travelling with us would need to be members of XirCammini.

5.)   Camino Norte: Introduction |Length | Terrain

At over 860km in Spain alone, the Camino Norte is one of the longest Camino on Spanish soil, starting from either in Bayonne in France or in Irun or Santander in Spain.  We will be walking the last stages of the Camino Noerte from Villalba to Santiago de Compostela. The distance is of around 110km, making it eligible for the Compostela for walking pilgrims from the Pilgrim’s Office once you reach Santiago. The Camino Norte currently attracts less than 2% of all Camino pilgrims applying for the Compostela in the Pilgrim Office in Santiago.

The Camino is a scenic one which means, there will be some elevations and distances may vary on a daily basis due to ruta complementarias. The lack of accommodation (other than municipal albergues and donativos) means that we will use additional transport to and from certain accommodations where we would have repeat nights.

• Villalba to Baamonde + – 20km Today’s walk would be through wooded areas and rural villages in the Terra Chá region of Galicia. We rendevouz at the Igrexia de Satiago (Church of Saint James) In Baamonde for transport to take us to our next accommodation.
• Baamonde to Miraz + – 18km. Transport will drop us off at the starting point for today’s walk through scenic, rural and wooded areas to Miraz. Transport will again collect us to drop us off at our accommodation close to the donativo Albergue of San Martin in Miraz.
• Miraz to Sobrado dos Monxes + – 25km . Our walk will take us through Marcela; which will be one of our highest points on this Camino. Enjoy the panorama. In Sobrado there is a 10^th century monastery with a façade that is a remarkable work of art. Transport will take us to our next accommodation in Arzua.
• Sobrado dos Monxes to Arzua + – 22km : Arzua is renown to have more sheep than people and is sought after for its cheese. During the higher pilgrim months it would have more pilgrims walking through it then the local population since the French pilgims converge with the Norte pilgrims in / through Arzua.
• Arzua to O Pedruozo + – 20km: We would be sharing this route with pilgrims from the Camino Frances and will experience some uphills as we get closer to Santiago. O Pedruozo is renown for its daily Pilgrim Mass and Pilgrim Blessing in the evening.
• O Pedruozo to Santiago de Compostela + – 20km:  Today’s walk heads initially towards a wooded area and then continues mainly on roads to Monte de Gozo and into Santiago de Compostela at >250m above sea level .

6.)   Some other practical matters

For members joining us from overseas you can either meet us at the airport or we can agree to meet at the first accommodation in Villalba the evening before we start walking.

Well before the Camino we also set up a WhatApp group for the pilgrims on the Camino so that you start interacting beforehand with questions, practical advice, food or medicine intolerances etc