Many pilgrims are worried about the level of difficulty that the Camino Francés could represent for them. If you don’t feel so trained, if you walk with children or with your dog, if you simply want to enjoy a stress-free experience and are looking for a more simple route, you can choose to walk a Camino Francés Easy. Let’s see the distances and the stages along this route and why it could be a great choice if you are looking for a more relaxing journey.
The Camino Francés Easy
Walking the Camino de Santiago should be a wonderful experience, where you get to know more about the place you’ll visit, about yourself and other pilgrims. It is not a race neither a competition with other hikers to see who arrive first. You must enjoy the Camino, taking time to deepen into your thoughts and emotions. That’s why we always offer this alternative to those pilgrims who don’t feel like walking 20-25 km/day and would like to take the Way at a slower pace. You can find other Easy Routes on the Camino, such as the Portuguese Way Easy, the English Way Easy or the Portuguese Coastal Way Easy.
These easy options cover the same distance as the standard last 100 km of these itineraries, but you will spend more time on your Way, since most the stages will be divided in two. Obviously, we can’t always divide the stage in exact half since it depends on the offer of accommodation. However, we tried to make the daily distances more or less the same to distribute the kilometers in similar sections. To know more about the accommodation you can find along the last 100 km of the Camino Francés, do not miss this post!
The stages along the Camino Francés Easy
Stage 1: Sarria – Morgade (11 km)
Stage 2: Morgade – Portomarín (9 km)
In this second stage you will arrive in Portomarín, an emblematic point of the French Way. During this stop you can discover the interesting past of this village, enjoy the beautiful views on the Belesar Reservoir and relax while eating some delicious plate in a local restaurant. This small village is usually full of pilgrims and you can breath the atmosphere of the Camino in every corner. Here, we strongly suggest you to try the local cake, the Santiago cake made with almonds…Simply delicious!
Stage 3: Portomarín – Ventas de Narón (11 km)
Stage 4: Ventas de Narón – Palas de Rei (11 km)
Your fourth day of walk along the Camino Francés Easy will make you walk on small paths and rural areas. Pilgrims enjoy these moments of calm, and take this time for self- awareness and to get to know other people on the same route. Today you will arrive to another iconic spot on the French Way: Palas de Rei. In the past, this place was one of the favorite place for the Galician nobility and today you can find here many services for the pilgrims, as shops, bars, hotels and restaurants. We suggest you a visit to the the church of Villar de Donas built in the XII century.
Stage 5: Palas de Rei – Melide (14 km)
This stage will bring you to Melide, considered the geographical centre of Galicia and town where the Primitive and the French Way meet. You can enjoy a relaxed stop in this town of 7.000 people, famous for the preparation of one of the most typical plates of this region: Pulpo a Feira. In the Middle Age, here there were a castle and walls. Now you can visit the Chapel of San Roque, the Sancti Spiritus church of the XIV century and have a walk for its historic centre, always full of pilgrims.
Stage 6: Melide – Arzúa (14 km)
Before arriving to the village of Arzúa, you will pass for Ribadiso, one of the most emblematic point of these last 100 km of the Camino Francés. Pilgrims love this medieval town and you strongly suggest you to make a stop there. Once in Arzúa, do not forget to try its famous cheese! Also, you can visit the Chapel of the Magdalena, the Church of Santiago de Arzúa and the O enredo Do Abelleiro (Honey museum) where you can discover the methods of the modern beekeeping and try its delicious products.
Stage 7: Arzúa – A Salceda (10 km)
In this 7th stage you can enjoy a relaxing walk, through pine forests and rural areas. Discover the beauty of the slowness and to not have anything else to worry but enjoying the nature and rest. A Salceda is a small hamlet on the way to O Pedrouzo. Only 3 stages are missing!
Stage 8: A Salceda – O Pedrouzo (9 km)
For those pilgrims who decide to walk the standard Camino Francés this is the penultimate stage before arriving to Santiago de Compostela so you might find many people very excited for the close they feel to the Catedral of Santiago and to reach their goal. O Pedrouzo is a very small village, where you will get after a nice walk through forests and small rural areas. You can visit the Iglesia parroquial de Santa Eulalia de Arca which presents a scallop shell on its mayor altar.
Stage 9: O Pedrouzo – Lavacolla (10 km)
On this stage we start to leave behind the rural areas to get closer to the city of Santiago. You will walk part of this section close to the airport of Santiago (Lavacolla airport) and you can start to feel that the Camino come closer to its end.
Stage 10: Lavacolla – Santiago (10 km)
And you final stage has finally arrived! Today you will walk the last 10 km of the French Way. What an emotion seeing the Cathedral of Santiago for the first time from the top of the Mount of Gozo! You will have plenty of time to discover the old town of Santiago, declared Unesco Heritage Site, visit the Cathedral, go to the Pilgrims’ Office and ask for your Compostela Certificate.
If you want to know more about the Camino Francés Easy or any other route along the Camino de Santiago, do not hesitate in contacting us. At Galiwonders, we love to create the best experiences for our pilgrims and elaborate tailor-made itineraries.
