25,9 kmDistance+900 mAscent−140 mDescent34,9 kmEffort10 h 54Time needed · On foot
Through the Maragatería to Foncebadón
A long stage that climbs all the way, 25.9 kilometres with 900 metres of ascent and high difficulty, leaving the meseta behind and entering the Montes de León. You leave Astorga through Valdeviejas and past the Ecce Homo hermitage, and Murias de Rechivaldo soon follows, the first Maragato village, with its stone houses and enclosed yards. The climb is gradual, on an earth path beside the local road and on tracks through holm oak and heather.
Santa Catalina de Somoza and El Ganso mark out the first half, each with a bar and nothing else. The route then enters oak woods and steepens a little to Rabanal del Camino, at about kilometre twenty, the best-provided village of the day: shops, hostels and the Benedictine monastery, where the monks sing vespers at dusk. Many people stop here.
The final six kilometres to Foncebadón are the hardest: open moor, heather and stone, wind almost always and a slope that never eases. Foncebadón was an abandoned village and has come back to life with the Camino: there is somewhere to sleep and eat, little more, and huge views at sunset.
Tips
Leave early and have breakfast in Astorga or Murias: the climb is long and beyond El Ganso there are stretches with nothing.
Carry water for the whole afternoon; you can refill in Rabanal, but after that there are no springs until Foncebadón.
If the weather turns or you are running short, stay in Rabanal del Camino: Foncebadón is above 1,400 metres and the weather changes fast.
Book ahead in Foncebadón in season; the village is tiny and fills up early.
Poles and warm clothing: it gets cold up there even in summer.
In winter and with snow the final climb can be closed or dangerous: ask in Rabanal before going on.
Where am I?
Your phone says where you are; the guide tells you how far is left and where the next water is.
Your position is used to answer you and is not stored anywhere.
Walk with me
It crosses where you are with the time, the daylight left, the water, the beds and the notice board. Three things at most: the ones that actually change your afternoon.
112 is the same number in Spain, in Portugal and across the European Union. It works with no credit, with no SIM, and over any operator's network, not just yours.
Say where you are
I am walking the Camino Francés, on the stage from Astorga to Foncebadón.