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Stage 12 · Camino Primitivo
Melide → Arzúa
Ribadiso and the cheese of Arzúa
After so many long stages, this one is a rest: 14.2 kilometres with 260 metres of ascent and 320 of descent, low difficulty. You leave Melide past the Romanesque church of Santa María, and the path soon enters woods of oak and eucalyptus, on a dirt trail, with little streams crossed on stepping stones. This is the Camino Francés at its gentlest, with plenty of people and plenty of bars.
Boente, with its church and fountain, and Castañeda, where by tradition pilgrims left the stones they had carried for the cathedral, are the stops of the first half. Then the path drops to Ribadiso, a handful of houses on the river Iso with a medieval bridge and an old hostel on the bank, one of the loveliest spots on the whole final stretch of the route. It is the place for a long stop if the weather is fine.
From Ribadiso there remains a short but steep climb up to Arzúa, on the pavement beside the road. Arzúa is a large town, with every service and famous for its cheese, and here the Camino del Norte joins as well.
Tips
Get your departure stamp in Melide; the two transit stamps fit in Boente and Ribadiso, and the arrival stamp in Arzúa.
No need to get up early, but in summer it is worth leaving soon to avoid the heat and the queues at the bars.
The stepping stones across the streams are slippery in the rain; tread carefully and use the bridge where there is one.
If you have the afternoon to spare, Arzúa is a good place to do laundry, buy cheese and rest.
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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.
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Profile and services
The elevation for this stage has not been loaded yet.
The weather
15°C
Fog
- Feels like
- 17 °C
- Wind
- 2 km/h
- Daylight
- 08:43 – 19:53
- Today 🌫️ 22° 15°
- Wed 🌫️ 26° 14°
- Thu 🌫️ 24° 12° 3 %
- Fri 🌧️ 21° 11° 10 %
- Sat ⛅ 16° 12° 3 %
- Sun ⛅ 14° 8° 5 %
- Mon 🌧️ 18° 10° 16 %
Data from Open-Meteo, refreshed every half hour.
What's there today
Nobody has reported anything on this stage.
Tips from people who walked it
The things that do not expire: where the fountain actually is, which bar opens at six, where not to go in the rain.
None here yet. If you have just walked this stage, you know something tomorrow’s pilgrim does not.
Emergencies
Call 112112 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 Primitivo, on the stage from Melide to Arzúa.
- Farmacia María Begoña Fernández Valiño Pharmacy km 0,0 +34 981505078
- Farmacia Hermanos López Río SC Pharmacy km 0,1 +34 981505307
- Farmacia Mª Luisa Devesa Oro Pharmacy km 0,1 +34 981505380
The map
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What to see on this stage 7
- Capela de San Roque Church km 0,0
- Igrexa de San Pedro de Melide Church km 0,1
- Capela de Santo Antón Church km 0,1
- Capela do Carme Church km 0,3
- Igrexa de Santa María de Melide Church km 1,0
- Igrexa de Santiago de Boente Church km 5,7
- Igrexa de Santa Mariña da Castañeda Church km 8,1