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Stage 11 · Camino Primitivo
San Román da Retorta → Melide
Before you set off
Nowhere to eat
Between San Román da Retorta and Melide.
To Melide, where the French Way joins
This is the longest stage of the Galician section: 28.7 kilometres with 420 metres of ascent and 580 of descent, moderate difficulty, with no serious hills but nothing to break the monotony of the tracks either. You leave San Román da Retorta on dirt and paved paths among the hamlets of Guntín and Palas de Rei, with oaks, meadows and very few people. The first half, as far as As Seixas, is the loneliest of the whole route in Galicia: small hamlets, the odd fountain and bars that open when they open.
Past the halfway point the landscape livens up with more houses and a bar or two in Vilouriz and Vilamor, now in the municipality of Toques, and the route continues on paved lanes and some stretches of woodland before dropping into Melide from the north, among vegetable gardens and new houses.
In Melide the Primitivo joins the Camino Francés, and the change hits you at once: pilgrims everywhere, hostels, bars, shops and octopus restaurants on every corner. After so many days of solitude some are grateful for it and some miss the quiet. It is a town with everything, and octopus is the obligatory dinner.
Tips
Leave early and with food: the first kilometres have no reliable bars and fountains are scarce in summer.
In As Seixas or Vilamor get a transit stamp and eat something before the last hour, which drags.
The tarmac is what tires you most; stop often, even if only for ten minutes, and look after the soles of your feet.
In Melide book a bed if you are walking in high season: with the Francés the demand multiplies.
Where am I?
Your phone says where you are; the guide tells you how far is left and where the next water is.
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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.
Create the free account It is free and forever. An account is needed for the guide to place you. I already have an account
It checks GPS every 6 min while you keep it open. GPS drains the battery: if yours is low, switch it off.
Your position is used to answer you and is not stored anywhere.
Profile and services
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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 San Román da Retorta to Melide.
- Farmacia Mª Luisa Devesa Oro Pharmacy km 26,7 +34 981505380
- Farmacia Hermanos López Río SC Pharmacy km 26,9 +34 981505307
- Farmacia María Begoña Fernández Valiño Pharmacy km 26,9 +34 981505078
The map
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What to see on this stage 8
- Igrexa de Santa María de O Pacio Church km 4,1
- Igrexa de San Xurxo de Augas Santas Church km 10,1
- Igrexa de San Salvador de Merlán Church km 11,5
- Igrexa de Santiago de Vilouriz Church km 18,5
- Igrexa de Santo Estevo de Vilamor Church km 20,0
- Igrexa de San Pedro de Melide Church km 26,7
- Capela de Santo Antón Church km 26,8
- Capela de San Roque Church km 26,9