Palas de Rei to Arzúa
Grief
- Distance
- 28.5 km
- Climb
- 491 m up, 653 m down
- Ground
- 280 to 570 m
- Time
- 7 to 8 hours
- Difficulty
- hard
- Underfoot
- dirt, forest, gravel
Where this day sits on the Camino Francés
Above, the highest and lowest ground of each of its 33 stages. Below, the word each day is given.
From open-pilgrimages: each stage's highest and lowest ground and its interior theme.
The day
The longest of the final stages, through eucalyptus forests that smell medicinal and strange. The constant ups and downs through stream valleys exhaust legs that have walked nearly 700 kilometers. In Melide, you eat pulpo a feira with other pilgrims and the meal has the feeling of a last supper. People exchange addresses, make promises to stay in touch, know that most of them will not. The grief of the Camino ending is not about the walk. It is about the person you became while walking, and the fear that person will not survive the return home.
What pilgrims often meet here
- Exhaustion from the relentless terrain on tired legs
- Eating octopus in Melide as a pilgrim tradition
- Exchanging contact details with walking companions
- Grief arriving before the journey has actually ended
Which version of yourself do you want to bring home?
The ground
Longest of the final stages. Continuous ups and downs, many stream crossings, eucalyptus forests. Passes through Melide — famous for pulpo (octopus).
The light
Sunrise and sunset in Palas de Rei depend on the day you walk.
Walk it with Pilgrim
In Pilgrim's Honor mode you can walk this stage as it is drawn here, and save its maps for days with no signal. The morning opens with this day's word, Grief, and its story. When you arrive, it asks the question above, and you can answer out loud. Your walk stays on your phone.
With Pilgrim on your phone, this opens the stage, ready to begin. Without it, you'll see the stage and where to get the app.