Vilalba to Baamonde
The qualifying start
- Distance
- 18.5 km
- Climb
- 240 m up, 290 m down
- Ground
- 420 to 540 m
- Time
- 4 to 5 hours
- Difficulty
- easy
- Underfoot
- forest, dirt, paved
Where this day sits on the Camino del Norte
Above, the highest and lowest ground of each of its 34 stages. Below, the word each day is given.
From open-pilgrimages: each stage's highest and lowest ground and its interior theme.
The day
Baamonde is the 102 km mark, just over the Compostela minimum. New pilgrims arrive here by bus today to start walking tomorrow. The tree-lined square by the Parga river is quiet, the 12th-century Romanesque church (Santiago de Baamonde — a Saint James church welcoming pilgrims walking his way) is worn and loved, and the albergue is full. The atmosphere for long-distance pilgrims is bittersweet — the end is close but so is the crowding. You are a veteran now, whether or not you knew that was coming.
What pilgrims often meet here
- Seeing brand-new pilgrims arrive by bus
- The Parga river and the old bridge
- Realizing that in six days you will be in Santiago
- The crowded albergue — the first time since Laredo
You were a new pilgrim 30 days ago. What would the version of you who arrives in Baamonde by bus need from the version of you who walked here?
The ground
Rolling plateau through Román, Goiriz, and into Baamonde, a small town on the Parga river. Baamonde is the second-most-common Compostela-minimum starting point (102 km to Santiago).
The light
Sunrise and sunset in Vilalba 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, The qualifying start, 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.