Camino Finisterre (or Fisterra in Galician) is an addition to the Camino de Santiago that takes you straight to the coast. It is the only route that does not lead to Santiago. I personally have added it onto every Camino I have walked!

This Camino can be added to any other route to extend the Camino by an extra 3-5 days! Sometimes, you’re not ready for the Camino to be over. This will get you ready. It can be either 85/90km or 120km if you really want to go all out.

You can finish this Camino in Finisterre, “the end of the world” or Muxia, a close and quiet beach town. Not many people walk this route and many people you finish your Camino with, will not walk this route. But it is a great opportunity if you have the time.

My first Camino, I took four days to walk from Santiago to Finisterre and then took a bus to Muxia. My second time, I took 3 days to walk that same route. In my most recent Camino, I took three days to walk to Finisterre, then walked the last bit of the way to Muxia and completed the 120km in four days. This is a tough experience, even if you have just walked hundreds of kilometers prior, it is a bit more mentally challenging because mentally you could feel that Santiago is your end, and those last few days are just not worth it. I personally walk it because I have my flight scheduled at least 4 or 5 days after I arrive in Santiago (either I get there early or have the time) and decide to walk a little bit more. It is also a beautiful walk.

I would recommend making reservations because these are long days and it is a tough walk.

Day 1: Santiago de Compostela to Negreira 21km

This is a gorgeous day as it passes through one of my favorite towns on any Camino. I wish I could stay in this town but alas, there are no albergues and the only restaurant in town is only open for a couple of hours a day. It is the town of Ponte Maceira and it has an old bridge over a beautiful river that I sometimes have swum in but also just put my feet in. I always spend a few hours here.

There are only a few places to stop along the way, so snacks are a good thing to have just in case, but the first restaurant is about 8km into the walk. Albergue Anjana is probably one of my favorite places to stay as it does have a nice pool. Dinner at Restauraunte Casa Baqueiro is amazing! I always go and share the paella with my friends and it is a great price for the amazing quality of food. The grocery store is right near by and we got snacks and lunch for the next day.

Day 2: Negreira to Lago (24km) or Olveiroa (33km)

If you want to split it up the journey to the coast a bit more, walking to Lago and staying in Monte Aro is a great option. I did that the first time and really enjoyed it. It is a great albergue.

If you want to push yourself, staying in Olveiroa is great. Just for a time reference, we started walking around 7:30 am and arrived there around 4 pm. We stayed at the municipal Albergue Olveiroa and ate a  pilgrim meal for dinner, 3 courses with lots of wine and only 12Euros at Casa Manola. Very good food too.

However, on my second Camino, we booked and they gave away our reservation because we did not call in advance (which apparently we were told to do but I do not recall being told). We had to walk an extra 3km to the next town, O Logoso, which has a nice albergue we had mostly to ourselves.

Day 3: Depends!

Muxia:

Walking to Muxia is 32km from Olveiroa. I personally have never walked this route, but it is an option. This whole route is beautiful, and have heard it is prettier to walk than through to Finisterre. But you also miss out on the town of Cee.

In Muxia we stayed in Apartamentos Muxia Mare, which actually was a private apartment with 2 beds and a kitchen for only 10 or 15 euros. There was another bedroom that a couple was staying in but it was nice to have a private room. If you finish in Muxia and have the time, the Little Fox House is a great place to stay, it is a 2 night minimum but I have heard great things and the owner is very nice.

You can walk to the 0.0 marker which is only 30 minutes and has a church nearby that you can go to a service. The church has some beautiful miniature boats and is right by the ocean. Muxia also has some nice beaches to wander around in.

Cee:

If you stayed in Lago the night before, Cee is 23km and is a beautiful seaside town. I personally prefer walking to Finisterre first because I like eating in Cee for lunch. In Cee we stayed in Albergue Moreira and it is 14km to Finisterre the next day. My favorite bakery in Cee (along the way) is Paseleria Silvia. It has amazing pastries that I always bring with me for the rest of my walk.

Finisterre:

Walking from Olveiroa to Finisterre is 34km. I have stayed at a different Albergue each time but I really like Albergue Espiral if they are available though have also had a good experience at Albergue de Sonia Buen Camino and Albergue y Pension Finistellae. You can also go to the pilgrim office to collect your Finisterre Compostela!

It is about a 40 minute walk from the city center to the Faro de Fisterra (the 0.0km marker and lighthouse). This is a touristy site and it always annoys me that there are tourists who walked 0 km to this place when I had walked from another country, but that’s just me. I personally prefer going to the 0.0km marker at Muxia and then just having a good time in Finisterre. Sometimes there will be beach bonfires which is really a great time and many even camp on the beach. Also, there is my FAVORITE restaurant here, called World Family, it is such a cool vibe of a restaurant and they have such spectacular food. I always spend so much money here buying so much food. The poke bowl is unreal.

On the way to Finisterre you can walk down to Praia de Talon, a nice beach that is way less touristy than that about 20 minutes down the road. It is lovely to spend a couple of hours by. My friend and I left our backpacks at the top of the hill and brought down our necessities so we wouldn’t have to carry everything back up.

Day 4: Muxia to Finisterre (or the opposite) 30km

The route is marked very well but there are very few stops. I have only done this walk once and it was very mentally challenging. I found the route on my Camino Ninja app and it is fairly easy to stay on. There is one main restaurant halfway through but otherwise there are very few stops along the way.

That is it!

It is overall extremely hilly and mentally tough but finishing it is very rewarding. I am always proud of the walking I have done up until this point and it feels so good to be done. I have one friend who had never wanted to finish in Santiago because he saw ending at the cathedral as a religious ending to a journey where he wanted to finish at the end of the world. Good luck!

For more information and logistics on my individual camino walks, please see my detailed posts highlighting each Camino…