This is the final stage of the Camiño dos Faros. It’s a fantastic day’s walking which shows the best of this rugged and uncompromisingly beautiful coastline.
The hike from Lires to Cabo Finisterre is 22km and took me just over six hours. Bear in mind that after finishing, you will have to walk back along the cape to the town of Finisterre, which is around 3km, to catch a bus to Santiago de Compostela for onward trains, or bed down for the night.
Starting out in Lires, you have two choices; to retrace your steps along the estuary following the Camiño dos Faros along the coast, or to do a small section on the pilgrim trail, the Camino de Santiago.
For a bit of variety I chose the latter option, which amounted to just over 5km, before rejoining the Camiño dos Faros at Rostro beach.
The pilgrim route, which is also going to Finisterre, is well signed with the ornate yellow ‘shell’ on blue background image. It leads us out of Lires, passing the church, and bearing immediately left to head along the lane.
In a couple of hundred metres we turn right onto a surfaced track to start a meandering route in the countryside on this ancient route.
The Camino goes through woods and then along a lane to traverse the hamlet of A Canosa, before entering the woods again for a terrific section which could be seen as epitomising Galicia; mystical, Celtic and green, with ancient stone walls and ferns aplenty.
The route emerges at a lane, where we bear right to follow the road round and then downhill to the Praia de Rostro, bidding adieu to the pilgrims for the time being.
It’s a long, wide beach and we walk along it to the end; it can be hard going at times on the soft sand, looking for areas where your feet don’t sink in.
On the far side a path climbs away from the beach, with the green waymarks of the Camiño dos Faros back in evidence. It turns into a sandy track, and then a grassy one, which goes along the rugged coastline.
As the next beach, the Praia de Arnela, comes into view, the gorse on the path closes in, tormenting the legs.
Then, closer to the cove, the path became completely overgrown, with the gorse over head height. Faced with this impenetrable barrier, I had no alternative but to turn inland.
There was a path away from the coast, which turned into a track, and emerged at a lane. I turned right here to walk through the village of Castromiñan, bearing right at the second section of houses, to follow the lane which soon heads back to the coast.
It emerges at an information board above the Arnela beach. Here, we are back on the Camiño dos Faros; this detour only added around 1km to the overall distance and presented no difficulties.
Back on track, the path runs high above the beautiful Arnela cove, with great views back along the coast.
Part 2 follows
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