Feb 13

Feb 13 Hiking the last 100km of the Camino-Where to Eat, Sleep & Drink

Okay, everyone. We back. I used to update every month and then, to be honest, I think COVID travel bans kind of knocked blogging out of me. Now I simply have no excuse so we’re back with the last 100kms of the Camino.

If you know me or you’ve read my past blog posts, then you know Justin and I have a special place in our hearts for the Camino de Santiago in Spain. We’ve done a Summer, Winter, and now a Fall Camino. There is still a small piece we haven’t done that we’re still itching to do one day BUT there are so many other hikes we want to do such as the Tour du Mont Blanc, Kungsleden, and the newly formed Hexatrek that we’ve thought of putting the Camino on the shelf. For a little while at least.

So here we’re going to focus on the last 100kms of the Camino which is what a pilgrim needs to hike in order to receive the Compostela. It’s essentially a document saying you hiked the entire (or a portion) of the Camino. We have two!

We’re going to break down where to eat, sleep and, most importantly, drink during the last few days of the Camino. There are a lot of ways you can break down the last 100kms itinerary but I’m going to cover the most used (Sarria-Portomarin-Palas de Rey-Ribadiso-O Pedrouzo-Santiago)

SARRIA:

There are several albergues to stay in while in Sarria but I opted for an Airbnb after many MANY hours of travel. Albergue de Peregrinos seems to be the more popular one for pilgrims who really love the more traditional albergue experience which includes shared sleeping spaces, community showers & toilets, and sometimes a pilgrim’s meal. Typically the menu de peregrinos are found at the beginning of the. the Camino and are usually huge and pretty tasty!

We ate at Pizzeria 17 and enjoyed some great pizza, cold (and large!) beers with a nice view of a local park. One of my favorite things to do while traveling is just to post up at a cafe or pub and people-watch. This was the perfect place for just that!

Nothing better than a giant beer in a new country!

You’ll most likely find yourself leaving before dawn to start your hike into Portomarin with a lot of other pilgrims as this section of the Camino is very popular with European travelers, school children and day hikers. Be sure to grab a cafe con leche on your way out of town! As you start your trek out of Sarria, you’ll quickly leave the city and enter the forests and fields of Galicia. This region of Spain is known for being verdant, full of its own Galician culture, and food and drink that are unique to the area. Here you’ll be able to find loads of paprika covered pulpo, Galician soup, tinto veranos and, every pilgrims favorite, tortilla. There is honestly nothing better before a big hiking day to have a nice, hot cafe con leche with a freshly made tortilla and some crusty bread. It’s just SO satisfying.

Portomarin:

The hike into Portomarin from Sarria is a pretty easy 13 miles where you start to see a lot of Galicia-specific things such as the hórreos. They’re a traditional method to store grain and can often be quite old! There are a lot of different styles and looks and families tend to keep them up from generation to generation.

While here, we stayed at the Albergue Ferramenteiro which was a nice, traditional pilgrim’s albergue. And by that I mean loads of bunkbeds in one room, community shower & toilets and usually has a pretty early check-out time so it has time to be turned around for the next group of pilgrims. You’ll, however, never really see anyone sleeping in as you have to get an early start on your day which can range between a 12-25 mile hike for the day.

In Portomarin you’ll find a church at the center of town, Igrexa de San Xoán de Portomarín, which will sometimes have it’s doors open and you can add another cool stamp to your credential or Pilgrim’s Passport.

In the same square, you’ll find a perfect spot to catch up with other pilgrims, get some drinks and watch the sun go down. Check out Posada del Camino and you’ll be sure to join other pilgrims in storytelling, drinking, eating, and general Camino antics.

Palas de Rey:

This nearly 16-mile day I felt lasted a lifetime. I’m not entirely sure if it was because I was a little hungover, if it was just an uninteresting part of the hike or if it was because I knew we were on our way to Palas which, I’m sorry, but I’ve never liked. It's bookended by two very interesting and pretty towns so I guess that’s why. Poor Palas. :(

I always struggle to find something pretty in this town that seems slightly industrial. The food situation always seems to frustrate me and we normally just end up eating whatever and going to bed. I KNOW there are good restaurants there but they had hours where we would have been waiting a while for dinner to start so we just ended up eating some pretty subpar pizza. We did, however, stay twice in a nice pension called Pension San Marcos where you can wash clothes, take hot showers, and have a nice room with only 4 or so other pilgrims in the room. Thankfully my bed was right next to a window so I propped it open and had a good sleep.

Let me know if you find good food in Palas….I need a corrective experience.

Ribadiso:

“Finally!” is my normal thought when crossing the medieval bridge into the quaint, picturesque town of Ribadiso. With good food close by, good places to sleep, a beautiful river, and cows grazing in nearby fields…how could you go wrong??
We’ve stayed at Pension Ribadiso twice and always love it! It’s cozy, has hot showers and, apparently, now has a pool! I also love it because it’s directly across from my beloved Meson Ribadiso-purveyor of giant steaks, icy beers and delicious pasta. When we stayed there in our first summer Camino, we had so many delicious tinto veranos, giant steaks and collllld beers that it easily propelled us into our next big day of hiking.

This is usually the last town we see that I really have a lot of feelings for as the next towns heading into Santiago don’t really have much in the way of amazing foods or places to stay. Typically at this point, everything you’re doing is a means to an end (getting to Santiago) and, if you’ve hiked the whole thing, you’ve kind of had your fill of tortilla and cafe con leche by now.

O Pedrouzo:

Here is your last town before heading into your final push for Santiago de Compostela (a decidedly more gastronomically interesting town) and, while it’s not a bad little town, it mostly seems to serve as a place to get fueled up in a mediocre way, maybe get a few beers and get some sleep before heading out into the forests and fields to get back on trail the next morning.

Of the two times I’ve been to this town, I haven’t found anything to write home about (or on this blog) so I typically don’t really care for O Pedrouzo and mostly start to get excited to leave and start the hike into Santiago itself.

This area of the trail is, however, beautiful with a lot of traditional food dishes such a Galician soup and pulpo. You’ll even find a lot of pulpoerias that are dedicated to dishing out wooden plates of paprika covered octopus.

Which, if you haven’t had it yet, it really is a must-try food. I’m not even a big seafood person and I still really love it.

Santiago de Compostela:

You’ve finally made it! When you first hike into town, you’ll find that it seems much like an other European town until you start to get to the center.

Here you’ll find old town Santiago where the cathedral is located. I’ve seen it now twice and both times it has just taken my breath away. It’s so incredibly old and beautiful that it really leaves you in awe.
After you’ve collected your certificate showing that you’ve completed your pilgrimage, you’ve watched the botafumeiro fly through the eaves of the cathedral and have finally taken off (or leave in my case) your hiking shoes, it’s time to eat.

Lucky for you that Santiago is stuffed full of fantastic restaurants specializing in tapas so that you can really try one of everything. We, however, also got a giant steak at El Papatorio Tapas & Brasas with a great bottle of wine because, you know what, you only live once so why not.

If you’re a fan of peppers, PLEASE pair anything you’re eating in this area of Spain with padron peppers. Delicious, oily, salty, spicy fried peppers really go nicely with literally anything. This restaurant had particularly nice peppers that went to well with our massive steak.

For dessert in Santiago, you must get the Torte de Santiago which literally means St. Jame’s cake and popped up around medieval times. It’s a pretty simple almond cake that can also be served with a little glass of liquor. This cake is usually only found in the Galician area, so I highly recommend snapping one up before you move on. It’s the perfect end to a great meal as it’s not overly sweet.

To end your night in Santiago, I highly recommend bouncing from tapas place to tapas place as this is a pretty traditional thing to do in Spain. You grab a drink, get a small plate of something to snack on, chat and hang out and then move on to the next place. I really feel like it’s a pretty big American thing to camp out at one brewery, bar, or restaurant forever and, at least from my experience, in Europe, there is a lot of moving from place to place.

Some places seem to have their specialties and some places seem to cater to everyone’s different tastes but I highly recommend going to an extremely busy one, waiting your turn, and grabbing a seat. Typically they’re busy for a reason, right? When you get there, you’ll notice a case full of tapas. Just choose your favorites, try them out, and move on to the next! It’s a great way to spend the evening.