Finisterre to Santiago?

[KJFSophie]

Looking for input from anyone who might have walked from Finisterre or Muxia back to Santiago. I'll be volunteering in Santiago sometime this spring/summer and because of time restrictions and minor health issues, I'll likely only be able to walk a week beforehand. I plan to fly to Santiago and unload, then bus to either Finisterre or Muxia and walk to Santiago. I've read in the direction to Finisterre, there are a few climbs and long days...I'm wondering if the climb becomes a great descent in reverse? ( makes sense ) and if the markers would be clear enough to navigate backwards. I've walked 8 Caminos, but never had the opportunity to walk to Finisterre ( just visit via bus ).
Hoping someone can shed some light on the plan. Thanks in advance!

 

[BarbaraW]

Hi KJF Sophie

I did this in May, catching the bus to Cee (lovely journey along the coast on the slower bus) then walking 12 k into Finisterra where I stopped for 2 nights, giving me a leisurely trip to the Cape and back.
I posted some notes about this in an earlier reply, but failed to cut and paste link so repeating here.

Finisterra to Muxia is no problem - alternate signs give directions both ways.
Finisterra to Hospital is described in detail in the Brierley guide but you have to read every detail. I overlooked a (+.3k) note and walked a k in the wrong direction.

The mojones are very carefully placed and angled and you can usually work out where the path has come from. Signs that you are on the right route include the distinctive granite v- shaped drainage channels diagonally across the path and surfaced or segregated paths alongside roads. Beware of assuming that anyone walking towards you is a pilgrim on the right path, especially at weekends. Other tracks intersect the Camino, and many people enjoy walking in this lovely area. There are quite a lot of informal faded yellow arrows pointing to S or SC. They are usually on the backs of lampposts and similar and are helpful once you've got your eye in.

In a couple of places where things seemed unclear I got in a complete muddle trying to read across from mapy.cz which shows topography and the route, but not where you are exactly, to the Brierley maps, not to scale, to Google maps which shows you where you are but not the route. Then a kind pilgrim burrowed under his poncho into his pack in the pouring rain to show me the Buen Camino maps on his phone. No more navigation problems.

Yes, in this direction you avoid the big climb between Santiago and Negreira. Seeing the many weary people coming towards me made me glad to be walking "backwards". The Brierley guide shows some scenic variants all of which I took, and which were good. There is enough albergue accomodation to enable shorter stages than the conventional ones. For me it was a slightly lonely walk as you don't have that meeting and re-meeting people thing that happens when everyone is walking in the same direction.

The approach to Santiago is lovely. A great view of the cathedral, then greenery and a very short urban stretch through attractive streets and straight up into the Obradoiro.

Buen Camino

 

[KJFSophie]

Hi KJF Sophie

I did this in May, catching the bus to Cee (lovely journey along the coast on the slower bus) then walking 12 k into Finisterra where I stopped for 2 nights, giving me a leisurely trip to the Cape and back.
I posted some notes about this in an earlier reply, but failed to cut and paste link so repeating here.

Finisterra to Muxia is no problem - alternate signs give directions both ways.
Finisterra to Hospital is described in detail in the Brierley guide but you have to read every detail. I overlooked a (+.3k) note and walked a k in the wrong direction.

The mojones are very carefully placed and angled and you can usually work out where the path has come from. Signs that you are on the right route include the distinctive granite v- shaped drainage channels diagonally across the path and surfaced or segregated paths alongside roads. Beware of assuming that anyone walking towards you is a pilgrim on the right path, especially at weekends. Other tracks intersect the Camino, and many people enjoy walking in this lovely area. There are quite a lot of informal faded yellow arrows pointing to S or SC. They are usually on the backs of lampposts and similar and are helpful once you've got your eye in.

In a couple of places where things seemed unclear I got in a complete muddle trying to read across from mapy.cz which shows topography and the route, but not where you are exactly, to the Brierley maps, not to scale, to Google maps which shows you where you are but not the route. Then a kind pilgrim burrowed under his poncho into his pack in the pouring rain to show me the Buen Camino maps on his phone. No more navigation problems.

Yes, in this direction you avoid the big climb between Santiago and Negreira. Seeing the many weary people coming towards me made me glad to be walking "backwards". The Brierley guide shows some scenic variants all of which I took, and which were good. There is enough albergue accomodation to enable shorter stages than the conventional ones. For me it was a slightly lonely walk as you don't have that meeting and re-meeting people thing that happens when everyone is walking in the same direction.

The approach to Santiago is lovely. A great view of the cathedral, then greenery and a very short urban stretch through attractive streets and straight up into the Obradoiro.

Buen Camino

Thank you Barbara, this is quite helpful.

 

[Kiwi-family]

We walked from Finisterre back to Santiago and the only problem we had was needing to stop and talk to people we had walked with earlier or who had heard about us (evidently walking with 4 kids who did their own washing and cooked meals was enough to become Camino-famous!)
We have also walked from Pamplona backwards to Saint Jean and that was not as straightforward.
Both were done without a map.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

We walked in May from Muxia to Santiago. It was enjoyable and not too difficult as we chose to walk that section in five days.
We stayed in Dumbria, Quintans, Vilaserio, Ventosa, then back to Santiago.

 

[Sidknee]

Looking for input from anyone who might have walked from Finisterre or Muxia back to Santiago. I'll be volunteering in Santiago sometime this spring/summer and because of time restrictions and minor health issues, I'll likely only be able to walk a week beforehand. I plan to fly to Santiago and unload, then bus to either Finisterre or Muxia and walk to Santiago. I've read in the direction to Finisterre, there are a few climbs and long days...I'm wondering if the climb becomes a great descent in reverse? ( makes sense ) and if the markers would be clear enough to navigate backwards. I've walked 8 Caminos, but never had the opportunity to walk to Finisterre ( just visit via bus ).
Hoping someone can shed some light on the plan. Thanks in advance!

Hola @KJFSophie

walked Santiago to Muxia on to Finisterre and then back to Santiago in September this year.

Toughest climb was heading out of Cee, approx 2km of reasonably tough climbing. Was raining and slippery. There were a couple of sharp descents between Finisterre and Cee.

After the hills immediately out of Cee, the remainder of the walk was relatively flat (some rambling hills, but nothing testing).

We did the total round trip in 7 days (3 Santiago to Muxia, 1 Muxia to Finisterre, 3 Finisterre to Santiago). Stayed in Albergue style accommodation.

The best part of the journey was the walk from Muxia to Finisterre. Coastal views are stunning.

There weren’t many Pilgrims walking back to Santiago. Might have been half a dozen that we ran into/or met.

Markers are easy to pickup. You’ve got so many walkers coming towards you, it would be difficult to get lost.

 

[peregrina2000]

Looking for input from anyone who might have walked from Finisterre or Muxia back to Santiago. I'll be volunteering in Santiago sometime this spring/summer and because of time restrictions and minor health issues, I'll likely only be able to walk a week beforehand. I plan to fly to Santiago and unload, then bus to either Finisterre or Muxia and walk to Santiago. I've read in the direction to Finisterre, there are a few climbs and long days...I'm wondering if the climb becomes a great descent in reverse? ( makes sense ) and if the markers would be clear enough to navigate backwards. I've walked 8 Caminos, but never had the opportunity to walk to Finisterre ( just visit via bus ).
Hoping someone can shed some light on the plan. Thanks in advance!

Hi, @KJFSophie, I am sorry to hear about your health issues, but happy to see how you will be dealing with them! A week from either Muxia or Finiesterre to Santiago sounds like a great little camino.

It is true that there are many fewer people walking to Santiago than from Santiago on this route, but I always see a handful every day when I’m walking from Santiago, so you won’t be a rarity. I would use GPS if walking “backwards,” but I think they have tried to position the mojones so they are useful for people walking in either direction.

If you have a week, you could probably walk from Finisterre-Muxia-Santiago or Muxia-Finisterre-Santiago. So you wouldn’t have to choose Finisterre OR Muxia, just choose where you want to start. Especially since the walk between Finisterre and Muxia is quite nice (though not on the coast at all), it’s a nice way to extend the walk a bit. Gronze has good info on both options.

If you don’t care about the Compostela, the easiest thing would probably be to walk from Santiago-Muxia-Finisterre or Santiago-Finisterre-Muxia. Then you will have company and won’t be the one going ”backwards.”

Buen camino, Laurie