Vilalba to Arzua: Accommodations and how to break this section up

[Elizabeth Cheung]

So after you leave Vilalba, it looks like accommodations and distances get sparse and long. In particular the stretch Baamonde to Sobrado dos Monxes is 40 km long! I am trying to figure out how to break this up and be able to pre book if I want a bag transfer. There is a part of me that is considering getting a bus from Vilalba to Melide and just connecting with the Francis. Thoughts? I see from the Camino Way itinerary that this section involves pick and transfer back to a common point of stay. Anyone done this and know how it works?

 

[trecile]

So after you leave Vilalba, it looks like accommodations and distances get sparse and long. In particular the stretch Baamonde to Sobrado dos Monxes is 40 km long! I am trying to figure out how to break this up and be able to pre book if I want a bag transfer. There is a part of me that is considering getting a bus from Vilalba to Melide and just connecting with the Francis. Thoughts? I see from the Camino Way itinerary that this section involves pick and transfer back to a common point of stay. Anyone done this and know how it works?

You can stop in Miraz - 33.49 km from Vilalba, then onto Sobrado dos Monxes - 25.44
or Vilalba to Santa Leocadia - 26.41 km, then onto Sobrado dos Monxes 32.52 km
That's just a couple of options

 

[trecile]

You can break it up even further by stopping in Baamonde between Vilalba and Miraz. I made these stages on the Buen Camino app

 

[peregrina2000]

Just because I loved this place so much, and just to back up a little, I would highly recommend staying in Albergue O Xistral after Abadín. It is great. You can see the map here. https://www.gronze.com/etapa/gontan/vilalba

I walked from O Xistral through Vilalba and on to Baamonde. That’s about 34, I think, but it is pretty much all flat. I have stayed in the albergue in Vilalba (it is at least a km out of town in a modern looking depressing building) and found the town to be a pretty sad place as well, so I was not anxious to repeat.

From Baamonde, I walked past Miraz and on to A Roxica (private albergue, fine, nothing special) and then had a really short day into Sobrado. Your choices from Baamonde, if you don’t want to walk the 40-plus kms from Baamonde into Sobrado is to either have a very short first day to Miraz or a very short second day into Sobrado. I chose the latter, because I wanted to have plenty of time to visit the monastery. I very much liked this part of the walk, even though from Roxica to Sobrado is pretty much all on asphalt.

 

[andycohn]

Echoing Trecile, you can stop at Baamonde first. If you need to pre-book for baggage transport, you can do so at Hostal Ruta Esmerelda. They’re not on booking.com, but you can reserve through their web site at www.complejorutaesmerelda.com. After Baamonde is Miraz, where you can pre-book at O Abrigo, which has both private annd dorm rooms. E-mail is o_abrigo_@hotmail.com. In Sobrado dos Monxes, best choice is the monastery, which is spectacular, annd has both private and dorm rooms. The albergue part does not take reservations, but you can ship your bag to them in advance (we shipped my wife’s bag there, as she had hurt her back). You can e-mail them as a courtesy to alert them that the bag is coming. sobradoalbergue@gmail.com. If you prefer a private room there, you can reserve those. It has a separate e-mail address: sobradohospederia@gmail.com.

After Sobrado, I would suggest taking the new camino, which branches off to the right just beyonnd Boimorto. This avoids the hook-up with the very crowded Frances at Arzua, and instead meets the Frannces at A Rua / O Pedrouzo, or even latter near the Santiago airport. If you do this, you will have a short day from Sobrado to Boimorto (12 k), where you can makke reservations at Casa da Gandara (private or dorm rooms). Their e-mail is ribelma1@hotmail.com, or you can book through booking.com. After Boimorto, I would suggest following the new route to O Rua / O Pedrouzo, where there are dozens of possibilities. Boimorto to O Rua is approximately 23 kilometers. From there to Santiago is another 20 kilometers along the Frances. For more information about the new routing of thhe Camino after Boimorto, see this thread: https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...avacolla-and-avoid-the-hordes-at-arzúa.58359/.

For more information about possible lodgings, consult gronze.com (in Spanish, but if you open in google chrome, it will automatically translate into English), and and the Wisely / Wise Pilgrim app, avialable for free on this forum. In addition to lodgings, Wisely also gives you a gps map, which will include the new route to Santiago.

Buen camino!

 

[trecile]

After Sobrado, I would suggest taking the new camino, which branches off to the right just beyonnd Boimorto.

Is luggage transport available on this section?

 

[andycohn]

Yes. With Correos, for sure. But there's no issue because there's no place to stop on the new section. You go directly from Boimorto on the Norte to either Rua / Pedrouzo (23 k) or Lavacolla (28 k) on the Frances.

 

[peregrina2000]

In Sobrado dos Monxes, best choice is the monastery, which is spectacular, annd has both private and dorm rooms. The albergue part does not take reservations, but you can ship your bag to them in advance (we shipped my wife’s bag there, as she had hurt her back). You can e-mail them as a courtesy to alert them that the bag is coming. sobradoalbergue@gmail.com. If you prefer a private room there, you can reserve those. It has a separate e-mail address: sobradohospederia@gmail.com.

I can’t tell from your post or from the monastery’s website whether the hospederia part of the monastery is available only to people who will stay for several days in religious retreat mode. I think that is a pretty common requirement for monasteries’ hospederías. But maybe the market pressures have made them change course —there aren’t too many options in Sobrado for people who don’t want to stay in an albergue.

 

[oursonpolaire]

@peregrina2000 - I found Vilalba an agreeable town, but one which is not very peregrinocentric. The pueblo's plaza is very lively and I have watched kids' pickup football games there, as well as a roller derby demonstration (¡Viva Jabatas Ourense! ¡Vamos Sereas Bravas de Vigo!). I found Os Pios, a very nice restaurant on the pedestrian street (Porta de Cima) which serves as a few blocks on the Camino, and had an interesting evening eating pulpo with a young woman who had graduated with some difficulty from police college and was walking the Camino in performance of a vow she made to the Virgin for getting her into the college-- I will never look at pistol-toting señoritas the same way again. But Vilalba is a working town and pilgrims are not the focus of attention here. I have stayed at the Parador, one of the least expensive around, and at the workaday Hotel Vila Do Alba, which is on the way into the town.

The Ruta Esmeralda in Baamonde provides one with the interesting experience of staying in a room above the automobile repair shop, but is comfortable and late 1960s in decor. The restaurant is decent but there is a lively café beside the albergue in the village, and it had excellent food.

As well as the albergue in Miraz (may I point out the excellent hot water system, largely built with funds donated by the Canadian Company of Pilgrim?), there is an excellent if not cheap casa rural in Reguela (the Bi-Terra) run by a Basque cook and his English-speaking wife. They will collect you from Miraz and deposit you back there the next day.

Do not miss a chance to see the monastery in Sobrado. I was given a great tour by a friar-tuckish English monk, talkative like most Cistercians (they've let loose after 3 centuries of silence!) but very attentive to the spiritual state of the pilgrims with whom I spoke. There is a San Marcos hotel on the plaza opposite the monastery gate but I do not know of anyone who has stayed there, nor do I know if the monastery provides hospitality to pilgrims.

@Elizabeth Cheung : Correos did my pack transport on the del Norte as, after schlepping it over the plains of Catalonia and the hills of Aragon, I was quick sick of carrying it. Text them (in English at +34 683 44 00 22) the evening before and for 5€ they will get it to your next destination. In my experience they were cheerful and efficient. Note that if you bus to Melide and continue to walk from there, you will have a real challenge getting your Compostela, if that be one of your goals.

 

[Elizabeth Cheung]

@peregrina2000 - I found Vilalba an agreeable town, but one which is not very peregrinocentric. The pueblo's plaza is very lively and I have watched kids' pickup football games there, as well as a roller derby demonstration (¡Viva Jabatas Ourense! ¡Vamos Sereas Bravas de Vigo!). I found Os Pios, a very nice restaurant on the pedestrian street (Porta de Cima) which serves as a few blocks on the Camino, and had an interesting evening eating pulpo with a young woman who had graduated with some difficulty from police college and was walking the Camino in performance of a vow she made to the Virgin for getting her into the college-- I will never look at pistol-toting señoritas the same way again. But Vilalba is a working town and pilgrims are not the focus of attention here. I have stayed at the Parador, one of the least expensive around, and at the workaday Hotel Vila Do Alba, which is on the way into the town.

The Ruta Esmeralda in Baamonde provides one with the interesting experience of staying in a room above the automobile repair shop, but is comfortable and late 1960s in decor. The restaurant is decent but there is a lively café beside the albergue in the village, and it had excellent food.

As well as the albergue in Miraz (may I point out the excellent hot water system, largely built with funds donated by the Canadian Company of Pilgrim?), there is an excellent if not cheap casa rural in Reguela (the Bi-Terra) run by a Basque cook and his English-speaking wife. They will collect you from Miraz and deposit you back there the next day.

Do not miss a chance to see the monastery in Sobrado. I was given a great tour by a friar-tuckish English monk, talkative like most Cistercians (they've let loose after 3 centuries of silence!) but very attentive to the spiritual state of the pilgrims with whom I spoke. There is a San Marcos hotel on the plaza opposite the monastery gate but I do not know of anyone who has stayed there, nor do I know if the monastery provides hospitality to pilgrims.

@Elizabeth Cheung : Correos did my pack transport on the del Norte as, after schlepping it over the plains of Catalonia and the hills of Aragon, I was quick sick of carrying it. Text them (in English at +34 683 44 00 22) the evening before and for 5€ they will get it to your next destination. In my experience they were cheerful and efficient. Note that if you bus to Melide and continue to walk from there, you will have a real challenge getting your Compostela, if that be one of your goals.

Thanks for all that info! Are the places you mentioned staying at on the gronze site? I’ll have a look on wise pilgrim as well

 

[andycohn]

I can’t tell from your post or from the monastery’s website whether the hospederia part of the monastery is available only to people who will stay for several days in religious retreat mode. I think that is a pretty common requirement for monasteries’ hospederías. But maybe the market pressures have made them change course —there aren’t too many options in Sobrado for people who don’t want to stay in an albergue.

We stayed in the hospederia for only one night last June, and there was no requirement to take part in any of the church’s ceremonies. Indeed, we weren’t even asked, and were treated basically like hotel guests. But the website is indeed confusing, and gronze doesn’t even mention the fact that there are private rooms available at the monastery. The private rooms are just one floor above the dorm rooms, not in a separate building or anything. I think we were the only guests at the time, and there was a whole wing full of rooms (maybe 20 or more). The dorm, too, was pretty empty. Strange, because it’s a spectacular place to stay. And as of last June, there were no other private rooms in Sobrado because the Hotel San Marcus was closed for renovations. I don’t know if it’s re-opened.

 

[Elizabeth Cheung]

The monastery looks amazing! Can't wait to stay there. You are right, the web site is a bit confusing. What were the rates for a room? Also, it says on Gronze the monastery is closed everyday from 10 to 4:30 pm. Did you have to wait until after 4 to check in?

 

[Elizabeth Cheung]

Oh and I have a question about Miraz. I've read somewhere that there is no place to eat there and you need to bring supplies with you from Baamode if you stay there. Is that true?

 

[andycohn]

Oh and I have a question about Miraz. I've read somewhere that there is no place to eat there and you need to bring supplies with you from Baamode if you stay there. Is that true?

The room rates at the monastery in Sobrado were pretty high. My memory is around 60 euros for a double. The albergue / dorm was obviously a lot cheaper, and if I had to do it again, I. would opt for the albergue because it was pretty empty. A totally spectacular place overall. I think we did have to wait to check in. My memory is they were open until about 1:30, and then closed for a few hours. But if you do have to wait, there are a few bars / restaurants to hang out in right nearby.

As to Miraz, the albergue I mentioned in my post above - O Abrigo - has its own (inexpensive) restaurant / cafe. I don’t know about other options in Miraz. It’s a pretty sleepy town, I don’t remember any markets or restaurants. But O Abrigo is quite lovely, and comfortable.

BTW, if you plan on using correos to ship your bag, they will tell you which albergues / hotels they deliver to. They speak English, and you can contact them by phone or email. They really saved our camino when mmy wife got hurt.

 

[Antonius Vaessen]

Lieke peregrina I stages in O Zo strak which indeed was a verg Nice Albertus. I think not many pilgrims stay there, perhaps because of its isolated location. That 's a pity while te hospitalero made quite an investment to create a nice, special albergue with a big garden with hammocks a "swimming" pool and so on. I stayed also in Baamonde and A Roxica.

 

[Antonius Vaessen]

Of course I meant O Xistral. My spell checker was still set to dutch

 

[oursonpolaire]

Thanks for all that info! Are the places you mentioned staying at on the gronze site? I’ll have a look on wise pilgrim as well

Probably. It can't hurt to look.

 

[intrepidtraveler]

Another alternative is to continue on past Baamonde and stay at Albergue Witericus. For me the distance from Vilalba to Miraz was a little too long. Albergue Witericus is about 5k before Miraz. A very lovely facility run by a mother-daughter team.

 

[backpack45scb]

We stayed at Hostal Ruta Esmeralda in Baamonde. We stopped at Albergue Witericus for a snack, looked at their very nice facilities but too soon to stop so went on to Miraz where there were three places to stay. We stayed at O Abrigo, a nice new facility, and walked back to visit San Martin, the albergue run by Confraternity of St. James out of London. Also a very nice place. From there we had a short day, stopping at A Roxica, staying at Casa Roxica. Next day to Sobrado dos Monxes, staying at the Lecer.

 

[sherryd]

How do I get the Buen Camino app?

You can break it up even further by stopping in Baamonde between Vilalba and Miraz. I made these stages on the Buen Camino app
View attachment 51995

 

[trecile]

How do I get the Buen Camino app?

You can get it from a link on their website, it's available for Android and iPhone. The site is in Spanish but the app will be in the language of your choice. https://www.editorialbuencamino.com/app-del-camino-de-santiago/

I like being able to play around with the daily stages on it, and adjust as I go along.

 

[sherryd]

You can get it from a link on their website, it's available for Android and iPhone. The site is in Spanish but the app will be in the language of your choice. https://www.editorialbuencamino.com/app-del-camino-de-santiago/

I like being able to play around with the daily stages on it, and adjust as I go along.

Thank you. Is it an app that include gps tracking/pedometer to be able to use as I am walking?

 

[trecile]

Thank you. Is it an app that include gps tracking/pedometer to be able to use as I am walking?

Yes, you download the maps etc. via the app. You can always see where you are on the Camino, or if you strayed how to get back on the Camino. It also shows you in real time how far it is to the next town. However it's not a pedometer.

 

[HighlandsHiker]

I can’t tell from your post or from the monastery’s website whether the hospederia part of the monastery is available only to people who will stay for several days in religious retreat mode. I think that is a pretty common requirement for monasteries’ hospederías. But maybe the market pressures have made them change course —there aren’t too many options in Sobrado for people who don’t want to stay in an albergue.

I stayed at the Hospederia at Sobrado dos Monxes, Laurie, and only stayed the one night. It was a bit of a struggle to get booked in. I emailed them early in the day, but they hadn't responded by the time I got to Sobrado. In Sobrado they had an unusual way of taking people into the albergue. A lay person in charge ignored the "first backpack in line" way of doing things and ordered the mostly young kids to line up at an alternative door that wasn't marked. I was first there and last to get in and the guy kept barking people around without a way of asking questions. Being very tired, I decided to ask another person about the Hospederia, and was referred to the ticket area for day-visitors. The monk staffing the ticket counter asked me to wait, took in about 40 minutes of day-visitors, and then called the monk in charge of the Hospederia who eventually came and took me to a very nice private room inside a locked area. He spoke French, so we were able to get instructions and questions communicated easily. I think the cost was 30 Euro for the night there. I wouldn't have missed seeing that place or being present at Vespers for anything.

 

[Pelegrin]

We stayed at Hostal Ruta Esmeralda in Baamonde. We stopped at Albergue Witericus for a snack, looked at their very nice facilities but too soon to stop so went on to Miraz where there were three places to stay. We stayed at O Abrigo, a nice new facility, and walked back to visit San Martin, the albergue run by Confraternity of St. James out of London. Also a very nice place. From there we had a short day, stopping at A Roxica, staying at Casa Roxica. Next day to Sobrado dos Monxes, staying at the Lecer.

The Swebian Witericus was the founder in the 6Th century of Guitiriz (name derived from Witeric/Witericus ) for its medicin waters. Guitiriz is the capital of the municipalty where the albergue is located.

 

[AJGuillaume]

@Elizabeth Cheung , last year, we walked:
Vilalba to:
Baamonde stayed at Hostal Ruta Esmeralda 18,8km
Miraz stayed at O Abrigo Hostel 16,6km
Then we went off Camino to:
Reguela stayed at Bi Terra 14km
Back on the Camino:
Sobrado dos Monxes stayed at Monasterio Cisterciense 15,8km
A Gandara (Boimorto) stayed at Casa da Gandara (Maribel is fantastic!) 11,8km
Finally to:
Arzua 10,2km

This might be breaking up the stages too much for you, but I thought I would share what we did.

Buen Camino
Andrew

 

[peregrina2000]

@peregrina2000 - I found Vilalba an agreeable town, but one which is not very peregrinocentric. The pueblo's plaza is very lively and I have watched kids' pickup football games there, as well as a roller derby demonstration (¡Viva Jabatas Ourense! ¡Vamos Sereas Bravas de Vigo!). I found Os Pios, a very nice restaurant on the pedestrian street (Porta de Cima) which serves as a few blocks on the Camino, and had an interesting evening eating pulpo with a young woman who had graduated with some difficulty from police college and was walking the Camino in performance of a vow she made to the Virgin for getting her into the college-- I will never look at pistol-toting señoritas the same way again. But Vilalba is a working town and pilgrims are not the focus of attention here. I have stayed at the Parador, one of the least expensive around, and at the workaday Hotel Vila Do Alba, which is on the way into the town.

Just to be fair, this article suggests that I was too harsh on Vilalba. I may have to give it another chance. I do remember the bridge that is pictured, that was a lovely quiet spot in a cool wooded area. And my friend stayed in the parador, so I have been in the tower pictured too. I guess my opinion may be jaded by the fact that no ATM in town would take my card, and that I got the worst bocadillo I have ever had in Spain in a bar there.

Vilalba, parada de peregrinos del Camino de Santiago de Compostela

Vilalba, parada de peregrinos del Camino de Santiago de Compostela

www.larazon.es

 

[oursonpolaire]

Generally in Spain, even the bar food is excellent, so I can well understand your fury at a bad bocadillo.