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Guidebook to walking the Camino dos Faros, the way of the lighthouses, along the Galician coast in northwest Spain. The 200km route is described across 8 stages of between 17 and 29km and takes in some of the area's most wild and enchanting coastal scenery, with dramatic cliffs and deep river estuaries. Incorporates some challenging walking.
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A guidebook to walking the Camino dos Faros, the Way of the Lighthouses, between Malpica and Fisterra. Covering 200km (124 miles), this pilgrimage route along the Galician coast in northwest Spain takes around 1 week and is suitable for any reasonably fit walker.
The route is described from north to south in 8 stages, each between 17 and 29km (11–18 miles) in length. Optional shortcuts are given where possible to allow you to adapt the route to suit you.
Map key
Overview map
Route summary table
Introduction
Camiño dos Faros – a Galician coastal walk
Camiño dos Faros and the sea
The Costa da Morte
Flora and fauna
What’s the walking like?
The eight day schedule
Food and accommodation
Planning your walk
Getting there
What to take
Finding your way
Using this guide
Camiño dos Faros
Stage 1 Malpica to Praia de Niñóns
Stage 2 Praia de Niñóns to Ponteceso
Stage 3 Ponteceso to Laxe
Stage 4 Laxe to Arou
Stage 5 Arou to Camariñas
Stage 6 Camariñas to Muxía
Stage 7 Muxía to Praia de Nemiña
Stage 8 Praia de Nemiña to Cabo Fisterra
Appendix A Trek planning table
Appendix B Accommodation
Appendix C Main Galician festivals
Appendix D Useful contacts
June 2025
Thank you to John Davies for the following updates and recommendations
With only 5 walking days available we had to cut out the long, inland stage (6) and took 2 strategic shortcuts so that we could complete within our constrained timeframe. We were fully equipped for camping but the weather dictated otherwise. Here are my suggested amendments, based on what we did walk.
Getting to Malpica
We took the airport bus to the centre of Santiago, almost immediately got on a small bus/minibus from the bus station to Carballo and then took a €24 taxi ride straight to Malpica. Shared between 2, this came out at about £17 per person for a speedy transfer from airport to trailhead.
We started the route at 4pm on our air flight/travelling day... in pouring rain. Listed accommodation at Casa Vasca and Az Garzas (p 35) was full but they kindly passed us on to Cabanas de Barizo (900m up the road). We got a delightful 2-bedroom cabin with cosy woodburner for €95 ... an extravagance but needs must! The restaurant La Ratundo has replaced the Bar Xan (Page 35) and is a delightful place, and very reasonably priced.
We walked one and a half stages the next day to Ponteceso, which was tough, for anyone else considering it. Praia do Ninons to Corme was particularly brutal and quite overgrown. For information, we wanted early (7am) starts but shops along the Cost da Morte don't tend to open until 9am, which is a problem, supply-wise. In Ponteceso there is a really good pizzeria and bar within 75m of the Pension Teyma and the only one that opened at 7.
Stage 5
The route no longer seems to go over the giant sand dune, Duna de Monte Branco, but the green dots now lead you on a contour around the headland.
Stage 7
The gorse is king here and bare legs got lacerated.
Stage 8
Walking from Faro Fisterra into Fisterra is more like 3/3.25km (Page 93)
The bus ride from Fisterra back to Santiago took only an hour, much to the astonishment of most passengers who expected the full 3hr 15min. No explanation.. but it was clearly direct!
Overall, a brilliant walk and John's guide an invaluable companion. Sections of the walk are really quite neglected now and many green markers are so faded as to be invisible. We were caught out numerous times by faded/indistinct signage. The promised GR red and white flashes have not materialised.
July 2022
For those planning lunch on Stage 1 the Bar Xan and Restaurant Seiruga were recently reported as closed, although the Restaurant Seiruga may open in the summer
June 2022
p35 - the Restuarant O Xan - the best place en route to buy a sandwich - is now closed, so if not stopping for a meal at either of the other two restaurants buy a sandwich in Malpica.
p65 - the cafe at the lighthouse Faro de Cabo Vilan is shut so buy a sandwich at Arou.
November 2021
One of our customers, Ferdinand, walked the route in early October and while he enjoyed excellent weather, made a number of points that should be considered if walking late in the year and out of the holiday season.
Firstly he found a number of the bars and lunch spots mentioned in the guide closed - this may be a seasonal thing or it may be that some of these businesses haven't survived Covid. In particular, the Michelin starred As Garvas was shut on Monday (many Spanish restaurants if they open on Sunday shut on Monday) and the Bar Xan looks like its closure might be more permanent.
He also discovered that in October there is no direct bus from A Coruna to Malpica at the weekend and that you need to change at Carballo, something not mentioned in the guide. The guide does recommend that travel arrangements are checked using the wonderful RometoRio website and this usually provides up-to-date information direct from the operators' websites.
Ferdinand also speculated that it would be possible to cut across the Rio Grande at low tide after Praia do Arino and avoid some of the inland track to Ponte do Porte and indeed the whole river bed is used by locals to harvest shellfish. This is not the recommended route however as far as Camino dos Faros Association is concerned although they do identify other low tide shortcuts later in the walk.
The GR white-red waymarkers have not yet been installed and the trail still uses the green markers, but Ferdinand found the GPX traces generally accurate and helpful.
Despite the out of season feel, Ferdinand recommends the route in October and, although there are some closures, helpfully found some previously unidentified and recommended accommodation after Cereixo - the Casa Rural de Cereixo (www.casaruraldecereixo.com) .
John Hayes is a retired management consultant with degrees from Liverpool University and University College London. Immediately after finishing work in 2011 he embarked on an epic 5,000km trek across Europe, walking from Tarifa in Spain to Budapest. John has written for numerous walking and trekking magazines, and has written four walking guides and a cycling guide for Cicerone.
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