The Camino de Santiago: the French Way

A hundred kilometres on foot to the Plaza do Obradoiro.

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Where it goes

El mojón del kilómetro 100
From here you qualify for the Compostela certificate, which is why Sarria is where most pilgrims walking the French Way in a week start out.
Convento de la Magdalena
For many, the first stamp of the walk. It sits at the bottom of the climb, so you get stamped before leaving town.
Rúa Maior y la escalinata
The cobbled old-town street the route leaves by. This is where the shops are if you still need to buy your pilgrim credential.
Iglesia de Santa Mariña
Its façade carries the pilgrim mural. It is the usual meeting point before the morning stage.

Iglesia de San Xoán (San Nicolás)
It was taken apart stone by stone and rebuilt higher up when the old village was flooded by the Belesar reservoir. The numbers on the stones are still visible in the masonry.
La escalinata sobre el Miño
The stairway up into the village after you cross the bridge. It is the climb everyone remembers from this stage, coming right after 22 km on foot.
Restos del pueblo viejo
When the reservoir drops, the old houses and the medieval bridge reappear. It depends on the year and the season: they are not always showing.
La aguardiente de Portomarín
The village holds its own festival for its orujo spirit, at Easter. Any bar on the square will serve it to you the rest of the year.

Queserías de Arzúa-Ulloa
The local cheese with its own denomination of origin. It is sold in the village shops and is the classic refuelling stop on this stage.
Capilla de la Magdalena
What remains of the old Augustinian priory that looked after pilgrims. It stands on the street the route enters by.
Iglesia de Santiago
The last church of St James before the cathedral's. Get your credential stamped here: 39 km to go.
Confluencia con el Camino del Norte
This is where the French Way and the Northern Way merge, so from this point on the path is noticeably busier.

Catedral de Santiago y el Botafumeiro
The end of the Camino. The Botafumeiro censer does not swing every day: check the cathedral's calendar before counting on seeing it.
Oficina de Acogida al Peregrino
Where you hand in your stamped credential and collect your Compostela. It is on rúa Carretas, five minutes from the cathedral, and there is a queue by mid-morning.
Praza do Obradoiro
The square you finally arrive in, with the baroque façade in front of you. It is where everyone who has walked here takes the photo.
Misa del Peregrino
Midday at the cathedral, with a reading of where that day's arriving pilgrims set out from.
Mercado de Abastos
The second most visited spot in the city. You buy the fish downstairs and they cook it for you on the spot.

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