In August, I went on a 5 day walking trek on part of the Camino de Santiago, a set of trails dating 1,000+ years through Spain to the cathedral in Santiago. This post covers days 3 and 4 of the hike. I plan a followup post on the final Day 5 into Santiago.

Both days were great, and the trail also felt both a bit busier and more festive as it neared the end in Santiago. I remember in Day 4 recording a few video clips for posterity (not included here) of groups chanting and singing along the trail, which felt fairly unique and atmospheric.

Day 3: Palas de Rei to Arzua, via Melide

Day 3, from Palas de Rei to Arzua, was the longest-scheduled day at 28.5 km (17.8 miles), and could have easily been split into 2 days, especially because Melide is roughly in the middle. All-in, the day was 33.1 km (20.7 miles) and 42k steps according to my phone.

Since the day was projected to be a longer walk, I got going a little earlier, and ended up seeing the sunrise on my way out of town. I really enjoyed the view of the sun over the surrounding farms.

It wasn’t as early as one might expect- even in the late summer, sunrise was relatively late at roughly 7:45am, given how far west Spain is within its time zone.

From there, I followed along the path, via forests and farms. The trail went though the town of O Coto, roughly 8 km into the walk. In the towns were small churches, some of which would have a stamp for the completion booklet. Otherwise, some wonderful views.

Melide

Eventually, I approached Melide, which was the largest mid-point town on the whole trip, and roughly 14 km into the day’s 28km walk. With 9,000 people, it was a proper town with enough to do, and where one could have spent the night.

There were many bustling restaurants, that day effectively serving a substantial Sunday late breakfast. I used it as an opportunity to get a late morning coffee and small pastry at a cafe along the way. I could have totally spent more time here.

(Note: for Americans used to spending $10+ at Starbucks for a coffee drink & food, it was also a good value; I spent €2.70 all-in on the cappuccino + small pastry, and that was with table service. The items weren’t the ginormous American size, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.)

One other thing I saw – there was a street-side churro stand, where the vendor was frying churros in a vat of oil on the side of the sidewalk. Since this was a novelty for me, I decided to get an small order of 6, wrapped in paper, for €2.

After enjoying my churros, I went on with the day. Overall, it was a selection of forests, streams and farms, that are hard to convey by pictures. It was a long day, but quite nice.

I will say that, given the day’s length, I was quite happy to see the road approaching Arzua, and get to the hotel around 3pm. After crashing at the hotel and taking a shower, I did walk around town a bit, though not as much was open because it was a Sunday. I took it relatively easy, given the long day, had a nice dinner, and turned in.

Day 4: Arzua to A Rua

Day 4, from Arzua to A Rua, was the shortest scheduled day at 17.7 km (11 miles). It was 21.9 km (13.7 miles) and 27k steps according to my phone.

I really enjoyed my breakfast this morning in Arzua. Actually, I enjoyed probably all of them on the trip – so much nicer than the average hotel breakfast at home, but this one in particular was one of my favorites.

I realized that morning that I hadn’t taken any real photos of Arzua the previous afternoon, so photographed the church and the hikers going through the Camino through the town, in a couple of the photos above. The Camino can go from a dirt or gravel trail by the forest or farms, to a paved trail, to even the main street through a town.

One thing that was neat about the trail in general were groups of folks doing this together, chanting, laughing, and such. I have a few photos here – above and below – but it made for a nice atmosphere.

Otherwise, this was a shorter day, I continued along the way. In the latter days, I felt like I was more in a groove, that it was easier to find places to stop, places to get stamps on the completion booklet, and interactions in general. It’s also interesting to imagine folks walking across Spain, on this same trail, 500+ years ago.

Since it was a shorter day, I got to my hotel in A Rua around 12:30pm. This location was reasonable, but unlike the other stops, it wasn’t necessarily a full town like the others. There was a cluster of hotels and restaurants around there, and I did really enjoy the lunch that I had there. Given what else was in the area, it did make sense though, and I enjoyed the rest from the previous days.

More From Our Blog

Keep reading our travel blog for more adventures on the Camino de Santiago: