A short, gentle day, used by most walkers to rest before the mountains. It climbs over a wooded ridge out of Tineo, passes the turn for the ruined monastery of Obona, then follows a quiet road through Campiello, the last place with a shop. Borres has only two albergues with 30 dorm beds and one private room, no shop, and in 2026 no open bar, so book La Montera or have a backup in Campiello, El Espín or Colinas de Arriba.
Short day: 9.9 milesObona monastery detour, mile 5Last shop at Campiello, mile 8Only 30 beds in BorresRoute splits 0.7 miles past Borres
Distance
9.9 miles15.9 km
Climbing
960 ft up1,170 ft down
High point
2,940 ftLow point 1,900 ft
Walking time
4 to 5 hours
Difficulty
Easy
Beds in Borres
2 placesVery few
Map of the stage
Places to stay in Borres
Nearby, if Borres is full
Look out for
The walk12Places to stay: green for dorms, blue for rooms3Other places to stayASightsVillages on the wayDashed ring: position approximate
The line is the waymarked route as OpenStreetMap has it. Places to stay are where Gronze or their own websites put them. Tap a marker for details; the numbers and letters match the cards and the lists below.
Where to sleep in Borres
2 places · Very few
Just two albergues with 30 dorm beds and a single private apartment between them. The municipal albergue is open all year but takes no bookings; La Montera takes bookings and closes on 5 October. Backups are 1.1 and 1.9 miles back, or 2.8 miles on.
Public albergue · dormPilgrims onlyOpen all year
Albergue de peregrinos Santa María
Basic municipal albergue in the old village school, run by a Camino association. Old bunks up to three high, electric heaters, a microwave and no kitchen or washing machine.
Beds
20 dorm beds in one room, in bunks up to three high
Price
Dorm €9
Season
All year
Where
In the old school on the outskirts, at the village entrance; the turn is signed about 550 yards before Borres
Meals
Microwave only; no kitchen or meals. Disposable sheets
Booking
No reservations: first come, first served. Gronze says to register at bar El Barín, which was closed in May 2026, so phone ahead
Renovated stone farmhouse opened in 2019, with handmade wooden bunks, each with a locker and lamp, and a kitchen. Its one private room is a small apartment on the lower floor with its own bathroom. It fills fast, so book.
Beds
10 dorm beds in five bunks, and one private apartment with two single beds (a third can be added)
Price
Dorm €19; private room price not published
Season
1 April to 5 October
Where
At the village entrance, 55 yards from the route
Meals
Shared kitchen with hob, microwave, fridge and coffee maker; no meals
Booking
Phone or email; second phone +34 647 857 856. Check-in 13:00 to 18:00
In El Espín, 1.1 miles back along the route (east of Borres), 160 yards off it down a signed turn
Small donation albergue opened in 2023, with a communal dinner and breakfast; hosts speak Spanish, English and Italian. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays, and it does not accept forwarded luggage.
Beds
11 dorm beds in one room
Price
Donation, with dinner and breakfast
Season
Holy Week to 31 October; closed Mondays and Tuesdays
2.8 miles past Borres, on the Pola de Allande route
At Colinas de Arriba, 2.8 miles west of Borres on the Pola de Allande route, about 2.1 miles past the fork where the routes split; a steep signed path from the door climbs to the Hospitales route
Modern albergue opened in 2022 on a large plot with a bar-restaurant, garden and a telescope for stargazing. Walkers praise the dinner, and a steep path from its door climbs to the Hospitales route, so you lose little of it by sleeping here.
Beds
20 dorm beds in four rooms (two of 4, two of 6) and one double room
Price
Dorm €19 (€22.50 with breakfast on Gronze); double €60; dinner €12
Season
6 March to 31 October
Meals
Bar-restaurant; dinner €12 at 19:00, order by 16:30; breakfast; Gronze lists a guest kitchen
Booking
Booking.com, phone, WhatsApp or email; second phone +34 673 025 752. Check-in from 12:30
EasyUnder 10 miles with under 1,000 ft of climbing and food at Campiello, though about 3 miles are on a narrow road with traffic.
Guides' own ratings: Gronze: 2 of 5. Eroski rates its longer Tineo to Pola de Allande stage media
Underfoot. Lanes and dirt tracks on the climb out of Tineo, forest tracks down into the Obona valley, about 3 miles on the narrow TI-3 local road from Villaluz to beyond Campiello, and a track for the last stretch into Borres.
The day leaves Tineo from the town-hall square and climbs steeply past the church of San Pedro, then on a lane that becomes a dirt track across the hillside, with good views back over the town. It tops out at about 2,900 ft around the Alto de Guardia and the Alto de Piedratecha, about 3 to 4 miles in, where it runs beside the AS-350 road before a wooded track drops into the valley of the river Deina. At a well-signed junction about 5 miles in, a detour of about 870 yards leads to the monastery of Obona. The main route stays fairly level through oak and chestnut woods, then climbs to the hamlet of Villaluz. From there it follows the TI-3 local road, with care, through Vega del Rey and Berrugoso to Campiello, then on past El Fresno and El Espín. A track leaves the road for the last stretch into Borres, with the turn for the municipal albergue signed about 550 yards before the village.
Good to know
Buy food and get cash in Tineo or Campiello: Borres has no shop and no cash machine, and Gronze reported its only bar, El Barín, temporarily closed in May 2026.
A walker found the Campiello shop, at Casa Ricardo, already closed at 4 pm in May 2026, so don't count on it late in the day.
Walkers have reported Borres's albergues and bar as cash only, and one found no cash machine in Berducedo either, so carry enough for two nights.
The church at Obona is locked: ask for the key at bar Casa Bernardín in Obona village (+34 985 804 052), open daily except at midday.
The Obona detour adds about 1 mile and half an hour, more if you fetch the key.
From Villaluz to beyond El Espín the route follows the TI-3, a narrow road with no shoulder and some lorries; walk in single file facing the traffic.
The next day's choice comes just after Borres: the Hospitales and Pola de Allande routes split at a signed fork about 0.7 miles past the village, so check the mountain forecast the evening before. Gronze says to take the Pola de Allande route in fog, snow, a bad forecast or winter.
Along the way
Start
Tineo
All services
Mile 5.0
Obona (detour)
Ruined monastery 870 yards off the route; bar Casa Bernardín in the village keeps the church key
Mile 6.2
Villaluz
Fountain; no bar or shop
Mile 8.0
Campiello
Two albergues, bar-restaurants and a shop
Mile 8.8
El Espín
Donation albergue 160 yards off the route
Mile 9.9
Borres
Two albergues; no shop or cash machine; bar El Barín temporarily closed (Gronze, May 2026)
Tradition says the monastery was founded in 780 by Adelgaster, a son of King Silo, but the founding charter is thought to be a later forgery, and the first reliable records are from the 10th century. It became an important Benedictine house, and its Romanesque church, with three naves and three apses, dates from the late 12th or early 13th century; it was declared a national monument in 1982. The cloister, begun in the 17th century, was never finished, and the monastic buildings are now in ruins.
The king's order
In 1222 Alfonso IX of León ordered that pilgrims bound for Santiago pass through his town of Tineo and the monastery of Obona, and threatened anyone who led them another way. The monks sheltered pilgrims in their guesthouse. From Obona the old Camino Real ran on through Villaluz, Vega del Rey, Campiello and El Fresno to Borres, the line the route still follows.
Borres and the Hospitales
Borres had a pilgrim hospital, and its parish church of Santa María, with a single nave and an old font, is said to be one of the oldest in the council of Tineo. Just beyond the village the route splits: the higher way over the mountains is named for the ruined medieval hospitals that sheltered pilgrims on the pass.
Look out for
Mile 1.9
Mirador de Letizia. A viewpoint on the climb out of Tineo, looking back over the town and its valley.
Mile 5.0
Monastery of Obona. A signed detour of about 870 yards leads to the Romanesque church and the ruined monastery. The church is locked; the key is at bar Casa Bernardín in Obona village, about 820 yards from the monastery.
Mile 6.2
Villaluz. A small chapel and an old wash-house with a fountain in the hamlet.
Mile 8.5
La Magdalena chapel. Just past Campiello, at El Fresno, the route passes the chapel of La Magdalena.
Mile 9.9
Santa María de Borres. The single-nave parish church, with an old font, is said to be one of the oldest in the council of Tineo.
What couldn't be confirmed, and where sources disagree
Bar El Barín: Gronze's Borres page says it closed temporarily in May 2026; its tips page for this stage still says it opens daily from 11:00, for sandwiches only.
Climbing: the Visorando GPS track measures 1,490 ft, more than Gronze's 960 ft.
Obona: Eroski puts the detour at about 380 yards, alberguescaminosantiago.com at about 550 yards and Gronze at about 870 yards, the figure used here. Vivir Asturias says the monastery was recently restored; Gronze and Senditur describe it as ruined and abandoned, with the church locked.
Santa María: Gronze's route description puts the signed turn about 550 yards before the village, but its place and stage pages say 710 yards, so the exact distance is unclear. A walker paid €8 there in March 2024; Gronze says €9.
La Montera: no source publishes the price of the private room. Wise Pilgrim comments, all undated but one from 2022, say La Montera and the bar take cash only.
Casa Ricardo: Gronze (2026) gives the dorm at €16 and a double at €50, with the dorm open 1 April to 31 October and the two rooms all year. Older figures on alberguescaminosantiago.com give €13 for the dorm and €40 for a double, open all year. That website also gives an email, [email protected], not confirmed elsewhere. Gronze says pilgrims only; alberguescaminosantiago.com says no credential is needed.
Casa Pascual: in a May 2026 forum thread one walker said the hospitalera wasn't sure she would open in time for the season, so phone first.
Los Hospitales: Gronze gives the season as 6 March to 31 October, alberguescaminosantiago.com 1 March to 30 November. Breakfast is €3.50 on Gronze but €5 on the albergue's own price page. Its website gives dinner (€12) at 19:00, ordered by 16:30; alberguescaminosantiago.com says 19:30 and 17:30. Gronze lists a guest kitchen; alberguescaminosantiago.com says there's only a microwave. Its distance from Borres, 2.8 miles, is worked out from Gronze's figures for La Mortera and Colinas de Arriba. One forum walker put Tineo to Colinas at 14.3 miles, against Gronze's 12.7 miles.
Samblismo: its albergue, between Borres and La Mortera, was reported permanently closed in a May 2026 forum thread.
Online booking: no Booking.com listing was found for Casa Ricardo, La Montera or Casa Pascual.
Confirmed October 2026. Each place to stay shows when its own details were confirmed. Phone numbers, prices and opening seasons change from year to year, so confirm them before you rely on them.