The first stage wholly in Galicia: steady climbs and steep drops beside the LU-530, past the ruins of the Montouto pilgrim hospital. There is no food on the route for the first 7.6 miles unless you detour to O Piñeiral, and none after A Lastra, 10.7 miles in, since the Fontaneira bar closed in 2023. The Cuesta do Sapo before A Lastra is the hardest climb of the day. O Cádavo has five places; the Xunta albergue and Porta Santa are open all year.
Montouto hospital ruins and dolmen, mile 5First bars at Paradavella, mile 7.6Cuesta do Sapo: 476 ft in 0.6 milesLast food at A Lastra, mile 10.7
Distance
15.1 miles24.3 km
Climbing
2,330 ft up3,060 ft down
High point
3,370 ftLow point 2,190 ft
Walking time
6 to 7 hours
Difficulty
Hard
Beds in O Cádavo
5 placesFew
Map of the stage
Places to stay in O Cádavo
Nearby, if O Cádavo 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, except between Montouto and Paradavella, where OpenStreetMap doesn't have the route: there the line is the shortest footpath, which may not follow the waymarks. 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 O Cádavo
5 places · Few
Five places: three albergues with 78 dorm beds, Pensión Eligio and Hotel Moneda. The Xunta albergue and Porta Santa are open all year; San Mateo closes from November to March. The next beds are 3.9 miles on at Pazo Vilabade and 4.8 miles on at Castroverde.
Public albergue · dormPilgrims onlyOpen all year
Albergue de peregrinos de O Cádavo
Xunta albergue at the entrance to town, on the route, with two dorms and a kitchen. Accessible, with a bike shelter.
Beds
22 dorm beds in 2 dorms
Price
Dorm €10
Season
All year
Where
At the entrance to town, on the route, on Rúa da Feira
Meals
Shared kitchen; no meals. Disposable sheets
Booking
No reservations: first come, first served. Check-in 13:00; doors close 23:00 in summer, 22:00 the rest of the year
An albergue with a bar-café, plus a separate pensión round the corner with rooms for one to four, each with a bathroom. Opened in 2017; pets allowed with notice.
Beds
16 dorm beds in small dorms of 4 to 8, plus private rooms in the albergue and the pensión (Gronze counts 4)
Price
Dorm €17; room in the albergue €60; pensión single €50, double €60, triple €80, quadruple €90 (own website, October 2026)
Season
All year
Where
110 yards from the centre: albergue at Avenida Doctor Escobar 9, pensión at Travesía de Lugo 2
Meals
Bar-café; shared kitchen with microwave and fridge. Washer and dryer, sheets, lockers
Booking
Phone, WhatsApp, email, own website or Booking.com. Check-in 12:00 to 18:00
Before and after the stop, with the distance from it.
Hotel · private room
Pazo Vilabade
3.9 miles past O Cádavo, on the old route, not the official one
3.9 miles on, beside the route in Vilabade; it is on the old route signed 'Camino complementario', not the official route through Vilalle
A country manor beside the Gothic church of Santa María de Vilabade, set in large gardens, with six rooms and breakfast included. A comfortable backup if O Cádavo is full.
Beds
6 rooms
Meals
Breakfast included
Booking
Booking.com, phone or the request form on its website
HardOnly 15 miles, but about 2,330 ft of climbing in repeated ups and downs, with a steep descent from Montouto and the very steep Cuesta do Sapo.
Guides' own ratings: Eroski: media; Gronze: 3
Underfoot. Mostly dirt and forest tracks beside the LU-530, some muddy after rain, with short stretches on the road and a good compacted-earth track up the Cuesta do Sapo.
The day starts down the LU-530 out of A Fonsagrada and turns off to the hamlet of Padrón, 0.9 miles in. From there dirt tracks follow the road, crossing it up to three times, past Vilardongo to the tiny hamlet of Montouto, 4.5 miles in. A steady climb leads to a windy pass among wind turbines, with the ruins of the Montouto pilgrim hospital, a small chapel and a dolmen. A long, steep descent on tracks and paths drops to Paradavella, 7.6 miles in, with the first bars of the day. After A Degolada and O Couto comes the Cuesta do Sapo, about 476 ft of climbing in 0.6 miles, to A Lastra and its two shop-bars. The route climbs again to the Alto de Fontaneira, then runs as a long false flat on forest track beside the road, past Fontaneira and the Campo da Matanza. The last miles follow a straight track through pine forest and drop into O Cádavo, with the Xunta albergue at the entrance.
Good to know
Eat before you leave or detour to O Piñeiral, 2.1 miles in: the bars at Paradavella, 7.6 miles in, are the first on the route.
Fill your water early: Eroski lists the Fonte do Pastizal soon after Padrón and no other fountain.
The two bars in Paradavella open from 7:30 all day in high season, but only 8:00 to 14:00 in mid-season (Gronze).
The bar in Fontaneira closed in 2023, so A Lastra's shop-bars are the last food for 4.4 miles.
The tracks beside the LU-530 can be muddy, and the route crosses the road up to three times.
Take the Cuesta do Sapo slowly and stop for breath; the track was improved in 2012 to 2013 and stays firm in rain.
The Montouto pass is exposed and windy, so carry a warm layer.
Some guides still list a Xunta albergue at Padrón; Eroski reports it closed, and Gronze no longer lists it.
Along the way
Mile 0.9
Padrón
Apartments (Casa da Lembranza)
Mile 2.1
O Piñeiral
Albergue, pensión and bar-restaurant, 220 yards off the route
Mile 7.6
Paradavella
Two bars, Taberna and Casa Mesón
Mile 10.7
A Lastra
Two small shop-bars
Mile 15.1
O Cádavo
All services: shop, pharmacy, cash machine, restaurants, albergues and hotel
King Pedro I of Castile founded the Royal Hospital of Santiago de Montouto in 1357 to shelter pilgrims crossing the Serra do Hospital, which takes its name from it. In 1698, under Carlos II, it was moved to a new site nearby, and it took in travellers until the mid-20th century. The ruins on the pass today are mostly of this newer hospital, beside a chapel of Santiago, and the Neolithic dolmen of Pedras Dereitas stands in the field in front.
The Battle of O Cádavo
Legend places a bloody battle at the Campo da Matanza, the field of the slaughter, near O Cádavo, where Alfonso II the Chaste is said to have defeated a Muslim army, perhaps around 813, when his party was travelling to honour the apostle's newly found remains. Swords and armour are said to have been found there, but there is no record that the battle happened. A knight fighting Moorish soldiers appears on the coat of arms on the old town hall.
The Cuesta do Sapo
The Cuesta do Sapo, the toad's slope, climbs from O Couto to A Lastra, from about 2,215 ft to 2,690 ft in roughly 0.6 miles. Gronze calls it deadly and Eroski possibly the hardest climb of the route so far. At the top, the church of San Xoán in A Lastra belonged to the Order of St John and keeps a 15th-century Virgin and Child.
Look out for
Mile 5.0
Montouto hospital and dolmen. Walk round the ruined infirmary, dormitories and chapel of the hospital, with a coat of arms still on the wall, and the dolmen of Pedras Dereitas in front.
Mile 10.7
Church of San Xoán, A Lastra. A church of the Order of St John at the top of the Cuesta do Sapo, a good place to get your breath back.
Mile 12.2
Fontaneira. The 18th-century church of Santiago stands where a medieval pilgrim hospital had its chapel. Napoleon's troops burned the village in 1809.
Mile 13.4
Campo da Matanza. The open plateau before O Cádavo where legend places Alfonso II's battle; distance approximate.
Mile 15.1
Dinner at Hotel Moneda. Gronze recommends its restaurant for traditional food and Galician raciones: pulpo, cabrito, cocido and callos. Butelo, cured pork rib, is the local dish.
What couldn't be confirmed, and where sources disagree
Porta Santa: in October 2026 its own website gave higher prices than Gronze, €50 single and €60 double in the pensión against Gronze's €45 and €55, and €60 for a room in the albergue. Its email is [email protected] on the website but [email protected] on Gronze. Gronze says 16 dorm beds in two dorms of four, which doesn't add up; the website mentions dorms of 4 and 8 beds.
Hotel Moneda: Gronze gives a second phone, +34 982 355 205. Its website is at hotelmoneda.es, but the email it gives is [email protected].
Pazo Vilabade: second phone +34 615 905 554. Neither Gronze nor its website publishes a price.
Padrón: Gronze's route text still mentions a Xunta albergue at Padrón, but Eroski says it is closed, and Gronze's page on Padrón no longer lists it.
Fontaneira: Eroski still lists a bar here; Gronze says it closed in 2023.
Montouto hospital: it was founded in 1357, but Senditur and Pilgrimaps say the hospital moved in 1698, and most of the ruins seen today are of the later building.
Distances: the positions of the Montouto hospital, about 5.0 miles in, and the Campo da Matanza, about 13.4 miles in, are approximate. Eroski counts from Padrón, so its distances don't match Gronze's, which are used here.
Battle of O Cádavo: the date, around 813, comes from Eroski and rests only on legend.
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.