A long day that crosses into Galicia at the Alto del Acebo, 3,707 ft, after a steady climb past wind turbines. Beds are the problem: after Castro, 3.2 miles in, there are none for 12.5 miles, and food on the way is limited to a tavern at O Acebo and a mesón at Barbeitos. A Fonsagrada has six places with 96 dorm beds in three albergues, all open all year. From here on, follow the yellow arrows rather than the shell on the waymarks.
Into Galicia at the Alto del Acebo, 3,707 ftNo beds for 12.5 miles after CastroWater at Peñafuente, mile 6Follow yellow arrows, not the shellSteep last 0.6 miles into town
Distance
15.7 miles25.2 km
Climbing
2,810 ft up1,540 ft down
High point
3,710 ftLow point 1,840 ft
Walking time
6.5 to 7.5 hours
Difficulty
Hard
Beds in A Fonsagrada
6 placesFew
Map of the stage
Places to stay in A Fonsagrada
Nearby, if A Fonsagrada 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 A Fonsagrada
6 places · Few
Six places: three albergues with 96 dorm beds, all open all year, two pensiones and Hotel Pórtico. If the town is full, there are apartments at Padrón, 0.9 miles on, and an albergue and pensión at O Piñeiral, 2.1 miles on, both on the next day's route.
Public albergue · dormPilgrims onlyOpen all year
Albergue de peregrinos Ramón Rodríguez
The Xunta albergue, opened in 2017 in Casa Pasarín, a 19th-century house in the old town. Dorms of 2 to 16 beds, accessible, with a bike shelter.
Beds
42 dorm beds in 5 dorms
Price
Dorm €10
Season
All year
Where
In the old town, at Rúa San Roque 4
Meals
Kitchen without utensils, microwave and fridge; no meals. Disposable sheets, no blankets
Booking
No reservations: first come, first served. Check-in 13:00, doors close 22:00
The first place you reach, on the route at the entrance to town, in a house fully restored in 2020. Each bunk has its own light, shelf and socket; rooms have their own bathrooms.
Beds
20 dorm beds in 2 dorms and 6 private rooms
Price
Dorm €15; single from €35; double from €42
Season
All year
Where
At the entrance to town, on the route, at Avenida de Asturias 19
Meals
Shared kitchen with microwave and fridge, snack and hot-drink machines; no meals. Washer and dryer; sheets and towels included
The largest private albergue, in the old town, with dorms of 4 to 8 beds and 14 private rooms in the pensión. The earliest check-in in town, from 10:00; pets allowed.
Beds
34 dorm beds in 5 dorms and 14 private rooms
Price
Dorm €15; single €35
Season
All year
Where
In the old town, at Rúa Ron 5
Meals
Shared kitchen with microwave and fridge; breakfast €7 for pensión guests only. Washer and dryer; sheets and towels included
Small hotel on the main street of the old town: seven doubles, a family room for three or four and one single, all with bathroom, and a buffet breakfast.
Before and after the stop, with the distance from it.
Casa rural · private room
Casa da Lembranza
0.9 miles past A Fonsagrada
In Padrón, 0.9 miles on along the next day's route, beside it
Rural tourism apartments in the hamlet of Padrón, beside the next day's route. Apartments sleep up to six, so useful for a group or a private night if the town is full.
Beds
6 or 7 apartments for up to 6 people (Gronze lists 6 apartments and one room; the owners' site lists 7 apartments)
2.1 miles on along the next day's route, 220 yards off it beside the LU-530 at kilometre post 3.9
An isolated roadside complex with 44 capsule bunks in one dorm, a bar-restaurant with a menu and a kitchen. A backup if the town is full, and it shortens the next day by 2 miles.
Beds
44 dorm beds in one dorm
Price
Dorm from €16
Season
All year
Meals
Bar-restaurant with a menu (pulpo, caldo gallego, cocido); shared kitchen, washer and dryer
Booking
Phone, email or Booking.com. Check-in 13:00 to 21:00
980 yards from the centre and the route, on the road to A Pobra de Burón (LU-740, kilometre post 1)
A campsite with four bungalows holding 20 places in rooms of two and three; pilgrims pay €10. It has a restaurant, pools and a gym. Not counted among the town's six places.
HardOver 15.7 miles with about 2,800 ft of climbing, mostly in one long climb to the pass and a steep finish into town.
Guides' own ratings: Eroski: media; Gronze: 3
Underfoot. Mostly dirt tracks, paths and forest roads, with stretches beside the AS-28 at the start and beside the road after O Acebo.
The route leaves Grandas past the church of San Salvador and runs close to the AS-28 road to Cereijeira, 1.7 miles in. Paths and tracks climb gently to Castro, 3.2 miles in, where the Chao Samartín hillfort and museum are a short walk off the route. Past the chapel of San Lázaro the route reaches Peñafuente, the last village in Asturias, with a shaded fountain. A forest track then climbs about 1,280 ft over 3.1 miles past wind turbines to the Alto del Acebo, about 3,707 ft, where you cross into Galicia. A short descent leads to O Acebo and its tavern, then a short, stiff rise and a long stretch beside the road through Cabreira, Fonfría and Barbeitos. After the chapel of Santa Bárbara at Silvela and the hamlet of Paradanova, the old track climbs into A Fonsagrada: about 394 ft in the last 0.6 miles.
Good to know
Fill your water at the shaded fountain in Peñafuente, 6 miles in; it is the only fountain the guides mention on the climb.
The tavern at O Acebo keeps irregular hours, so carry food; the next sure meal is the Mesón Catro Ventos at Barbeitos, 12 miles in.
In Asturias the lines of the shell on the waymarks point the way; in Galicia the shell looks the same from both directions, so follow the yellow arrows (Gronze).
At Paradanova, ignore the signs for A Pobra de Burón: that is a historic variant 0.75 miles longer over open hill with no services, and walkers have got lost on it. Take the track on the left up into town.
The Xunta albergue in A Fonsagrada has no blankets and no kitchen utensils, so bring a sleeping bag.
Xunta albergues in Galicia charge €10, take no bookings and open at 13:00.
Along the way
Mile 1.7
Cereijeira
Two bars
Mile 3.2
Castro
Bar-restaurant, youth albergue that takes pilgrims, casas rurales; Chao Samartín museum
Mile 6.0
Peñafuente
Shaded fountain; no other services
Mile 8.6
O Acebo
Tavern and small shop with irregular hours
Mile 12.1
Barbeitos
Mesón Catro Ventos, with a pilgrim menu
Mile 15.7
A Fonsagrada
All services: shops, bars, pulperías, pharmacy, albergues and hotels
The Alto del Acebo, at about 3,707 ft, is the ridge between Asturias and Galicia, and the Camino enters the province of Lugo just below it. A Fonsagrada is the seat of Galicia's largest municipality, about 169 square miles. Until 1835 the council was called Burón, after its old capital A Pobra de Burón, founded around 1200, which the historic variant from Paradanova still passes.
The sacred fountain
The town's name comes from the Latin fons sacrata, sacred fountain. Legend says a very poor family took in a pilgrim who turned out to be the apostle James, and he made the village spring run with milk so they could eat; other versions make it a widow and her children. The stone Fonte Sagrada stands beside the apse of the Baroque church of Santa María, which holds pilgrim masses.
Chao Samartín
The hillfort of Chao Samartín, at Castro, was founded around 800 BC and became a prosperous administrative centre under Rome, tied to the gold mines nearby. An earthquake destroyed it in the 2nd century AD. Excavations from 1990 uncovered its houses and a sauna, and the finds are shown in the museum at the edge of the village.
Look out for
Mile 3.2
Chao Samartín hillfort. Ruins of a hillfort occupied from about 800 BC to the 2nd century AD, with guided visits from the museum at the edge of Castro. Adults €4; closed Mondays and in January (Turismo Asturias, 2026).
Mile 4.4
Chapel of San Lázaro. A small chapel on the site of an old leper hospital, on the way up from Castro.
Mile 6.0
Peñafuente church porch. The church of Santa María Magdalena has a covered porch where pilgrims can rest, next to the fountain.
Mile 8.1
The border ridge. Wind turbines line the ridge at the Alto del Acebo, where the first Galician waymarks begin. It is exposed, so expect wind.
Mile 13.2
Santa Bárbara viewpoint. The chapel of Santa Bárbara at Silvela has a bench and a view, a good last rest before the final climb.
Mile 15.7
Fonte Sagrada and butelo. The sacred fountain is beside the church of Santa María, and the ethnographic museum, opened in 1984, is on Rúa Rosalía de Castro. Try pulpo or butelo, the local cured pork, and the empanadas at Panadería Fonsagrada.
What couldn't be confirmed, and where sources disagree
Pensión Casa Campillo: run by the owners of Hotel Pórtico, and shares its phone.
Albergue-Pensión Cantábrico: in October 2026 Gronze gave +34 982 340 036 and +34 669 747 560, but the albergue's own website gives +34 669 747 560 and +34 982 350 035. The website's albergue page is out of date, with 24 beds at €10 against Gronze's 34 at €15.
Albergue-Pensión Casa Cuartel: Gronze gives check-in at 12:00; its own website says 13:00 to 22:00.
Second phones: the Xunta albergue also has +34 699 153 745, and Pensión Casa Manolo has +34 626 009 979.
Alto del Acebo: Gronze gives 3,707 ft, the height used here; Eroski gives about 3,640 ft and alberguescaminosantiago.com 3,380 ft.
Distance: Eroski measures 16.3 miles from Grandas to A Fonsagrada.
Padrón: Eroski runs its stage on to the old Xunta albergue at Padrón, which it says is closed; Gronze's Padrón page lists only Casa da Lembranza.
Waymarks: Eroski says the open side of the Galician shell shows the way. Gronze says the shell looks the same in both directions and to follow the yellow arrows, which is the advice given here.
Chao Samartín: Turismo Asturias says the site was identified in 1967; English Wikipedia says it was discovered in 1977.
Barbeitos: its distance along the route is approximate, scaled from Eroski and alberguescaminosantiago.com.
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.