Stage Negreira to Vilaserío

The stage from Negreira to Olveiroa is more than thirty-three kilometres long and one of the toughest on the Camino de Fisterra. Stopping at Vilaserío, at kilometre 12.8, divides the day into two unequal parts: a short first section with the main climbs of the day and a longer second one across the plateau. The route runs through a thoroughly rural landscape with very few services along the way, so it is wise to leave Negreira carrying water.

The route leaves Negreira's main street towards the Pazo de Cotón, passing beneath its stone arcade before crossing the bridge over the Barcala river. The Camino soon reaches Zas, just over three kilometres on, a small hamlet with a shop-bar, and then enters pleasant woodland on old tracks that follow the course of the ancient Royal Road to Fisterra.

The central section is the most demanding. The path climbs steadily through oaks, chestnuts, pines and eucalyptus, between stone walls and short steep rises that follow one another for several kilometres. Further on the Camino approaches the DP-5603 road, whose hard shoulder is avoided wherever possible on parallel paths, until it reaches A Pena, also called Piaxe, around kilometre nine, with a bar and lodging. From here the dense woodland begins to give way to meadows and farmland.

The final four kilometres or so are easier and lead, between meadows and cultivated plots, to Vilaserío, at around 340 metres above sea level. The hamlet belongs to the parish of San Pedro de Bugallido, in the municipality of Negreira, and has barely fifty inhabitants.

For the pilgrim, Vilaserío offers the essentials: a bar, private albergues beside the Camino and the municipal albergue, housed in the old school at the edge of the village. The next day the route continues through O Cornado and As Maroñas towards the Xallas plateau and Monte Aro, before descending to Olveiroa.