From Mondonedo to Abadin, Camino del Norte, Stage no. 25

Basic Details

• Starting point: The cathedral of Montonedo, a nice town surrounded by small mountains, offering several good pilgrim hostels and all services a pilgrim may need.
• Ending point: The city center of Abadin, a small mountain town with all services and two pilgrim hostels.
• Availability of alternative routes: YES. There is a marked alternative way right from Mondonedo, following rural paths and roads, and avoiding any places with services altogether. It is 2 km shorter, and connects to the “official camino” just before Abadin. In my opinion, it is neither more nor less beautiful than the “official camino” route. More or less the same. Hence the decision which route to take depends on your preferences–a shorter walk with no services (perhaps can be your preference if you want to continue to walk after Abadin), or a slightly longer walk with refreshment options.
• Distance: Official camino route: 16 km (download GPS here). “Mountain” variant: 14 km (download GPS here).
• Elevation difference: Official Camino route: +665m, – 285m. Mountain variant: +670m, -300m.
• Link to online map: Official Camino route: here. Alternative mountain variant: here.
• Difficulty score: 2/5, for both variants.
• Beauty score: 3/5, for both variants.
• Terrain/asphalt: Official Camino: 15%/85% . “Mountain” variant: 55%/45% (if you’re into avoiding paved roads (at least whenever possible), you should take the mountain variant; but I want to stress that the routes the official camino follows have no traffic whatsoever, and are nice roads to follow).
• Next stage: Camino del Norte, stage no. 26, Abadin – Vilalba.
• Previous stage: Camino del Norte, stage no. 24, Ribadeo – Mondonedo.

Elevation profiles for the routes

– The mountain variant, climbs gradually for first 6 km all the way to almost 700 meters above sea level and than levels out for the rest of the day till you reach Abadin.

– The official Camino, following mostly the valley of a river Valinadares, climbs like a river does–very gradually, all the way from the beginning to the end.

Advanced info about the stage

• Trail marking: Very well done, on both the official Camino route and the alternative route. If you want to walk the alternative route, it is just pivotal that you do not miss the right turn at the end of the city center. Once you are on either of the two possible caminos, you will see a clear yellow arrow on any possible turn or a crossroad. 
  
• Natural places worth seeing: There are actually two nice waterfalls in the zone, by aerial distance less than 1 km far away from the Camino, but considering the terrain and the steepness the first one is quite hard to reach and requires longer detour. The more famous one is the Salto de Coro, the less famous one (that doesn’t even appear on Google maps, but it is much easier to reach) is the Fervenza de Santo (GPS coordinates here: 43.3788086N, 7.4101442W). Other than the waterfalls, there isn’t anything worth a special mention on either the “mountain” route or the river valley route, but they are both nice and the nature is pretty representative for this part of Galicia.
• Historical, architectural, and culinary places worth seeing: There isn’t really anything worth a special mention. However, during the entire stage you can observe the beauty of rural Galicia and its specific architecture (see the gallery below). Galicia was historically also one of the most catholic provinces of Spain, and you will pass along several small chapels on your Camino (no detours needed). Sadly all of them are locked and you cannot get inside.
• Camping/bivouac options on this stage: Like on the previous day, wild camping or bivouacking isn’t hard at all. The zone is sparsely inhabited, and you will find many decent spots even close to the camino route (on both variations). If I should pick one specific spot, however, I would recommend for camping the ruins of the Church of Saint Cosme. You have a nice view, level ground around the ruins of the church, the place isn’t touristic at all, it is just 1 km detour from the Camino, and actually on your way there you will walk along one of the waterfalls I mentioned earlier ;). Like on yesterday’s stage, there aren’t any organized camping places in the zone.
• Dog friendly score: 4/5. Both variants are good for the dog, with either dirt roads and trails or roads with no traffic. The only thing to worry about a bit are shepherd dogs that can sometimes roam in the mountain zone, protecting their flocks. Hence if your dog isn’t good around other dogs, or you simply want to avoid such encounters, you may prefer to take the river valley way (official camino), even though it has much more asphalt walking than the mountain variant. One of the pilgrim hostels accept dogs, though they have to stay in the garage. It is called Albergue Goas.
• Special remarks: Many of the places on this stretch of the camino basically live from pilgrims. And now I do not mean it in negative connotations… They are there because pilgrim pass by, and at least some of them have a coffee, take a lunch, etc. Local people do not speak well English (most of them do not speak English at all), but they are nice and hard-working people, and it is important to support them, so the places and infrastructure for pilgrims continue to exist. The point I try to make here is that even if most places and bars in this zone aren’t visually enticing, it is still good to stop there and have something and support them at least a bit.

Accommodation options on today’s stage

* The infographic displays the number of pilgrim hostels (only pilgrims allowed), hostels (anyone allowed, shared rooms), and other accommodation options (hotels, pensions, etc, private rooms) in each point along the route, together with price range. For exact explanation of the pictograms we use check the explanations page. Below the infographic you will see our recommended picks (up to 3 pilgrim options and 1-2 “privacy” options, maximum five) for the stage, together with important information (but not too much info, just what you need :-)).

Recommended places to sleep along this stage

Pilgrim options:

1. Albergue de la Naturaleza O Vilar, Vilar (km 5). Location and reviews on Google maps here. 54 beds (in various small houses), 15 euro/bed. A lovely place in a heart of nature, really special, a different kind of experience on your Camino. The only problem is that the house is kind of on/off with being open, and it is important to call and make sure you can get in (they can let you in even distantly, without being there). Call +34 982 100 887 or +34 676 153 184 to make sure it is open. The best chance to actually get in is definitely in summer, July-September.
2. Albergue de Peregrinos de Gontan, Gontan (km 15). Location and reviews on Google maps here. 26 beds, 10 euro/bed. A typical municipal albergue run by Galician authorities, with everything good and bad that belongs to such albergues :). Good is the affordable price and a decent condition of all facilities, bad is the lack of any charm or anything extra, besides the very basics. For example, there is a “kitchen”, but nothing inside the kitchen that you can actually use to prepare any food (not even plates…). Anyway, it serves its purpose, and in my book it is a good pilgrim place for one night. Check-in from 1pm, doesn’t accept reservations.
3. Albergue Xabarin, Abadin (km 16). Location and reviews on Google maps here. 25 places, 17 euro for bed and small breakfast. Amazing reviews across all pilgrim platforms. One of the best, if not the best, rated albergues on the last 200 kilometers of Camino del Norte. Super clean, lot of attention to detail, all facilities a pilgrim may need, great person in charge. Highly recommended. Check-in from 1:30 pm to 10pm, recommended way of making a reservation: Phone call, +34 690 181 811, or booking.com.

Privacy/luxury options: There aren’t really any on this stage, though there are a couple of guest houses in Abadin (more fitting for bigger groups of people). You can check them on Booking.com.

Pictures from the stage

– One last memory on Mondonedo, a town that’s really proud on its position on the Camino. Truth to be told, without pilgrims there won’t be much life in the city outside of the summer.

– The wind turbines, quite frequent in the zone, and a point of heated discussion in Spain. Most people in Galicia do not like that there are so many wind turbines in their province, whereas the people who eventually benefit from the electricity produced and the profits are in Madrid and other richer parts of Spain…

– One of the many small hamlets you will pass by in this part of your camino. Some of them have few inhabitants, some are deserted…

– Doomy and gloomy Galicia. One can fall in love it it, but it isn’t really a province for people who have a tendency to fall into depression :).

Few tips at the end

• You are now entering the true rural Galicia, and in many parts of today’s walk, and the next few days, you won’t have a mobile signal. If you’re into frequent contact with your family or anyone else back home, make sure to call from the towns, like Mondonedo or Abadin. It may not be possible to make the call while walking in-between the towns.

Next stage/Previous stage

• Next stage: Camino del Norte, stage no. 26, Abadin – Vilalba.
• Previous stage: Camino del Norte, stage no. 24, Ribadeo – Mondonedo.