From Vigo to Arcade, Camino Portuguese de la Costa, Stage no. 8

Basic Information

• Starting Point: Vigo, Spain – The largest city in Galicia, with roughly 300,000 inhabitants, and an important industrial and port center. As in every big city, you’ll find in Vigo numerous hostels, hotels, restaurants, cafés, supermarkets, pharmacies, hospitals, and public transport connections.
• Ending Point: Arcade, Spain – A small town located at the head of the Ría de Vigo, famous for its oysters and its scenic riverside setting. With over 4,000 inhabitants, you’ll find all services in town, and it is super pilgrim friendly, with 4 pilgrim albergues, and also some hotels for more demanding pilgrims.
• Availability of an alternative route: YES, The alternative route follows the GR94 (a hiking route), over some nice small hills around the towns. You can in theory continue following the GR94 even after Redondela, but it prolongs the stage quite heavily then. In the case of the alternative I suggest, following the alternative route adds 200 meters extra elevation and 1 km of distance, and a nice way to escape the crowds a bit. Although you should not expect anything spectacular from this alternative route, it is a good one to take (for leaving the crowds if for nothing else).
• Maps:
  • Official camino route: map.
  • Alternative route following the GR94: map.
• Distance:
  • Official camino: 24km (download GPS here).
  • Alternative route: 25 km (download GPS here)
• Elevation Difference:
  • Official Camino: +375m, -385m
  • Alternative coastal route: +575m, – 585m
• Difficulty Score: 
  • Official Camino: 3/5. 
  • Alternative route: 3/5. 
• Beauty Score:
  • Official Camino: 2/5.
  • Alternative route: 3/5.
• Terrain/Asphalt Walking Ratio:
  • Official camino route: 35%/65%.
  • Alternative route: 45%/55%.
• Next stage: Camino Portuguese de la Costa, Stage no. 9, Arcade – Caldas de Reis.
• Previous stage: Camino Portuguese de la Costa, Stage no. 7, Baiona – Vigo.

Elevation profiles for the routes

– Official Camino. More eventful than the previous stages, with many small climbs and descends, including a few steep (but short) sections.

– The GR alternative. As you can see you climb much higher following the alternative route (over 400 meters above sea level) and will enjoy some beautiful views as a reward. The descend from the ridge back to Redondela (where you reconnect with official camino) is very steep (between km 12 and 15), and can be tricky in rainy weather. From Redondela onward you follow the official camino, so the elevation profile for the last 10 km is identical for both routes.

Advanced info about the stage

• Natural Highlights: Basically the green zone between the outskirts of Vigo and Redeondela, is a natural highlight of this stage. Both on official camino and on alternative route. The green section before Arcade is nice as well. To pick a few specific spots:
  • Fervenza do Rego Fondón waterfall, right on the camino, exactly here. A nice and powerful waterfall right on the camino.
  • A viewpoint on the GR way (alternative route), next to the radio tower, with beautiful views in all directions, and a reward for all the climbing you have done on this alternative route. Exactly here.
  • The zone of Verdugo river in Arcade is also nice, with a couple of “riverbank beaches”, popular with locals in summer months. I especially recommend the small beach near this bar. It has good access to water, great for summer swim, and you can also refresh yourself in the small bar on site…
• Historical & Cultural Highlights:
  • Trying Galicean oysters in Arcade. Oysters from the Ría de Vigo have been prized for centuries. There is even an annual Festa da Ostra de Arcade (the party of oysters of Arcade) celebrating them, taking place in April. If you’re into seafood and oysters in particular, you may as well try them here, in one of the local places.
• Alternative route info: The alternative route follows the GR94 (a hiking route), over some nice small hills around the town. You leave the camino somewhere around here, turning right, walking in the direction of the Zoo of Vigo. The GR route is decently signposted with red-white paint and also with occasional stone markers. You stay on this route for a couple of hours, until you meet Camino Portuguese again, this time a central way, more or less next to this grocery store, which joins with the coastal way just a few km on in Redondela. For the rest of the way you follow the official camino.
• Camping/Bivouac Options on the Stage: Pretty decent for wild camping. Especially in the first half, on the forested section between the outskirts of Vigo and Redondela. Here, if you follow the alternative route (the GR), you’ll find several decent spots along the ridge. Just make sure to not camp on private property, and avoid zones with cows, so prevalent almost everywhere in Galicia… Even close to Arcade (the ending town of today’s stage), for example in the zone of this scenic viewpoint, you’ll find both flat ground and trees to hide you from the eyes of occasional passersby. There is no organized camping place along this stage. So if you camp, it has to be in the wild this time :).
• Dog-Friendly Score: 4/5. Once you leave Vigo, this stage is actually quite pleasant for dogs, especially if you follow the alternative route, over the small hills before Redondela. It is the only stage of Camino Portuguese de la Costa where you spend almost 50% of time walking on trails/unpaved roads, and there’s plenty of shade as well. Having said that, the official camino route isn’t too bad for dogs either! In terms of dog friendly accommodation, you can stay in Arcade in O Lar de Pepa Albergue (location on Google maps here, they accept reservations so call them in advance to make sure you have a place with your dog), or you can try camping in the forest zone of this stage (more info above).
• Special Remarks: Today, in Redondela (km 16 of today’s stage) the Coastal Portuguese camino merges with the Camino Portuguese interior, and both ways follow the same route until Santiago de Compostela. This means even more pilgrims on the way. According to the statistics from pilgrims office in Santiago, these two ways are equally popular, which means that the number of people on the way will double from now on! I hope it won’t be too much of a shock for you :).

My picks for accommodation on this stage

1. Albergue parroquial Santiago Apóstol, Redondela, km 16. Location and reviews on Google maps here. An older but well preserved parochial hostel in the center of Redondela. Run with love and dedication for pilgrims. 32 beds in 2 rooms, 14-16euro/night. Free laundry. Check in from noon to 2pm and then from 4pm to 7pm (they have lunch and siesta break in between :)). Decently equipped kitchen, clean facilities, central location. Make sure to take earplugs (it is in a busy zone of town so for good night sleep it is essential to have them). You can make a reservation calling +34 627 748 802, or on Booking.com, exactly here.
2. Albergue A Dársena do Francés, Cesantes, km 18. Location and reviews on Google maps here. A traditional multi-generational Galicean house turned into a pilgrim hostel. Great communal spaces inside and outside, rooms with 4-6 beds max, with enough space for everything. Clean and well-organized, 20 euro/night, including breakfast. A bit outside of the typical towns where pilgrim stay on this stretch of the Camino (be it Redondela, Arcade, or Pontevedra), which means it is easier to get a bed here, even in the high season. Check in from 1:30 pm, recommended way of making a reservation: WhatsApp on +34 663 911 233, or Booking, exactly here.
3. Albergue Lamerinas, Arcade, km 24. Location and reviews on Google maps here. From the 4 pilgrim hostels in Arcade, this is the one I’d prefer. New and modern installations, with attention to typical needs of pilgrims. Great central location. 28 beds in one huge dorm, but it is separated to sections with additional walling, so one gets a feeling of some privacy. Perfectly equipped kitchen if you like to cook your own meals, with restaurants close nearby. 16 euro/night, check in from 12:30 already. Recommended way of making a reservation: WhatsApp, +34 616 107 820. On the top of that, the same owners have a hotel just next to the albergue, with private rooms for 35 euro/night. That’s a great option if you look for more privacy on your camino…

Pictures from the stage

– A random flower on a rainy day can easily make you day.

– Typical Galicean landscape, with typical Galicean weather (foggy, rainy :)). Only 82km left now.

Few tips at the end

• Notice that we end our walk in Arcade, which isn’t a place marked as an end of a stage on any major pilgrim guidebook or online guide (yeah, our guide is the best, but it isn’t a mainstream one :)). It is easier finding an empty bed (or a free room) in places like this, even during the high season. You can apply this strategy also to the next stages (staying in smaller places that have pilgrim albergues), should you find it difficult getting beds in towns along the camino, for a reasonable price.

Next/Previous Stage

• Next stage: Camino Portuguese de la Costa, Stage no. 9, Arcade – Caldas de Reis.
• Previous stage: Camino Portuguese de la Costa, Stage no. 7, Baiona – Vigo.