CaminantesArzúa: two days left to Santiago, counted down
By August Frederik Kramer · Last updated 19 October 2026
Arzúa. Two paths become one: the Norte joins the Francés here. Buy a wedge of the local cheese for tomorrow.
A Salceda. 11.3 km in, the path runs through tall eucalyptus woods with stone waymarks counting down.
O Pedrouzo. Day one done: 19.9 km, 280 m up. Boots off. One more day.
Lavacolla. The planes of Santiago airport climb over the path, and below runs the stream where, by tradition, pilgrims washed before Santiago.
Monte do Gozo. From the hill you see the cathedral’s spires for the first time. The square is 97 m below you.
Praza do Obradoiro. Zero. You are standing in front of the cathedral. Two days, 39.2 km.
19.9km, Arzúa to O Pedrouzo
19.3km, O Pedrouzo to Santiago
+110more walkers a day from the Norte
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Arzúa is where the Camino turns into a countdown. The Camino del Norte has just joined, and Santiago is 39.2 km away: two days, 19.9 km to O Pedrouzo and 19.3 km to the cathedral. The town also gave its name to a cheese.
The two days, measured
On our plan Arzúa ends day 34 of 36 from Saint-Jean, and the third day out of Sarria. The fourth is Arzúa to O Pedrouzo, 19.9 km with 280 m of climbing and 379 m of descent. The fifth is O Pedrouzo to the Praza do Obradoiro, 19.3 km, 268 m up and 289 m down. Together: 39.2 km, and no big hill on either day. Most of it runs through small villages and eucalyptus woods.
Every day of the walk, at one scale: the Camino Francés stage by stage.
Where the Camino del Norte joins
Arzúa is where the Camino del Norte, the coastal route from Irún, meets the Camino Francés. From here they are one path. In September that is about 110 more people a day, and at least 1,357 a day walk out of Arzúa, by the model our Melide page uses. Our Norte guide measures this shared stretch on its own track, 38.7 km: the same path on a different line, 0.5 km apart.
The whole coastal route: the Camino del Norte.
The cheese of Arzúa
Yes. Arzúa-Ulloa is a soft cheese shaped like a lens or a short drum with rounded edges. The cone is the tetilla, named for its shape.
Not this one. The cone is the tetilla, named for its shape. Arzúa’s cheese is the round wheel: Arzúa-Ulloa, soft, with rounded edges.
Arzúa-Ulloa is a protected cheese from the area around the town: soft, made from cow’s milk, pale yellow inside, with a thin rind. Its official shape is a lens or a short cylinder with rounded edges. It is easy to confuse with the tetilla, the other Galician cow’s milk cheese, but the tetilla is a cone. A wedge of Arzúa-Ulloa with bread is the classic lunch for the last two days.
Before you get here
The day into Arzúa is the long one from Palas de Rei, through Melide. From Melide it is 14.0 km more. Most people sleep in Arzúa, or walk on and split the last stretch differently, but on our plan the night before Santiago is O Pedrouzo.
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The day before, the Primitivo joins in Melide. The last hill, and the first view of the spires: Monte do Gozo.
The last morning, timed to the minute you set off: O Pedrouzo to Santiago.
Sources: distances and climbing are our own, measured on the Camino Francés track of the Caminantes app, the same stage plan as every stage page on this site. Village positions come from OpenStreetMap (ODbL). The walkers a day are the Pilgrim’s Office count of 2025, spread over the months as on our Melide page; they are floors. The cheese: Arzúa-Ulloa cheese and the designation’s technical sheet (Xunta de Galicia). The washing at Lavacolla is a tradition, not a record.
Common questions
How far is Arzúa from Santiago?
39.2 km on our Camino Francés track: two days, 19.9 km to O Pedrouzo and 19.3 km to the cathedral.
Where do you sleep between Arzúa and Santiago?
O Pedrouzo, the end of the first day on our plan, 19.9 km from Arzúa. That leaves 19.3 km for the last morning.
Does the Camino del Norte join in Arzúa?
Yes. The Norte meets the Francés in Arzúa and the two share the path to Santiago: about 110 more walkers a day in September.
What is Arzúa-Ulloa cheese?
A soft Galician cow’s milk cheese with a protected name, shaped like a lens or a short drum with rounded edges. The cone-shaped cheese is a different one, the tetilla.
Is the walk from Arzúa to Santiago hard?
No big climbs: 280 m up on the first day and 268 m on the second, spread over many small hills.
Keep reading
Castrojeriz: the arch of San Antón and the climb to Mostelares
A morning of flat plain, a road under a ruined arch, a town under its castle, then a wall. Walk it stop by stop and watch the climb count up: day 16 from Saint-Jean.
Triacastela to Sarria: the Samos way is 4.2 km longer and 210 m lower
San Xil climbs one hill to 884 m; Samos follows the river past one of the oldest monasteries in Spain, and still climbs more. Walk both and watch the climb add up.
Santo Domingo de la Calzada: the cathedral with live chickens
A white hen and rooster live in the cathedral, for a roast pair that crowed. Tap through the legend, then plan it: the town ends day 9 from Saint-Jean.
Take it with you
Caminantes is free, works offline, and plans your stages around your own legs rather than a guidebook's.
