After a rest day in Santiago de Compostela to let our feet recover from the Camino Francés, we got back into walking mode and headed south down the last part of the central Portuguese route – in reverse.
Walking any Camino route in reverse is a very different experience than walking with the flow – not least because of the sheer number of “buen camino” greetings you give out 😀. The way markers all point backwards, and that assumes you can even see them from the reverse paths and junctions.
Thankfully, someone had painted blue arrows in most of the places the reverse route took, although we also relied on the Buen Camino app and GPS when things weren’t obvious.
Day one took us 25km from Santiago de Compostela to Padrón, home of the famous Padrón peppers (also known locally as Herbón peppers, after the valley they’re grown in). I must admit, I was expecting a large green pepper-shaped sign welcoming us to the region, but the town seems to have very little marketing when it comes to their most famous export!
After a fantastic lunch at Michelin-recommended Restaurante Brandal (including a vast four-person meat platter just for the three of us 😅), we had a leisurely 30-minute verdauungsspaziergang back to our accommodation and blobbed out for the rest of the day (alcohol may have been consumed 😁).
Our day two goal was Pontevedra, but the walk would normally have taken us several days, so we got a taxi to Caldas de Reis before continuing by foot for the remaining 21km – but not before a photo opportunity by the rather childishly-amusing road sign pointing to Cuntis, a municipality further to the east.
Pontevedra is a lovely large town, with a good mix of old and new – and also a naval club and some expensive boats. Plenty of bars and restaurants kept us busy, including Michelin-recommended Trasmallo (although it was hard to understand the menu), and Michelin-starred Eirado da Leña (fantastic food and wine 🤤).
For our northbound return journey on day three, we opted to take the boat route back up. It’s an official Camino stage lasting 27km (the “spiritual route”), and takes an hour – so much nicer than walking. We took a taxi from Pontevedra to the port town of Vilanova de Arousa and stayed overnight before taking the 8am boat (there’s only one time and we managed to score the last three tickets!).
The boat dropped us off in Pontecesures, and then we did the last walking of our Camino journey this year – the few kilometres back to Padrón.
Arriving back in Padrón on a Saturday was perfect, not least because we scored an apartment with fans, great WiFi, and a washing machine. It also meant we were perfectly placed to enjoy the region-famous Sunday market – home to hundreds of tat stalls (mostly t-shirts and shoes), plus the food market selling fish, meat, cheese, and bread.
This morning we opted to try another dish that seems to be popular in this region, criollo sausage – equal parts meaty and fatty, but perfect for a breakfast snack along with a cold beer. As tempted as I was for pulpo, I’d had that the previous night.
Later today we head back to Santiago de Compostela by train (a staggeringly-short 18-minute journey), and there we end our 2026 Camino.
It’s not adiós to Spain just yet, though. We’re spending the next week travelling via bus and train back to various places to unwind at various Michelin-recommended and Michelin-starred restaurants, including in León, Bilbao, and San Sebastián – one of which delivers what has been voted the best beef in the world 🐮 😍 🤤.
Will the lack of walking mean we undo the last eight weeks’ worth of exercise? Only time will tell when I step on scales a week from now 😅.
