Camiño dos Faros – The Lighthouse Way is a hiking route of about two hundred kilometers that runs between Malpica and Fisterra.  It runs along the steep coastline that borders the ocean at the edge of its cliffs. Yes, we are talking about that coast that not so many centuries ago was baptized as Costa da Morte (The Coast of Death.

Camiño dos Faros, from lighthouse to lighthouse along the Costa da Morte

Camiño dos Faros – The Lighthouse Way starts at the small fishing town of Malpica. From its port, historically linked to whaling, and protected by the smallest of all the lighthouses that we will find on the route, the path that will lead us to the great Finisterre, to Fisterra, to the very end of the world.The stages of this hiking route are long, not only because of the average number of kilometers, about twenty-five half a day, but also because walkers will not be able to avoid stopping at each step to enjoy the natural spectacle that surrounds them. Camiño dos Faros – The Lighthouse Way  is a route that is worth taking it easy and savoring each of the surprises that we will find. Even so, it is advisable to conveniently calculate the time of each stage since we must complete it while there is enough natural light.Throughout eight stages we will reach eight lighthouses that show the boats the landmarks, and guide them along this legendary coast, but we will also cross incredible sandy beaches, steep cliffs on the edge of the fierce ocean and mythical places of great natural and historical interest.

 Camiño dos Faros, walk on the edge of the end of the world

Camiño dos Faros – The Lighthouse Way  is in what, for many centuries, were considered the confines of a land believed to be flat, where the ocean engulfed the sun every evening. There was nothing beyond Finisterre, Finis Terrae, and perhaps that is the feeling we have as we walk, that what we see before our eyes, at the westernmost point of continental Europe, naturally tends to infinity.But this route of O Camiño dos Faros – The Lighthouse Way  is full of treasures, some inland, and others in the middle of the ocean. Shortly after leaving the beautiful fishing town of Malpica, we will find the Illas Sisargas (Sisargas Islands), where today seagulls and cormorants are lords and owners, although it was formerly inhabited and still preserves the ruins of the hermitage of Santa Mariña, destroyed in its day by the Pirates. Yes, that this coast was plagued with attacks by corsairs is no legend.We will find the first great lighthouse on the route at Punta Nariga, just before reaching the magnificent Niñóns beach.

• O Roncudo, where life is played by a handful of barnacles

As O Camiño dos Faros – The Lighthouse Way is a route through Galicia, surely, we all have gastronomy in mind as an essential part of the experience. But on this route, we will not only be able to enjoy the magnificent delicacies that the land and, above all, the sea offer us. In the second stage of O Camiño dos Faros – The Lighthouse Way  we will pass through O Roncudo area, from where the barnacles considered to be of the best quality are extracted. Very close to the town of Corme, in O Roncudo area, we will find several crosses that recall the men of the sea who left their lives fighting between the oceans and the cliffs. Yes, the barnacles from O Roncudo are expensive, because of its magnificent quality and flavor, but also because men and women risk their lives every time they go fishing.

• Forts and dolmens that tell us about the past

Although we are in an area far from continental centrality, along this Camiño dos Faros – The Lighthouse Way  we can see the vestiges of ancient civilizations that inhabited it thousands of years ago.Places such as Castro de Borneiro, inhabited between the 6th and 1st centuries BC. or the magnificent Dolmen of Dombate, dated between 3000 and 2500 BC, bear witness not only to the history, but also to the prehistory of the area.

• The crystal beach, sandy area of ​​one thousand colors

Along O Camiño dos Faros – The Lighthouse Way we will visit countless magnificent beaches, with white sand, tempered by the onslaught of the Costa da Morte Sea, although none like Praia dos Cristais. Confusion is impossible, since there is no place like it, a coast of thousands of colors that dazzle under the rays of the sun. Although the merit also belongs to the sea, which, as is known, returns everything.The incredible Praia dos Cristais is a phenomenon that is due to the work of the water of the oceans. Years ago, a glass dump was installed in that area, thousands of pieces of bottles that the sea carried away, and that later returned chiseled as small precious stones. Be careful, although the crystals are not a natural element originating in the environment, they are currently protected, and it is forbidden to take them. Just look and photograph when we pass through it on the fourth stage of the Camiño dos Faros – The Lighthouse Way

•  The English Cemetery, testimony of shipwrecks

In the fifth stage of this Camiño dos Faros – The Lighthouse Way , just after crossing the wonderful Praia do Trece, one of the most photographed on the entire Costa da Morte, we will find a unique stone building, in the one known as Punta do Boi. In the 19th century there were three tragic shipwrecks in this area. Of all of them, the story of the Serpent, in 1890, is the best known of all. Of the 175 men on board, only three managed to overcome the fury of the sea at dawn on November 10 and reach Praia do Trece by swimming. The bodies of the other 172 crew members were returned by sea in the following days. The English Cemetery buried their bodies and, for many years, every time an English navy ship passed through this Costa da Morte, off Punta do Boi, it fired regulation volleys, throwing a wreath of flowers into the sea.

•  Muxía, the virgin who came to the Costa da Morte in a stone boat

Galicia is full of Jacobean tradition and, although the remains of the Apostle Santiago docked much further south, in the Pontevedra town of Padrón, in this Camiño dos Faros – The Lighthouse Way we will also find the trail of the Apostle Santiago by the hand of the Virxe da Barca.The Sanctuary of Nosa Señora da Virxe da Barca is located directly on the sea, in an area of ​​cliffs in which the enormous rocks that rest at the foot of the church draw attention. Legend has it that these rocks are the remains of the stone boat in which the Virgin reached the Galician coast, where she had come to encourage the Apostle Santiago in his evangelization. In addition, these rocks have different miraculous properties. This Sanctuary is the scene of a massive pilgrimage in September in honor of the Virgin.Right next to the Sanctuary of Nosa Señora da Virxe da Barca, stands the Muxía Lighthouse, with magnificent views of the estuary and Cape Vilán. In this setting, we can also walk the Paseo de la Memoria, which recalls the tragedy of the Prestige.

• Faro Touriñán, beyond the end of the world

In the penultimate stage of this Camiño dos Faros – The Lighthouse Way  we will find Cabo Touriñán, which is located further west than Fisterra itself, further out to sea than the so-called end of the world.  At this point, from March 22 to April 25, and also from August 13 to September 22, the last sun sets in all of continental Europe. A long spit of land goes into the ocean until we reach the point where we will find the Lighthouse. Be careful with the wind and waves, because in this area, they are merciless, although the feeling of being in the place where the elements embrace each other will be unforgettable.

•  Cabo Fisterra, the end of the Camiño dos Faros

Fisterra, Finisterre or Finis Terrae is the end of many routes. This is the last point for many pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago, the place where they used to abandon or burn their boots. It is also said that it was a pilgrimage place prior to the existence of the Camino de Santiago for those travelers who wanted to see, with their own eyes, the end of the world, and the place where the Celts honored the sun in their Ara Solis.Fisterra, Finisterre or Finis Terrae is also the end of this Camiño dos Faros – The Lighthouse Way . Finishing our journey of about two hundred kilometers in this incomparable place will take our breath away. Because of the magnificent panoramic view of the ocean and the jagged Galician coast that we can enjoy from it, because of the angry wind that will fill our lungs with salt, and because of that magical essence that distills.

• O Camiño dos Faros organized

O Camiño dos Faros – The Lighthouse Way  is a unique hiking route that brings together so many elements that it is impossible to summarize them in a few words: beaches, cliffs, shipwrecks, legends, wild nature, exceptional flora and fauna, dunes, lighthouses with incredible stories, fishing villages, tradition, gastronomy, adventure …It is a demanding tour through natural and rugged areas that man has not been able to master, but that offers us an experience that we will never forget. We are talking about an area in which the weather has a very high influence, so it is advisable to do this Camiño dos Faros – The Lighthouse Way between spring and the beginning of autumn.

Rutas Meigas is in charge, throughout the entire route, of selecting the best accommodations, as well as transporting the luggage between the stages and all the necessary logistics so that you, as always, only worry about enjoying the experience. We guarantee that it is very worth it.