What is the best time of the year to do the Camino?

People tend to think that summer and winter are not good times to tackle the stages of the English Way because of harsh weather conditions, but in the case of the English route through A Coruña, it's a different story. The coast of A Coruña enjoys a year-round Atlantic climate that allows pilgrims to walk the English Way during all four seasons.

Unlike the Iberian plateau, where winter and summer temperatures can be extreme, on the Galician coast, the temperatures are stable throughout the year and are suitable for long walks. In summer, the towns and villages along the Way of Saint James come to life, putting on festivals and activities that give pilgrims one more great reason to walk during the summer months.

Autumn is another great time to enjoy dream landscapes and greater peace and quiet to walk the English Way. Only the most experienced, however, choose to do the pilgrimage in the winter, as the terrain becomes rougher, but no less charming. Spring is an ideal time to do the Camino, either on foot or by bicycle, starting from the A Coruña's Ciudad Vieja, with a medieval charm that takes the traveller back to the original birth of the route.

How to get here

43°22'16.9'' N 8°23.76' W

Historically, pilgrims arriving from Flanders or England would arrive in the harbour of A Coruña, guided by the Roman lighthouse that stands at the tip of the peninsula. Keeping with tradition, one good way to reach the city is by boat. With hundreds of kilometres of coastline and a port under the beautiful gaze of the glass galleries of La Marina, the nautical facilities offer all kinds of amenities to sailors who choose the sea for their arrival.

There are several marinas in A Coruña where you can moor your boat (in addition to the gigantic docks for cruise ships and ocean liners) which connect directly with the city centre, a great option for those stopping over in A Coruña. Reaching the city by sea is one of the best ways to enjoy the original Way. A few metres from the ports is the Church of Santiago, in the Old Town, the starting point of the route to Compostela.

Nowadays, flying is undoubtedly the fastest way to reach the city. A Coruña has one of the busiest airports in the northwest of the peninsula: Alvedro airport, from which you can easily reach any tourist destination. In addition, with the arrival of the high-speed AVE train that connects Galicia with the rest of Spain, and the local train lines, it's very easy to reach San Cristóbal Station by train. The modern commuter train lines connect A Coruña and Santiago de Compostela in a trip that takes just 28 minutes.

A Coruña also has a network of road infrastructures that allow road access from any point on the peninsula. For those who prefer to travel by bus, there is a network of roads, motorways and dual carriageways in the province that allow easy travel. The main entry routes are the A-6 motorway, which connects Galicia with Madrid, and the N-VI. The AP-9 motorway that spans the Galician coastline and also facilitates connection with Portugal. The N-550 between A Coruña and Santiago is the state road that historically links both cities. Bus stations in Galicia are undergoing a modernisation process that brings together rail and bus in intermodal stations. In the case of A Coruña, the future Intermodal station will offer rail and bus transport services in the same space.

Left-luggage office

The best option for not having to worry about luggage when flying and travelling by train or bus is to leave your luggage in a luggage storage room or left-luggage office. A Coruña has a left-luggage office at the bus station, operating from 5.30 to 24.00, 365 days a year. It consists of a space reserved for luggage storage for safekeeping.

This allows pilgrims to leave their belongings safely in the city and get ready to hike the 73 kilometres to the Cathedral of Santiago - which also does not allow entry with backpacks - and to make the journey much lighter.

Accommodation

To enjoy the Camino to the fullest, it's essential to get a good night's rest. There are many accommodation options in the city. With hotels for all budgets, hostels and pensions or even tourist flats and homes, in A Coruña you have plenty of choices.

Another more classic choice among pilgrims is to opt for a hostel. The Camino has a public network of hostels. On the English Way, there are notable stops in Betanzos, Miño, Neda, Ordes, Carral and Mesía.

As you begin to follow the 73-kilometre route from A Coruña, you can spend the night in O Burgo, Sergude (Carral), Bruma (Mesía), A Calle or Sigüeiro. As the route from A Coruña is short, we recommend stopping in Sergude, 20 kilometres from A Coruña, or in Bruma, 32.6 km away. This is where the route from Ferrol and from A Coruña converge towards Santiago.

Of course, there are also hostels in Santiago de Compostela. Once you've arrived at the finish line, you can choose between Monte do Gozo or San Lázaro, where pilgrims from different routes come together upon arrival in the Galician capital.