Stage

Ferrol - Pontedeume

31 km

You leave from the harbour of Ferrol, As Curuxeiras, to begin the English Way surrounding the bay and walking past the church of San Francisco and the Old Arsenal. You will go through Ferrol’s famous Calle Real, with its Art Nouveau buildings, towards plaza de Armas, where you will see the town hall.

After that, the route takes you to the areas of Recemil and Caranza, slowly leaving the city after 6 kilometres towards the industrial park of A Gándara, already in the municipality of Narón. The walk continues parallel to the river and crosses the Xubia to enter Neda. This is a marshland fed by the river Belelle. In Neda, you can see the church of Santa María, with the Cristo de la Cadena, a Gothic wooden sculpture that came from England in 1550, the clock tower, and the church of San Nicolás. Very close to it you have the Monte de Ancos, with a viewpoint from where you can see the Ría de Ferrol and the bridges crossing it. This mountain is a beautiful nature and leisure enclave with a castro (pre-Roman settlement) also in it.

You leave Neda behind towards Fene and walk through the industrial area of Vilar do Coto, 9 kilometres away from the starting point and on the border with the municipality of Cabanas. You should pay attention to the yellow arrows, otherwise, you might get lost here.

You must carry on walking along the beach of Cabanas, the Praia da Magdalena, with its impressive pine grove, towards the esplanade until you reach Pontedeume. This beautiful town is on the bank of the river Eume, and the name comes from the bridge (ponte) leading to it.

An important landmark in this area is the Parque Natural Fragas do Eume, a nature park of 9,125 hectares of forest, the best preserved Atlantic coastal forest in Europe. In this beautiful natural setting, you will find the Monastery of Caaveiro, with amazing views over the river.

Every Saturday there is the Feirón in Pontedeume, an open market where you can buy local produce such as fruits and vegetables, as well as local cottage cheese, empanadas and honey. You can buy cottage cheese in the Feirón and have it with a local almond-based sweet called manguito eumés.

How to get to Ferrol

There is no airport in Ferrol, the closest one is Alvedro, in A Coruña, located 50 kilometres away. You can use the toll highway to get there.

There are daily buses connectingFerrol to different parts of Spain with Alsa, and inside Galicia, you can use Monbus and Arriva. Ferrol’s bus station is at Paseo de la Estación (+34 981 324 700).

There are daily trains from Madrid and Oviedo to Ferrol. From there, you can also go to A Coruña and continue to other Galician destinations. Please check timetables at Renfe. The railway station is at Av. Compostela, very close to the Plaza de Armas, the city centre.

The toll highway AP-9 takes you to Ferrol. Likewise the N-651 crosses the bridge of As Pías.

Tips from our postmen and women

What to do and see in the stage Ferrol - Pontedeume?

José Mª Doce Correos Fene

“You should not miss the Old Arsenal in Ferrol, only possible during the summer, and the Naval Museum. If the weather is fair, you can take a boat from Ferrol to Mugardos, as this friendly fishing village is famous for the way they prepare our national dish, “pulpo” (octopus). We cannot leave Ferrol without visiting the Magdalena neighborhood, the first place in Spain where buildings with galleries were built, specifically at the end of the 18th century. We can enjoy its modernist houses and unique buildings.

Already in Narón, you will find the 12th-century monastery of O Couto and little after that a tide mill known as Aceas, which used to be a very important flour mill in Galicia.

Pontedeume, a medieval town, offers the Torreón dos Andrade, and if you have the time, you should not miss the Monastery of Caaveiro, reachable on foot, by bus or bike. You can also have a walk on the beach. If you come in September, you have to go to the town harbour on the 8th to see the traditional cucaña marítima during the Festa da cucaña.”