Private transfer from Santiago Airport to Sarria

114 km on foot from Sarria to Santiago. The Compostela, the certificate of pilgrimage, is given to those who have walked at least 100 km in a row along a single route. Sarria lies just beyond that line, which is why so many people start the Camino here. The walk to Santiago is usually split into five stages: Portomarín, Palas de Rei, Arzúa, O Pedrouzo and Santiago. If you plan to walk for five days, fly in the day before you start and spend the night in Sarria. The town has hotels, guesthouses, rural houses, albergues and a campsite.

Your credencial is stamped at the start and end of every stage. The Pilgrim's Office in Santiago requires this, and every stamp must carry a date. In Sarria the credencial itself, the pilgrim's passport, is issued at the church of Santa Mariña on Rúa Maior and at the albergue of the Magdalena monastery. The issuing hours change, so ask about them at your albergue on the day you arrive. The tourist office in the former prison on Rúa da Mercé does not stamp credenciales, but almost every albergue, hotel and bar does. The same office will give you a list of services that carry backpacks between stages, if you would rather not carry everything yourself.

13th and 19th-century churches on Rúa Maior. Pilgrims enter the old town by the 19th-century stone staircase, the Escalinata Maior, and then walk along Rúa Maior. On it stand the church of Santa Mariña, built in 1885 on the site of a 13th-century Romanesque church, and the 13th-century church of San Salvador with its Gothic arches. Higher up, one tower survives from the fortress of the Counts of Sarria: the fortress itself was destroyed during the Irmandiño revolt. The old town also has the 19th-century Casa Baamonde: since 1920 it has housed the town hall, and a stone statue of King Alfonso IX of León stands on its façade. The churches and the tower are right on the Camino, so you will also see them in the morning as you set off on your first stage.

The first stage to Portomarín, 22 km long. Pilgrims leave the town past the Magdalena monastery. Two Italian monks founded it as a hospital for pilgrims, and today the Mercedarian order serves there. Just outside the town there is a steep descent to the Ponte da Áspera, a bridge rebuilt in the 18th century on the site of a medieval one. After the bridge the climb begins to the village of Barbadelo, 4.2 km from Sarria, so take care on the descent in the dark or in the rain. Barbadelo has the 12th-century Romanesque church of Santiago.

The Camino's yellow arrows were the idea of a man from Sarria. In 1984 the priest Elías Valiña, known as "O Cura do Cebreiro", began marking the stages with yellow arrows from Valcarlos to Compostela. A memorial plaque in his honour hangs in the church of Santa Mariña. The yellow arrows will lead you from Sarria all the way to Santiago: if you are unsure at a fork, look for them on walls and stones.

A market on the 6th, 20th and 27th of every month. On these days stallholders sell local produce on the Campo da Feira square off Rúa da Mercé, and the pulperías cook pulpo á feira, Galician-style octopus. If you arrive on one of these days, have lunch at the market. Besides octopus, Sarria is proud of its pork from the local porco celta breed and its Galician veal. Antique dealers work on Rúa Porvir, and in spring the street hosts the San Lázaro antiques fair. Take a look if you would like to take home an old piece as a memento of the start of your Camino.