Why this ride
248 km from Santiago de Compostela to Santiago de Compostela, about 3 h 57 of riding. It goes by way of Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes, Tower of Hercules, back through Tower of Hercules and back through Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Santiago de Compostela afternoon · Tower of Hercules
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 248 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 57
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Scenic road chapters
Costa da Morte Scenic Road
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For 1 km this is Costa da Morte Scenic Road, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 1 km
- Named road
- Costa da Morte Scenic Road
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Santiago de Compostela
Whatever time you arrive in Santiago de Compostela, you will probably find someone crying in the Praza do Obradoiro. They have walked for weeks, or days, or the last hundred kilometres the pilgrim rule requires, and the cathedral at the end of it is as big and golden as they hoped. Santiago has been the goal of the Camino since the ninth century, when a hermit was said to have found the tomb of the apostle James here, and the city grew up around the shrine. The cathedral you see now is largely Romanesque in its bones, with a baroque front that glows when it is not raining, which in Galicia is a fair part of the year.
Read the complete Santiago de Compostela write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Santiago de Compostela is where the day begins. Next is Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes.
2. Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes
Pilgrims walking the Camino del Norte toward Santiago reach Sobrado dos Monxes tired and footsore, and the sight of the huge granite Baroque façade of the monastery, rising out of a quiet Galician village, must feel like a miracle. Sobrado was founded as a monastery in the tenth century, became Cistercian in the twelfth, and grew into one of the most powerful abbeys in Galicia. After the dissolution of the monasteries in the nineteenth century, it fell into ruin, until Cistercian monks returned in the 1950s and began restoring it. Today they run a pilgrim hostel in part of the buildings.
Read the complete Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes comes up 43 km in. Next is Tower of Hercules.
3. Tower of Hercules
On a rocky headland at the edge of A Coruña, a city of about two hundred and fifty thousand people on the north-west corner of Spain, stands a grey stone tower nearly fifty-five metres tall. It is the Tower of Hercules, and it is the oldest Roman lighthouse in the world still in use, which makes it a good deal older than almost anything else that works in Europe. UNESCO inscribed it in 2009.
Read the complete Tower of Hercules write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
At least 95 km in you reach Tower of Hercules.
4. Tower of Hercules
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tower of Hercules write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Tower of Hercules, about halfway. Next is back through Tower of Hercules.
5. back through Tower of Hercules
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tower of Hercules write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Tower of Hercules sits at 171 km, about halfway. Next is back through Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes.
6. back through Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes comes up 214 km in. Next is Santiago de Compostela.
7. Santiago de Compostela
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Santiago de Compostela write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Santiago de Compostela closes the day.
Leg by leg
Santiago de Compostela to Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes
Santiago de Compostela → Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes to Tower of Hercules
Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes → Tower of Hercules is 67 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Tower of Hercules to back through Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes
back through Tower of Hercules → back through Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes is 67 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes to Santiago de Compostela
back through Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes → Santiago de Compostela is 62 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.