Costa da Morte Scenic Road

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. A Coruna

   A Coruña sits on a thumb of land poking into the Atlantic, with a harbour on one side and open ocean beaches on the other, so the city has two moods depending on which side of the isthmus you stand. The Orzán and Riazor beaches face the wind and surf, while the old town and the glass-fronted houses of the Marina look in over calmer water. It is Galician to the core, which means the weather can change four times in an afternoon and nobody will remark on it.

   Read the complete A Coruña write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   A Coruna is where the day begins. Next is Malpica.

2. 2. Malpica

   Malpica is where the Costa da Morte, the Coast of Death, begins in earnest. The name sounds dramatic and it is earned. This long stretch of Galician coast, bristling with granite headlands, shoals and fog, has seen more shipwrecks than almost anywhere in Europe, and the people here have a long history of watching the sea for trouble and for the cargo that it sometimes delivered. Today Malpica is a working fishing port of about seven thousand people on a deep bay, with a harbour full of brightly coloured boats and a small town of white houses climbing the hill behind it.

   Read the complete Malpica write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Malpica comes up about 50 km into the recorded legs. Next is Laxe.

3. 3. Laxe

   Laxe is easy to like because it does not try very hard. A fishing town of a few thousand people tucked into a curved bay on the Costa da Morte, it has a harbour where boats unload the day's catch, a long sandy beach that curves round the bay, and a low white skyline of houses. In summer, Galician families spread out on the sand, and in winter the Atlantic throws huge swells against the headland, so that the town feels like the last outpost before the open sea.

   Read the complete Laxe write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 80 km into the recorded legs you reach Laxe. Next is Cape Vilan.

4. 4. Cape Vilan

   Cabo Vilán is a headland of dark rock, flogged by wind and swell, with a lighthouse at the end that has a place in the history of Spain. When its lamp was first lit in 1896, it was the first electrically powered lighthouse in the country, a statement of faith in the new technology on a coast that had long been the graveyard of ships. The tower is a plain, stout shape, with a small museum inside on the history of shipwrecks and lights, and the view from the foot takes in the roaring Atlantic and the long line of the Costa da Morte.

   Read the complete Cape Vilan write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Cape Vilan, about halfway. Next is Muxia.

5. 5. Muxía

   Muxía clings to the end of a rocky peninsula, and its church sits on the very edge of the sea. The Santuario da Virxe da Barca stands on a ledge of granite where the waves break on three sides, and according to the legend, the Virgin Mary appeared here in a stone boat to encourage Saint James when he was preaching in Galicia. The great stones beside the church, including one that is said to rock when you stand on it, are the remains of that boat's sail, rudder and hull. The local pilgrims believe passing under or touching them can cure ailments.

   Read the complete Muxia write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Muxía sits at 172 km, late in the day. Next is Cape Finisterre.

6. 6. Cape Finisterre

   The Romans thought the world ended here, which is why they called it Finis Terrae. It is not actually the westernmost point of Spain, a title that belongs to a cape a bit farther up the coast, but nobody visiting at sunset is inclined to argue. The headland of Cape Finisterre, Cabo Fisterra in Galician, pokes out into the Atlantic with a lighthouse on its tip, a stone marker for kilometre zero and a view over a sea that goes on to the horizon. For centuries, pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago have continued on foot to this point, and by tradition some burn their boots or clothes on the rocks to mark the end of the walk.

   Read the complete Cape Finisterre write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 169 km.