Why this ride
299 km from Vilalba to Vilalba, about 5 h 24 of riding. It goes by way of Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes, Cathédral de Lugo, Cathedrale de Mondonedo and back through Cathédral de Lugo. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Chemin de l’Intérieur and Cathedrale de Mondonedo
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 299 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 5 h 24
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. 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
Cathédral de Lugo → Cathedrale de Mondonedo
Speed drops and stays down. Park rather than crawl through. 66 km through ground somebody thought worth listing. The road passes it rather than bypassing it.
Chapter facts
- Length
- 61 km
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Chemin de l’Intérieur
Pilgrims have been crossing this green upland of Galicia on their way to Santiago de Compostela for more than a thousand years, and the scallop-shell waymarkers still guide them through the villages around Vilalba and Guitiriz. This is the Terra Chá, the flat land, a high plateau in the north of the province of Lugo where the northern pilgrim routes come down from the Cantabrian coast toward the interior. The Ways of Saint James in northern Spain are part of a UNESCO listing that recognises not only the famous French Way but also the coastal and inland routes that run through this region.
Read the complete Chemin de l’Intérieur write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Chemin de l’Intérieur 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 about 40 km into the recorded legs. Next is Cathédral de Lugo.
3. Cathédral de Lugo
Lugo is one of those cities that tells you its age before you have parked. A ring of Roman wall, two kilometres of it and still complete, circles the old town, and walking along the top is the best way to understand why UNESCO listed it. The Romans founded Lucus Augusti here at the end of the first century before Christ, drawn by hot springs on the Miño river, and the baths are still in use by the riverside. The wall's gates, rebuilt and re-cut many times, let you walk in and out of the old quarter as people have for nearly two thousand years.
Read the complete Cathédral de Lugo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 85 km into the recorded legs you reach Cathédral de Lugo. Next is Cathedrale de Mondonedo.
4. Cathedrale de Mondonedo
Mondoñedo is a small cathedral city in the north of Galicia, tucked into a green valley of the Masma river between the Cantabrian coast and the hills of the interior. With barely five thousand people it is one of the smallest places in Spain to have a cathedral, and the building is the reason the town exists. It was begun in the late twelfth century and finished over several centuries, with a Romanesque core, Gothic vaults and a Baroque west front with two towers. Inside, there are medieval wall paintings in the cloister and a fine stone choir, and the whole is built from the grey local granite, which turns green with lichen and gold in the evening sun.
Read the complete Cathedrale de Mondonedo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Cathedrale de Mondonedo, about halfway. Next is back through Cathédral de Lugo.
5. back through Cathédral de Lugo
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Cathédral de Lugo write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Cathédral de Lugo sits at 215 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 about 253 km into the recorded legs. Next is Chemin de l’Intérieur.
7. Chemin de l’Intérieur
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Chemin de l’Intérieur write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Chemin de l’Intérieur closes the day.
Leg by leg
Chemin de l’Intérieur to Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes
Chemin de l’Intérieur → Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes to Cathédral de Lugo
Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes → Cathédral de Lugo is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cathédral de Lugo to Cathedrale de Mondonedo
Cathédral de Lugo → Cathedrale de Mondonedo is 61 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Cathedrale de Mondonedo to back through Cathédral de Lugo
Cathedrale de Mondonedo → back through Cathédral de Lugo is 62 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Cathédral de Lugo to back through Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes
back through Cathédral de Lugo → back through Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes to Chemin de l’Intérieur
back through Monaster de Sobrado Dos Monxes → Chemin de l’Intérieur is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.