Why this ride
252 km from A Coruña to A Coruña, about 4 h of riding. On the way it passes Chemin de l’Intérieur, Cathédral de Lugo and back through Chemin de l’Intérieur. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Tower of Hercules and Cathédral de Lugo · 252 km from A Coruña
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 252 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 3 h 44
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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
Tower of Hercules is where the day begins. Next is Chemin de l’Intérieur.
2. 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 comes up about 77 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 127 km into the recorded legs you reach Cathédral de Lugo. Next is back through Chemin de l’Intérieur.
4. back through 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
back through Chemin de l’Intérieur, late in the day. Next is Tower of Hercules.
5. 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 at Tower of Hercules. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Tower of Hercules to Chemin de l’Intérieur
Tower of Hercules → Chemin de l’Intérieur is 77 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Chemin de l’Intérieur to Cathédral de Lugo
Chemin de l’Intérieur → Cathédral de Lugo is 50 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Cathédral de Lugo to back through Chemin de l’Intérieur
Cathédral de Lugo → back through Chemin de l’Intérieur is 53 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Chemin de l’Intérieur to Tower of Hercules
back through Chemin de l’Intérieur → Tower of Hercules is 72 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.