From Villafranca del Bierzo to O Cebreiro

This is the queen stage of the French Way. An exciting route between Villafranca del Bierzo and O Cebreiro that we will never forget, not only for its extraordinary beauty, but also for the feared ascent to O Cebreiro. It is a long ascent of 12 kilometres in which we will leave Castilla y León to enter, at last, Galicia. But the effort will be worth it when you reach the small village of O Cebreiro, an ethnographic treasure framed by the impressive Sierra de Os Ancares.

A great mountain stage. From Villafranca del Bierzo you follow the Valcarce valley, past viaducts and villages like Vega de Valcarce and Las Herrerías, until the steep climb begins through La Faba and Laguna de Castilla. You finally cross into Galicia —152 km left to Santiago— and crest at O Cebreiro, a magical village of pallozas and cobbled streets steeped in legend.