Stage 26. Villafranca del Bierzo – O Cebreiro (27.8 km)

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.

Would you like to walk this stage with your accommodation already booked? These organised trips include it: French Way from Astorga to Santiago de Compostela, French Way from O Cebreiro, French Way from Roncesvalles to Santiago de Compostela and French Way from Leon to O Cebreiro.

The queen stage: you leave Villafranca del Bierzo along the Valcarce valley, through Pereje, Trabadelo and Vega de Valcarce, and at Las Herrerías the climb begins, hard and relentless, via La Faba and Laguna de Castilla until you enter Galicia. O Cebreiro is a magical village at 1,300 metres, with cobbled streets and stone-and-thatch pallozas preserved since pre-Roman times. Its church of Santa María la Real, the oldest on the Camino Francés, holds the legend of the Holy Grail. On a clear day, the views over the Galician valleys are unforgettable.