From Ponferrada to Carucedo - Viajes Camino de Santiago

Information

The first stage of the Northern Route takes us from Ponferrada to Carucedo where we will enter the immensity of the region of El Bierzo, approaching one of the most representative places of the passage of the Romans through the Iberian Peninsula: Las Médulas. For its part, the small village of Carucedo, in the province of Bierzo, will offer us the possibility of enjoying its beautiful ecological environment thanks to its lake, which arose as a result of the gold mining of Las Médulas.

We leave Ponferrada in the direction of Carucedo to enter the surroundings of the famous Médulas. We leave the city crossing the bridge over the river Boeza and continue ascending the Pajariel mountain. After a few kilometres of walking, we will arrive to the locality of Toral de Merayo.

It is worth making a stop on the way to visit the Santo Cristo hermitage and the church of San Salvador.

Once we start walking again, the next towns we will pass through are Villalibre de la Jurisdicción, Priaranza del Bierzo and Santalla del Bierzo. In Villalibre, we can visit the Romanesque hermitage of Vera Cruz. Also, in Santalla we will have the opportunity to enjoy breathtaking views of the valley of El Bierzo from its viewpoint.

The next point of interest of our walk is thehermitage of the Virgen del Carmen de Rioferreiros. From here, we continue in the direction of Borrenes to later arrive at the end of our stage to Carucedo from Ponferrada.

To consider

If you prefer and you feel up to it, it is possible to extend the stage to Las Médulas and finish the stage in Carucedo, in this way we finish the stage towards the middle of the day and we can spend the whole afternoon getting to know the area of Las Médulas (it will take us 5 minutes to get there by public transport or taxi).