English Way

Camino inglés

All you need to know about the English way

Not only English pilgrims choose the route to Santiago of Compostela from the coast of A Coruña. In reality, the known as English Camino, with its variant routes from A Coruña and Ferrol was, during the Middle Ages, a compendium of the routes followed not only by English devotees but also Scottish, Irish, Scandinavian and Flemish, that is to say those from northern and western Europe.

For this reason there were a number of ports of departure and, the destinations depended upon the storms that shook the ships on their arrival to the Ártabro Gulf. However, being a sea voyage, the pilgrim journey was restricted to three weeks, there and back, compared to the close to five months that it took to cross France and its harsh Pyrenees along a route full of thieves.

It reached its peak in the XV century, the period of the greatest influx of English pilgrims and indeed English boats destined for the ports of A Coruña. There also exists the variant route from A Coruña, known as the Camino do Faro (The way of the lighthouse) and that which departs from Ferrol. Divided into six stages-three days if from A Coruña and, Five days from Ferrol. The Camino routes meet in the small hamlet of Bruma. Walkers will discover a distinctive coastal route, although at times, interrupted by building constructions lacking in respect for their surrounding environment.