The Camino Primitivo, the Primitive Way, links the cathedral of Oviedo to Santiago through the mountains of western Asturias, the Puerto del Palo, the Salime dam, A Fonsagrada and the Roman walls of Lugo, then joins the Camino Francés at Melide, a little under 53 km from the end.
The elevation profile, computed along the route from the Copernicus European terrain model, strings climbs and descents together as far as Lugo, then eases.
Hover over a stage to read it, click to open it on the map.
The Camino Primitivo splits into two sections. From Oviedo to Lugo, nine stages and 212 km of Asturian and Galician mountains, with the longest and steepest days of the route.
Lugo and the 100 km threshold
The track measured on OpenStreetMap gives 100.1 km between the centre of Lugo and the cathedral of Santiago, and on 2 February 2022 the Xunta placed a kilometre 100 marker on the central walkway of the Ronda das Fontiñas, inside the city. The margin is thin: have your credencial stamped in Lugo before you set off, then twice a day as far as Santiago.
Days without supplies
On the Hospitales route, Gronze counts about 23 km without any services between Samblismo, after Borres, and Berducedo; Senditur notes that the few water points on the ridge are used by livestock. Set off with the day’s water and food. On the main route, the Asturias tourist board describes no more than a few isolated farms between Pola de Allande and the Alto del Palo.
From Lugo to Santiago, five stages and 100 km of hills, the last three of them, 52.9 km, on the Camino Francés. Enter your available days and your pace; the planner suggests the starting point that gets you to Santiago in the time you have, with a day-by-day breakdown.
The stages of the classic breakdown run from 14 to 30 km: the shortest links Melide to Arzúa, the longest O Cádavo to Lugo. If you want the Compostela, tick the option: any start less than 100 km from Santiago is ruled out, and Lugo, at a bare 100 km on the measured track, remains the usual start for earning it. The selected section is highlighted on the map.
Camino Primitivo stages from Oviedo to Santiago
The table follows the classic breakdown into 14 stages, with the distance, the elevation gain, the estimated walking time and the town at the end. Distances and elevation are measured on the OpenStreetMap route; times follow the Swiss hiking method, breaks excluded, and here the climbing weighs as much as the kilometres.
The breakdown can be adjusted, but the overnight stops are further apart than on the Francés: the Asturian stage towns have three to six recorded places to stay. The Asturias tourist board ends the stage after Pola de Allande in Berducedo, 17.4 km further on, before La Mesa; pilgrim.es ends the one after Lugo in Ferreira rather than San Romao da Retorta. The planner follows the places in the table. For the Compostela, remember the two daily stamps from Lugo onwards.
The places below appear on the map and in the stage table, with the distance left to Santiago.
Photo: Simon Burchell, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Simon Burchell, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Simon Burchell, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Simon Burchell, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Simon Burchell, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Simon Burchell, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Simon Burchell, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Simon Burchell, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Simon Burchell, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Simon Burchell, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Simon Burchell, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Carlos Delgado, CC BY-SA 3.0The main alternative on the route comes after Tineo. From Borres, the main route drops to Pola de Allande, where you sleep, then climbs the next day to the Puerto del Palo through El Mazo.
Hospitales: guidance checked on 25 October 2026
The Asturias tourist board (turismoasturias.es) recommends that walkers who choose the Hospitales sleep the night before in Campiello or Borres, to tackle the ridge in the morning. Hiking guides advise against the crossing in fog, when the waymarking posts vanish from one to the next, in snow, which wipes out the marks and calls for mountain equipment, and in strong wind; they recommend the GPS track, a charged phone, the day’s water and food, and warm clothes even in summer. The decision is taken that same morning, on the day’s forecast: in bad weather, the main route through Pola de Allande and the Puerto del Palo stays waymarked.
The Hospitales route leaves from the same fork, gains the ridges of the sierra de Fonfaraón and stays above 1,100 m for several kilometres, past the ruins of the hospitals of Paradiella, Fonfaraón, Valparaíso and La Freita, before meeting the main route again at the Puerto del Palo: 13.8 km off the main route, no services, water points used by livestock according to Senditur, and about 23 km without services from Samblismo to Berducedo according to Gronze. In clear weather, the ridge gives open views; the Asturias tourist board describes it as very steep, through uninhabited land, and for walkers in good shape.
After A Fonsagrada, a track passes through A Pobra de Burón, a town founded around 1200 and the chief town of the former municipality of Burón until 1835, and 11.5 km off the main route.
In Lugo, a loop of less than a kilometre follows the walls to the Porta de Santiago. Beyond Santiago, Cape Finisterre is three or four days’ walk away, Muxía a little further.
Albergues on the Camino Primitivo are fewer than on the Francés. The stage table gives the number of places to stay recorded in OpenStreetMap at each arrival town.
262 places to stay recorded along the route
Accommodation recorded in OpenStreetMap: a guide to how much there is, not a complete list. Switch on the accommodation layer on the map to see where.
Affiliate map: if you book through it, the site earns a commission at no extra cost to you.
The map of hotels, guesthouses and apartments is provided by Stay22, which sets cookies once it loads.
To book or not
In July and August, book the private albergues at the stage towns between Oviedo and Lugo the day before; for the municipal ones, set off early. From Melide to Santiago, the rules of the Francés apply: book in summer and around Easter, and expect more pressure in the 2027 Holy Year.
Indicative times, to be confirmed with the operators
The bus frequencies at Asturias airport come from Aena’s page; the bus time to Oviedo, from the comparison site Omio; the Madrid to Oviedo train time, from the Telecable blog; Madrid to Lugo and the airports near Lugo, from the Viaje Camino de Santiago guide; Santiago to Lugo by bus, from the Movelia ticketing site and Omio; line 6A and the Madrid to Santiago train, from ALSA’s page for the Santiago bus station. All of it was read on 25 October 2026, and not from the operators, whose timetables change with the season and the day of the week. Check and buy your tickets on alsa.es, renfe.com and monbus.es.
Keep a day between arriving in Santiago and your trip home
On a route this steep, a stage stretched by rain or tendonitis pushes back everything that follows. A flight or a train booked for the day after your planned arrival absorbs that delay, leaves time to visit the Pilgrim’s Office and gives you an evening in the old town.
By train, Renfe’s Alvia and AVE link Madrid to Oviedo in a little over three hours for the fastest, close to four depending on the stops, since the Pajares bypass opened in November 2023. The route starts at the cathedral, ten minutes on foot from the station.
Fourteen stages for the whole route, that is two weeks without a rest day, fifteen or sixteen days with a break in Lugo or a stage split in two in Asturias. From Lugo, allow five days. Stages run from 14 to 30 km, but the climbing lengthens the days: the ascent to the Puerto del Palo or the crossing of the Hospitales takes longer than a flat stage of the same length.
It is the steepest of the four routes in this guide: 7,000 m of elevation gain over 312 km, that is more than 22 m of climbing per kilometre, against less than 14 on the Camino Francés. The Asturian stages string climbs and descents together, with the Puerto del Palo at 1,146 m and the plunge to the Salime dam; after Lugo, the terrain eases. It remains within reach of a trained walker with good shoes, a light pack and poles for the descents. Before two weeks of walking in the mountains, a visit to your doctor is worthwhile if you have any doubt about your fitness or an ongoing treatment.
Yes, it is the usual start for the 100 km required on foot: the measured track gives 100.1 km from the centre of Lugo to the cathedral, and in 2022 the Xunta placed a kilometre 100 marker on the Ronda das Fontiñas. Have your credencial stamped in Lugo when you set off, then at least twice a day. By bike, the rule rises to 200 km: start from Pola de Allande, 217.7 km from Santiago on the measured track, or from a point before it; La Mesa, at 195.6 km, is too close.
In clear, dry weather, yes according to the guides consulted: the ridge gives open views and passes the ruins of the medieval hospitals, with no services over the 13.8 km of the variant. In fog, snow or strong wind, no: the waymarking disappears and the land is uninhabited. Sleep in Campiello or Borres the night before, check the forecast in the morning, carry water and food, and fall back on Pola de Allande if the weather turns.
The sources consulted set no ideal season; they give dated facts. In 2025, the busy season was under way from April according to the tourist offices of Salas and Grado, quoted by Albergues Camino Santiago. In January 2024, the same site found albergues open in A Fonsagrada and in the municipality of Lugo, and the San Mateo albergue in O Cádavo closed until Holy Week. In winter, snow can cover the Hospitales and the Puerto del Palo, where Senditur and Gronze advise against the crossing, and albergue openings have to be checked village by village. Pilgrim.es reports frequent rain in the north and muddy sections in the rainy season: pack serious protection for your bag.
Between Oviedo and Lugo, in July and August, book the private albergues at the stage towns the day before; they have three to a dozen recorded places to stay. Outside summer, arrive in good time for the municipal ones. Between Melide and Santiago, the rules of the Camino Francés apply: book in summer, at Easter and during the 2027 Holy Year; the public Xunta albergues are taken on arrival.
Because tradition makes it the first of the routes: in the 9th century, under Alfonso II of Asturias (791-842), a hermit reports lights in the forest of Libredón and the tomb attributed to the apostle is found; the king travels from Oviedo, his capital, to the place of the discovery and has a first church built there. The date varies with the source, 814 for the most widespread, around 830 for others. When the capital moves to León and the Camino Francés becomes the main road, the route from Oviedo keeps the name “primitivo”, that is, original.
The Camino Francés shares its last three stages with the Primitivo, from Melide to Santiago, 52.9 km; its start from Sarria is the equivalent of the start from Lugo: both meet the 100 km threshold.
Photo: MartinD, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: José Antonio Gil Martínez, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Simon Burchell, CC BY-SA 4.0The Camino del Norte is where the 38.7 km link to Oviedo described by the Asturias tourist board begins, at Casquita near Villaviciosa: coast and cities on one side, mountains on the other. The Camino Portugués, from Lisbon, Porto or Tui, is the flattest of the four routes in this guide. For the Compostela rules, the budget, the season and the packing list, the Camino de Santiago guide gathers the facts shared by all the routes.
