Onwards we go to the next letter in the ‘Towns Along The Way’ series….which is G. There are 3 towns; one in Castilla y Leon, another in La Rioja and the last in Galicia. Again, please comment if you have stayed in any of these towns. For more in this series, check out my Archive.
Grañón (map)
Roughly 8 days into your Camino, you will meet Grañón. It is situated between Santo Domingo de la Calzada and Belorado in the La Rioja province of northern Spain. It has a population of just over 300 people. On entering the village, it seems like it doesn’t have much to offer but one of it’s highlights is Iglesia de San Juan Bautista. The church offers beds (well..mattresses) to pilgrims, and you can sleep in it’s belltower and look at the stars if you wish (gronze.com). I have passed through Grañón on 2 occasions. In 2013, I passed through in minutes as the weather was poor; however in May 2015, I stopped for over an hour for a few cervezas. My end point for the day was the next town and I still wish that I had stopped in Grañón rather than moving on. So if you are passing through, my advise is stop here and stay in San Juan Bautista.
El Ganso (map)
Calling El Ganso a village is a stretch as it consists with a number of derelict buildings, a cowboy bar and is home to 36 people. Nevertheless, the Way passes through it and I will mention it. El Ganso is Spanish for “The Goose” and is based in Castilla y Leon. On reaching this town, you will notice that the terrain is ascending and you will begin to gradually start to climb until you reach the highest point in Spain – the Cruz de Ferro. As mentioned above, the Cowboy Bar is one of the oddities of the Camino. I stopped by in May 2015 for second breakfast and was treated very well by the owner. There is an albergue here and know of people who have stayed here (gronze.com). It is advisable to pit-stop either here of at the town previous (Santa Catalina) as you have a nice climb ahead of you from there on.
Gonzar (map)
Gonzar is one of many small hamlets in Galicia. It is 8 kms from Portmarin and you have approximately 90km to walk before reaching Santiago. I have little memory of this town since walking through Galicia in 2011. Some pilgrims choose to stay here instead of the usually busy Portomarin (gronze.com).
My next post in this series will focus on Honto, Hornillos del Camino, Hontanas, Hospital de Órbigo, Hospital da Condesa, Hospital da Cruz and Las Herrerías. See you then!
La Faba, meaning The Beans in Spanish, is a small mountain town between Villafranca del Bierzo and El Cebreiro. It has a population of just over 30 people. While the name of the village doesn’t stand out, it has one of the best albergues on the Camino Frances; 
One of many many small Galician hamlets that you will pass through while on the Camino. This particular town has 50 or so inhabitants and is approximately 14km from Sarria. There is nothing very eye catching in this town however, keep an eye out for the Iglesia de Santa María de Ferreiros which has an unusual cemetery. The scenery is very shire-esque and when passing through, make sure you stop at Casa Cruceiro for a cafe con leche and sello. There are a number of places to stay there also (
From Galicia, we move to Castilla and the Leon hills. Like Fillobal, it has a tiny population, possibly 20-30 people. It is situated between Rabanal del Camino and Molinaseca if you were to follow Mr Brierley’s bible. More and more people, however, are choosing to finish walking for the day in Foncebadon. It is very near to the Cruz de Ferro and watching the sun rise from there is pretty special. The climb up to Foncebadón can be tough but the views are ideal. There is evidence of an empty town with plenty of abandoned houses. But the Camino is bringing growth to the area. During the summer months, it can be busy and there are accommodation, albergues and bars (
Fonfria is some 9km from Triacastela. Again, it is a typical Galician town with green the predominant colour and many of the buildings are made of stone slabs. This is rural Spain at it’s finest. The town does have a selection of albergues and pensions also (
The final town beginning with F and close to 450km to Santiago is Frómista. It is situated in the province of Palencia and has a population of just under 1000 people. It has plenty of amenities that a large town would have so many people choose here to lay their head for the night (
I’m really eager to receive a new purchase in the post next week. I love keeping an eye out for books (paperback or kindle) about the Camino and I have found one written by Luke Darracott. Luke walked the Camino a couple of years back and decided to write about it before going. He also 