Camino Olvidado

At a Glance

• Start / Finish: Bilbao / Cacabelos in El Bierzo, where the route meets the Camino Francés; the associations officially extend it along the Francés to Villafranca del Bierzo
• Length: 493.6 km
• Duration: 22 stages, so a good three weeks; closer to four with rest days
• Elevation: ↗ 10,465 m / ↘ 9,992 m
• Highest point: 1,641 m at km 413.7 between Fasgar and Colinas del Campo, at the Campo de Santiago
• Landscape: hills of the Encartaciones, forests of the Merindades, the high plateau around the Ebro Reservoir, Romanesque churches around Aguilar, coal country, the empty Omaña valleys, vineyards in El Bierzo
• Operator / Waymarking: the Camino Olvidado project of five rural development groups, the Asociación Leonesa del Camino Olvidado, and the Friends of the Camino in Bizkaia; yellow arrows since 2012, sparse in places
• Traces of St. James: Bilbao's Cathedral of Santiago with its pilgrims' door, the Ermita de Santiago on the Campo de Santiago with a pilgrimage every July 25, the village of Santiago de las Villas, and a former Hospital de Santiago in Cacabelos
• Accommodation: around 20 albergues and pilgrim lodgings, plus hostales and casas rurales in between; on several stages there is just a single place to stay at the end
• Connecting routes: Camino del Norte in Bilbao, Camino de las Asturias between Rozas and Cervera, Camino Vadiniense & Lebaniego in Cistierna, Camino San Salvador in La Robla, Camino Francés in Cacabelos
• Best time: mid-May to mid-October; above 1,000 meters, snow lingers into spring
• Pilgrim passport / Certificate: credencial; since you'll walk well over 100 km on the Francés from Cacabelos to Santiago, you'll receive the Compostela there

Overview

The Camino Olvidado is a route that had to be forgotten before it could be found again. From the 9th to the 12th century, pilgrims headed west along the southern foot of the Cantabrian Mountains because the open Meseta farther south lay within reach of Moorish raids. Spanish Wikipedia puts it plainly: the route was used so that pilgrims "pudiesen protegerse mejor de las aceifas musulmanas del sur" (could better protect themselves from the Muslim summer campaigns from the south). The further the Reconquista advanced, the more pilgrims took the easier Camino Francés through Burgos and León—and the mountain way fell asleep.

Just how deeply it slept is captured in a line from the León historian José María Luengo in the mid-20th century: "De esta antiquísima vía montañera poco se sabe aún" (little is yet known about this ancient mountain road). Only in 2004 and 2006 did Julián González Prieto and José Fernández Arenas publish the first books about it, and in 2012 the Friends of the Camino in Bizkaia painted the first arrows from Bilbao. Today you walk almost 500 kilometers through villages where a pilgrim is still an event, and you climb more per kilometer than on the Camino Francés: a good 21 meters of ascent instead of just under 18.

Other Names

In Spanish the route is called Camino Olvidado ("the forgotten way"), and in older sources also Viejo Camino de Santiago ("the old Way of St. James") or Camino de la Montaña ("the mountain way"). In El Bierzo you'll see Camino Olvidado a Santiago, and English-language guides call it the Forgotten Way. In the route network of the Spanish federation of Camino associations it carries the number 11. Viejo Camino is also the title of José Fernández Arenas's 2006 book; Camino Olvidado is the name under which the municipalities promote it today.

Who It's Ideal For—and Who It's Not So Ideal For

Ideal if you've already walked a Camino and now want the opposite: three weeks with hardly any other pilgrims, mountain villages with a bar, a fountain and a church tower, evenings when the albergue key is waiting at the village bar. Ideal if Romanesque art, mining history and empty landscapes appeal to you more than pilgrim company.

Honestly, though, it's not for you if you want to rely on yellow arrows alone: the waymarking has been continuous since 2012, but at junctions and in wooded stretches it keeps having gaps, and without a GPS track it gets tedious. Not for you if you love being spontaneous about where to sleep—on many stages there is exactly one place at the end, and it isn't open every day. And not for you if you hate asphalt: long sections run on quiet back roads, and two stages of more than 30 kilometers can't sensibly be split.

Route & Landscape

Bilbao to Aguilar de Campoo (km 0–183.6): From Bilbao's old town the route follows the Cadagua upstream through the Encartaciones via Güeñes (km 22.7) and Zalla (km 26.8); at medieval Balmaseda the line on the map passes just outside the center, but the detour to the bridge is worth it. Through the quiet Valle de Ordunte it climbs up into Burgos province, through the Valle de Mena to Espinosa de los Monteros (km 79.8) and through the Merindad de Sotoscueva, home of the Ojo Guareña cave system with more than 110 kilometers of passages, a natural monument since 1996. Beyond Santelices (km 103.5) the high plateau around the Ebro Reservoir opens up; from Arija (km 128.1) the route crosses a slice of Cantabria with Retortillo and Cervatos and, via the villages of the Valdeolea, reaches Aguilar de Campoo.

Aguilar to Cacabelos (km 183.6–493.6): Along the Pisuerga you continue to Cervera de Pisuerga (km 212.6), then through the "de la Peña" villages beneath the limestone cliffs of the Montaña Palentina to the coal town of Guardo (km 247.9). Through the Valdetuéjar you reach Puente Almuhey, over the ridge of the Peñacorada Cistierna (km 287.7) on the Esla, then Boñar and, through the valleys of the Curueño and the Fenar, La Robla (km 347.6). West of there begins the Omaña biosphere reserve: Riello (km 381.7), hamlets that are often home to just a few dozen people, and finally Fasgar (km 410.3) and the pass at the Campo de Santiago. You descend through the Alto Bierzo via Igüeña (km 429.0) and Congosto (km 464.7), skirting north of Ponferrada via Cubillos del Sil to Cacabelos.

Stages, Terrain, and Difficulty

The breakdown follows the stage towns of the official project and the places with an albergue; distances come from the Camino Ninja map, calibrated exactly to 493.6 km. Where the associations offer variants (Villasana de Mena, the northern loop from Guardo, Vegacervera and La Pola de Gordón), our map follows the main line.

1. Bilbao → Güeñes (22.7 km) — Up the Cadagua, lots of asphalt and industry.
2. Güeñes → Nava de Ordunte (22.5 km) — Past Balmaseda into the almost empty Valle de Ordunte.
3. Nava de Ordunte → Espinosa de los Monteros (34.6 km) — The longest stage, climbing via Bercedo into Burgos province.
4. Espinosa de los Monteros → Santelices (23.7 km) — Through Sotoscueva and Valdeporres; in Santelices there's only a country hotel.
5. Santelices → Arija (24.6 km) — Via Soncillo to the Ebro Reservoir.
6. Arija → Olea (31.5 km) — Long and windy, past Julióbriga and Cervatos.
7. Olea → Aguilar de Campoo (24.0 km) — Into the capital of Palencia's Romanesque.
8. Aguilar de Campoo → Cervera de Pisuerga (29.0 km) — Along the Pisuerga to the foot of the mountains.
9. Cervera de Pisuerga → Tarilonte de la Peña (18.1 km) — The first mountain stage, above 1,100 meters.
10. Tarilonte de la Peña → Guardo (17.2 km) — Short, down into the coal town.
11. Guardo → Puente Almuhey (18.3 km) — Into the Valdetuéjar.
12. Puente Almuhey → Cistierna (21.5 km) — Over the Peñacorada, long stretches without a village.
13. Cistierna → Boñar (27.5 km) — Hilly, via Yugueros.
14. Boñar → Robles de la Valcueva (19.2 km) — Through the Curueño valley.
15. Robles de la Valcueva → La Robla (13.2 km) — The easiest day, through the Fenar valley.
16. La Robla → La Magdalena (16.5 km) — Via Santiago de las Villas to the Luna.
17. La Magdalena → Riello (17.6 km) — Via Villayuste into the Omaña.
18. Riello → Fasgar (28.6 km) — Long, but a gentle climb up the valley.
19. Fasgar → Igüeña (18.7 km) — The queen stage, over the Campo de Santiago at 1,641 meters.
20. Igüeña → Labaniego (18.5 km) — Through the coal country of the Alto Bierzo.
21. Labaniego → Congosto (17.2 km) — Down to the Bárcena Reservoir.
22. Congosto → Cacabelos (28.9 km) — Flat, skirting north of Ponferrada; can be split at Cabañas Raras after 20.3 km.

Nothing here is technically difficult; the climbs are long, not steep. What wears you down is the total—more than 10,000 meters of ascent in three weeks—and the supplies: on stages 3, 6, 12 and 18 there's no bar for many kilometers. Between Fasgar and Colinas you stay above 1,400 meters for a long time; in fog or snow, take that seriously.

The Apostle Joins the Fight, and the Enemy Is in the Place Name: the Campo de Santiago

Above Fasgar, at the source of the Boeza, lies a high meadow with a small chapel. Here, as people in the Omaña have told for centuries, Christians won a battle against the Moors—with the Apostle's help. Spanish Wikipedia sums up the tradition like this: the Ermita de Santiago "conmemora la victoria en estos parajes de los cristianos, auxiliados, según la leyenda, por el Apóstol Santiago, sobre las tropas musulmanas" (commemorates the victory of the Christians in this place, aided, according to legend, by the Apostle St. James, over the Muslim troops). There is no battle report, no date, no king. What there is, is a name: the chapel is called Campo de Santiago de Martín Moro, and the village on the other side of the pass carries it in full—Colinas del Campo de Martín Moro Toledano, one of the longest place names in Spain. Who this Martín Moro from Toledo was, no document reveals.

The chapel itself is a stack of centuries. A first building with a shelter is dated to around the 9th century; by 1796 its predecessor had fallen completely into ruin, and today's ermita dates from the 19th century. Fasgar itself is documented in the 11th century "en conexión con el Viejo Camino de Santiago" (in connection with the old Way of St. James); in 1920 the village had 300 inhabitants, in 2015 just 31. The old village school is now the pilgrim albergue La Escuela. Every July 25, people from the valleys climb up for the romería, carry St. James and a statue of the Virgin in procession around the chapel, and then eat together on the meadow.

What this means for you: this stage is the reason to walk the route. From Fasgar at 1,307 meters you climb for just under three and a half kilometers to the route's highest point, 1,641 meters at kilometer 413.7, followed by eight kilometers of descent to Colinas, with no village and no road. Set off early, bring food, and ask about the weather in Fasgar. If you're on the route around July 25, plan to be up there for the romería.

Highlights Along the Way

• Cathedral of Santiago in Bilbao (start) — Gothic, built from around 1397, the Basque Country's first basilica in 1819, a cathedral since 1949; the Puerta del Ángel with its scallop shell is also known as the Puerta de los Peregrinos.
• Balmaseda (at km 34.2, 0.8 km detour) — founded on January 24, 1199, by Lope Sánchez de Mena as the first town in Bizkaia; medieval bridge, Passion play with more than 600 participants.
• Espinosa de los Monteros (km 79.8) — according to legend, Count Sancho García rewarded a squire from Espinosa in 1006 for uncovering a conspiracy; from then on the Monteros de Espinosa guarded the sleep of kings, and since 1975 they have been part of the Royal Guard again.
• Ebro Reservoir near Arija (km 128.1) — built from 1921 to 1945 and inaugurated in 1952; entire villages were flooded, among them one called La Magdalena. The Arija glassworks, founded in 1906, lost its sand and gravel and moved to Avilés.
• Julióbriga in Retortillo (km 148.0) — Roman town of the Legio IV Macedonica after the Cantabrian Wars; the Romanesque church of Santa María stands on the forum, and the Domus museum opened in 2003.
• Colegiata San Pedro de Cervatos (km 154.2) — consecrated by Bishop Marino on November 7, 1199, according to its inscription, a national monument since 1895; famous for the most risqué Romanesque corbels in Spain.
• Santa María la Real in Aguilar de Campoo (km 183.6) — given to the Premonstratensians by Alfonso VIII in 1169, dissolved in 1835; in 1871 almost all the cloister capitals went to Madrid, and from 1978 the cartoonist Peridis saved the monastery.
• Cervera de Pisuerga (km 212.6) — mentioned in 818, the oldest documented place in the province of Palencia, gateway to the bear country of the Montaña Palentina.
• Cistierna (km 287.7) — coal town on the Esla, where the last mine closed in 1991; home to a railway museum since 2009.
• Omaña valleys (km 365–410) — part of the Valles de Omaña y Luna biosphere reserve since 2005, home to brown bears and capercaillie.
• Cacabelos (km 493.6) — rebuilt by Archbishop Diego Gelmírez in 1108, granted a fair by Sancho IV in 1291, today a wine town of the D.O. Bierzo.

Rails Beside the Trail: the La Robla Coal Train

If you find yourself wondering, from Balmaseda on, why a narrow track keeps appearing beside you: it's the Ferrocarril de La Robla, and it follows almost the entire route. Begun in 1890, opened on October 6, 1892, on its first 45 kilometers between Balmaseda and Espinosa, and running its full length from August 11, 1894: 335 kilometers of meter gauge between La Robla and Bilbao, the longest narrow-gauge railway in Western Europe. It was built for the coal from Guardo, Cistierna and Boñar, which had to reach the blast furnaces on the estuary of Bilbao—908,464 tons of it in 1958. Pilgrims and coal, more than a thousand years apart, had the same idea: along the southern edge of the mountains is the best way through.

The railway is still useful today: since 2003 the line has been passable end to end again; Renfe Cercanías AM, formerly FEVE, serves sections of it, and since 2009 the Expreso de La Robla tourist train has run here as well. That way you can reach Balmaseda, Espinosa, Guardo, Cistierna, Boñar and La Robla by rail if you only want to walk one section. Timetables change; check them before you travel.

How Pilgrims Find Their Way onto This Path

The natural feeder route is the Camino del Norte: it runs right through Bilbao, and anyone coming from Irún who wants to trade the coast for the mountains turns off here. Along the way, the Olvidado crosses or touches three more routes:

• Camino de las Asturias — the old route from Pamplona to Oviedo runs in the same corridor between Rozas and Cervera de Pisuerga and shares seven places with the Olvidado
• Camino Vadiniense & Lebaniego — crosses in Cistierna on its way from the coast via Santo Toribio de Liébana to Mansilla de las Mulas
• Camino San Salvador — crosses in La Robla on its way from León to Oviedo; turn off here and you reach Santiago via Oviedo and the Primitivo

Continue the pilgrimage?

In Cacabelos you're standing on the Camino Francés. From here it's just under 190 kilometers via Villafranca del Bierzo and O Cebreiro to Santiago de Compostela, about a week on foot, with albergues in every other village. The Olvidado associations still count the nine kilometers to Villafranca as part of their route; after that, following three weeks of solitude, you're suddenly among crowds of pilgrims.

Preparation & Practical Information

Pilgrim passport and app. As on all Spanish routes, you need a pilgrim passport (credencial) to stay in the albergues and to receive the Compostela at the end. It's best to order it online in advance so it reaches you in time for the start of your trip. You'll get stamps in albergues, town halls and bars. Download the track for offline use; the easiest way is right in the Camino Ninja App, where you can put together your stages and plan suitable accommodation at the same time.

Where to sleep. Gronze lists around 20 albergues and pilgrim lodgings, plus hostales and casas rurales. On this route, always call the day before: many albergues are looked after by the municipality, the key is at the bar or with a neighbor, and some casas rurales only rent out the whole house outside the season.

Season and supplies. The best time is mid-May to mid-October; at the Ebro Reservoir and on the Campo de Santiago it can turn foggy and cold even in summer. There are fountains in almost every village, shops not so much.

What the journey will cost you

The albergues are cheap: 10 € in Puente Almuhey, Robles de la Valcueva, La Robla, Igüeña (with breakfast) and at the pilgrim lodging in Vegarienza, 12 € in Cistierna, 15 € in Espinosa de los Monteros and at La Escuela in Fasgar. A single room in a pensión or hostal costs from 20 to 23 € in La Robla and 30 to 37 € in Cistierna; doubles run 40 to 65 € (as of October 2026).

Budget 35 to 50 € a day with albergue, bar breakfast and menú del día, or 55 to 75 € if you sleep in casas rurales more often. Honestly, you don't save money here on accommodation—you save it because there's so little opportunity to spend any.

Getting Here

To the start. Bilbao has an airport with direct flights from many European cities, plus long-distance buses and trains from Madrid. The route begins in the old town at the Cathedral of Santiago.

From the finish. Buses run from Cacabelos to Ponferrada; trains from there connect to León and Madrid, and long-distance buses go to Madrid and Santiago. If you keep walking to Santiago, you won't need a return trip.

• Train: renfe.com — long-distance trains and the Cercanías AM narrow-gauge line between Bilbao and León
• Bus: alsa.com — long-distance buses to Bilbao, Ponferrada and Santiago
• Route and stages: caminoolvidado.com — the municipalities' project site with stages and a map