Porto do Son → Noia

At a Glance

• Start / Finish: Porto do Son (km 0.5 on the Camino Ninja map) / Noia
• Length: 16.9 km; the last 1.0 km or so from O Obre de Abaixo on the same line as the main branch from Muros
• Duration: 1 stage, a good 4 hours of walking time
• Elevation: ↗ 181 m / ↘ 189 m
• Highest point: 58 m at km 13.9 in Taramancos
• Landscape: south shore of the Ría de Muros e Noia, beaches and small harbors, cornfields, hórreos, eucalyptus and pine forest
• Operator / Waymarking: Asociación de Municipios de la Ría de Muros e Noia; blue rectangles with a yellow arrow, since 2024 wooden posts with a stylized scallop shell and the distance to Santiago
• Traces of St. James: none on the branch itself; in Noia, the apostle as a pilgrim on the portal of San Martiño and the memory of the "portus apostoli" of 1168
• Accommodation: hotels and hostales in Porto do Son, Portosín and Noia, campsites near Boiro; the only pilgrim hostel, Portus Apostoli, is in Noia
• Connecting routes: Camino de la Ría de Muros-Noia from O Obre de Abaixo and Noia
• Best time / Certificate: May to October; Compostela only together with the main branch Muros–Noia–Santiago

Overview

This route is the result of a calculation. When the cathedral chapter of Santiago recognized the Camino de la Ría de Muros-Noia as a Way of St. James on December 15, 2020, the historic route from Muros via Noia to Santiago fell a little short of the 100 kilometers needed for the Compostela. The fix lies on the other side of the estuary: a second branch from Porto do Son to Noia. The Gronze route guide puts it bluntly: "Carente de lógica caminera, pues la etapa ha nacido por la necesidad de sumar al menos 100 km" – no walking logic to it, born of the need to add up at least 100 kilometers.

That sounds like a chore, but it's a lovely half day: you walk along the south shore of the ría, look across at the cone-shaped Monte Louro, pass through the harbor of Portosín and never climb higher than 58 meters. Do the honest math and you'll notice: the cathedral demands 100 kilometers, but it never said they all had to be hard.

Other Names

In Galician the section is called Ramal de Porto do Son or Camiño de Porto do Son a Noia, in Spanish Ramal de Puerto del Son; in German pilgrim forums you'll read Porto-do-Son-Ast or Südast ("southern branch"). The route as a whole goes by Camino de la Ría de Muros-Noia or Camino Marítimo de Muros e Noia. The town's name itself is a misreading: according to historian Francisco Calo Lourido, in the late 18th century "Do-çon" was mistakenly turned into the Galician construction "do Son"; the town has officially been called Porto do Son, Puerto del Son in Spanish, only since 1983.

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

Ideal if you want the Compostela on the Camino de la Ría de Muros-Noia: without this branch, you won't have enough kilometers. Also ideal as a half rest day or a day trip from Noia – hardly any climbing, and your swimsuit can come along.

Honestly, though, it's not for you if you're looking for an old pilgrim road: this route has no medieval history; it links villages, not shrines. Not for you if you hate asphalt – between the hamlets you'll often be on back roads, including a stretch along the coastal road. And not for you if you're counting on pilgrim hostels: there are none along the way, and you'll have to sort out the logistics between the two shores yourself, by bus or taxi.

Route & Landscape

Porto do Son to Portosín (km 0.5–8.4): You leave the small harbor of Porto do Son heading northeast, not south toward the castro, and walk via Noal (km 2.2) with its parish church and O Loreto (km 2.9) with its chapel into the hills. Via Orseño and Cans the route crosses fields and hamlets dotted with hórreos, returning to the water at Freixedo. At km 8.4 you reach Portosín, the second-largest town in the municipality.

Portosín to Noia (km 8.4–16.9): Beyond Portosín you stay close to the ría, via O Mariño and Linteiros to Boiro (km 11.7) – not to be confused with the small town of Boiro on the Ría de Arousa – and Boa (km 12.2). Then the route climbs gently to Taramancos (km 14.0), the high point at 58 meters, before joining the main branch from Muros at O Obre de Abaixo (km 15.9). Via Entrerríos (km 16.2) you head down into Noia (km 16.9), the lowest point at 3 meters above sea level.

Stages, Terrain, and Difficulty

The branch is a single stage. The distances come from the Camino Ninja map, calibrated exactly to 16.9 km; Gronze gives 16.3 and Volta de Gloria 17.3 kilometers – depending on where in town you start measuring.

1. Porto do Son → Noia (16.9 km) — ↗ 181 m / ↘ 189 m. Along the south shore of the ría via Noal and Portosín, a gentle climb to Taramancos (58 m), merging with the main branch at O Obre de Abaixo and arriving in Noia's old town.

Nothing here is technically difficult: farm tracks, forest paths, back roads, a good half of it paved. The only real strain is the weather, when the west wind drives the rain across the ría. The waymarking is new and not dense everywhere – bring the track in the app.

The Branch That Exists Only for the 100 Kilometers

A Way of St. James born of a minimum distance sounds like a bureaucratic act – and it is. Gronze spells it out in its notes on the whole route: "ATENCIÓN: Para sumar los 100 km exigibles para la entrega de la Compostela, hay que hacer los dos ramales" – in other words, to reach the 100 kilometers for the Compostela, you have to walk both branches. Together, Muros–Noia, Porto do Son–Noia and Noia–Santiago add up to 102 kilometers according to Gronze, 102.3 according to Volta de Gloria. So the buffer is just over two kilometers – better skip the shortcuts on this route.

In practice, most people walk Muros–Noia first, then take a bus or taxi to Porto do Son and walk back; Gronze sets aside a separate day for it. Two stamps a day go in the credencial, on this day too. The Pilgrim's Office counted 1,255 Compostelas for this route in 2022, only 190 in 2023 and 365 again in 2024 – so on the southern branch you'll usually have the path to yourself.

And the punchline: the route's newest section leads into the estuary's oldest pilgrim port. As early as 1147, the English fleet of the Second Crusade anchored here and set off for Santiago, followed in 1189 by a German fleet of the Third. In 1431 the Venetian merchant Pietro Querini stopped in the ría on his outbound voyage from Crete to Flanders and made the pilgrimage to Compostela; the Via Querinissima, to which this route belongs today, is named after him.

Highlights Along the Way

• Castro de Baroña (not on the route, south of Porto do Son) — a settlement on a peninsula in the Atlantic, inhabited from roughly the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD, with around 20 round houses and a double rampart; rediscovered in 1933, restored since 2012. Best visited the day before.
• Porto do Son (km 0.5) — fishing port at the tip of the Barbanza Peninsula; according to Wikipedia, a place with an exact antipode: Hokitika in New Zealand.
• Portosín (km 8.4) — a harbor said to go back to a Roman villa, Portus Sinum; in the 17th century Catalan families brought salt-fish curing, and today it's a fishing and marina harbor with bars at the halfway point.
• Taramancos (km 14.0) — the high point at 58 meters; the poet Antón Avilés de Taramancos (1935–1992) from Noia carries the village's name in his pen name, and was honored with the Día das Letras Galegas in 2003.
• Santa María a Nova in Noia — built and consecrated by Archbishop Berenguel de Landoira (in office 1317–1330), in 1325 according to Xacopedia; on the portal the Three Wise Men as the "first pilgrims," and all around the cemetery with hundreds of tombstones bearing guild symbols, the oldest from the 10th century.
• San Martiño de Noia — rebuilt under Archbishop Lope de Mendoza (1400–1445); on the portal the apostle James with his pilgrim's staff among the other eleven apostles.

Noia, the Apostle's Harbor

On April 9, 1168, King Ferdinand II of León moved the town to its present, more defensible site; in 1115 Norman pirates had occupied a nearby island for half a year. With his charter he aimed to restore the portus apostoli, the apostle's harbor, and granted immunity to ships carrying pilgrims. From the 13th century onward, sea pilgrims from Scandinavia, Flanders, Scotland, Ireland and England arrived via Noia. In the 15th century the harbor silted up and Muros took over – in 1524 Emperor Charles V had to have 50 imprisoned French pilgrims freed there.

The town legend is older than the harbor: Noia is said to be named after Noela, a descendant of Noah – and the ark floats on the coat of arms.

How Pilgrims Find Their Way onto This Path

Almost everyone comes via the main branch: the Camino de la Ría de Muros-Noia begins in Muros and reaches Noia after two stages via O Cruceiro de Roo and the Ponte Nafonso. From Noia you take the bus or a taxi the roughly 17 kilometers to Porto do Son and walk back. You can also plan it the other way around and do the southern branch first. No other Way of St. James ends in Porto do Son.

Continue the pilgrimage?

Yes – and that's the whole point of the branch. From Noia the Camino de la Ría de Muros-Noia heads inland, past the monastery of San Xusto de Toxosoutos to Urdilde and the next day via Bertamiráns to Santiago de Compostela. Only there, with both branches in your credencial, do you get the Compostela.

Preparation & Practical Information

Pilgrim passport and app. As on all Spanish routes, you need a pilgrim passport (credencial) to stay in the hostels 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. For this branch the Camino Ninja App is especially useful: the waymarking is new, and in the hamlets the offline track helps. Planning is easiest right in the app, where you put together your stages and factor in suitable accommodation as you go.

Accommodation and season. The only pilgrim hostel on the whole route is Portus Apostoli in Noia, opened in 2026 in a former tannery in the A Chaínza quarter, with four-bed rooms and breakfast but no kitchen. From October to April it rains about every other day; June to August is dry, and Easter and high summer fill up the seaside hotels.

What the journey will cost you

Hotels in Porto do Son start at 40 to 50 € a night, the hostal in Portosín costs 47 to 52 €, and in Noia hostales and hotels range from 44 to 80 € (as of October 2026). Best ask the Portus Apostoli hostel directly about its price; our sources didn't confirm it.

Budget 50 to 80 € a day for a room, breakfast at the bar and a menú del día; less with a hostel bed in Noia. Honestly, the most expensive thing is the temptation in Portosín: cockles and razor clams straight from the ría.

Getting Here

To the start. You can reach Porto do Son with Monbus from Santiago de Compostela and from Noia; the buses continue via Noia toward Ribeira. Santiago has an airport and a train station.

From the finish. Buses run from Noia to Santiago several times a day.

• Bus: monbus.es — Santiago – Noia – Porto do Son lines
• Route: caminoriamurosnoia.gal — website of the municipal association with track and service providers