Reflections and Lessons from the Camino Finisterre–Muxía

Reflecting on the Camino Finisterre

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you … while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.” - John Muir

The final stretch to the “end of the world”… again, and again, and again, and again.

 
We’ve walked the Camino Finisterre–Muxía four times now - and each time, it has called us back with the same quiet insistence. Though the trails of the Portuguese Central, the Portuguese Coastal and Espiritual routes, the Camino de Madrid, the San Salvador, the Primitivo, and most recently the Via de la Plata and Sanabrés brought us to Santiago, it was always this last stretch - west to Fisterra, then north to Muxía that helped us let go.

 
This is a trail we love deeply. A rugged, windswept walk to the edge of the world, and then a gentler arc along the Atlantic, where waves and memory blur into one. For us, the Camino doesn’t end in Santiago - it continues to the coastline. It finds its true horizon where land gives way to sea. 

A Pilgrimage for Pilgrims

Unlike the main Camino routes, the Finisterre–Muxía Way is not an introduction to long-distance walking - it’s a continuation. The daily distances are long, the terrain demanding, and the infrastructure sparse in places. In many ways, it feels like a trail meant for pilgrims who’ve already been walking, who’ve already let go of expectations and learned to move through discomfort with grace.

 
There’s less ceremony here, and more space. Less crowding, more nature, and more sky.
 
The pace is quieter, and the rhythm more personal. After hundreds of kilometres or even thousands of kilometres, it’s a trail that lets you walk alone again.  It is a walk not undertaken in isolation, but in reflection. 

Lessons from the Camino Finisterre

Terrain is a factor.  If you are walking on the Camino Finisterre, you have likely already trekked in Galicia so you know it has topography.  However, the Camino Finisterre (at least to us) seemed rockier than we expected.  With that said it was manageable because we had already walked some distance beforehand. 
 
Embrace the Moment. The Camino Finisterre can be seen as the pilgrimage after the pilgrimage – so do yourself a favour and enjoy the moment.  You’ve gotten to Santiago, you’ve earned your Compostela, now enjoy the landscapes, wildlife and wonders of nature afterward.
 
Choose your Ending.  Ending in Finisterre is appropriate and wonderful, ending in Muxia is magical and wondrous – both are worth it.  No matter your choice, you will be rewarded.

Final Reflections at the End of the World

For us, our preference is to trek to Fisterra comes first.

 
There’s something powerful about walking toward the vastness of the ocean - feeling the pull of the tides in your bones as you descend the final hill to the long beach before the town, before continuing up to the lighthouse, the km 0 marker and the edge of the land.
 
We’ve stood there in sun, wind, and rain, and each time it’s felt like a full stop at the end of a long, unfolding sentence.

 
But we rarely end there. We walk on, north to Muxía, following the coastal trail amid windmills to Lires and the Galician coast.
 
In Muxía, the wild rocks of the Sanctuary of the Virgen de la Barca meet the waves with unwavering strength. The stones are ancient, smoothed by storms and sun, and they speak in a language of endurance and time. It is here, more than anywhere else, that we feel both the journey’s end and sense of personal renewal.

 
We don’t walk this route for novelty anymore - we walk it because it feels like it is right to end this way. A ritual, a release, a return. The Finisterre–Muxía route doesn’t offer the bustle of the Camino Francés or the camaraderie of the Primitivo, instead, it offers something quieter and perhaps more lasting: a place to reflect and reflect.
 
See you on the Way!