Today you start tour walk from Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis from the front door of your hotel in Pontevedra. As you leave the town, you cross the River Lérez, in the footsteps of millions of pilgrims before you. The scenery around you soon changes dramatically as you enter the woods near the village of San Mauro, named after the 13th-century French abbot and pilgrim who completed the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and decided to settle down in Castile and open a hospice for lepers.
Further down the trail you can take a brief detour to the Río Barroso Waterfalls. Here, the Agra River forms waterfalls and small pools where you can enjoy the temperate water and a lovely spot for a picnic. After a relaxing stop your walk continues through vineyards.
Having enjoyed a long day on the trail, you finally enter Caldas de Reis on the bridge over the River Umia. The town is named after the hot thermal springs of Alfonso VII of León, who was born here in the 12th century. The village is still well known for its thermal hot springs and has always been a popular spot along the Roman Road Via Romana XIX and the Camino. There’s even a place where you can soak your feet!
The 19th century Church of Saint Thomas Becket in Caldas de Reis is where the Saint stopped on his pilgrimage to Compostela in the 12th century. This is the only church in Spain dedicated to the English saint.
