Cacabelos is the wine town of El Bierzo — a small Camino settlement on the river Cúa where most of the major Mencía producers have their bodegas. There are more than thirty wineries within a few kilometres of the town, and many can be visited; the Archaeological Museum on the main street displays Roman finds from the surrounding gold-mining country and serves as a useful introduction.
The Pilgrim Hospice of San Lázaro and the Sanctuary of La Quinta Angustia, just across the river, are both worth a quick stop. Most travellers come here to taste wine; ask at the tourist office about visits to bodegas such as Casar de Burbia, Pittacum, or Dominio de Tares, or eat at La Moncloa de San Lázaro on the way out of town, which keeps one of the best regional wine lists in the area.