Camino de Invierno
26.2 km, 536 m up and 595 m down, through 10 places. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from A Rúa de Valdeorras. Most are too small to sleep in — a fountain, a chapel, a bar that may or may not be open — but they are what the day is actually made of.
Leave A Rúa by climbing Calle Currelada to the church of Our Lady of Fátima (look for the slate-roofed twin towers). Head for the N-120 — arrows take you right and beneath the highway. Upon leaving the tunnel, make an immediate left.
There are now 7 km of asphalt walking on the OU-933 (becoming the LU-933 as you cross into Lugo province). There's virtually no traffic. On a clear day, the walk above the Río Sil is exceptionally beautiful.
From A Rúa to Quiroga there are not many services. Carry extra water and food. Fountains have been reported just past Alvaredos, at Montefurado, and two in Bendilló.
The ascent on the medieval cart track is steep but beautiful. At the valley bottom, in a farmstead called El Molino, the 92-year-old Casimiro lives — he operated the gristmill here until grain production stopped in the 1960s. He's a spinner of tales and purveyor of homemade orujo, and he welcomes visits from pilgrims.
Follow the river, keeping an eye out for the many beekeeping complexes that have populated this valley for two millennia. Around a bend, the camino enters Montefurado.
A waymarked trail leads out of Montefurado along a green path upward. If bad weather makes the path difficult, there's a car access road from Montefurado to the LU-933 that also takes you uphill to Hermidón. A large portion of the walk to Bendilló has been taken off-road through forested areas.
The daily trains between A Rúa and Quiroga (stopping at Montefurado) can be useful for splitting stages — catching the 18:14 train back to A Rúa after walking to Montefurado, then taking the 10:03 train the next morning to continue.
Hermidón is a tiny hamlet between Montefurado and Bendilló. No services. The camino passes through on forest paths above the Río Sil. The landscape is increasingly beautiful — wooded valleys, terraced hillsides, and the …
The Capela das Farrapas is a small roadside chapel near the entrance to Bendilló. It sits alongside a community olive press. No services — this is a landmark on the trail rather than a settlement.
As you enter Bendilló, you'll see the community olive press and the Ermita das Farrapas. Turn right and go up through the village, then down steeply on a dirt track toward the N-120.
When you reach the highway, the arrows point you up a steep hill alongside the road. If you ignore that arrow and simply cross and walk along the highway, you'll enter Soldón at an earlier point. Following the arrows avoids highway walking — when you descend near Soldón, you can either backtrack left to find older arrows into town or follow newer arrows that continue along the road briefly before entering Soldón.
This waypoint marks the steep descent from the Bendilló area toward the N-120 highway. The path drops through forest to the valley floor. After reaching the highway, the camino continues to Soldón.
Cross the bridge over the river, then turn left and keep straight. At the next fork, go right and up to the highway (left goes down to the river). Walk on the left grassy shoulder of the N-120 briefly before a marker takes you off toward Sequeiros.
The camino passes through Sequeiros and continues to the castle of Torrenovas — built by the Military Order of St. John of Jerusalem in the 14th century. In the plaza with the castle in front, turn right (counterintuitive, as you can see Quiroga ahead). A lovely grass path descends through green thickets, through Caspedro, and eventually onto the LU-933 into Quiroga.
Sequeiros is a small hamlet between Soldón and Quiroga. No services. The castle of Torrenovas is nearby — a 14th-century fortification built by the Knights Hospitaller that once served as a strategic lookout over the Río…
Novais is a tiny hamlet on the descent toward Quiroga. No services. The camino passes through on quiet paths and lanes between Sequeiros and Caspedro.
Caspedro is a small hamlet on the final approach to Quiroga. No services. A turn-off here leads to the monumental complex of Quiroga's pilgrim hospital — the Romanesque church of San Salvador and associated 16th-century …
Leave Quiroga following the waymarks west along the main street. Cross under the N-120 and follow the LU-933 along the river. The arrows take you across the river on a bridge — cross it to go through San Clodio (which has a bar that opens early and the Quiroga train station), or continue straight to bypass it.
After several kilometers on the N-120, cross the highway at a mojón. The path rises over Noceda. After an ascent, an arrow takes you off onto a dirt track. At the top, the camino merges with the PR-G141 hiking trail. There's a lovely descent through old-growth forest and along streams. At the intersection of several dirt roads, pass the Capela dos Remedios and continue straight (the PR trail diverges left).
Bring water for the next stretch. There are two fountains before A Pobra — one in Carballo do Lor and another in Castroncelos. Services are scarce between Quiroga and Monforte.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 577 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 22 km.
Esta entidad ha sido beneficiaria de una ayuda del Programa de incentivos a la movilidad eficiente y sostenible (MOVES III), gestionado por la Xunta de Galicia a través del Instituto Enerxético de Galicia (INEGA) en el marco del Real Decreto 266/2021, y cofinanciada por la Unión Europea — NextGenerationEU, dentro del Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia.