Vía de la Plata
24.5 km, 294 m up and 650 m down, through 9 places, 2 of which have somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from Alberguería. 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.
Rural walking, on the road and off again in several places, with a descent into Vilar de Barrio.
Paved walking along the road through the hamlets of Boveda (2.2 km), Vilar do Gomareite (bar) (0.9 km), Bobadela a Pinta (5.3 km), Padroso (bar) (1.1 km), Cima de Vila (1.7 km), and Quintela (1.4 km). As you enter Xunqueira de Ambia on a back road the albergue is one of the first buildings on your right.
A tiny hamlet on the road between Vilar de Barrio and Xunqueira de Ambia. No services.
Small hamlet with a bar. A welcome stop on the road to Xunqueira.
A hamlet along the road. No services. The walking through here is flat and paved -- a rest for the legs after the mountains.
A small hamlet with a bar. These Galician hamlets come in quick succession now -- the landscape is changing from mountain to valley.
A hamlet along the road. No services.
A hamlet just before Xunqueira de Ambia. No services.
After passing the church the camino turns right to follow the road towards Salgueiros, but quickly leaves the road to follow a side road and track down to the Rio Arnoia (0.9 km). It then climbs up to A Pousa along another track which turns off from the road shortly after crossing the river.
The river crossing marks the transition from the Xunqueira valley toward the long approach to Ourense.
Between A Pousa and Ourense the camino is almost entirely along paved roads. It passes through the hamlets of Salgueiros (bar) (1.6 km), Veirada (1.6 km), Ousende (0.9 km), Panelas (bar, shop) (0.9 km), Venda do Rio (2.1 km), Pereiras (bar, shop) (0.5 km), A Castellana (bar) (2.3 km), and Reboredo (bar, shop, pharmacy) (2.2 km) before reaching Ourense's nearest suburb of Seixalbo.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 155 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 24.4 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.