Vía de la Plata
11.1 km, 226 m up and 121 m down, through 3 places, 3 of which have somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from Amenal. 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.
Leaving the bar behind you climb steeply uphill a short distance. The path soon levels out on a comfortable trail surrounded by eucalyptus trees. The Santiago Airport is very near, and the camino follows a path around the runway.
The camino crosses the very busy N-547 by passing underneath it. Do not cross over the road.
The church is dedicated to San Paio (San Pelayo), the 14-year-old saint kidnapped by invading Muslim troops, taken to Seville, and martyred — his body cast into the Río Guadalquivir. All three routes from the Norte conve…
If you walked down the stairs to visit either of the bars at the bottom, turn and walk up the steps towards the Iglesia de Benaval. The camino continues around to the right-hand side and down to cross the road. At the road, cross at the crosswalk and continue along the road and over the famous river (see inset below).The last hill is ahead, and if you are a stickler for doing things according to tradition you should start running now. It is said that the first of your group to arrive in Monte de Gozo is entitled to be called King. Be advised that there is no prize.
A hamlet on the final approach to Santiago. No services.
A hamlet before Monte del Gozo. No services.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 159 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 11.1 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.