Vía de la Plata
28.2 km, 254 m up and 522 m down, through 8 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 Arenteiro. 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.
From Castro Dozón the camino resumes its on-again-off-again dance with the N-525. It does so for about 4.5 km before veering left off the N-525 and descending through the hamlets of Puxallos (1.5 km) and Pontenoufe (2.3 km). From there it climbs back up to the motorway, passing A Xesta (1.6 km) along the way to Estación de Lalín.
The camino continues its course through rural Galicia, through a series of small places along the way. A Eirexe (bar) (3.6 km) is the only stop for refreshments.
Donsión is a small hamlet between A Laxe and Taboada. No services. The camino passes through on wooded paths.
Shortly after leaving A Laxe you pass the Pazo de Bendoiro. The camino takes you into the woods and ascends to a lovely old bridge, originally Roman but much rebuilt. The bridge is hidden in the forest and inaccessible to cars -- one of those quiet surprises the camino keeps in reserve.
A bit further on, the Romanesque church at Taboada has a carving of Samson over the doorway. You have to cross the busy highway to get there, but it's worth it. Volunteers keep the church open for pilgrim visits (8:30-15:00, closed Tuesdays).
From A Laxe, the camino is well marked and well trodden all the way to Santiago. The joining of the Invierno route means more waymarks, more pilgrims, and generally better infrastructure for the remaining distance.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 283 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 19.5 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.