Vía de la Plata
8.8 km, 77 m up and 529 m down, through 5 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 Biduedo. 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.
A tiny hamlet on the descent to Triacastela. No reliable services. The path drops through increasingly green countryside — the Galician landscape is asserting itself.
Another small hamlet on the descent. The vegetation thickens as you lose altitude: chestnut, oak, and the first eucalyptus trees appear.
A hamlet on the mountain road. No services. The descent continues through mixed forest.
A small village just above Triacastela. A bar may be open. The valley floor is visible below, and the walking eases as the gradient lessens.
Triacastela marks the bottom of the long descent from O Cebreiro and a natural stopping point. The village sits in a green valley, a dramatic contrast to the exposed mountain walking above. The name refers to three castl…
A tiny hamlet on the San Xil route. No services. The name refers to an old iron forge.
Between here and San Xil you will pass a large fountain with a large scallop shell with a lot of graffiti and algae. Beyond that by two more kilometers is the Alto de Riocabo. You will also pass through San Xil de Carballo, with no services.
The path splits here and rejoins before A Balsa. Both ways are below, because the question is which to take, and that is not a question two separate pages can answer.
Between here and San Xil you will pass a large fountain with a large scallop shell with a lot of graffiti and algae. Beyond that by two more kilometers is the Alto de Riocabo. You will also pass through San Xil de Carballo, with no services.
You will not enter the village of Montán, but rather pass along the edge. While there is no fixed bar, there is a small picnic area with an on-again-off-again vending machine.
You will pass through Fontearcuda and Furela, no services.
The camino does not go through Calvor, but rather passes near its Iglesia de San Estevo y San Pablo. To get to the church, turn left for a short detour once you leave Pintín. The church itself is nothing spectacular, but the site has been home to one building or another since two monks from Samos founded a church here in the 8th century. Also the view towards Samos is worth the detour.
Pass several villages with no services: Lastres, Freituxe, and San Martiño do Real.
Pass Foxos, and in Teiguín the camino splits again.It is possible to stay on the road all the way to Sarria, but the connection to Aguiada is recommended. Along the road to Sarria is 8.8km, via Aguiada 12.6km
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 132 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 8.7 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.