Vía de la Plata
13.2 km, 379 m up and 198 m down, through 4 places, 1 of which has somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from Cea. 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.
The camino crosses the main road in Cea and heads uphill towards a sporting facility. Around the back side of the building, the camino splits into two distinct routes. The choice here is more consequential than the split leaving Ourense. The two options merge in Castro Dozón.
OSEIRA ROUTE - 18.4 km from split: The right route is the official camino and is longer than the Piñor variant. It passes through the village of Oseira with its massive monastery and albergue. It's better waymarked and more scenic. Turn right at the split. The paved road gives way to a track through the forest. About halfway to Pielas the camino rejoins a paved road.
PIÑOR ROUTE - 14.8 km: Shorter and more direct to Castro Dozón, but without an albergue along the way. Take care along the latter half as the waymarks can be difficult to find. It follows mostly rural tracks and country lanes through the hamlets of Porto de Souto (1 km), Cotelas (bar) (1 km), Piñor (bar, pharmacy) (1.6 km), Fontelo (0.8 km), Arenteiro (bar) (0.7 km), and O Reino (1.4 km). After O Reino the camino rejoins the N-525 and passes through Carballeda. At the far end of town, just before the exit sign, the camino turns left towards the motorway, passes beneath it, and begins the climb up to Castro Dozón.
The camino crosses the main road and heads uphill towards a sporting facility. Around the back side of the building, the camino once again splits into two distinct routes. Here the choice is a bit more complicated than the previous option. The two options merge in Castro-Dozón.PIÑOR ROUTE - 14.8kmShorter and more direct route to Castro Dozon, but without an albergue along the way. Take care along the latter half as the waymarks are difficult to find. It follows mostly rural tracks and country lanes and passes several names and un-named hamlets along the way. The identifiable ones are:Porto De Souto 1kmCotelas (bar) 1kmPiñor (bar, pharmacy) 1.6kmFontelo 0.8kmArenteiro(bar) 0.7km andO Reino 1.4kmAfter O Reinothe camino rejoins the N-525 and passes through the village of Carballeda. At the far end of town, just before the exiting Carballedasign, the camino turns left and heads towards the motorway. It passes beneath it and soon after turns right off of the road to begin the climb up to Castro Dozón.OSEIRA ROUTE - 18.4km from splitThe RIGHT route is the official camino and is a bit longer than the newer Piñor variant. It passes through the village of Oseira(Monastery and Albergue) and is scenic. It is better waymarked than the variant.Turn right at the split. The paved road comes to an end and you pick up a track through the forest. About halfway to Pielasthe camino rejoins a paved road.
The camino follows the road out of Pielas, downhill to Oseira.
The way out of Oseira is not along the road (though cyclists may prefer it for the gentler grade) but rather up a steep track adjacent to the road near the restaurants.
The camino passes the hamlets of Vilarello (2 km), O Outeiro (2.5 km), Carballediña (1.5 km), and A Gouxa (bar) (0.4 km) before nearing the motorway and Castro Dozón.
The path splits here and rejoins before Carballediña. Both ways are below, because the question is which to take, and that is not a question two separate pages can answer.
The camino follows the road out of Pielas, downhill to Oseira.
The way out of Oseira is not along the road (though cyclists may prefer it for the gentler grade) but rather up a steep track adjacent to the road near the restaurants.
The camino passes the hamlets of Vilarello (2 km), O Outeiro (2.5 km), Carballediña (1.5 km), and A Gouxa (bar) (0.4 km) before nearing the motorway and Castro Dozón.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 105 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 12 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.