Vía de la Plata
21.6 km, 408 m up and 754 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 Padornelo. 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 leaves Padornelo along the N-525 to a junction. Here there are signs indicating a detour (the old way turned to the right and went through Aciberos). Now the camino keeps on the road to pass over the A-52 and then a short distance later right back under it. It then turns left to follow a rural track up to Lubian.
The camino follows the secondary road out of Lubian, downhill from the main road. It turns right after a few twists in the road to follow the signs to the Santuario de La Tuiza. It descends to pass under the A-52 and passes by the Santuario. From here it climbs to the Portela de la Canda, the gateway to Galicia.
This is a serious mountain climb. The signage after La Tuiza can be sparse -- pay close attention to waymarks. Allow about three hours for the ascent from Lubian to the pass.
The camino emerges onto a paved road at the alto and almost immediately leaves it, turning left to descend along a track. It passes through the hamlet of A Canda (1.4 km) and soon begins its descent into Vilavella, passing beneath a railway line along the way.
From here the walking is Galician -- constant small climbs and descents, green valleys, stone villages.
The first hamlet in Galicia. A scattering of stone houses and the feeling that you've crossed into a different world. No services.
The camino descends to O Pereiro (3.8 km) and then climbs to O Canizo (5.3 km). It then joins the N-525 as it enters La Gudina.
A handful of houses in the valley between Vilavella and O Canizo. No services. The walking through here is up and down -- welcome to Galicia.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 207 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 21.9 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.