Vía de la Plata
8.4 km, 187 m up and 55 m down, through 9 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 Vilei. 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.
Vilei is one of the first hamlets outside Sarria, and the change in atmosphere is immediate. The Galician countryside closes in: narrow lanes between stone walls, hórreos (raised granaries) in every farmyard, eucalyptus …
Barbadelo has the Iglesia de Santiago — a small Romanesque church with a fine carved doorway that is one of the better examples of rural Romanesque architecture in Galicia. The church sits slightly off the camino but is …
A hamlet between Barbadelo and Mercado da Serra. No services. Stone walls, green fields, eucalyptus.
The camino passes through the hamlets of Leimán, Peruscallo, Cortiñas, Lavandeira, Casal, and Brea. None have any services. The way is more gently rolling hills.
Between here and Morgade you may find, behind a fence on your right-hand side, a rather curious and grumpy ostrich. Ostrich meat is a growing industry in Spain, but this particular fella is the family pet.
A tiny Galician hamlet. No services.
Another small hamlet on the trail between Sarria and Portomarín. No services.
A hamlet with no services. The path winds through Galician farmland.
A hamlet on the trail. No services. The name means 'laundry place' — a reference to the stream.
A small hamlet. No services.
A tiny hamlet between Sarria and Portomarín. No services.
A hamlet with a bar and a small albergue — welcome services on this stretch. The Casa Morgade has a good reputation.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 185 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 8.4 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.