Vía de la Plata
42.5 km, 791 m up and 1247 m down, through 20 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 Xinzo de Limia. 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.
Small village with a bar and shop. Getting closer to Ourense now -- the built environment is starting to thicken.
The urbanisation begins here. A bar marks the transition from rural Galicia to the outskirts of Ourense.
Bar, shop, pharmacy. The last hamlet before the suburb of Seixalbo. You're essentially in the Ourense metropolitan area now.
From Seixalbo and the Capela Santa Adega, the camino descends towards Ourense, either along the main road or a side road. It eventually reaches a large car dealership. Stop.
The official camino from here follows the road more or less straight into the centre of Ourense. To your left is an alternate route to follow the river into the city -- the Paseo Fluvial, which is recommended if you want a quieter, more scenic entrance.
Though not marked with yellow arrows, this river walk is easy to follow and used by locals for exercise and evening strolls. It follows both sides of the river, but since you'll need to exit to the east it's best to stic…
Just beyond the Río Miño the camino splits into two routes. The arrows here leave a bit to be desired -- there's only one fading set painted on the sidewalk to indicate the split.
Here's how to find the way: once over the Ponte Vella keep to the right side of the road and head uphill. You'll pass four streets (Rúas Ribeira de Canedo, Mercado, Ramón y Cajal, and Vicente Risco). As you near the fifth, a much larger intersection, watch the ground for arrows. From this junction, the camino either continues straight (the LEFT route) or turns right (the RIGHT route). Both merge in Casas Novas.
RIGHT ROUTE - 18.9 km: From the right turn at the split, this route follows the N-525 uphill for about 1 km. At the gas station, the camino veers right and begins to climb steeply up to Cudeiro. This is the more traditional route and offers good views back over Ourense.
LEFT ROUTE - 17.6 km: From the split, continue straight up the hill keeping to the right side. The road passes the train station (on your right, bar) and follows the road to Quinitela.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 374 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 25.7 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.