Ruta del Padre Sarmiento: Stages, Map and Where to Start

Frequently asked questions about Ruta del Padre Sarmiento

• What are the stages of the Ruta del Padre Sarmiento?

  As we organize it in our stage pages, the Camino del Padre Sarmiento has 8 stages: Pontevedra – Sanxenxo (25 km), Sanxenxo – O Grove (19.5 km), the O Grove loop (29 km, optional), O Grove – Cambados (22 km), Cambados – A Illa de Arousa (18 km), A Illa de Arousa – Vilanova de Arousa (17 km), Vilanova de Arousa – Padrón (35.5 km) and Padrón – Santiago de Compostela (24.3 km). The first six belong to this route alone; the last two are shared with the Spiritual Variant and the Camino Portugués. If you’ve read that there are 9, that’s because the Mancomunidad de O Salnés splits the day from Vilanova de Arousa to Padrón in two, with a stop in Vilagarcía de Arousa. The split is a convention: each stage can be divided or combined to suit your pace and where you can sleep.

• What is the Ruta del Padre Sarmiento?

  It’s a walking route from Pontevedra to Santiago de Compostela along the O Salnés coast: it skirts the Ría de Pontevedra and the Ría de Arousa via Combarro, Sanxenxo, A Lanzada, O Grove, Cambados and the island of Arousa, among beaches and Albariño vineyards; at Vilanova de Arousa it joins the Spiritual Variant and, from Padrón, follows the Camino Portugués to Santiago. It’s 190.3 km in 8 stages.

  It’s named after Fray Martín Sarmiento, Father Sarmiento, a Benedictine monk born in Villafranca del Bierzo in 1695 who spent his childhood in Pontevedra and is considered one of the most important Enlightenment figures in Galician thought. In 1745, a Holy Year, he walked on pilgrimage from Pontevedra to Santiago to earn the Jubilee and, instead of the usual route taken by pilgrims coming from Portugal, chose to go all the way around the O Salnés coast before rejoining the Camino Portugués at Pontecesures. He recorded the journey in his diary, Viaje a Galicia. More than two hundred and seventy years later, the Mancomunidad de O Salnés revived the route.

• How long is the Ruta del Padre Sarmiento?

  As we organize it in our stage pages, 190.3 km (118 miles) from Pontevedra to Santiago de Compostela, in 8 stages: the same 190 km the Mancomunidad de O Salnés gives. The figure includes the O Grove loop, which isn’t compulsory: it’s an extra 29 km day that starts and ends in the town. If you leave it out, you go straight from Sanxenxo – O Grove to O Grove – Cambados, and the route comes down to 161.3 km and 7 stages. To Vilanova de Arousa it’s 130.5 km (101.5 without the loop); the remaining 59.8 km to Santiago are the two stages it shares with the Spiritual Variant and the Camino Portugués.

• Where does the Ruta del Padre Sarmiento start?

  It starts in Pontevedra: the first stage crosses the O Burgo bridge to Poio, right opposite, on the other side of the estuary, and you can also start there instead. It ends in Santiago de Compostela. Along the way it goes around the O Salnés coast to Vilanova de Arousa, where it joins the Spiritual Variant of the Camino Portugués; after Pontecesures it reaches Padrón, and from there it follows the last stage of the Camino Portugués to the Praza do Obradoiro.

• How many days does the Ruta del Padre Sarmiento take?

  8 days of walking, one stage a day, plus your arrival and departure; 7 if you skip the O Grove loop. Our organized tour lasts 10 days and 9 nights, arriving in Pontevedra on the first day and spending the last night in Santiago. If you split a long stage, such as Vilanova de Arousa to Padrón (35.5 km), or want a rest day, add more days: it all depends on having somewhere to sleep. From Sanxenxo it’s 7 stages, or 6 without the loop.

• Is the Ruta del Padre Sarmiento difficult?

  No: it’s a very accessible route, good for first-time Camino walkers and for anyone looking for a quiet walk. Most of it is fairly flat, with small ups and downs where it heads into rural and coastal areas, and the distance matters more than the terrain. Six of the eight stages are between 17 and 25 km. The hardest stage is Vilanova de Arousa – Padrón: 35.5 km following the Ulla upstream to Padrón. It’s almost all flat, but it’s more than 10 km longer than any other stage except the O Grove loop: set off early, carry water and something to eat, and break it up in your head at Vilagarcía, Catoira and Pontecesures. The second longest is the O Grove loop, 29 km, which you can skip.

• Can you get the Compostela on the Ruta del Padre Sarmiento?

  We can’t guarantee it. The Pilgrim’s Office requires 100 continuous km on foot toward Santiago along a single route, one of those it has identified in its system (200 km by bike). The Ruta del Padre Sarmiento covers 190.3 km from Pontevedra, but it isn’t among the official Camino de Santiago routes published by the Xunta de Galicia (the Galician regional government), and the Pilgrim’s Office doesn’t name it in its requirements. Check with the Pilgrim’s Office before you set off. In Padrón, at the end of stage 7, you can also collect the Pedronía (Padrón’s pilgrim certificate). See the Compostela requirements.

• Does the Ruta del Padre Sarmiento have its own pilgrim passport?

  Yes, the route has its own credencial. It’s issued by the Mancomunidad de O Salnés, which revived the route: you download it from their website (there’s one for pilgrims and another for pets) and, when you finish, you send them a copy of your stamped credencial and they send you the Ruta del Padre Sarmiento diploma. You’ll find it on the Mancomunidad de O Salnés route page. The pilgrim passport is something else: it’s the credencial distributed by the Pilgrim’s Office in Santiago and the institutions authorized by the Cathedral, and it’s what you show to apply for the Compostela (see the question about the Compostela). That one is included in our organized tour.

• Is the Ruta del Padre Sarmiento waymarked?

  Yes. According to the Mancomunidad de O Salnés, which revived the route, there are information panels and direction signs along the whole way, with an arrow marking the path to follow. The O Grove loop is also waymarked in both directions, so you can start it wherever you like. If you want to play it safe, the Mancomunidad offers the track on its website to download to your phone.

• Are there albergues on the Ruta del Padre Sarmiento?

  Yes, but not on every stage. Our stage pages list pilgrim albergues in Pontevedra (Virgen Peregrina), Vilanova de Arousa and Padrón and, in Santiago, the one at the Seminario Menor; for Sanxenxo, O Grove, Cambados and A Illa de Arousa they list none. Nor does the accommodation directory of the Mancomunidad de O Salnés list any in those municipalities, though it does include albergues in Vilanova de Arousa and in Carril (Vilagarcía de Arousa); for those nights, its list of accommodation for pilgrims includes hotels, hostales (small budget hotels) and guesthouses. If you organize the route with us, you’ll sleep in a private room in guesthouses, rural houses and small hotels. To locate the stops, use the albergue directory.

• When is the best time to walk the Ruta del Padre Sarmiento?

  It depends on what you’re looking for. Summer is the liveliest time: Sanxenxo is one of the most visited places in Galicia at that time of year, the coast boasts plenty of sunshine, and the beaches, many with Blue Flag status, invite you for a swim at the end of the stage. In October, O Grove holds its seafood festival, one of the most important food festivals in Galicia. Galicia can be rainy in spring and fall too, and in winter there are fewer hours of daylight and services change: don’t assume all accommodation is open.

• What’s the difference between the Ruta del Padre Sarmiento and the Spiritual Variant?

  Both start in Pontevedra, pass through Combarro and meet at Vilanova de Arousa, from where they share the last two stages, 59.8 km: Vilanova de Arousa – Padrón, the third stage of the Variant, and Padrón – Santiago, the last stage of the Camino Portugués. Before that, the Spiritual Variant of the Camino Portugués heads inland, past Armenteira Monastery and along the Ruta da Pedra e da Auga (Stone and Water Route): 45.9 km in 2 stages to Vilanova and 105.7 km in total. The Ruta del Padre Sarmiento goes around the O Salnés coast via Sanxenxo, A Lanzada, O Grove, Cambados and A Illa de Arousa: 130.5 km in 6 stages to Vilanova (101.5 without the loop) and 190.3 km in total. If you’re short on days, the Camino Portugués goes straight from Pontevedra to Santiago via Caldas de Reis: 63.9 km in 3 stages.

• How much does it cost to walk the Ruta del Padre Sarmiento?

  It depends on your dates, on whether or not you do the O Grove loop and on the services you add. Our 10-day, 9-night organized Ruta del Padre Sarmiento tour includes accommodation for every stage in a private room, in guesthouses, rural houses and small hotels, the pilgrim passport (credencial), travel documents, travel insurance and phone assistance on the trail; breakfasts or half board, a single room and luggage transfer are added separately. For your dates, or for a different split of stages, design your route and see the price instantly.