Vía de la Plata: Stages, Map and Where to Start

Kilometer zero of the Vía de la Plata is at Seville Cathedral, in the capital of Andalusia. You leave the city by the Puerta de Triana, cross its bridge over the Guadalquivir and follow the river to Santiponce. There the highlight of the day awaits: Itálica, the Roman city where the emperors Trajan and Hadrian were born. Then service roads between fields take you to Guillena, a town of Roman and Arab origin. These are the first steps of an adventure lasting just over a month: in summer, set off early.

An easy stage in terms of climbs and length, but with a catch: in the 18 kilometers between Guillena and Castilblanco de los Arroyos there is nowhere at all to buy food or water. Carry enough water and start walking very early to avoid the hottest hours. The reward is Castilblanco de los Arroyos, a farming town in the hills of the Sierra de Sevilla and a natural crossing point since Roman times: the monument to Cervantes at the entrance to the village, the church of the Divino Salvador, the Mudéjar hermitage of Santa María de Escardiel and the local artisan goat cheeses.

This is where you start to see the typical features of the Vía de la Plata: dehesas and low hills where livestock graze. It’s a long stage with an easy profile… until the end. You leave Castilblanco de los Arroyos and walk about fifteen kilometers beside the road, surrounded by dehesas, until you enter the Berrocal dehesa, in the heart of the Sierra Norte de Sevilla Natural Park. That’s where the short, demanding climb up the Calvario hill comes, with viewpoints over the holm oak woods, before you drop down to Almadén de la Plata, with its medieval castle and its Torre del Reloj (clock tower).

A long stage through dehesas of holm oaks, cork oaks and rockrose, farmland and several streams, with moderate climbs. You skirt the Covachos hill, cross the Mateos stream and reach El Real de la Jara, with its medieval castle, where Andalusia meets Extremadura. Shortly afterwards you cross the Víbora stream and enter Extremadura beside the ruins of the castle of Las Torres, on a steady climb to Monesterio, the capital of Iberian ham, with its Museo del Jamón Ibérico (Iberian Ham Museum).

A breather after the previous stage: short and with a gentle profile. You leave Monesterio on a dirt track, drop down to the Bodión Chico stream and, from there, walk on the level through dehesas and farmland, with very little traffic and plenty of silence. After a short climb, Fuente de Cantos appears on the horizon, birthplace of the painter Francisco de Zurbarán, with his House Museum and the convent of San Diego. Carry enough water: there’s nowhere to buy food or water along the way.

An easy stage with a few more villages than the previous one, among farmland and livestock estates, ideal for walking at a good pace and letting your mind go blank. You leave Fuente de Cantos by the Plaza de la Constitución and soon join a stretch of old Roman road toward Calzadilla de los Barros. After a break in Puebla de Sancho Pérez, four kilometers remain to Zafra, “Little Seville”, with its collegiate church of La Candelaria, the Plaza Chica and the Plaza Grande, and the palace of the Dukes of Feria, now a Parador (a state-run historic hotel).

A short, easy stage, one of the easiest on the whole Vía de la Plata: apart from the climb to the Alto de San Cristóbal there are hardly any slopes, and what little there is goes downhill. You leave Zafra by the Plaza Grande, pass the tower of San Francisco and climb to the top, from where you can already see the finish. You descend toward Los Santos de Maimona, with its palace of the Encomienda, and carry on between fields until you enter Villafranca de los Barros along Calle Zurbarán, in the heart of the Tierra de Barros.

A quiet stage through the heart of the Tierra de Barros, among vineyards, olive groves and cereal fields as far as the eye can see: a somewhat monotonous landscape that makes the going a little more tedious. You leave Villafranca de los Barros by the Plaza de España and the hermitage of La Coronada and follow a long dirt path that crosses the Bonhabal stream. If you feel like it, you can detour to Almendralejo. If not, it’s straight on to Torremejía, a town of Roman origin, and its palace of the Mexía family.

A completely flat stage of little interest until you reach the Guadiana, where Mérida welcomes you: the Emerita Augusta founded by the Romans long before the Camino de Santiago existed. The city is an open-air Roman museum: the theater and the amphitheater, the Temple of Diana right in the center, the bridge over the Guadiana, the Los Milagros aqueduct and a National Museum of Roman Art that deserves a long visit. A combined ticket gets you into almost all the monuments, and the café terraces on the Plaza de España are the perfect place to refuel.

A long, varied stage steeped in Roman history, and a more appealing challenge than the previous ones. You leave Mérida beside the co-cathedral and detour to see the Los Milagros aqueduct before skirting the Proserpina reservoir. Then dirt tracks through Mediterranean woodland and scrub lead to El Carrascalejo and Aljucén, where some pilgrims cut the stage short. There a gentle, almost constant climb begins, taking you into the dehesas of Cornalvo Natural Park. Now in the province of Cáceres, the last few kilometers take you to Alcuéscar, with its Visigothic basilica of Santa Lucía del Trampal.

One of the longest stages on the Camino de Santiago, although its only difficulty is the distance: the climbs are gentle or almost nonexistent. Tracks through olive groves, holm oaks and scrub oaks, with the medieval bridge over the Ayuela and a Roman bridge over the Santiago stream. You pass Casas de Don Antonio and Aldea del Cano and get your strength back in Valdesalor after crossing the Puente Viejo de la Mocha; many pilgrims stop in one of these two villages to have more time for Cáceres. After the Puerto de las Camellas comes the reward: entering Cáceres, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, all the way to its Plaza Mayor.

A long stage with wide horizons, though with more descent than climb. You leave Cáceres and reach Casar de Cáceres, a good place for a break or to spend the night and split the stage in two. You set off past its hermitage of Santiago toward dehesa pastures where cattle graze; look out for the stone pillars lining the path: they are Roman milestones. After crossing the Almonte River and the Tagus, you finish overlooking the vast Alcántara reservoir, where you sleep at the reservoir’s albergue (pilgrim hostel): you can almost take a dip.

A short stage packed with scenery, a breath of fresh air through Mediterranean woodland on a slightly more mountainous path: you gradually climb close to four hundred meters. You set off with lovely views of the Alcántara reservoir and skirt the Garrote hill to the 14th-century San Benito bridge, which leads you into Cañaveral, next to Monfragüe National Park: a good place to refuel, with its Gothic church of Santa Marina. Then comes the toughest part, the climb to the Alto de los Castaños, and a descent among cork oaks to the turnoff for Grimaldo.

A long day that calls for an early start, with a fairly steep descent through an area full of streams and turnoffs to watch for. You leave Grimaldo and cross dehesas and cork oak woods to Riolobos, where you’ll find all the services you need to refuel. Then the path takes you beside the Jerte canal and along the Las Monjas stream to Galisteo, a walled town with its La Picota tower: you leave its square through the wall and cross the Jerte on the so-called Roman bridge. A last stretch on the road brings you to Carcaboso, with its Parque de los Miliarios (Milestone Park).

The signature stage of the Vía de la Plata: one of the longest on the whole Camino de Santiago and one of the most beautiful, with no significant climbs. The monotonous landscapes are left behind, giving way to tracks among cork oaks and dehesas where livestock graze, with very little traffic and plenty of silence. The big moment comes halfway through the day, at the foot of the arch of Cáparra, the only Roman tetrapylon arch on the peninsula, the route’s unofficial emblem and practically the only place to get food and water all day. Then more dehesa to Aldeanueva del Camino, where the original Roman road runs beneath the main street.

A short stage, but a demanding one in places, taking you from Extremadura into Castilla y León. You skirt the Baños reservoir and reach Baños de Montemayor, which owes its name to its Roman baths. On the way out, the best part of the day awaits: a stretch of cobbled Roman road that climbs to the Béjar pass and brings you into Castilla y León. Then oak and holm oak woods, the Roman bridge of La Malena and one of the best-preserved milestones on the route, as far as La Calzada de Béjar, a small village clustered around its church.

An easygoing stage with gentle climbs, although you reach 1,000 meters above sea level, and one of the best-marked on the Vía de la Plata: Roman milestones keep you company for much of the way. You leave La Calzada de Béjar and alternate between path and asphalt until you cross the Sangustín River, on the way to Valverde de Valdelacasa and Valdelacasa, two places to rest so you don’t need to carry much food. The last four kilometers are a gentle descent to Fuenterroble de Salvatierra, always a place of passage and hospitality for pilgrims.

This is where the most mountainous stretch of the Vía de la Plata in the province of Salamanca begins: open country, the climb to the Pico de la Dueña, at around 1,147 meters and the high point of the day, and a long descent toward San Pedro de Rozados. It’s a solitary stage: set off with water and something to eat. Before you go, in Fuenterroble you can see the church of Santa María la Blanca with its Puerta del Perdón, the Roman milestone column and the route’s interpretation center. On arrival, the peace of the Campo de Salamanca, the church of San Pedro, dating from 1647, Guijuelo ham and bollo maimón (a traditional sponge cake).

The day that takes you to the provincial capital: easy kilometers between farmland and holm oak woods, passing through Morille and Miranda de Azán. From the rise before the city its skyline finally appears, and all that’s left is to drop down to the Tormes valley and cross the river on the Roman bridge into Salamanca, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s golden stone and student life: the Plaza Mayor, one of the most beautiful in Europe, the Casa de las Conchas, the two cathedrals built side by side, and the façade of the University, where everyone looks for the famous frog.

A long stage at a steady pace across the La Armuña plain, on a gravel path. You leave Salamanca’s Plaza Mayor and pass through Aldeaseca, Castellanos de Villiquera and Calzada de Valdunciel, at about 15 kilometers: that’s the place to split the stage if your body asks for it, and the last place with services, and it still has several Roman milestones. Then a solitary stretch heading north until you enter the province of Zamora and, after a small wood of holm oaks, rockrose and broom, reach El Cubo de la Tierra del Vino, the first village in Zamora on the route.

A long stage with open horizons through the Tierra del Vino, with gentle climbs. You leave behind the church and the stone cross of El Cubo, cross the San Cristóbal stream and walk beside an old railway line to Villanueva de Campeán, a stop with all services if you need to shorten the day. Then tracks between fields and, at last, the silhouette of Zamora. You enter by crossing the Duero on its medieval bridge, heading for the Plaza de Santa María and the Plaza Mayor of a city with a Romanesque heritage, its castle and its walls.

A short transition day, with no sharp climbs, ideal for taking it easy through the Tierra del Pan, Zamora’s area of cereal fields: the Meseta landscape you’ll see on many of the following stages. You leave Zamora by the Plaza Mayor and pass through the city walls at the Puerta de Doña Urraca, heading down toward La Hiniesta through open fields. Then comes Roales del Pan, and paths running parallel to the main road take you to Montamarta, overlooking the Esla reservoir and crowned by the hermitage of Santa María del Castillo.

A simple, manageable stage through the Zamora countryside, practically flat, although cut across by highways and railway lines. You leave Montamarta past the hermitage of Santa María del Castillo and walk near the main road until you cross an arm of the Ricobayo reservoir, a pleasant stroll. Before Fontanillas de Castro you can detour to the ruins of Castrotorafe. Then come Riego del Camino and the last few kilometers to Granja de Moreruela, where the Camino Sanabrés begins; just a few kilometers away are the remains of the Cistercian monastery of Santa María de Moreruela.

The Camino Sanabrés begins in Granja de Moreruela, heading for Ourense. You leave the village on dirt tracks, with a gentle climb and a descent to the Esla River, which you cross on the Quintos bridge; right after it comes a stretch of steep, rugged path, the only difficulty of the day. Then come a hilltop with good views and tracks through farmland and Mediterranean woodland to Faramontanos, with its 13th-century church of San Martín, and five more kilometers to Tábara. There, the church of Santa María, famous for the Tábara Beatus manuscript, is well worth a visit.

A short, gentle stage through holm oak woods. Before you set off, visit the church of Santa María in Tábara, whose scriptorium copied the Beatus manuscripts, 9th-century codices recognized by UNESCO. You leave Tábara past the church of San Salvador and choose between two variants: the official one via Bercianos de Valverde, the prettier of the two, among vineyards and chestnut trees, or the one via Villanueva de las Peras, slightly longer and with a bar. Along the way you’ll see curious wine cellars dug into the clay. The two variants meet in Santa Croya de Tera, which has a natural swimming pool, and Santa Marta de Tera awaits you with the oldest statue of Santiago Peregrino (St. James the Pilgrim).

A very long but gentle day, which you can split into shorter sections: almost always parallel to the Tera River, through riverside woods and poplar groves, on dirt tracks with frequent ups and downs. You pass through Calzadilla de Tera and Olleros and cross the dam of the Agavanzal reservoir, with its shrine. Then come the pine and oak woods of Villar de Farfón and the descent to the Río Negro and Rionegro del Puente, nine kilometers from the end. Mombuey, the main town of La Carballeda, welcomes you with the 13th-century Templar tower of its church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, next to the Iron Age hillfort of El Buracote.

From here the landscape changes noticeably and becomes more wooded and mountainous, with frequent ups and downs. You leave Mombuey on a tree-lined path through La Carballeda and, following the line of the N-525 road and the highway, pass through one charming village after another: Valdemerilla, Cernadilla and its Baroque church, Palanzuelo, Entrepeñas and Asturianos. Palacios de Sanabria, Remesal and Triufé bring you close to the end. You cross the Tera River and climb to the old quarter of Puebla de Sanabria, crowned by the castle of the Counts of Benavente: take your time wandering its streets before a well-earned rest, now in the heart of the Sanabria area.

A long stage defined by the climb to the Alto de Padornelo, at 1,365 meters, and the descent that follows. You leave Puebla de Sanabria skirting its old quarter, cross the Castro River and drop down to walk beside the water. You pass through Terroso and its church of Santiago and enter a beautiful stretch of forest as far as Requejo and Padornelo. In Lubián, already in the Alta Sanabria, you say goodbye to Castilla y León: a border village of barely three hundred inhabitants, where Galician is still spoken, with the sanctuary of La Tuiza, a listed Site of Cultural Interest, the hillfort of As Muradellas and the Cortello dos Lobos, an old wolf trap.

A border stage, rural and mountainous, and pleasant despite the climb. You leave Lubián on a lovely old paved road to the sanctuary of La Tuiza and, from there, climb on a gentle gradient to the A Canda pass, at 1,265 meters: the natural barrier that marks the entry into Galicia, 17 kilometers before A Gudiña. After that it’s all downhill on dirt paths, with the Pereira River alongside, the chapel of Nuestra Señora de Loreto and the hamlets of O Pereiro and O Cañizo. There are few services along the way: leave Lubián with everything you need.

One of the most beautiful stages of the route, long and solitary, with much of it above 1,000 meters. You say goodbye to A Gudiña and its Romanesque chapel of San Martiño and take the Laza variant, which cuts 30 kilometers off the journey; cyclists must carry on here via the Verín variant, which makes the route longer. You walk over the Serra Seca with the As Portas reservoir in view, pass Campobecerros and Portocamba and reach the Cruz do Peregrino (Pilgrim’s Cross). Then come rolling hills with the valley at your feet and a long descent to Laza, home of the Entroido, the oldest carnival in Galicia.

A long mountain day. You leave Laza, with its church of San Juan, through Soutelo Verde and Tamicelas, and take on a steady climb of more than 400 meters to the cross at the Alto do Talariño, at 965 meters, passing through A Alberguería. Then the terrain opens out onto the farming plain of Vilar de Barrio and Bobadela, before the descent to Xunqueira de Ambía. The village rewards the effort with its stone-built center and narrow lanes, the collegiate church of Santa María la Real with its Plateresque cloister, and the river beach on the Arnoia for tired legs.

A very easy stage, short and almost flat, much of it beside the OU-102 road and through small rural villages. You say goodbye to Xunqueira de Ambía through its historic stone center, past its collegiate church. The final stretch, as is usual on the way into big cities, crosses housing developments and industrial units. The reward is Ourense, the city of hot springs on the Miño, split by the river and stitched together by bridges: the cathedral of San Martín, with its Pórtico do Paraíso, a tribute to the Pórtico de la Gloria in Santiago; the Ponte Romana (Roman Bridge), a lively historic center with good food, and a soak in the hot springs of As Burgas or A Chavasqueira.

A short stage with a choice built in: on the way out of Ourense there are two options, via Tamallancos or via Canedo, much alike, with several short climbs and asphalt underfoot throughout. Before that, say goodbye to the cathedral of San Martín and cross the Ponte Romana over the Miño, with the chapel of Os Remedios at its foot. You leave the Miño valley behind and gain height through inland Galicia, among oak woods, vineyards and small hamlets. Cea is the bread-making village par excellence: its bread, the first in Spain with Protected Geographical Indication status, has been baked since the 13th century, and the Monastery of Oseira is a detour away.

A long-haul stage across the hills that separate Ourense from Pontevedra. The farewell tastes of bread: Cea’s artisan bread, whose traditional ovens can still be visited. It’s worth taking the variant via the Monastery of Oseira, the “Galician Escorial”, a Romanesque-Gothic gem, even though it adds a few kilometers: its sheer scale is impressive. From there, natural paths through parishes and hamlets take you to Lalín, regarded as Galicia’s “kilometer zero” because it lies at its geographical center, with the largest concentration of pre-Roman castros (hillforts) in the region and the Pazo de Liñares. And don’t leave without trying its cocido, one of the most renowned in Galicia.

A short stage through the green interior of Galicia, among oak woods, hamlets and dirt tracks. You leave Lalín, the capital of Galician cocido, along a pleasant riverside walk and reach two Romanesque gems: the medieval bridge of Taboada and the church of Santiago de Taboada, where you can get your pilgrim passport (credencial) stamped. After the Pazo de Trasfontao you leave the Deza area, enter the municipality of Silleda and cross the Toxa River to Bandeira, near the Fervenza do Toxa waterfall and the monastery of Carboeiro: a good place to try empanada (Galician savory pie). This stretch is shared by the Vía de la Plata, the Camino Sanabrés and the Camino de Invierno.

A short, quiet stage, one of those you walk without watching the clock, with Santiago now within reach. From Bandeira, paths through carballeiras (oak groves), hamlets and fields take you to the Ulla valley: you leave the Silleda area, cross the river on the historic Ponte Ulla bridge and enter the municipality of Vedra. The stage ends in Santa Cruz de Rivadulla, the cradle of the camellia in Galicia. Don’t leave without seeing the Pazo de Rivadulla, next to the church of Santa Cruz: its famous avenue of centuries-old olive trees and its camellias make up one of the most beautiful gardens in Galicia.

The last day, with a climb to leave the Ulla valley behind. Set off early to make the most of Santiago. Leafy woods take you to Lestedo, from where you can detour to the legendary Pico Sacro, with views over the whole area. You enter Santiago de Compostela from the south, through the Sar district: you cross its Roman bridge and climb into the historic center through the Arco de Mazarelos to the Praza do Obradoiro. Leave time for the cathedral, for the Compostela and for celebrating the end of your Camino.