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Stage 26 · Vía de la Plata y Camino Sanabrés
Montamarta → Granja de Moreruela
Before you set off
No water, no food
Between Montamarta and Granja de Moreruela. — Leave with 2.2 litres of water.
Nowhere to eat
Between Granja de Moreruela and Granja de Moreruela.
The routes split here
At Granja de Moreruela the route forks. This is what lies each way.
If you carry straight on
Vía de la Plata y Camino Sanabrés
384,9 km · 16 stages, to Santiago de Compostela
Start hereWe do not say which is better: it depends on the days you have and what you want to see.
Castrotorafe, Riego and the fork
A middling stage, 23.2 kilometres with 230 metres of ascent and 210 of descent, almost all of it on farm tracks and dirt roads. You leave Montamarta along the edge of the reservoir, with the hermitage to one side, and the route gains height gently across the fields that overlook the Esla valley. In the first kilometres the ruins of Castrotorafe appear on the left, a deserted medieval town with the remains of a castle and walls above the river, worth a short stop.
Around halfway you reach Fontanillas de Castro, and a few kilometres later Riego del Camino, two small villages where something may or may not be open, depending on the day. Between them and as far as Granja the ground stays the same: a plain of cereal and vines, the main road close by, little shade and no problem finding your way.
Granja de Moreruela is a small village with a hostel, a bar and little more, but it is a key point on the Vía de la Plata: here the route forks. To the north-west goes the Camino Sanabrés, which heads for Ourense and is the one these main stages follow; to the north continues the link by Benavente and La Bañeza to Astorga, where it joins the Camino Francés. It is best decided before you arrive.
Tips
Water from Montamarta: there is nothing between villages, and in Fontanillas and Riego you will not always find anything open.
Leave in the cool and take your time: the going is easy, but the open track feels long at midday.
Stamp your departure in Montamarta, along the way in Riego del Camino, and your arrival at the hostel in Granja.
In Granja the arrows separate: look carefully at which one you follow on your way out, because the Ourense one and the Astorga one lead to very different places.
Where am I?
Your phone says where you are; the guide tells you how far is left and where the next water is.
Create the free account It is free and forever. An account is needed for the guide to place you. I already have an account
Your position is used to answer you and is not stored anywhere.
Walk with me
It crosses where you are with the time, the daylight left, the water, the beds and the notice board. Three things at most: the ones that actually change your afternoon.
Create the free account It is free and forever. An account is needed for the guide to place you. I already have an account
It checks GPS every 6 min while you keep it open. GPS drains the battery: if yours is low, switch it off.
Your position is used to answer you and is not stored anywhere.
Profile and services
The elevation for this stage has not been loaded yet.
The weather
11°C
Cloudy
- Feels like
- 11 °C
- Wind
- 3 km/h
- Daylight
- 08:33 – 19:45
- Today ⛅ 26° 10°
- Wed ⛅ 27° 14°
- Thu ⛅ 27° 12°
- Fri ⛅ 27° 13° 1 %
- Sat 🌦️ 20° 14° 13 %
- Sun ⛅ 18° 11° 23 %
- Mon 🌧️ 15° 5° 12 %
Data from Open-Meteo, refreshed every half hour.
What's there today
Nobody has reported anything on this stage.
Tips from people who walked it
The things that do not expire: where the fountain actually is, which bar opens at six, where not to go in the rain.
None here yet. If you have just walked this stage, you know something tomorrow’s pilgrim does not.
Emergencies
Call 112112 is the same number in Spain, in Portugal and across the European Union. It works with no credit, with no SIM, and over any operator's network, not just yours.
Say where you are I am walking the Vía de la Plata, on the stage from Montamarta to Granja de Moreruela.
We have no pharmacy or health centre loaded for this stage. That does not mean there is none: ask at the hostel.
The map
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What to see on this stage 5
- Iglesia de San Miguel Arcangel Church km 0,3
- Ermita Nª. Sº del Castillo Church km 0,8
- Iglesia de la Inmaculada Concepción Church km 12,1
- Iglesia de San Cristobal Church km 16,0
- Iglesia de San Juan Bautista Church km 22,6