Choice of variants on Sanabres

[JillGat]

I'll be walking Camino Sanabres this April from Puebla de la Sanabria. I see on Gronze that there are a couple of splits in the Camino with different routes. I'd like to hear others' experiences/recommendations about which way to turn at the forks in the road.

 

[dougfitz]

I walked from Ourense, taking the route through Tamallancos on the first day, then to Oseira on the following day. The xunta albergue at Dozon was, and still seems to be, closed, making it difficult to get stages at distances I felt comfortable with, so taking a short day early made that easier. I found it worthwhile visiting the monastery at Oseira, although I didn't attend any of the services there.

If you feel more comfortable doing longer days, it would be possible to walk to Oseira from Ourense. There were a few people at the albergue the night I was there that had done that.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I also have been undecided on which way to choose. In my limited reading, Hopefully we will get more replies here. In my limited reading, it seems those who chose the route to the monastery seemed happy with their decision.

 

[VNwalking]

I'll be walking Camino Sanabres this April from Puebla de la Sanabria. I see on Gronze that there are a couple of splits in the Camino with different routes. I'd like to hear others' experiences/recommendations about which way to turn at the forks in the road.

Alan Sykes had a wonderful thread of the Verin variant, starting here.

A Gudiña to Verín

It gives a good sense of this way, and made my feet itch!

 

[peregrina2000]

I loved the night in the monastery Oseira, even though it was colder and clammier than any other place I’ve slept on a camino, except for maybe the albergue in the monastery in Samos. BUT… there is a new albergue, so you won’t get that experience. The food situation when I was there wasn’t great either, basically two cafés both run by very indifferent grumpy people. But it was still a great night! We were able to walk all around the monastery at nighttime, which was a unique experience. Kind of eerie, and I’m glad I was with two other people! If you go, make sure to walk up and above the monastery for a wonderful view down, kind of like when you approach Samos and can see the monastery below, or when you’re leaving Valdediós and look back down.

I haven’t done the Verín variant, but I have visited Allariz and Santa Mariña das Auguas. I arranged a visit with a local guide and described it here. I don’t know if you are interested in this sort of thing, but there’s a lot to visit there, from pre-Roman to Roman to Romanesque! Allariz itself is a very pretty little place. The Verín variant will definitely be the road less traveled.

The other little variant I see scrolling through Gronze is on the exit from Ourense. I’ve left Ourense at least three times and have never found the “right side variant” (hrough Tamallancos), so I’ve always done the left side with its steep short ascent and a few nice little hamlets.

I don’t know why Gronze doesn’t show it, but one “variant” that I think is absolutely worth it is to follow the river path into Ourense rather than stay on the camino and its industrial entrance to the city. With help from @Ribeirasacra, who lives nearby, we plotted it out. It’s easy to find — just turn left at the Peugeot building!

There was a forum planning thread on the Sanabrés done during covid. For anyone who hasn’t seen it, it’s here. It is undoubtedly way too much information for some, but especially for those who like to visit historical sites along the way, it’s full of good info.

I almost decided to go back to the Vdlp/Sanabrés this year and this post has made me wonder if I made the wrong choice. It’s just a wonderful route!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Thanks, Laurie, such great nuggets of information you provided, and it seems I need to take a closer look at a few more of the options!

 

[JillGat]

I plan to take the variant through Oseira, but - looking at Gronze, La Plata guidebooks and the Wise Pilgrim app, I am confused about the next stage. Most of them show O Castro as the destination after Oseira, but there are apparently no accommodations there. I'd like to find an option for a bed less than 25k after Oseira. Is such an option possible? I see Estacion de Lalin on Gronze, but no way to get there. What would be the distance from Oseira to Lalin?

 

[Lindsay53]

I plan to take the variant through Oseira, but - looking at Gronze, La Plata guidebooks and the Wise Pilgrim app, I am confused about the next stage. Most of them show O Castro as the destination after Oseira, but there are apparently no accommodations there. I'd like to find an option for a bed less than 25k after Oseira. Is such an option possible? I see Estacion de Lalin on Gronze, but no way to get there. What would be the distance from Oseira to Lalin?

From Osiera to A Laxe (Lalin) is 23k. The route passes through Estacion de Lalin about 6.5 ks north of Castro Dozon where there is a hostal or you can walk 5ks further to the very nice Xunta albergue in A Laxe, which is where I stayed.

 

[JillGat]

From Osiera to A Laxe (Lalin) is 23k. The route passes through Estacion de Lalin about 6.5 ks north of Castro Dozon where there is a hostal or you can walk 5ks further to the very nice Xunta albergue in A Laxe, which is where I stayed.

Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for. Now I'm probably going to be bending your ear, @Lindsay53, for more info. Usually I find that, once I get on the ground, this stuff is easy to figure out, but my head explodes when I read things like this (see pic). And why does A Laxe have (Lalin) in parentheses? And is Botos the same as Estacion de Lalin?

 

[Paul-CH]

I can recommend the variant to Oseira, I did stay at the new Albergue de peregrinos del Monasterio de Oseira. It's comfortable and it was warm. I had the possibility to take a guided tour inside the Monasterio and it was interesting. We had a good meal ($$) at the A Casiña Davos Café.
Ourense to Oseira 31km and the next day Oseira to Botos 23km

 

[JillGat]

@Paul-CH, Re your signature: "
Always happy when hiking or running with a lightweight 20l backpack and a cool beer in the evening"
I'm picturing you in a backpack, running while carrying a cold beer in the evening and wondering how you keep it from spilling and what you do when it gets dark. (this is why I have trouble following guidebook instructions)

 

[dougfitz]

I plan to take the variant through Oseira, but - looking at Gronze, La Plata guidebooks and the Wise Pilgrim app, I am confused about the next stage. Most of them show O Castro as the destination after Oseira, but there are apparently no accommodations there. I'd like to find an option for a bed less than 25k after Oseira. Is such an option possible? I see Estacion de Lalin on Gronze, but no way to get there. What would be the distance from Oseira to Lalin?

I stayed at the Hostal A Taberna de Vento after Oseira. There seem to be two names used for roughly the same place, Estacion de Lalin and Botos. The waymarked route doesn't go past the taberna, but it wouldn't be more than a hundred and fifty metres or so away. It would be a slightly longer, but still short, detour from the marked route to go to the area of the railway station, although Gronze doesn't list any accommodation there. Doing a quick sum on the distances shown in Gronze, Oseira to Botos would seem to be about 24 km.

 

[Paul-CH]

Hostal A Taberna de Vento

Estacion de Lalin and Botos. The waymarked route doesn't go past the taberna, but it wouldn't be more than a hundred and fifty metres or so away. It would be a slightly longer, but still short, detour from the marked route to go to the area of the railway station, although Gronze doesn't list any accommodation there

Gronze still shows the Taberna at Botos

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Hostal A Taberna de Vento

Gronze still shows the Taberna at Botos

Yes, I am staying there with a reservation.

 

[dougfitz]

Hostal A Taberna de Vento

Gronze still shows the Taberna at Botos

Indeed, Estacion de tren Lalin is about 150m from the taberna and the building in which I was accommodated was about 50m from the bar. @JillGat commented that she could see a reference to Estacion de Lalin in Gronze and also asked if Botos and Estacion de Lalin were the same place. My observation is that they are for practical planning purposes for a pilgrim.

I would note that the depiction of this in Gronze, here, is inaccurate inasmuch as it shows the Camino path crossing the railway line before going into Botos. While some parts of Botos are south of the railway, the pilgrim path doesn't cross the railway in the way depicted.
This is incorrect. The high speed line does go to the east of Botos, and there is a slower line through the centre of the locality. Thank you @Paul-CH for letting me know.

 

[JillGat]

From Osiera to A Laxe (Lalin) is 23k. The route passes through Estacion de Lalin about 6.5 ks north of Castro Dozon where there is a hostal or you can walk 5ks further to the very nice Xunta albergue in A Laxe, which is where I stayed.

According to Gerald's book, it's 29.4 K from Oseira to A Laxe. I think you mean Oseira to Botos/Estacion de Lalin/WTF. Then it's 5.5 K on to A Laxe.

 

[Lindsay53]

Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for. Now I'm probably going to be bending your ear, @Lindsay53, for more info. Usually I find that, once I get on the ground, this stuff is easy to figure out, but my head explodes when I read things like this (see pic). And why does A Laxe have (Lalin) in parentheses? And is Botos the same as Estacion de Lalin?

The Camino does not go through Lalin, but passes through a small hamlet a couple of kilometres to the west on the other side of a motorway. This place is called A Laxe in the Wise Pilgrim Guide and the Albergue there is called Albergue Laxe. Looking at google maps the place seems to have no name at all.

Again looking at Google maps, the Lalin railway station, Estacion de Lalin, seems to be out of town in the village of Botos.

If you stay in the Albergue Laxe there is a nice restaurant about 300 metres up the road 'Resturante Maria y Jose' that's very nice but a bit expensive. Or about 500m across the motorway there is a service centre with a basic and cheap restaurant.

 

[Lindsay53]

According to Gerald's book, it's 29.4 K from Oseira to A Laxe. I think you mean Oseira to Botos/Estacion de Lalin/WTF. Then it's 5.5 K on to A Laxe.

Yes, you are correct, just looking back at my diary, it says 30k for that stage.

 

[Paul-CH]

I would note that the depiction of this in Gronze, here, is inaccurate inasmuch as it shows the Camino path crossing the railway line before going into Botos. While some parts of Botos are south of the railway, the pilgrim path doesn't cross the railway in the way depicted.

As you may see on this picture I would think the Gronze description is good enough to find the place after crossing the railway, as there are two railway lines. The newer fast and an older one. I wouldn't travel with Gronze alone always use my iPhone with a map and a current track to find restaurants and bars nearby.

 

[dougfitz]

View attachment 164837
As you may see on this picture I would think the Gronze description is good enough to find the place after crossing the railway, as there are two railway lines. The newer fast and an older one. I wouldn't travel with Gronze alone always use my iPhone with a map and a current track to find restaurants and bars nearby.

You are correct, I don't know how I forgot the high speed line, which would make the Gronze description accurate. I have annotated my earlier post to ensure that there shouldn't be any confusion.

 

[Paul-CH]

You are correct, I don't know how I forgot the high speed line, which would make the Gronze description accurate.

I did have lunch at Hostal A Taberna de Vento the day I was walking from Oseira. But didn't get a bed there it was already booked out. So I went by taxi to Lalin in a hotel and the next day walking on the Camino Inverno until the two caminos meet at A Laxe.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I did have lunch at Hostal A Taberna de Vento the day I was walking from Oseira. But didn't get a bed there it was already booked out. So I went by taxi to Lalin in a hotel and the next day walking on the Camino Inverno until the two caminos meet at A Laxe.

I have a reservation in place to stay at this hostal in Botos after Oseira. I chose it to avoid having to continue walking further to either Lalin or A Laxe. It is shaving off over 5k and making the stage under 30k.