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An alternativo to avoid busy highway after Chantada

andycohn

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Time of past OR future Camino
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Leaving Chantada this morning for our first day on the Invierno, I was appalled to see that, roughly 2k out of town, the Camino ran adjacent to a busy highway for some 3k before cutting off south towards Penasilas.

Since I HATE walking anywhere near a busy road, I stopped before proceeding and checked on mapy.cz to see if there was a more tranquil alternative.

And there was! Along rural and almost completely unused paved farm tracks that were wonderfully scenic and totally serene. From the point we left the Camino until the point we rejoined it 4k later we saw exactly 5 cars, all gently moseying along. (This compared with at least 50 cars that whizzed by along the highway in the 2 minutes I was checking mapy.cz for alternatives).

Note that if you really prefer the dulcet roar of semi-trucks, you can save yourself a full 200 meters by staying on the Camino along the highway. Far be it from me to dictate your choice.

Btw, if you're staying at Hotel Vilaseco, you just stay on this alternative at the point where it hits the Camino.

Here's the track for mapy.cz fans (I'm confident someone more tech-savvy than I can convert this into gpx tracks):

Route from LU-213 to A Laxe, Chantada
Route 4 km • 1:17 h

A screenshot from mapy.cz is pasted in below, along with some photos (The Camino follows the highway, in green).

I've checked the great guidebook of @peregrina2000 and some of the wonderful threads on the forum, as well as Brierley and Wise pilgrim, and can find no mention of this possible alternative, so I offer it here.

Hope it's useful!
 

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Leaving Chantada this morning for our first day on the Invierno, I was appalled to see that, roughly 2k out of town, the Camino ran adjacent to a busy highway for some 3k before cutting off south towards Penasilas.

Since I HATE walking anywhere near a busy road, I stopped before proceeding and checked on mapy.cz to see if there was a more tranquil alternative.

And there was! Along rural and almost completely unused paved farm tracks that were wonderfully scenic and totally serene. From the point we left the Camino until the point we rejoined it 4k later we saw exactly 5 cars, all gently moseying along. (This compared with at least 50 cars that whizzed by along the highway in the 2 minutes I was checking mapy.cz for alternatives).

Note that if you really prefer the dulcet roar of semi-trucks, you can save yourself a full 200 meters by staying on the Camino along the highway. Far be it from me to dictate your choice.

Btw, if you're staying at Hotel Vilaseco, you just stay on this alternative at the point where it hits the Camino.

Here's the track for mapy.cz fans (I'm confident someone more tech-savvy than I can convert this into gpx tracks):

Route from LU-213 to A Laxe, Chantada
Route 4 km • 1:17 h

A screenshot from mapy.cz is pasted in below, along with some photos (The Camino follows the highway, in green).

I've checked the great guidebook of @peregrina2000 and some of the wonderful threads on the forum, as well as Brierley and Wise pilgrim, and can find no mention of this possible alternative, so I offer it here.

Hope it's useful!
Thank you thats going in my notes for 2025
 
Why didn't I think of this - the stretch out of Chantada was a bit of an ordeal compared with the zen-like calm of most of the Invierno. Thanks, Andy.
 
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It sounds like a nice route, but I don't remember a busy highway out of Chantada. Maybe I didn't notice because it was pretty foggy the morning I walked. 😄
I did not find the highway that busy either, but I was there on a Sunday so that could have made a difference.
 
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