LIVE from the Camino Challenging but worth it (Camino Sanabres Granja de Moreruela - Santiago, 8 - 20 April)

[Cynistra]

After 13 days of walking I've finished my 337km walk on the Camino Sanabres, and my entire 1400km walk from Almería. Yay!
If anyone's interested in a day-by-day report, you can find it on my Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/karol_vloe?igsh=MXJ6d2Y0b3NkZmVwbw==
Just look for posts San (or VdlP for Vía de la Plata, or CM for Camino Mozarabe, although this last one I only started to have the headings right towards the end).
This is more about an overall impression and tips and tricks though.

1. As soon as you begin the Camino Sanabres (after the Vía de la Plata) , the landscape becomes more challenging, but also infinitely more rewarding. From Granja to Laza each day was nicer than the one before. After that it was still very nice, it was just hard to compete with the majesty of the A Gudiña - Laza stage. The final approach to Santiago is also definitely better than either the Frances or Portugues. Until 3km before the end you wouldn't know you're approaching a major city, and even the last bit in the city itself goes past historic buildings rather than boring suburbs
2. The weather was (surprisingly) nice. The first day was a baptism of fire - if you can call very heavy rain fire, that is. After that though the weather was very nice indeed. Blue skies with maybe a few pooffy clouds, warm but not too hot (the maximum we had was 28 degrees/82F) It's the first time I've ever been in Galicia without being rained on once! That being said, the difference in min-max temperatures here is much bigger than what I'm used to. Days with a 21 degree/70F max temperature still start chilly, with around 4 degrees/40F in the morning. Bring layers! I had a merino T-shirt, a polartec fleece, a lightweight synthetic jacket, a light rain/wind jacket, an umbrella, and gloves - and I used them all. I could have done without the fleece if I'd been happy wearing the synthetic jacket in the evenings, but I prefer having something separate. After the Mozarabe and the Vía de la Plata I can't call it a surprise anymore, but even on nice warm days there can suddenly be gusts of icy cold winds, so make sure to bring something that blocks the wind but doesn't add any heat. While we had very nice weather, please prepare yourself for weather that could be wetter, colder but also surprisingly hotter - a few days before we got to Ourense it got up to 33 degrees/ 91F there. We were however dealing with the consequences of a lot of rain in the previous period - muddy and sometimes flooded paths, although the water was never higher than ankle deep, and quite often could be avoided by walking on a road parallel to the path. Full disclosure - after the Puente Quintos on the first day I did go on the road rather than the official route, since my guide book recommended avoiding the official route after heavy rain. Other than that I stuck to the official path, except for when I somehow found myself on an older version of the Camino. There I did end up crossing a relatively deep river. Don't worry though, as far as I'm aware I'm the only one who managed to do this so I'm sure you'll be fine following the arrows!
3. Culture. If exploring cities and museums is more your jam, this Camino may not be the best for you. Ourense is the only major city of note, and other than the cathedral the main thing to do here is the thermal baths. The Internet warned me I'd need a proper bathing suit for this, so I didn't try to visit - although I was later advised by a local I probably would have been OK with my sports bra and microfibre panties. The other cultural city of note would be Puebla de Sanabria, which was enjoyable to walk through (though you'll have to come off the official camino to do this), but I decided to give visiting the castle here a miss. This is partially because by this point after the Mozarabe and Vía de la Plata I felt well castled, and partially because my day into this town was long enough as it was. The monastery in Oseira is well worth visiting, and for pilgrims you get to sit in on the vespers (sung evening prayers).
4. I did some quite long stages on this Camino, but unlike on the Vía de la Plata this was by personal choice rather than because there was no other options. The only real problem is around Santa Marta de Tera. Most people will stop in Tábara, because Granja - Tábara is a 25km stretch with no accommodation in between. For most people that would make Santa Marta de Tera at 21km from here the next logical stop, but the only accommodation here is a municipal Albergue with 13 beds. If you don't want the worry of getting there in time, you'll either end up with a quite short or a quite long day. For the record, when I was walking it, it was fine and beds didn't run out, but this may be because quite a few people opted to either do a short or long day to avoid the uncertainty. If you're on a budget it's also worth noting that the only Albergue in Puebla de Sanabria was closed (apparently a common problem) so you may wish to plan around this or find a friend to share a twin room with.
5. Carry some food with you! It happened a few times that I was expecting to eat somewhere, but cafés or restaurants were closed, or not serving food at lunch time. Most notably in Oseira the only restaurant was closed for annual leave, which made the only food available in town chocolate and cookies from the monastery gift shop - not great for an evening meal! They also had a breakfast kit, but this was two madeleines with drinks, so if you prefer something savoury it's better to bring it with you since the first café is 10km away.
6. Water here was easier than on the Mozarabe and the Vía de la Plata, as the Camino Sanabres passes through many small hamlets that may not have food or accommodation options, but still have water fountains. Do still keep an eye on your water supply though and think about your next refill - I did meet some people who ran out of water on a warmer day and it's not a pleasant experience.
7. Best sections. For me the section from A Gudiña to Laza was hands down the nicest one, but honestly the entire route is very nice. I would definitely recommend to go through Oseira after Cea rather than straight to Castro-Dozón since the monastery visit is really nice.
8. Worst sections. The only section I'd really recommend skipping is the stage from Xunqueira de Ambía to Ourense. It's almost entirely on the road and at points through ugly industrial terrain. You do get occasional glimpses of Ourense in the valley down below as you descend, and there are some cool way markers, but that's about it.
9. If you only have time to do part of this camino, you could do Granja- Laza where each day will be nicer than the next; or you could do Ourense - Santiago which has of course the benefit of getting you your Compostela. This second option has significantly more road walking though, if this is something that's important to you.
10. Dogs. Let me preface this with saying I genuinely like dogs, regardless of their size. I've done walks in Spain, Portugal and Turkey before, all of which have a combination of pet/shepherd/wild dogs running around off the lead and never had any problems before. I've always operated on the assumption that you can't really have badly behaved dogs, especially not big ones near popular hiking routes, because if there was a genuine problem, it would be resolved (hopefully by re-educating the dog). BUT. If I was going to do this walk again, I would bring one of those high-pitched whistles that only dogs can hear. I've literally seen someone get bitten by a dog in front of me - this dog was being walked on a lead and the lady walking it didn't seem overly concerned about it (other than just saying "bad dog"). In all fairness, the guy didn't overly react to this, so she could have just assumed (like I originally did) the dog just got his trousers. A lady I walked with for a while got bitten or scratched by a dog (she posted on the forum herself, so this isn't a new report). And I had a dog in that same location (first hamlet after Oseira) following me not 30cm away and snapping his teeth at me. I tried ignoring it at first, then talking at it sternly, making noise, pretending to pick up a rock to throw, and gesturing but none of this helped and I finally had to resort to hitting it with my trekking poles. I didn't like doing this, but I didn't really feel like I had any other options at this point.
11. I don't normally do this, but two of my accommodations were exceptionally nice on this walk: Albergue Alameda, where I got a great welcome, a shell, and a lovely cooked dinner at a time of my choosing (5.30pm) which was super lovely after a long day with only breakfast, where I was expecting to have to wait until 8pm. The other one is Casa Blanca Conde in Laza (private room accommodation) with again a great welcome, some nice photo spots and everything you need right there on site without having to go out. They are both ran by very nice ladies.
12. The rest of this is very similar to my previous post about the Vía de la Plata, so feel free to skip if you already that!
13. A camino with some (but not many) pilgrims around. After the Mozarabe, where I went days without seeing other pilgrims, the Via de la Plata and Camino Sanabres felt much more social. But this is of course very relative - what I mean is sometimes there were six of us, in the same bar, in the middle of the day. The most pilgrims I've seen in a town overnight was maybe 12-15, so compared to the Frances this is of course very quiet indeed. Also, I think there's a certain process of self-selection going on here as well, since the people you do meet are often more on the introverted side, and quite happy reading a book or otherwise keeping themselves occupied in the evenings. People are still very friendly and chatty in general, but maybe don't expect hanging out to be an all-afternoon or all-evening activity.
14. Cafés, bars, restaurants and supermarkets are happy to take your trade, but realistically most of their income is from the locals; so their opening times are adjusted accordingly. Compared to the Mozarabe though, you can see that supermarkets here do make an effort to cater to pilgrims - there's often a selection of microwave meals and individual drinks for sale. Still, siesta is real and in small towns supermarkets will almost certainly be closed between 2 and 5. Restaurants will (even if they are open) often not cook food for you between 3pm and 8pm, though if you're lucky your beer may come with a small snack. If you ask (but you have to ask!) cafés will usually sell you some bread, even if they're currently not offering tostadas or bocadillos. If you're a vegetarian or vegan, you will struggle to find appropriate food (unless you're a vegetarian that's happy to live off nothing but bread with cheese and tortilla), so you're probably better off finding accommodation with cooking facilities and catering for yourself. A happy exception here are Casa Terra Alma in As Eiras, and Casa Leiras in Dornelas/Leiras, which do a vegetarian menú del día. The latter only for overnight guests, and neither of the meals provided were vegan, but I didn't think to ask for this either so it may be possible.

And that's all for now, folks.
Buen Camino!

 

[Luka]

Thanks for your elaborate report! I started following you lately on instagram, as I'll be walking the Sanabrés myself in a couple of weeks. I also copied your report about the dog out of Oseira and put it on the forum here (didn't know you were here too). Didn't the numbers go up after Ourense?

 

[Cynistra]

Didn't the numbers go up after Ourense?

I only saw one person walking who started in Ourense, so not exactly a huge influx of people .
If anything it felt less busy, since people were a bit more spread out. Before Ourense it seems like everyone was doing more or less the same stages, after this people ended up in different places overnight.
I think as always it's a bit luck if the draw as well - some people stay in Ourense for a day, so the numbers may go up or down slightly.
People who stayed in the municipal albergue in Ourense itself told me it felt quite crowded (as they decided not to open up a second dormitory), but after this it was fine.

 

[Simperegrina]

Thanks for your summary

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I will be a few weeks behind when you walked the Sanabres, so I really appreciate your observations based on personal experiences.
Thank you so much!

 

[Plataman]

After 13 days of walking I've finished my 337km walk on the Camino Sanabres, and my entire 1400km walk from Almería. Yay!
If anyone's interested in a day-by-day report, you can find it on my Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/karol_vloe?igsh=MXJ6d2Y0b3NkZmVwbw==
Just look for posts San (or VdlP for Vía de la Plata, or CM for Camino Mozarabe, although this last one I only started to have the headings right towards the end).
This is more about an overall impression and tips and tricks though.

1. As soon as you begin the Camino Sanabres (after the Vía de la Plata) , the landscape becomes more challenging, but also infinitely more rewarding. From Granja to Laza each day was nicer than the one before. After that it was still very nice, it was just hard to compete with the majesty of the A Gudiña - Laza stage. The final approach to Santiago is also definitely better than either the Frances or Portugues. Until 3km before the end you wouldn't know you're approaching a major city, and even the last bit in the city itself goes past historic buildings rather than boring suburbs
2. The weather was (surprisingly) nice. The first day was a baptism of fire - if you can call very heavy rain fire, that is. After that though the weather was very nice indeed. Blue skies with maybe a few pooffy clouds, warm but not too hot (the maximum we had was 28 degrees/82F) It's the first time I've ever been in Galicia without being rained on once! That being said, the difference in min-max temperatures here is much bigger than what I'm used to. Days with a 21 degree/70F max temperature still start chilly, with around 4 degrees/40F in the morning. Bring layers! I had a merino T-shirt, a polartec fleece, a lightweight synthetic jacket, a light rain/wind jacket, an umbrella, and gloves - and I used them all. I could have done without the fleece if I'd been happy wearing the synthetic jacket in the evenings, but I prefer having something separate. After the Mozarabe and the Vía de la Plata I can't call it a surprise anymore, but even on nice warm days there can suddenly be gusts of icy cold winds, so make sure to bring something that blocks the wind but doesn't add any heat. While we had very nice weather, please prepare yourself for weather that could be wetter, colder but also surprisingly hotter - a few days before we got to Ourense it got up to 33 degrees/ 91F there. We were however dealing with the consequences of a lot of rain in the previous period - muddy and sometimes flooded paths, although the water was never higher than ankle deep, and quite often could be avoided by walking on a road parallel to the path. Full disclosure - after the Puente Quintos on the first day I did go on the road rather than the official route, since my guide book recommended avoiding the official route after heavy rain. Other than that I stuck to the official path, except for when I somehow found myself on an older version of the Camino. There I did end up crossing a relatively deep river. Don't worry though, as far as I'm aware I'm the only one who managed to do this so I'm sure you'll be fine following the arrows!
3. Culture. If exploring cities and museums is more your jam, this Camino may not be the best for you. Ourense is the only major city of note, and other than the cathedral the main thing to do here is the thermal baths. The Internet warned me I'd need a proper bathing suit for this, so I didn't try to visit - although I was later advised by a local I probably would have been OK with my sports bra and microfibre panties. The other cultural city of note would be Puebla de Sanabria, which was enjoyable to walk through (though you'll have to come off the official camino to do this), but I decided to give visiting the castle here a miss. This is partially because by this point after the Mozarabe and Vía de la Plata I felt well castled, and partially because my day into this town was long enough as it was. The monastery in Oseira is well worth visiting, and for pilgrims you get to sit in on the vespers (sung evening prayers).
4. I did some quite long stages on this Camino, but unlike on the Vía de la Plata this was by personal choice rather than because there was no other options. The only real problem is around Santa Marta de Tera. Most people will stop in Tábara, because Granja - Tábara is a 25km stretch with no accommodation in between. For most people that would make Santa Marta de Tera at 21km from here the next logical stop, but the only accommodation here is a municipal Albergue with 13 beds. If you don't want the worry of getting there in time, you'll either end up with a quite short or a quite long day. For the record, when I was walking it, it was fine and beds didn't run out, but this may be because quite a few people opted to either do a short or long day to avoid the uncertainty. If you're on a budget it's also worth noting that the only Albergue in Puebla de Sanabria was closed (apparently a common problem) so you may wish to plan around this or find a friend to share a twin room with.
5. Carry some food with you! It happened a few times that I was expecting to eat somewhere, but cafés or restaurants were closed, or not serving food at lunch time. Most notably in Oseira the only restaurant was closed for annual leave, which made the only food available in town chocolate and cookies from the monastery gift shop - not great for an evening meal! They also had a breakfast kit, but this was two madeleines with drinks, so if you prefer something savoury it's better to bring it with you since the first café is 10km away.
6. Water here was easier than on the Mozarabe and the Vía de la Plata, as the Camino Sanabres passes through many small hamlets that may not have food or accommodation options, but still have water fountains. Do still keep an eye on your water supply though and think about your next refill - I did meet some people who ran out of water on a warmer day and it's not a pleasant experience.
7. Best sections. For me the section from A Gudiña to Laza was hands down the nicest one, but honestly the entire route is very nice. I would definitely recommend to go through Oseira after Cea rather than straight to Castro-Dozón since the monastery visit is really nice.
8. Worst sections. The only section I'd really recommend skipping is the stage from Xunqueira de Ambía to Ourense. It's almost entirely on the road and at points through ugly industrial terrain. You do get occasional glimpses of Ourense in the valley down below as you descend, and there are some cool way markers, but that's about it.
9. If you only have time to do part of this camino, you could do Granja- Laza where each day will be nicer than the next; or you could do Ourense - Santiago which has of course the benefit of getting you your Compostela. This second option has significantly more road walking though, if this is something that's important to you.
10. Dogs. Let me preface this with saying I genuinely like dogs, regardless of their size. I've done walks in Spain, Portugal and Turkey before, all of which have a combination of pet/shepherd/wild dogs running around off the lead and never had any problems before. I've always operated on the assumption that you can't really have badly behaved dogs, especially not big ones near popular hiking routes, because if there was a genuine problem, it would be resolved (hopefully by re-educating the dog). BUT. If I was going to do this walk again, I would bring one of those high-pitched whistles that only dogs can hear. I've literally seen someone get bitten by a dog in front of me - this dog was being walked on a lead and the lady walking it didn't seem overly concerned about it (other than just saying "bad dog"). In all fairness, the guy didn't overly react to this, so she could have just assumed (like I originally did) the dog just got his trousers. A lady I walked with for a while got bitten or scratched by a dog (she posted on the forum herself, so this isn't a new report). And I had a dog in that same location (first hamlet after Oseira) following me not 30cm away and snapping his teeth at me. I tried ignoring it at first, then talking at it sternly, making noise, pretending to pick up a rock to throw, and gesturing but none of this helped and I finally had to resort to hitting it with my trekking poles. I didn't like doing this, but I didn't really feel like I had any other options at this point.
11. I don't normally do this, but two of my accommodations were exceptionally nice on this walk: Albergue Alameda, where I got a great welcome, a shell, and a lovely cooked dinner at a time of my choosing (5.30pm) which was super lovely after a long day with only breakfast, where I was expecting to have to wait until 8pm. The other one is Casa Blanca Conde in Laza (private room accommodation) with again a great welcome, some nice photo spots and everything you need right there on site without having to go out. They are both ran by very nice ladies.
12. The rest of this is very similar to my previous post about the Vía de la Plata, so feel free to skip if you already that!
13. A camino with some (but not many) pilgrims around. After the Mozarabe, where I went days without seeing other pilgrims, the Via de la Plata and Camino Sanabres felt much more social. But this is of course very relative - what I mean is sometimes there were six of us, in the same bar, in the middle of the day. The most pilgrims I've seen in a town overnight was maybe 12-15, so compared to the Frances this is of course very quiet indeed. Also, I think there's a certain process of self-selection going on here as well, since the people you do meet are often more on the introverted side, and quite happy reading a book or otherwise keeping themselves occupied in the evenings. People are still very friendly and chatty in general, but maybe don't expect hanging out to be an all-afternoon or all-evening activity.
14. Cafés, bars, restaurants and supermarkets are happy to take your trade, but realistically most of their income is from the locals; so their opening times are adjusted accordingly. Compared to the Mozarabe though, you can see that supermarkets here do make an effort to cater to pilgrims - there's often a selection of microwave meals and individual drinks for sale. Still, siesta is real and in small towns supermarkets will almost certainly be closed between 2 and 5. Restaurants will (even if they are open) often not cook food for you between 3pm and 8pm, though if you're lucky your beer may come with a small snack. If you ask (but you have to ask!) cafés will usually sell you some bread, even if they're currently not offering tostadas or bocadillos. If you're a vegetarian or vegan, you will struggle to find appropriate food (unless you're a vegetarian that's happy to live off nothing but bread with cheese and tortilla), so you're probably better off finding accommodation with cooking facilities and catering for yourself. A happy exception here are Casa Terra Alma in As Eiras, and Casa Leiras in Dornelas/Leiras, which do a vegetarian menú del día. The latter only for overnight guests, and neither of the meals provided were vegan, but I didn't think to ask for this either so it may be possible.

And that's all for now, folks.
Buen Camino!

I have walked this route three times ( Seville to Santiago) and agree with you that the most memorable and enjoyable for me was the walk between A Guidina and Laza. We broke the walk into two stages by staying the night in the albergue at Campo...about the half way mark. Very pleasant albergue and friendly village. The walk the next day was he highlight ( for me), spectacular views as we began the long descent into Laza. Thanks for the excellent post, brought back some wonderful memories!

 

[Keikochan]

Cynistra(I like your name), thank you so much for your report.
I will be walking Sanabres in mid-July after walking SSPP to Leon from where I think I can take a bus to Salamanca or Samora. Hope The mid-July camino isn't so different from your report.

 

[geraldkelly]

Hi Karol

Very nice update. Thank you!

I have added your blog to our Via blogs page. https://www.viadelaplataguide.net/pages/blogs-about-walking-the-via-de-la-plata

Gerald