Geira > Sanabres transfer

[adam lapp]

Hi all. Doing an unplanned 13-day trip this month as I found a $600 round trip flight from the US to Porto and I couldn’t resist. I’ve done the coastal and central, so was exploring other routes and stumbled upon the Geira, shout out to @peregrina2000 and @jungleboy for the great detailed info on this route.

But, looking at accommodation after Ribadavia (especially this time of year) and also with the fascinating city of Ourense just 30k away, I have decided to transfer from the Geira to Sanabres via Ribadavia to Ourense.

Just wondering if anyone has done this and can provide insight? It looks like from Wikitrails this can be done almost entirely on non-paved river walk trails, jumping on the road just a few times where trails end. So looks like a kinda nice hike.

If not, I’ll post my update in December if anyone else wants to do this in the future.

Thanks - Adam

 

[jungleboy]

Bom caminho! I'm not sure Ourense is fascinating enough to be a major reason for this detour, but I also think you would still get the best of the Geira up to Ribadavia with the exception of Codeseda, so go for it if it's what you want to do!

Another more 'natural' option to include Ourense/Sanabrés would be to travel from Porto to Viseu and walk the CPI, which connects to the Verín variant of the Sanabrés and joins the main path at Ourense. We did this combo in 2022.

 

[peregrina2000]

I would second @jungleboy’s opinion about Ourense, though I like it just fine. And I agree that the “best” of the Geira is leading up to Ribadavia, though I quite liked all the rest of the way.

I’ve also seen a circular cycling route between Ourense and Ribadavia on wikiloc, which may be similar to what you’ve seen, but for some more options perhaps look here. One way on each side of the Miño.

I would loved to hear about it if you do this transfer from Geira to Sanabrés. It looks like it also might be a way to lengthen your camino by a few days, since Ribadavia is only 4 (maybe 5) days from Santiago.