Route Report: Vía de la Plata

I am happy to announce a new route report written by my friend Brien Crothers, another Northern California native. Brien hit the trail for thirty-three days of walking the Vía de la Plata (Silver Route) in Western Spain. He took excellent photos and documented each stage of his journey from Sevilla to Santiago in October and November 2016. Either follow the links on this page below or select 2016 Via de la Plata/Camino Sanabres Variant from his blog’s main menu.

I hope to walk this Camino route someday. Sevilla holds a special place in my heart and has been one of my favorite places in Spain, so far. Brien is also the author of Su Camino: A whimsical mix of pilgrim resources and Camino musings, in which he writes about his experience on the Camino Francés in 2015.

The Vía de la Plata (The Silver Way)
by Brien Crothers

Starting in Sevilla (Seville), is 1000 kilometers from Sevilla traveling through Mérida, Cáceres and Salamanca to Zamora then via one of several variants to Santiago de Compostela. From Zamora, the route continues directly northward to join the Camino Francés at Astorga or via Puebla de Sanabria on the Camino Sanabrés.

The Camino Sanabrés, also known as the Vía de la Plata Ourense option or the Camino Meridional, leads directly to Santiago bypassing the Camino Francés, branching from the VDLP at the village of Granja de Moreruela then northwest through Puebla de Sanabria to Santiago.

About the Route Reports

Each day in this route report lists start and end points, the distance walked (in kilometers), the time taken to walk that distance, notes about the route, a log of that day’s adventure, and costs. Also included is a screen grab of my GPS record for that day, taken from my smartphone app Strava. Please note that the Strava app only logged moving time between the start and end points of the day, and did not include lunch, coffee breaks, or my talks with people along the way. In contrast, my approximate record of the time it took to complete each day’s journey was always longer. Also included, when available, is a link to each day’s slideshow that has been uploaded to Facebook.

Route Report Links

Introduction Sevilla, Spain (October 17, 2016)

Day 1: Sevilla to Castilblanco de los Arroyos (43 km)

Day 2: Castilblanco to Almadén de la Plata (30 km)

Day 3: Almadén de la Plata to Monesterio (36 km)

Day 4: Monesterio to Fuente de Cantos (22 km)

Day 5: Fuente de Cantos to Zafra (25 km)

Day 6: Zafra to Torremejía (48 km)

Day 7: Torremejía to Aljucén (34 km)

Day 8: Aljucén to Aldea del Cano (36 km)

Day 9: Aldea del Cano to Cáceres (24 km)

Day 10: Cáceres to Cañaveral (45 km)