Camino View logoCamino View

Vía de la Plata: The Complete Route Guide

Quick facts

The route: map, elevation, and stages

974.0 km on the track 36 stages +9587 m total climb −9513 m total descent
Walking now? See how far along you are, and what is next.

Route track: Nederlands Genootschap van Sint Jacob (santiago.nl), republished with credit. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Dashed line: shared finish on another route.

Open the full-screen map app Plan this route Download the GPX track The same map, app-style: full screen, offline packs, and find-me while you walk. Plan this route opens the planner: regroup these stages into your own days, with a start date and a daily budget.

Places on this way

Places load with the map view.

Elevation sampled from terrain data (Terrarium DEM, built on SRTM) along the track. Hover the profile to trace the route on the map, or focus it and use the arrow keys. Click a stage band, a stage number, or a table row to zoom to that stage.

Stages

StageWalkKmClimbDescentDifficulty
Andalusia · Out of Seville past Itálica, then the Sierra Norte foothills to Monesterio.
1Seville → Guillena22.0+14 m−17 m2 of 5
2Guillena → Castilblanco de los Arroyos18.0+322 m−40 m2 of 5
3Castilblanco de los Arroyos → Almadén de la Plata29.0+416 m−302 m4 of 5
4Almadén de la Plata → Monesterio35.0+520 m−241 m5 of 5
Southern Extremadura · Dehesa and ham country through Fuente de Cantos and Zafra, then the long stage into Roman Mérida.
5Monesterio → Fuente de Cantos21.0+122 m−267 m2 of 5
6Fuente de Cantos → Zafra25.0+74 m−138 m3 of 5
7Zafra → Villafranca de los Barros20.0+163 m−255 m2 of 5
8Villafranca de los Barros → Mérida42.0+24 m−215 m5 of 5
Northern Extremadura · Cáceres and the Alcántara reservoir, the Arco de Cáparra country, and the short hop to Baños de Montemayor.
9Mérida → Alcuéscar36.0+372 m−173 m5 of 5
10Alcuéscar → Cáceres39.0+147 m−139 m5 of 5
11Cáceres → Embalse de Alcántara34.0+75 m−265 m4 of 5
12Embalse de Alcántara → Grimaldo21.0+350 m−139 m2 of 5
13Grimaldo → Carcaboso31.0+153 m−325 m4 of 5
14Carcaboso → Aldeanueva del Camino39.0+283 m−65 m5 of 5
15Aldeanueva del Camino → Baños de Montemayor9.6+175 m−3 m1 of 5
The climb to Salamanca · Up through Fuenterroble de Salvatierra, then the long run into Salamanca, the route's great midway city.
16Baños de Montemayor → Fuenterroble de Salvatierra33.0+552 m−313 m5 of 5
17Fuenterroble de Salvatierra → San Pedro de Rozados28.0+332 m−309 m4 of 5
18San Pedro de Rozados → Salamanca24.0+129 m−288 m3 of 5
Zamora and the Granja turn · Flatter Castile through El Cubo to Zamora, then on to Granja de Moreruela, where the Sanabrés branch turns west.
19Salamanca → El Cubo de la Tierra del Vino35.0+155 m−122 m4 of 5
20El Cubo de la Tierra del Vino → Zamora32.0+86 m−263 m4 of 5
21Zamora → Montamarta19.0+83 m−51 m2 of 5
22Montamarta → Granja de Moreruela23.0+108 m−112 m2 of 5
The Sanabrés · Tábara and Santa Marta de Tera, Sanabria, and the climb over the Galician border at A Gudiña.
23Granja de Moreruela → Tábara25.0+138 m−103 m3 of 5
24Tábara → Santa Marta de Tera23.0+127 m−130 m2 of 5
25Santa Marta de Tera → Mombuey36.0+174 m−54 m4 of 5
26Mombuey → Puebla de Sanabria31.0+259 m−273 m4 of 5
27Puebla de Sanabria → Lubián29.0+545 m−443 m4 of 5
28Lubián → A Gudiña24.0+478 m−510 m3 of 5
Galicia to Santiago · Down through Laza and Xunqueira de Ambía to Ourense, then the green final run through Cea, Lalín and Silleda into Santiago.
29A Gudiña → Laza34.0+479 m−974 m5 of 5
30Laza → Xunqueira de Ambía33.0+592 m−380 m5 of 5
31Xunqueira de Ambía → Ourense22.0+120 m−665 m3 of 5
32Ourense → Cea22.0+559 m−207 m3 of 5
33Cea → Lalín37.0+644 m−622 m5 of 5
34Lalín → Silleda16.0+190 m−250 m1 of 5
35Silleda → Ponte Ulla20.0+125 m−543 m2 of 5
36Ponte Ulla → Santiago de Compostela21.0+497 m−316 m3 of 5

Plan your own days

The stages above are one way to walk this route, not the only way. Every stage town starts highlighted below, because the stages as written sleep in each one. Tap a highlighted town to walk through it and sleep at the next stop instead, and tap it again to split the days back. Your days update as you tap. Set a start date and a daily budget here and every day carries its date and its cost on this page. Open these days in the planner to carry this exact grouping into your plan, where GPX, copy, and print exports apply to it. Dates and budget set here are saved into the same plan, so they are already set when you open it there.

Open these days in the planner

Why the Plata

The Vía de la Plata follows one of the great Roman roads of Spain, the silver route running north from Seville through Extremadura and Castile. It is the longest established Camino in Spain and the connoisseur's route: big empty dehesa landscapes, Roman milestones still standing beside the path, Mérida's Roman theatre, Cáceres' old town, Salamanca's golden university streets, and long quiet days where you may not see another pilgrim. It suits experienced walkers who want solitude and Roman Spain, and it rewards spring walking like no other route.

The shape of the route

Stages and variants

The stage list in the route explorer above is this guide's one stage list. It runs as a flow in seven sections (Andalusia, Southern Extremadura, Northern Extremadura, The climb to Salamanca, Zamora and the Granja turn, The Sanabrés, and Galicia to Santiago), with no separate table down here. The Plata carries no variant ways in the openly licensed track set we build from: the stage list follows the Sanabrés branch at Granja de Moreruela, the line most Plata walkers now take, and the Astorga option from Granja is a route choice covered under Key decision points below, not a stage list of its own.

Several stages in the list are long on paper and are split by most pilgrims. Almadén de la Plata to Monesterio is 35 km and commonly split. Villafranca de los Barros to Mérida is 42 km and almost always split at Torremejía or Almendralejo. Mérida to Alcuéscar (36 km) is often split, Alcuéscar to Cáceres (39 km) is often split at Valdesalor, Carcaboso to Aldeanueva del Camino (39 km) is often split at Oliva de Plasencia, and Cea to Lalín (37 km) is often split at Castro Dozón.

Fit walkers walking the full route usually take around 36-42 days including rest days; the list above is walking days only and many of the long Plata stages get split in practice.

Key decision points

When to walk

Practical notes

Holy Year 2027 note

2027 is a Holy Year (Xacobeo). Expect the Plata's spring season to fill earlier than usual as experienced pilgrims choose it over a crowded Francés, and expect the Sanabrés final 100 km from Ourense to get noticeably busier. The single-bed stages in Extremadura are the pinch point: book the long-stage endpoints ahead in spring 2027, and keep the split-stage options in mind when a town is full.

Stage by stage

Every stage on its own page, with its elevation profile, walking time, and the services along it.

Wildfire check

Fire season in Spain and Portugal runs roughly May to October, and a dry stretch can close or fill with smoke with little warning. Before you set off, and each morning while you walk in dry country, check the EFFIS current fire map for active fires near your route.

If officials close a stretch, follow their instructions and reroute or wait it out. Never light a fire anywhere on the route.

Get the free one-page Francés stage planner

One page, all 33 stages, distances in kilometers and miles, and space to write in your dates. Join the list and the planner is yours. We send route news and planning notes, never spam.

Free. Unsubscribe any time.

Keep planning

More routes: Camino Francés · Camino Portugués · Camino Primitivo. Or get the free one-page stage planner.