Camino Sanabrés: Granja de Moreruela or Ourense to Santiago, day by day

By August Frederik Kramer · Last updated 6 October 2026

The Camino Sanabrés leaves the Vía de la Plata at Granja de Moreruela and reaches Santiago 358.2 km later, in 18 days on our plan, climbing 5,654 m. That is 15.8 m per kilometre against 11.8 for the whole route from Seville: the flat half of the Plata ends at the fork. Most people walk only the end of it. Ourense to Santiago is 109.9 km, the shortest walk that earns the Compostela here, and it climbs 482 m more than the hundred from Sarria on 4.5 km less, with one pilgrim setting out for every 31 who leave Sarria.

18 days from Granja de Moreruela

Granja de Moreruela to Santiago is 358.2 km in 18 stages on our plan, 19.9 km a day, and climbs 5,654 m. The first 5 days cross Zamora and are the gentle part, every one of them below the route’s average climb per kilometre. Day 6, Puebla de Sanabria to Lubián, climbs to 1,352 m, the highest point of the whole Vía de la Plata, and the next morning takes you over the line into Galicia. Day 9, into Laza, is the knee day: 829 m down.

The longest day is day 6, Puebla de Sanabria to Lubián, 29.6 km. The steepest is not on the mountains at all: it is day 14, Cea to A Hedreira, at 31.8 m of climbing per kilometre, the second day out of Ourense.

Where Galicia starts

Day 7 runs from Lubián, in the province of Zamora, to A Gudiña, in the province of Ourense, so somewhere on it you cross into Galicia. From A Gudiña it is 200.6 km and 11 days to Santiago, the town names change to Galician, and the waymarks start counting down. Lubián itself already speaks both: it is one of the bilingual municipalities of Zamora. How to say the Galician names is in the pronunciation guide.

From Ourense: the quiet hundred

Ourense to Santiago is 109.9 km in 6 days and climbs 2,336 m, 21.3 m per kilometre. Set it beside the hundred everyone knows, Sarria to Santiago on the Camino Francés: 114.4 km in 5 days, climbing 1,854 m, 16.2 m per kilometre. The hundred from Ourense is 4.5 km shorter and climbs 482 m more.

The 100 km line is 9.9 km into the first day out of Ourense, so the start has 9.9 km to spare, about 149 minutes of walking. The next town, Cea, is 92.6 km out and does not qualify. Collect two stamps a day, 12 in all, as the credencial guide explains, and see the last 100 km for every route’s line.

How busy it is

The Pilgrim’s Office counts the Vía de la Plata as one route, so nobody can tell you how many walk the Sanabrés alone. What it does count is starts. This year, to 20 September, it gave 7,654 Compostelas to pilgrims on the whole Vía de la Plata, and 4,285 of all its pilgrims had set out from Ourense, which is only on this route. So more than half, 56%, of everyone finishing the Plata walked only its last 109.9 km, and before Ourense you meet the rest. In 2025, 4,499 set out from Ourense. Out of Sarria, this year, it was 134,917: 31 for every one from Ourense.

Know these words before your Camino. Spanish is preparation, the same as boots and stages. Try the free topic

Where to sleep

Our map data lists 41 places to sleep along the 18 days, and none at all on 7 of them: days 1, 2, 7, 10, 11, 12, and 13. That is a gap in what has been mapped, not proof there is nowhere to sleep, but it is the reason to check a current albergue list and ask ahead on this route rather than walk in hoping. The most mapped is day 18, into Santiago, with 15. Most places here publish no bed count, so read these as places, not beds; the albergues guide explains how they are counted.

The Camino de Invierno joins at A Laxe

On day 15, at A Laxe, 59.1 km from Santiago on our track, the Camino de Invierno from Ponferrada comes in and the two walk together to the cathedral. If you started on the Francés and turned off to avoid O Cebreiro in winter, this is where you meet the Sanabrés. The Invierno guide measures that detour.

The Camino Sanabrés, day by day

Distances and climbing from our own track and stage plan, the same figures as the Vía de la Plata guide, which takes the whole route from Seville, and the route page. Places to sleep from map data.

Common questions

How long is the Camino Sanabrés?

From Granja de Moreruela, where it leaves the Vía de la Plata, to Santiago is 358.2 km: 18 days on our plan at 19.9 km a day, climbing 5,654 m. From Ourense it is 109.9 km in 6 days.

Is the Camino Sanabrés hard?

Harder than the Plata before it: 15.8 m of climbing per kilometre against 11.8 for the whole route. The highest point, 1,352 m, comes on day 6, and the steepest day is day 14, Cea to A Hedreira, at 31.8 m per kilometre.

Can I walk the Sanabrés from Ourense for the Compostela?

Yes. Ourense is 109.9 km from Santiago, 9.9 km over the 100 km the Compostela asks for. Cea, the next town, is 92.6 km out and is too close.

How many people walk the Camino Sanabrés?

The Pilgrim’s Office counts it inside the Vía de la Plata: 7,654 Compostelas on the whole route in 2026 to 20 September. 4,285 pilgrims set out from Ourense in the same period, more than half of that.

Keep reading

Take it with you

Caminantes is free, works offline, and plans your stages around your own legs rather than a guidebook's.

All guides · Compare all 10 Camino de Santiago routes