Ruta de Padre Sarmiento

[p_mci]

Hi all,
While on the Variant Espiritual last week I found myself with some extra time and extra money in the budget (for private accommodation) to do a variant of the variant! I stayed in the seaside towns of Combarro, Cambados and Carril before reaching Padrón.

While in Cambados (the 'capital of albariño!) I found out about the Ruta de Padre Sarmiento. More info at link.

https://www.rutapadresarmiento.com

Thought it might interest someone heading that way.

 

[NobleSpaniard]

Hi all,
While on the Variant Espiritual last week I found myself with some extra time and extra money in the budget (for private accommodation) to do a variant of the variant! I stayed in the seaside towns of Combarro, Cambados and Carril before reaching Padrón.

While in Cambados (the 'capital of albariño!) I found out about the Ruta de Padre Sarmiento. More info at link.

https://www.rutapadresarmiento.com

Thought it might interest someone heading that way.

Thank you for sharing!

It looks like it starts in Pontevedra, and ends in Pontescures, just south of Padrón. So, to get from Pontevedra to Padrón, it would take (on average):
2 days via Camino Portugues (typical)
3? days via Variant Espiritual
Would you say 4 days would be typical, via this route? The website doesn't seem very clear on distances and/or timing between "destinations."

 

[p_mci]

It depends on how much you want to walk and where you want to stay each night. I saw an information board in Cambados and it was for the next stage (5) to Illa da Arousa which is quite short. An app like maps.me would show you the distances between each of the towns listed on the website. It would definitely be a very roundabout way to reach Padrón from Pontevedra!

 

[Camembert]

We did.
Day 1 Pontevedra to Combarro
Day 2 Combarro to Barrantes
Day 3 Barrantes to Vila Nova de Aroussa!Pontecesurres/Padrón.
But be careful. Allways try to get information on beforehand due to the timevariety of the boat. They have to deal with tides. So it can be possibly that they do not sail that particularly day . And allway reserve on beforehand because the boat takes a max of 8 pilgrims and the route is becoming more and more popular

 

[p_mci]

We did.
Day 1 Pontevedra to Combarro
Day 2 Combarro to Barrantes
Day 3 Barrantes to Vila Nova de Aroussa!Pontecesurres/Padrón.
But be careful. Allways try to get information on beforehand due to the timevariety of the boat. They have to deal with tides. So it can be possibly that they do not sail that particularly day . And allway reserve on beforehand because the boat takes a max of 8 pilgrims and the route is becoming more and more popular

Hi, just to avoid confusion... I think you are talking about the the Variant Espiritual, with slightly different stages to the usual ones.

The Ruta de Sarmiento goes west after Combarro towards Sanxenxo, up to O Grove, then north to Cambados, followed by a walk over the bridge to the Illa de Arousa. Then it goes to Vilanova de Arousa. From there, the Sarmiento route does not take the boat, it's all on foot through Vilanova, past Vilagarcía and on to Pontecesures via Bamio and Vilar.

A very different and indirect route!

 

[NobleSpaniard]

Thank you both for your replies!

Just downloaded maps.me (thank you p_mci), and it looks like a fairly leisurely route:

Day 1 Pontevedra to Combarro - 7.1 km
Day 2 Combarro to Barrantes - 14km
Day 3 Barrantes to Vila Nova de Aroussa!Pontecesurres/Padrón. - 12km walk, plus boat

We did.
But be careful. Allways try to get information on beforehand due to the timevariety of the boat. They have to deal with tides. So it can be possibly that they do not sail that particularly day . And allway reserve on beforehand because the boat takes a max of 8 pilgrims and the route is becoming more and more popular

8 pilgrims max? Thank you very much for the info. I had seen the suggestions to call ahead, but not that they only hold 8 people.

 

[NobleSpaniard]

Hi, just to avoid confusion... I think you are talking about the the Variant Espiritual, with slightly different stages to the usual ones.

The Ruta de Sarmiento goes west after Combarro towards Sanxenxo, up to O Grove, then north to Cambados, followed by a walk over the bridge to the Illa de Arousa. Then it goes to Vilanova de Arousa. From there, the Sarmiento route does not take the boat, it's all on foot through Vilanova, past Vilagarcía and on to Pontecesures via Bamio and Vilar.

A very different and indirect route!

Thank you for the clarification!

It looks like a more coastal variant from Pontevedra to Vilanova, and then from Vilanova to Padrón is the same as the third leg of the Variante Espiritual (the walking option, as opposed to the boat). Would that be correct?

 

[p_mci]

Thank you for the clarification!

It looks like a more coastal variant from Pontevedra to Vilanova, and then from Vilanova to Padrón is the same as the third leg of the Variante Espiritual (the walking option, as opposed to the boat). Would that be correct?

That's right.

The boat ride & the walk are described here:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/spiritual-variant-what’s-the-boat-ride-like.55294/