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Ruta del Padre Sarmiento - just returned

natefaith

Veteran Member
Time of past OR future Camino
2009, 2014, 2017, 2024
I'm just back from walking the Ruta del Padre Sarmiento, and wanted to give a summary of the stages and the general conditions for those who might be interested in walking it in the future.

Overall it is a beautiful, stunning walk, with almost every day right along the coast of the peninsula O Salnés, in Galicia:

sarmiento3.png



The route starts in Pontevedra, and where the Camino Portugués splits into the Camino Portugués Central route and the Variante Epiritual, you turn left and take the Variante Espiritual. Then in Combarro, the route splits again into the Variante Espiritual and the Padre Sarmiento, and you stay along the water in Combarro to continue on the Padre Sarmiento.

The route then takes you through some of the most (in my opinion) gorgeous coastal places in Galicia, namely Sanxenxo, O Grove, and Illa de Arousa.

I booked hotels in the towns, but three of the towns - Combarro, Vilanova de Arousa, and Padrón, do have pilgrim hostels. The average price for the hotels I chose was 55€ - 65€. It was still high season the first week of September, since Spanish kids are still out of school and families were still on vacation, but that meant that there were quite a few options for hotels. Later in the season some places would be closed. There was also pretty good weather, with rain on just a couple of days.

These were my stages, and where I stayed:

Stage 1: Pontevedra to O Covelo, 18 km, Hotel Marea
Stage 2: O Covelo to Portonovo, 11 km, Hotel Xunqueira
Stage 3: Portonovo to Balea on the O Grove peninsula, 14 km, Pensión Mar de Rosas
Stage 4: O Grove to Cambados, 20 km, Hotel El Duende
Stage 5: Cambados to Terrón near Vilanova de Arosa, 7 km, Hotel Arco Iris
Stage 6: Left my pack in the hotel in Terrón, crossed the bridge to Illa de Arousa where I spent the day, and then walked back to Terrón, 16 km, Hotel Arco Iris (2nd night)
Stage 7: Terrón to Carril beyond Vilagarcia de Arousa, 14 km, then backtracked to stay in Hotel Vilagarcia
Stage 8: Took the train from Vilagarcia de Arousa to Catoira, then walked from Catoira to Padrón, 14 km

As you can see these stages were a mix of distances, as I didn't follow the suggested stages from the website. This was a function of knowing that I generally feel best if I walk 20 km or less, but also a desire to stop in certain towns and not others. There were also no good options for accommodations on the Illa de Arousa for the night I was planning to be there, so I stayed just across the bridge in Terrón and walked in and out of Illa de Arousa without the pack, which made for a carefree day on the island.

The Camino ended for me in Padrón as I'd planned, instead of in Santiago.

A few things to note about the trail:

- Downloading the route files from the website to the Maps.me app was super helpful, as I could follow along closely to the trail when the signage was few and far between.

- It was a solitary walk. As a raging extrovert, I wondered if I would survive 8 days of walking by myself without talking to hardly anyone...and I did! 😅 But I was a bit surprised I only saw 2 other pilgrims on the Padre Sarmiento itself. Walking into Combarro and into Vilanova de Arousa there were more pilgrims from the Camino Portugués, but that was only two days out of the eight. Otherwise I walked very much alone almost the entire time, with my only conversations being with hotel owners, grocery store clerks, and waiters. I'm not a big fan of walking through forests alone, so I tried to get through the few forest paths as quickly as possible, but otherwise the route is comprised of many paths that locals use, for example paseo marítimos (ocean promenades), and local roads.

- There was quite a bit of road/ sidewalk walking. The part out of Combarro is especially tricky, as it's about 2.5 km of walking on the road shoulder, weaving around parked cars and dodging moving cars. Otherwise much of the time on the roads was along wide sidewalks, which was fine. Thankfully there were also plenty of hours walking along the paseo marítimos.

- Cafes are few and far between, so carrying snacks and water, and learning to walk with a full bladder, were essential.

- For the most part, the route is relatively flat and there just a few elevation gains and descents.

- I needed earplugs in all the hotels, as none of them had soundproofing. I'd hoped that being in private rooms would insulate from the snores, footsteps, and conversations of others, but....nope. :)

To conclude, if the weather is going to be good, you're hoping for a solitary Camino, and you're keen to explore more of the Galician coast on foot, the Ruta del Padre Sarmiento would be a good way to do it. It would be important to walk when enough accommodations and restaurants were open, so July through September might be the ideal time.
 
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Faith, what a wonderful and detailed report on this "new" (to me) route. I'm sure your notes will be helpful to some of the forum's most adventurous trailblazers who appreciate more solitude, and at least speak some Spanish.

Thanks, Chrissy! And yes, I forgot to mention that - speaking some Spanish would be helpful, as many of the tourists in these areas are Spaniards rather than those from other countries, and the folks in the hospitality industry may not have too much English (or other languages).
 
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I'm just back from walking the Ruta del Padre Sarmiento, and wanted to give a summary of the stages and the general conditions for those who might be interested in walking it in the future.

Overall it is a beautiful, stunning walk, with almost every day right along the coast of the peninsula O Salnés, in Galicia:

sarmiento3.png



The route starts in Pontevedra, and where the Camino Portugués splits into the Camino Portugués Central route and the Variante Epiritual, you turn left and take the Variante Espiritual. Then in Combarro, the route splits again into the Variante Espiritual and the Padre Sarmiento, and you stay along the water in Combarro to continue on the Padre Sarmiento.

The route then takes you through some of the most (in my opinion) gorgeous coastal places in Galicia, namely Sanxenxo, O Grove, and Illa de Arousa.

I booked hotels in the towns, but three of the towns - Combarro, Vilanova de Arousa, and Padrón, do have pilgrim hostels. The average price for the hotels I chose was 55€ - 65€. It was still high season the first week of September, since Spanish kids are still out of school and families were still on vacation, but that meant that there were quite a few options for hotels. Later in the season some places would be closed. There was also pretty good weather, with rain on just a couple of days.

These were my stages, and where I stayed:

Stage 1: Pontevedra to O Covelo, 18 km, Hotel Marea
Stage 2: O Covelo to Portonovo, 11 km, Hotel Xunqueira
Stage 3: Portonovo to Balea on the O Grove peninsula, 14 km, Pensión Mar de Rosas
Stage 4: O Grove to Cambados, 20 km, Hotel El Duende
Stage 5: Cambados to Terrón near Vilanova de Arosa, 7 km, Hotel Arco Iris
Stage 6: Left my pack in the hotel in Terrón, crossed the bridge to Illa de Arousa where I spent the day, and then walked back to Terrón, 16 km, Hotel Arco Iris (2nd night)
Stage 7: Terrón to Carril beyond Vilagarcia de Arousa, 14 km, then backtracked to stay in Hotel Vilagarcia
Stage 8: Took the train from Vilagarcia de Arousa to Catoira, then walked from Catoira to Padrón, 14 km

As you can see these stages were a mix of distances, as I didn't follow the suggested stages from the website. This was a function of knowing that I generally feel best if I walk 20 km or less, but also a desire to stop in certain towns and not others. There were also no good options for accommodations on the Illa de Arousa for the night I was planning to be there, so I stayed just across the bridge in Terrón and walked in and out of Illa de Arousa without the pack, which made for a carefree day on the island.

The Camino ended for me in Padrón as I'd planned, instead of in Santiago.

A few things to note about the trail:

- Downloading the route files from the website to the Maps.me app was super helpful, as I could follow along closely to the trail when the signage was few and far between.

- It was a solitary walk. As a raging extrovert, I wondered if I would survive 8 days of walking by myself without talking to hardly anyone...and I did! 😅 But I was a bit surprised I only saw 2 other pilgrims on the Padre Sarmiento itself. Walking into Combarro and into Vilanova de Arousa there were more pilgrims from the Camino Portugués, but that was only two days out of the eight. Otherwise I walked very much alone almost the entire time, with my only conversations being with hotel owners, grocery store clerks, and waiters. I'm not a big fan of walking through forests alone, so I tried to get through the few forest paths as quickly as possible, but otherwise the route is comprised of many paths that locals use, for example paseo marítimos (ocean promenades), and local roads.

- There was quite a bit of road/ sidewalk walking. The part out of Combarro is especially tricky, as it's about 2.5 km of walking on the road shoulder, weaving around parked cars and dodging moving cars. Otherwise much of the time on the roads was along wide sidewalks, which was fine. Thankfully there were also plenty of hours walking along the paseo marítimos.

- Cafes are few and far between, so carrying snacks and water, and learning to walk with a full bladder, were essential.

- For the most part, the route is relatively flat and there just a few elevation gains and descents.

- I needed earplugs in all the hotels, as none of them had soundproofing. I'd hoped that being in private rooms would insulate from the snores, footsteps, and conversations of others, but....nope. :)

To conclude, if the weather is going to be good, you're hoping for a solitary Camino, and you're keen to explore more of the Galician coast on foot, the Ruta del Padre Sarmiento would be a good way to do it. It would be important to walk when enough accommodations and restaurants were open, so July through September might be the ideal time.
Wauw, thank you ! It´s on our list, route was recommended to us at the pilgrim office as we are fan of coastal walks 😃
 
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I'm just back from walking the Ruta del Padre Sarmiento, and wanted to give a summary of the stages and the general conditions for those who might be interested in walking it in the future.

Overall it is a beautiful, stunning walk, with almost every day right along the coast of the peninsula O Salnés, in Galicia:

sarmiento3.png



The route starts in Pontevedra, and where the Camino Portugués splits into the Camino Portugués Central route and the Variante Epiritual, you turn left and take the Variante Espiritual. Then in Combarro, the route splits again into the Variante Espiritual and the Padre Sarmiento, and you stay along the water in Combarro to continue on the Padre Sarmiento.

The route then takes you through some of the most (in my opinion) gorgeous coastal places in Galicia, namely Sanxenxo, O Grove, and Illa de Arousa.

I booked hotels in the towns, but three of the towns - Combarro, Vilanova de Arousa, and Padrón, do have pilgrim hostels. The average price for the hotels I chose was 55€ - 65€. It was still high season the first week of September, since Spanish kids are still out of school and families were still on vacation, but that meant that there were quite a few options for hotels. Later in the season some places would be closed. There was also pretty good weather, with rain on just a couple of days.

These were my stages, and where I stayed:

Stage 1: Pontevedra to O Covelo, 18 km, Hotel Marea
Stage 2: O Covelo to Portonovo, 11 km, Hotel Xunqueira
Stage 3: Portonovo to Balea on the O Grove peninsula, 14 km, Pensión Mar de Rosas
Stage 4: O Grove to Cambados, 20 km, Hotel El Duende
Stage 5: Cambados to Terrón near Vilanova de Arosa, 7 km, Hotel Arco Iris
Stage 6: Left my pack in the hotel in Terrón, crossed the bridge to Illa de Arousa where I spent the day, and then walked back to Terrón, 16 km, Hotel Arco Iris (2nd night)
Stage 7: Terrón to Carril beyond Vilagarcia de Arousa, 14 km, then backtracked to stay in Hotel Vilagarcia
Stage 8: Took the train from Vilagarcia de Arousa to Catoira, then walked from Catoira to Padrón, 14 km

As you can see these stages were a mix of distances, as I didn't follow the suggested stages from the website. This was a function of knowing that I generally feel best if I walk 20 km or less, but also a desire to stop in certain towns and not others. There were also no good options for accommodations on the Illa de Arousa for the night I was planning to be there, so I stayed just across the bridge in Terrón and walked in and out of Illa de Arousa without the pack, which made for a carefree day on the island.

The Camino ended for me in Padrón as I'd planned, instead of in Santiago.

A few things to note about the trail:

- Downloading the route files from the website to the Maps.me app was super helpful, as I could follow along closely to the trail when the signage was few and far between.

- It was a solitary walk. As a raging extrovert, I wondered if I would survive 8 days of walking by myself without talking to hardly anyone...and I did! 😅 But I was a bit surprised I only saw 2 other pilgrims on the Padre Sarmiento itself. Walking into Combarro and into Vilanova de Arousa there were more pilgrims from the Camino Portugués, but that was only two days out of the eight. Otherwise I walked very much alone almost the entire time, with my only conversations being with hotel owners, grocery store clerks, and waiters. I'm not a big fan of walking through forests alone, so I tried to get through the few forest paths as quickly as possible, but otherwise the route is comprised of many paths that locals use, for example paseo marítimos (ocean promenades), and local roads.

- There was quite a bit of road/ sidewalk walking. The part out of Combarro is especially tricky, as it's about 2.5 km of walking on the road shoulder, weaving around parked cars and dodging moving cars. Otherwise much of the time on the roads was along wide sidewalks, which was fine. Thankfully there were also plenty of hours walking along the paseo marítimos.

- Cafes are few and far between, so carrying snacks and water, and learning to walk with a full bladder, were essential.

- For the most part, the route is relatively flat and there just a few elevation gains and descents.

- I needed earplugs in all the hotels, as none of them had soundproofing. I'd hoped that being in private rooms would insulate from the snores, footsteps, and conversations of others, but....nope. :)

To conclude, if the weather is going to be good, you're hoping for a solitary Camino, and you're keen to explore more of the Galician coast on foot, the Ruta del Padre Sarmiento would be a good way to do it. It would be important to walk when enough accommodations and restaurants were open, so July through September might be the ideal time.
Thanks so much for your detailed report about the "Ruta de Padre Sarmiento." I walked most of this route in late September 2022, along with my husband and another couple, starting from Vigo on the Portuguese route, but omitting the very beautiful O Grove peninsula (for reasons of time). We rejoined the Spiritual Variant and ended in SdC. I do not believe this is an "official" camino but because it is really a variant (or detour) of the Portuguese Spiritual Variant we received our compostelas without question.

Yes, it is beautiful, the terrain is generally easy, and we found alternative paths to avoid most of the road walking. But I will comment that because this is rightfully an extremely popular area for Spanish tourists, it does not have a pilgrim "feel" at all. At the time, most of the hotels and restaurants were unaware of Padre Sarmiento, despite local efforts to promote the route, or of the Camino in general. Some did not have any kind of stamp. I felt happy to rejoin the Spiritual Variant for the boat ride from Villanova de Arousa to Padron.
 
Thanks for sharing about your own experience on the Padre Sarmiento, @patchymorning ! I also didn't have enough time, and chose not to do the "O Grove Circular" stage, though I did make it into O Grove before walking out to Cambados the next day. You're right that this isn't an official Camino - some Pilgrim Office volunteers told me beforehand that since the Ruta del Padre Sarmiento didn't "go directly toward Santiago," that it would not qualify for a Compostela.

And thanks for mentioning the lack of a pilgrim feel; it's absolutely true and something that those considering walking the RdPS should know. Surprisingly it was also something I quite enjoyed this time around, more than I thought I would. Actually, I even consistently forgot to get my credencial stamped! No one except the church in Pontevedra, and the Monastery in Poio (a highly recommended stop along the trail on the first day, if anyone has not yet been) offered stamps, so my credencial was blank except for the two stamps. That was the first time I'd walked any Camino without having stamps be a "thing."

I've been looking forward to hearing about this! Thanks for sharing, I'll add it to my list.

Your own solo walk on the Camiño de Taverneiro inspired me to finally decide to do this one (instead of walking the CP from Porto), and to be unafraid to walk these unpopulated trails alone :).
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Thanks for your account, though a detail that might be important for some who seek the Compostela, as this is not a recognised route if seeking that certificate on arrival at the Pilgrim Office in SdeC. If the Compostela is not an important factor, this is a wonderful, though rather solitary route...
 
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