Walk from Ourense to Cea

Karin309 · Feb 17, 2023

Hi fellow pilgrims,

Question for those who walked the Sanabres...Tomorrow I will leave Ourense to Cea, but there is a choice between a left or right route...
Which should I take and why??

Thank you

SioCamino · Feb 17, 2023

Hi @Karin309
I searched my emails and found the following. I've done both routes and preferred the route to the right but both have their merits! Either way enjoy....

Exiting Ourense there are 2 routes, shortly before the train station there is a route to the right... Or else follow that road to the train station and beyond. Either way you have a climb. If weather OK i recommend the Right route - longer less step climb but also nicer walking, quiet.
If there's a lot of rain the Left route might be better - the climb is steeper and shorter but all on a road. The exit from Ourense is also along a busy road so a less nice walking experience. Bonus is the famous (but i can't remember the name) cafe run by a camino madman.

Stivandrer · Feb 17, 2023

I took the easterly route, which goes straight up for quite some time, but is quite beautiful. I had some long lonely walking hours, which was good for my bad foot at the time..
Brierleys map says elevation 0 to 510 meters in 7 kilometres, do not let that discourage you !

Stivandrer · Feb 17, 2023

yr.no says good weather for tomorrow morning, wish I was there
You lucky Spud...

Hourly weather forecast for Ourense

Today's weather forecast for Ourense by the hour.

www.yr.no

pulso · Feb 17, 2023

Hello Karin,

Unfortunately, I can only give you a "subjective" answer here.
There were six of us in the Municipal Albergue at the end of November - everyone decided to go the "right" variant (Bouzas/Sobreira.....
I could imagine that the ascent here is "longer" and not as "very steep" as the variant on the left. But I can't tell you exactly, sorry.
But what I do know is that you can (on a clear day) enjoy unforgettable views of Ourense and the stage is "worth seeing" (from the second half of the climb).

Maybe a "little" help/suggestion.........

abrazo

peregrina2000 · Feb 18, 2023

I have walked this three times and have never found a split, but I believe I have walked the left hand route. I do know that I went through a little tunnel and then straight up for a while.

A few forum opinions here.

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/in-and-out-of-ourense.57764/

Buen camino, peregrina!

nycwalking · Feb 18, 2023

I walked in 2019.

Can’t remember if I went left or right.

But, I remember going up, up, up along a road forever!

Buen camino.

OzAnnie · Feb 18, 2023

Hi Karin
. I wrote “”this””” (below ) when I walked out in May 2022. I’ll include the pics from that post also. Note: the green dots are the right route.

Buen camino

“” “””Leaving Ourense. Michael of wise Pilgrim describes the two alternative ways.. very clearly. the right variant - he treats as the commonly walked ., and the left way is actually ‘continue straight on’ when you reach the street corner where the split occurs. Check out ‘wise pilgrim’ . Taking the right is a little over 1klm longer but it appears to have a few more stops for coffee .. I went right.

There are lots of cafes open for morning coffee- I always end up having more than one stop but there are stacks of places and also fruit shops open as you’re leaving. “”””

wisepilgrim · Feb 18, 2023

OzAnnie said:
Hi Karin
. I wrote “”this””” (below ) when I walked out in May 2022. I’ll include the pics from that post also. Note: the green dots are the right route.

Buen camino

“” “””Leaving Ourense. Michael of wise Pilgrim describes the two alternative ways.. very clearly. the right variant - he treats as the commonly walked ., and the left way is actually ‘continue straight on’ when you reach the street corner where the split occurs. Check out ‘wise pilgrim’ . Taking the right is a little over 1klm longer but it appears to have a few more stops for coffee .. I went right.

There are lots of cafes open for morning coffee- I always end up having more than one stop but there are stacks of places and also fruit shops open as you’re leaving. “”””

I imagine this is why @peregrina2000 always went left, as making the turn requires a bit more planning.

peregrina2000 · Feb 18, 2023

wisepilgrim said:
I imagine this is why @peregrina2000 always went left, as making the turn requires a bit more planning.

I would say it was less a lack of planning and more a lack of awareness. Once walking that way, there was a steady stream of Ourense buses coming out of the bus barn to begin their morning routes and each and every one gave us a honk and a wave. I’m assuming the turn was somewhere in there.

What’s the difference in terms of terrain?

Mark Francis Auchincloss · Feb 18, 2023

Both ways are perfectly marked with yellow arrows. There's a pilgrim statue at the crossroads. I went left as it makes it a shorter but still tough stage to Cea. There's a 275 metre climb after you finally pass the industrial estates & then that tunnel over 2 km. @SioCamino I don't remember him being mad if he is I'm completely bonkers then !! Casa Cesar https://goo.gl/maps/o253QvJKkb3fhCbJ7 Our first stop from Ourense and very nice it was too.

El Cascayal · Feb 18, 2023

By the time I saw this, you have likely finished your stage to Cea.
This is the road when you hang a right. In June 2021 first flight from Miami to Spain, loads of transportation glitches, and I was starting this stage at 1pm in the middle of a heat wave.The road to the right is a little steep and completely doable.
Here are pictures of the bridge which is followed by the crossroads, woods, stone Camino, Roman bridge, ghost town, more woods and upwards and onwards walk.
There is a Peto de Ánimas, IMO, pales in comparison to the one on the Invierno walking out of Chantada.

SioCamino · Feb 18, 2023

Mark Francis Auchincloss said:
Both ways are perfectly marked with yellow arrows. There's a pilgrim statue at the crossroads. I went left as it makes it a shorter but still tough stage to Cea. There's a 275 metre climb after you finally pass the industrial estates & then that tunnel over 2 km. @SioCamino I don't remember him being mad if he is I'm completely bonkers then !! Casa Cesar https://goo.gl/maps/o253QvJKkb3fhCbJ7 Our first stop from Ourense and very nice it was too.

I meant mad in the nicest possible way! Camino-mad i think

Elle Bieling · Feb 18, 2023

Here is more info, from my website, with photos, from my day on the route via Tamallancos, the "right" route (vs the route via Canedo, the "left" route). It is a steep but lovely climb IMHO (my GPS said 350 meters (1150 feet) over eight kilometers), up to the hermitage, the Ermida de San Marcos da Costa, with fabulous views over the Minho river and Ourense. Farther along, the Peto Ánimas is in Sobreira and is very interesting, I agree.

ward4e · Feb 18, 2023

I went left. loved the walk past the river and then bought some mustard at the Lidl and every bocadillo there after was fantastic. The climb out was a pain but I think there was a restaurant after the top.

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Walk from Ourense to Cea

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