Sarria to Portomarín
Impermanence
- Distance
- 22.2 km
- Climb
- 398 m up, 457 m down
- Ground
- 350 to 550 m
- Time
- 5 to 7 hours
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Underfoot
- dirt, forest, gravel
Where this day sits on the Camino Francés
Above, the highest and lowest ground of each of its 33 stages. Below, the word each day is given.
From open-pilgrimages: each stage's highest and lowest ground and its interior theme.
The day
The path winds through rural Galicia — oak and chestnut forests, stone hamlets with hórreos standing like small temples to the harvest. The trail is crowded now with pilgrims who started in Sarria, and you must find your peace amid the noise. Portomarín itself was moved stone by stone when a dam flooded the original town. The old bridge emerges when the water is low, a ghost of what was. Everything on this Camino — the friendships, the pain, the beauty — is temporary. Portomarín teaches you to hold things lightly.
What pilgrims often meet here
- Adjusting to the crowded trail after Sarria
- The beauty of oak-shaded paths through small hamlets
- Seeing the drowned old town beneath the reservoir
- Pre-arrival anxiety beginning to build
What are you holding onto that has already changed its form?
The ground
Rural Galicia — meadows, oak and chestnut forests, small stone villages.
The light
Sunrise and sunset in Sarria depend on the day you walk.
Walk it with Pilgrim
In Pilgrim's Honor mode you can walk this stage as it is drawn here, and save its maps for days with no signal. The morning opens with this day's word, Impermanence, and its story. When you arrive, it asks the question above, and you can answer out loud. Your walk stays on your phone.
With Pilgrim on your phone, this opens the stage, ready to begin. Without it, you'll see the stage and where to get the app.