Caminho da Geira e dos Arrieiros

At a Glance

• Start / Finish: Braga Cathedral / Santiago de Compostela Cathedral
• Length: 244.5 km, about 75 km of it on the same line as the Caminho Minhoto Ribeiro
• Duration: 11 stages, averaging about 22 km; fit walkers can do it in 9 to 10 days
• Elevation: ↗ 6,632 m / ↘ 6,566 m
• Highest point: 1,033 m at km 93.9 at the Portelinha, on the Castro Laboreiro plateau
• Landscape: Minho hills and spa towns on the Cávado, oak forest and granite in the Gerês, the high pastures of Castro Laboreiro, the vine terraces of the Ribeiro, pine and grazing land in the Terra de Montes
• Waymarking: yellow arrows, plus the Geira mile signs in the Gerês
• Traces of St. James: Braga Cathedral, from which relics were taken to Santiago in 1102; the parishes of Santiago de Caldelas and Santiago de Pardesoa along the route
• Accommodation: few albergues, mostly casas rurales, guesthouses and spa hotels; often nothing between stage towns
• Connecting routes: Porto – Braga and Camino Torres end in or pass through Braga; the Caminho Minhoto Ribeiro shares the middle section with the Geira
• Best time: May to June and September to October; in winter there is snow on the Castro Laboreiro plateau
• Pilgrim passport / Certificate: credencial from Braga; the Compostela at the finish, as the route has been recognized by the Church since 2019

Overview

Most Camino routes trace their roots to medieval pilgrims. This one traces its roots to Roman road builders. Around AD 80, the imperial legate Gaius Calpetanus Rantius Quirinalis Valerius Festus had a new road built from Bracara Augusta, today's Braga, to Asturica Augusta, today's Astorga; the milestones simply read "VIA NOVA FACTA"—the new road is built. In Portugal it is still called the Geira. About 30 kilometers of it lie in the municipality of Terras de Bouro, and there you'll find something no other Roman road in Europe can offer: dozens of milestones still standing in their original places in the forest.

The pilgrim route follows the Roman road to the border and then turns off where the Romans never meant to go: over the Castro Laboreiro plateau, down into the Ribeiro wine country and through the Terra de Montes to Santiago. The route was presented in 2017 in Ribadavia and Braga, and Church recognition followed in 2019. By 2024, about 5,000 pilgrims had walked it in six years—fewer than three a day on average. For two weeks you walk on a highway from the year 80, and you barely meet a soul.

Other Names

In Portuguese the route is called the Caminho da Geira e dos Arrieiros, in Galician the Camiño da Geira e dos Arrieiros, in Spanish the Camino de la Geira y de los Arrieros. You may know the Roman road itself as the Geira, the Via Nova or Via XVIII, after its number in the Antonine Itinerary. The Arrieiros in the second half of the name are the muleteers who carried goods and wine over the mountains between Ourense and Pontevedra.

It is easy to confuse with the Caminho Minhoto Ribeiro: it also starts in Braga, also ends in Santiago and shares some of the same paths in the Ribeiro, but it comes via the Minho valley and Melgaço rather than through the Gerês.

Who It's Ideal For—and Who It's Not So Ideal For

Ideal if you want history under your boots rather than in a museum: Roman paving, milestones by the wayside, a hot spring where the Romans already had a way station. Also ideal if the Central Portuguese Way is too crowded for you—here you often walk a whole day alone, and in the villages of the Terra de Montes you are still news.

Honestly, though, it's not for you if you want to rely on albergues: there are only a few, you'll mostly sleep in casas rurales, guesthouses or spa hotels, and some stage towns have exactly one place to stay. Not for you if you want flat, spontaneous walking: 6,632 meters of climbing over 244.5 kilometers means an average of 27 meters of ascent per kilometer, the days through the Gerês and over Castro Laboreiro have long stretches without a bar or a shop, and the Roman paving is slippery in the rain. And not for you if you don't like planning ahead—without beds booked in advance, the evening can get very long here.

Route & Landscape

Braga to the Portela do Homem: From the cathedral the route heads out via Dume and Palmeira to the Cávado, past the Benedictine monastery of Rendufe (km 11.8) to the spa town of Caldelas (km 17.9). Then it climbs into the mountains of Terras de Bouro, via Travassos and Covide (km 43.6) to Campo do Gerês (km 47.1) on the Vilarinho das Furnas reservoir. From here on you are on the Geira: through the Mata da Albergaria, an ancient oak forest in the heart of the national park, you count the miles to the Portela do Homem border pass, Milha XXXIV.

Galicia, Castro Laboreiro and Galicia again: Beyond the pass you descend to Torneiros and Os Baños (km 64.3) at the hot springs of the Río Caldo, then on to Lobios (km 70.1) and Entrimo (km 75.4) in the Baixa Limia. Via A Pereira the route climbs back into Portugal, to Ameijoeira and up onto the granite plateau of Castro Laboreiro (km 90.6); at the Portelinha, at km 93.9, you reach 1,033 meters. From there the route runs via Alcobaça and Azoreira back into Galicia and down via Monterredondo and Padrenda to the Miño, via Trado and Vilanova da Barca to Cortegada (km 119.2) and through the vineyards of the Ribeiro to Ribadavia (km 133.0). Via Beade, Berán and Lebosende you reach Pazos de Arenteiro (km 150.9), climb via Feás and Beariz (km 169.6) into the Terra de Montes and walk via Soutelo de Montes (km 180.6) and A Mámoa to Codeseda (km 201.2). The last days lead via A Estrada (km 213.7) down to the Ulla at Pontevea (km 226.3) and via Rarís and Seoane to Santiago de Compostela.

Stages, Terrain, and Difficulty

We show the route in 11 stages. The distances come from the Camino Ninja map, calibrated exactly to 244.5 km; stage towns are places with at least one place to stay. Between Pazos de Arenteiro and Soutelo de Montes you can split the day in Beariz (km 169.6) if you don't want to walk the 29.7 kilometers with the steepest climb of the route in one go.

1. Braga → Caldelas (17.8 km) — out of the city via Dume and Palmeira to the Cávado, Rendufe Monastery, arrival in the spa town.
2. Caldelas → Campo do Gerês (29.2 km) — a long climb into Terras de Bouro, via Covide to the Vilarinho das Furnas reservoir.
3. Campo do Gerês → Lobios (23.0 km) — the Roman day: Mata da Albergaria, milestones, Portela do Homem, the hot springs of Os Baños.
4. Lobios → Castro Laboreiro (20.5 km) — via Entrimo and A Pereira back into Portugal and up to 942 meters.
5. Castro Laboreiro → Cortegada (28.6 km) — over the highest point (1,033 m), then about 900 meters down to the Miño; hardly any services along the way.
6. Cortegada → Ribadavia (13.8 km) — a short day through the vineyards, with time for the old town and a wine tasting.
7. Ribadavia → Pazos de Arenteiro (17.9 km) — through the Ribeiro via Beade and Berán to the granite village of Pazos.
8. Pazos de Arenteiro → Soutelo de Montes (29.7 km) — the big climb to Distriz and Feás, via Beariz into the Terra de Montes.
9. Soutelo de Montes → Codeseda (20.6 km) — upland, pine forest and pastures, down via A Mámoa.
10. Codeseda → Pontevea (25.1 km) — via A Estrada into the Ulla valley.
11. Pontevea → Santiago de Compostela (18.3 km) — the last climb via Rarís and Seoane, entering the city from the south.

The terrain is varied and nowhere technically difficult, but rarely flat: in the Gerês you walk on rough Roman paving and forest trails, on the Castro Laboreiro plateau on granite and pasture, in the Ribeiro and the Terra de Montes on farm tracks and narrow paved lanes. Stages 2, 5 and 8 are the hard ones—long, with big elevation changes and nowhere reliable to stop for food.

Eight Emperors on One Pass—and the Bridges Portugal Tore Down Itself in 1642

At the Portela do Homem border pass stands the old border post, restored in 2011, which houses the Galeria dos Miliários: nine milestones from the surrounding area, six of which bear legible names. The oldest names Titus and Domitian, the year 80; then come Hadrian in 119, Caracalla in 213, Maximinus Thrax with his son Maximus in 235, Decius in 250 and Magnentius between 350 and 353. Eight rulers in just under three centuries, all on the same pass. Whoever had the road repaired added a new stone with his own name—which is how the clusters of milestones came about that now stand side by side along the path in the Mata da Albergaria. In all, 281 milestones are known along Via XVIII, more than 150 of them in Terras de Bouro alone. The municipality's head of culture, Ana Genoveva Araújo, put it this way in 2024: "Temos dezenas de marcos miliários do império romano, ao longo de 30 quilómetros do nosso território, naquela que constitui a maior concentração desses padrões em granito de toda a Europa" (dozens of Roman milestones along 30 kilometers, the largest concentration of these granite columns in all of Europe).

The reason the road was no longer passable all the way through Portugal is a remarkable one: Portugal cut it itself. During the Restoration War against Spain, the military governor Dom Gastão Coutinho had the three Roman bridges of the Albergaria torn down in 1642—the one over the Ribeira de Maceira, the one over the Ribeira do Forno and the two-arched Ponte de São Miguel over the Rio Homem—so that no Spanish army could march into the country on the old imperial road. Today you cross the Homem on a wooden bridge next to the abutments of São Miguel. The stones that were meant to stop a military campaign now only stop pilgrims taking photos.

The Geira is protected: the milestones of the Capela series have been listed monuments since 1910, as has the wayside cross of São João do Campo near Campo do Gerês, carved from a milestone of Emperor Decius dating from 249 to 251; the road section in Terras de Bouro became a national monument in 2013. In practical terms: allow plenty of time for stage 3. Every stop between Campo do Gerês and the Portela do Homem is worth it, and on the Galician side, in Os Baños, the hot spring awaits where the Roman station of Aquis Originis once stood—your first foot bath after the border is almost 2,000 years old.

Highlights Along the Way

• Braga Cathedral (km 0.1) — consecrated by Bishop Pedro on August 28, 1089, seat of an archbishop since 1107; the oldest cathedral in Portugal and the starting point with your first stamp.
• Rendufe Monastery (km 11.8) — a Benedictine monastery on the way out of the city, the first major building in the countryside.
• Caldelas (km 17.9) — spa town at the end of the first stage, parish of Santiago de Caldelas.
• Vilarinho das Furnas reservoir (km 47.1) — in 1970 the village of Vilarinho da Furna was flooded for the dam on the Rio Homem; when the water is low, walls and parts of the Geira resurface, for instance at Milha XXX.
• Mata da Albergaria and Portela do Homem — oak forest in Portugal's oldest protected area, Peneda-Gerês National Park, founded in 1971, with clusters of milestones along the paving and the Galeria dos Miliários at the pass.
• Os Baños (km 64.3) — hot springs of the Río Caldo, site of the Roman station of Aquis Originis, with public pools.
• Castro Laboreiro (km 90.6) — castle on the rock, taken by Afonso Henriques in 1141, a national monument since 1944; home of the Cão de Castro Laboreiro, an old shepherd dog bred to fend off wolves.
• Plateau at the Portelinha (km 93.9) — at 1,033 meters the highest point of the route, open granite and grazing land with views into Galicia.
• Ribadavia (km 133.0) — 15th-century castle of the Counts of Ribadavia, the old Jewish quarter, and a protected historic ensemble since October 17, 1947.
• Pazos de Arenteiro (km 150.9) — a well-preserved granite village after the lonely stretch from Ribadavia, just before the biggest climb of the route.
• Codeseda (km 201.2) — a village in the Terra de Montes that sees itself as the heart of the route, with a pilgrim bar and casas rurales.
• Pontevea (km 226.3) — bridge over the Ulla, the last big river before Santiago.

Wine for Santiago: The Arrieiros and the Sister Route, the Minhoto Ribeiro

The second half of the name recalls the Arrieiros, the muleteers who hauled goods—and above all wine—over these hills. The wine came from the Ribeiro, and it was in demand: in a price regulation for the markets of Santiago from 1133, Ribeiro wine is listed as the most expensive foodstuff on the list. Since the 12th century, monks linked to Cluny had expanded the vineyards here; in the 15th and 16th centuries the wine was shipped from the ports all the way to England, and in 1579 the Ordenanzas de Ribadavia laid down rules for winegrowing that are now seen as a forerunner of modern designations of origin. In 1932 the Ribeiro became one of Spain's first Denominaciones de Origen. When you drink a glass in Ribadavia, you're drinking what others once drove mules across the Terra de Montes for.

On this section you're not alone with the Geira. The Caminho Minhoto Ribeiro comes from Braga via the Minho valley and Melgaço and meets the Geira route at Trado (km 112.2). From there the two run together via Vilanova da Barca, Cortegada and Ribadavia, briefly split onto their own variants between Ribadavia and Pazos de Arenteiro and between Feás and Soutelo de Montes, and come back together as far as Cabanas (km 188.8). After that the Minhoto Ribeiro turns north via Forcarei, while the Geira approaches Santiago from the south via Codeseda, A Estrada and Pontevea. So the differences lie at the beginning and the end: Roman road and mountains here, river valley and Alvarinho vineyards there.

How Pilgrims Find Their Way onto This Path

Braga is a hub in the route network. Three routes bring you to the start on foot:

• Porto – Braga — the feeder route from Porto's airport and rail hub, ideal for warming up
• Camino Torres — the long route from Salamanca passes through Braga; here you can switch to the Roman road
• Caminho Minhoto Ribeiro — the sister route with the same start; if you come twice, walk the other one the second time

From the Camino Portugués Central, the easiest way to switch is by bus from Barcelos or Ponte de Lima to Braga. In 2024, up to early September, 408 pilgrims set out from Braga Cathedral on the Geira, up 39 percent on the previous year—and almost as many as the 479 who switched from there to the Central route.

Preparation & Practical Information

Pilgrim passport and app. As on every route to Santiago, you need a pilgrim passport (credencial) to stay in albergues and to receive the Compostela at the end. It's best to order it online in advance so it reaches you in time for the start of your trip; you get your first stamp at Braga Cathedral. Because accommodation is thin on the ground, planning pays off here more than usual—and the easiest way to do it is right in the Camino Ninja App, where you put your stages together and plan suitable places to stay at the same time.

Accommodation. Don't count on a network of pilgrim albergues. Campo do Gerês has a youth hostel with a pilgrim discount, Castro Laboreiro a private albergue and hotels; in Os Baños, Cortegada, Pazos de Arenteiro, Beariz and Codeseda there are often only one or two places. Call the day before or book ahead, especially in the off-season, when small places close.

Season and gear. May, June, September and October are ideal. In midsummer it gets hot in the Gerês and the Ribeiro, in winter there is snow on the Castro Laboreiro plateau, and rain is possible in Galicia in any season. Good soles and poles help on wet Roman paving.

What the journey will cost you

Because albergues are scarce, this route is more expensive than a classic Camino. A dorm bed, where there is one, usually costs 17 to 22 €, a double room in a casa rural or guesthouse 55 to 110 €, a single room 40 to 120 € (as of October 2026).

Budget 45 to 70 € a day if you share a double room with someone, more like 60 to 90 € on your own. Honestly, what you save on here isn't the bed but the crowds: in return you get thermal water, Ribeiro wine and villages where you're the only guest.

Getting Here

To the start. The best way to reach Braga is via Porto Airport: direct buses get you to Braga in about an hour, or take the metro to Porto-Campanhã and continue on a CP train.

From the finish. Santiago de Compostela has an airport with direct flights to German-speaking countries and Renfe rail connections to Madrid, A Coruña and Vigo. If you still have days left, keep walking to the sea on the Camiño a Fisterra or the Camiño a Muxía.

• Rail Portugal: cp.pt — Porto–Braga, timetables and tickets
• Rail Spain: renfe.com — connections from Santiago
• Roman road: geira.pt — Terras de Bouro municipality, the Geira mile by mile