General Description: The Vía portugués de la Vía de la Plata is one of the two routes that branch from the Vía de la Plata at or near Zamora and that lead directly to Santiago thereby completely bypassing the Camino francés. 382 km from Zamora northwestward into Portugal via Bragança and Verin to Santiago. The first two-thirds of the Vía portugués de la Vía de la Plata parallels the Camino sanabrés, the two rejoining at Ourense.

Waymarking: Well waymarked throughout with yellow arrows.

Terrain: Not particularly demanding from Zamora to the Portuguese border but once in Portugal and the Parque Natural de Montesinho it becomes extremely strenuous and this continues until the route re-enters Spain. After this the route is relatively flat to Ourense.

When to go: July and August will be hot and should be avoided. April into May and September into October are recommended. Climate tables for Zamora, Ourense and Santiago de Compostela.

Accommodation: Only one pilgrim-oriented albergue is known at the moment but hostales, pensiones and casas rurales can be found in settlements of any size.

Guidebooks: Confraternity of Saint James: The Camino Mozárabe or Vía de la Plata, C: Zamora-Braganza-Santiago (2005 with free 2007 update). Camino Portugués de la Via d la Plata (2002), Alfonso Ramos de Castro, Zamora: Fundación Ramos de Castro. (Spanish)

Internet links: The Confraternity of Saint James has an overview page on the Vía portugués de la Vía de la Plata. The Asociación de Caminantes Semurandar de Zamora has an extremely detailed site devoted to the Vía portugués de la Vía de la Plata including topographic maps, elevation charts, photographs and detailed information on services. (Spanish) The Xunta de Galicia has a stunning 44-page book titled "The Southeast Way—Vía de la Plata " (PDF, 12.0MB, English) which has extensive information on those portions of the two variants of the Vía portugués de la Vía de la Plata within Galicia including history, tourism, albergues, other services and Santiago itself.

Other remarks: The Vía portugués de la Vía de la Plata is at present a very solitary route with few pilgrims. Much of the terrain is uninhabited, resulting in a number of stages of 30 to 35 km. Well-thought out planning will be needed.