Camino de Santiago de Compostela

[gittiharre]

Please could someone tell me how much of the route is over roads/pavements as opposed to natural paths? The Le Puy route was great as there were a lot of natural paths, is it similar on the Vezelay route? Thanks, Gitti

[JohnnieWalker]

on which route?

[sillydoll]

Camino Frances??

Using the Brierley guide for the Camino Frances, which splits the distance for each day into “paths –quiet roads – main roads” the 798kms from St Jean works out like this:

505 km on paths/tracks
202.6km on quiet roads (mostly through small villages)
90.6km on main roads

[omar504]

Gittiharre-I think you are asking about the Vezelay route. If so I ,and JL also from this forum,have just completed this route and I was surprised at the amount of road walking-much is on secondary roads but it's still a road! There are great stretches through forests though.

[gittiharre]

Thanks guys, yes I was asking about the Vezelay route, hmmm, that is a shame. I am trying to decide which route to do next, but after walking 400 km on the Austrian route, mostly on concrete paths, I do not want to do that again. I somehow did not feel like I was really in nature.
The Le Puy route was great from that perspective and so were the Czech Greenways. The Camino Frances had it's share of concrete, but somehow it was not so bad, because there were many other compensations. Regads, Gitti

[susier]

I'm wondering about the Vezelay route in late March. Has anyone any helpful comments about weather, accommodation and which map/route book helpful? I had a wonderful time on the route from Geneva because I stayed with the most generous people along the way who welcomed pilgrims. Is there a similar system on the Vezelay route?

[Bridget and Peter]

Yes, indeed there are people who offer accommodation to pilgrims on the Vezelay route. We stayed with two, one near Bourges and another in La Reole. There are also delightful little refuges where you are very likely to be on your own in March. All the ones we stayed in seemed to have plenty of heating, except Benevent L'Abbaye, but you MUST NOT miss this one, just wear all your clothes to bed!

The guide you want is the Chassain guide. (This is the yellow one shown on this website http://www.amis-saint-jacques-de-compostelle.asso.fr) You can buy it from the CSJ in London when it comes with an introduction in English, and a glossary of French words to help you follow the guide. It has large scale maps, too.

Our blog, address below, has some information and will have more with pictures once I can find the time! Do pm us for any further information.

yours
Bridget

[MoLudlam]

I am planning to walk the Vezelay route beginning the end of March 2010 but starting from Limoge. Although the km of road is quoted I'm not sure whether there are long stretches or short stretches of main road. I am also struggling for maps because the main route map is still not available at the csj bookshop. It is being updated. Has anyone got a second hand copy to buy?

[wpryse]

Quite a lot, but the roads are not very busy. I estimate that 30% is paved, though i was never a burden in Sept/October 2008.
I wrote a 2000 word piece for the CSJ Bulletin which was accepted a year ago but I have no record of there having been a bulletin published in 2009. You could ask the editor for it or email me (WPRYSE@MUN.CA) and I will send you a copy.
Do walk the route; it is wonderful.
William Pryse-Phillips

[susier]

Does anyone have a Chassain guide for the Vezelay route? It doesn't seem to be available from CSJ as it's being re printed. I could buy it off you if you would like to sell it. (and pay for P +P).

[MoLudlam]

Does anyone have a Chassain guide for the Vezelay route? It doesn't seem to be available from CSJ as it's being re printed. I could buy it off you if you would like to sell it. (and pay for P +P).

I too am waiting for the route to be republished. I was told that it was due out at the end of January and available from the first week in February. If anyone has any further news on this, please let me know. Mo Ludlam

[MoLudlam]

At last the Vezelay guide has been made available today. Go to the csj bookshop to buy it. I only hope that it arrives before I leave home on 13th March.

[jl]

Having walked the Vezelay path last July / August I have a few little comments to add to those already presented. Firstly - yes there is a lot of road walking, but as a general rule it is along fairly quiet roads. However last year, due to the massive storm earlier on, the lovely walking through the pine forests of the Landes was somewhat marred, and indeed there was an agonizing 7 - 10 km stretch where pilgrims were forced to detour along a major road. I was astonished at how quickly the authorities had dealt with all the felled trees, but nontheless there was a substantial stretch yet to be done when I was there in late July / August. Perhaps by now this may have been cleared up. I don't have maps in front of me while I write, but from memory the least amount of road walking is from Vezelay to Bourges.

The other thing that astonished me was the number and quality of refuges along the way. Whilst there are also a number of people who take pilgrims in, due to the lack of refuges in that town or village, I was surprised at the wonderful supply of refuges too. They varied in price from Donativo (with a minimum charge of 5 Euro) to about 12 Euro. In a stretch where there were no refuges there were a number of delightful private Gites (approx cost - 15 - 18 Euros).

A word of warning though for the refuges. You will need to plan ahead prior to weekends as quite often the key is to be collected from the Marie - which closes early on Friday evening for the weekend! By making arrangements with the Marie though it is quite possible to collect a key, or be given the code for the door.

Some of these refuges are in very out of the way places and the local people stock cupboards with (canned and dried) food so that weary pilgrims can buy food from the "store" and have a substantial meal. There are a number of refuges where you even have the opportunity to sleep between sheets, what luxury! The refuges tend to be small, but very well equipped.

By the way, for anyone starting before Vezelay there are a number of refuges for pilgrims between Troyes and Vezelay, although they don't appear to be listed - or weren;'t when I was there. A visit to the tourist office leads one to them.

Hope this helps, Janet

[MoLudlam]

I am just about to leave home to spend a couple of days in London, then on to France. We plan to start walking towards the end of March. We have set up a blog, with a lot of help I might add. So if anyone is interested in following our walk from Limoges to Santiago its http://www.caminocomrades.blogspot.com.

[Bridget and Peter]

Mo
How exciting! We cycled from Limoges as far as Gernika on the del Norte last year, so I will be following your blog, although I understand how difficult it is to update it en route of you are not totally confidant withthe technology - in the end I cheated and texted a son who posted the text on the blog for us!!
Bonne Chemin!!!

Bridget and Peter

[gittiharre]

Mo, that sounds great, thank you, will follow your blog, Gitti