Camino de Madrid/del Salvador/del Norte

[ruimsig]

My wife and I intend to walk the above route, from Madrid to Sahagun, on to Leon, then follow the del Salvador to Oviedo, from there to Aviles on the del Norte, finishing at Santiago. We hope to start in the second week of April 2014 and have allowed ourselves six weeks to complete the camino.

We suspect that crossing the mountains on the del Salvador could be challenging, depending on the weather. From the forum it appears that Ender and his friends have clearly marked this section, which will be very helpful. We are not sure about the route from Oviedo to Aviles, if it is just the continuation of the second part of the del Norte. And is it possible to continue on the del Norte until Ferrol and from there to Santiago on the English route?

The reason why we want to walk this route is to stay away from the busy camino routes but more importantly, to discover and experience parts of Spain where we have not walked previously.

We have done some research but would like to hear from any other peregrinos who have done this route or sections of it.

Looking forward to your response!

 

[giorgio]

Can speak for Camino de Madrid. We walked it last may and found it to be a really charming itinerary. You can find details in this section of the forum. For Salvador and Norte bits just go to their section .
First three stages of CDM are a nice walk but have no pilgrim accomodation so you'll have to stick to hotels . After Segovia you'll find really top class albergues and really nice and helping people. Don't miss the albergues in Puente Duero and Villalon. Should you need a guide just use the CSJ one that you can download for a donation .
Anything else you need just write
Giorgio and Elisa

 

[peregrina2000]

This is a great combination. I have done almost the same thing, except that when I got to Oviedo I got on the Primitivo rather than head back to the Norte. You will find lots of effusive praise of the Primitivo, but the Norte is also pretty amazing, so I'm not trying to change your mind.

When I walked the Norte, I started in Irun and then "dipped down" to Oviedo to show the city to my walking partner, who had never been there. We then walked back north from Oviedo to Aviles and had a terrible time. There are a few other threads that deal with this specific segment, and I'll try to paste in a few here, but the bottom line is (or WAS, since this was years ago and I have no updates), that the first 12 km or so from Oviedo north were fine, but then in the town of Posada la Llanera we lost the camino, no one knew anything about it, and we spent the last half of the stage walking alongside an old national highway with heavy, very heavy, truck traffic. Not pleasant at all. But as I said, that may have changed.

Here are a few of the discussions that may help:
http://www.caminodesantiago.me/comm...d-line-back-to-norte-route.23458/#post-178878

http://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/from-gijon.21992/#post-171841

Buen camino, Laurie

 

[Thomas1962]

My wife and me did the Madrid-Salvador-Primitivo version last september. It was a wonderful combination. In that time, the Prmitivo didn't feel that busy. Although compared to the camino Madrid, where al together we met 1 cycling pilgim, it was stil busy
Be aware of arriving on the Frances in Sahagun. Although I prepared myself before, I was still so much in shock seeing so many other pilgrims. I couldn't cope with it, we took the train right to Leon to start Salvador straight away.

About crossing the mountains from the Salvador: when the weather is very bad, you can avoid the highest part. In Buiza you can take a right to Villasimpliz and walk more or less along the main road. I'm sure there are people here who walked that part. This is all explained in the excellent CSJ guide written bij Laurie (yes the one above) and Rebekah Scott (also member of this forum)
Although I live under see level myself, I would guess the weather would be fine enough to pass the high route.

 

[ruimsig]

Thanks Giorgio, Laurie, Thomas for your views, advice and threads.

Giorgio, I also picked up your comments posted in May 2013. Most helpful, thanks.

Laurie your threads re the walk from Oviedo to Aviles are very interesting. My wife and I will take our chances and follow the direct route with the expectation that waymarks have been updated! If not, I guess we will have to do the same as you and if we get lost, follow the highway.

We have previously walked from Irun to Oviedo and from there the Primitivo. This time we would like to walk the second half of the Norte, hence the decision to continue from Oviedo through Aviles. By the way, Thomas, I have downloaded the CSJ guides for the Camino Madrid and the Camino del Salvador and expect to use these excellent guides extensively during our walk!

The statistics for the various routes show that we can expect relatively few pilgrims on the Madrid and Salvador sections, but the numbers will probably increase on the Norte. I have downloaded and printed selected pages from the Eroski Consumer website, especially the bits dealing with albergues on the Norte, and from what I can see there is a mix of average to very nice albergues. Some of the daily stages seem to be in excess of 30km, which could be challenging to us. What I would like to know is if the Norte from Aviles to Santiago is well marked?

Finally, we plan to start walking from Madrid on 8 April. Anybody else starting around that date?

Gracias,
Izak and Antoinette.

 

[peregrina2000]

Thanks Giorgio, Laurie, Thomas for your views, advice and threads.

I have downloaded and printed selected pages from the Eroski Consumer website, especially the bits dealing with albergues on the Norte, and from what I can see there is a mix of average to very nice albergues. Some of the daily stages seem to be in excess of 30km, which could be challenging to us. What I would like to know is if the Norte from Aviles to Santiago is well marked?

Finally, we plan to start walking from Madrid on 8 April. Anybody else starting around that date?

Gracias,
Izak and Antoinette.

Hi, Izak and Antoinette,
I found the marking from Aviles to Santiago on the Norte to be in general very well marked, but with a few little problems on the Asturias side, that is, up to Ribadeo. Nothing major, we never got really lost. And I'm sure by now the marking has improved, because I walked years ago.

I was walking with a friend who strongly preferred short stages and whose limit was 30, and here is how we did it: (my stages are listed on the third or fourth post of the thread):
http://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/pictures-from-the-norte.2829/

Eroski only lists albergues, so if you look at the mundicamino site you will see more ways to break up those long stages if you can/want to use private lodging options. Buen camino, Laurie