Camino Madrid - Suggestions for 15 to 20kmax stages

[gerardcarey]

I've got up to three weeks to complete the Camino Madrid, I'm thinking autumn 2020, but must keep below a 20k daily max.
Your suggestions would be much appreciated, as would any thoughts on albergues.
I've started ploughing thru the posts!

Regards and Merry Christmas!
Gerard

 

[BROWNCOUNTYBOB]

Gerard, my wife and I have walked CF three times (all 800 kms). We considered walking the Camino Madrid, but decided to walk CF again next year. After using the Gronze.com website, it seemed like some of the stages were quite long. Like you, we prefer hiking 20 kms per day, but some of the suggested stages were over 30 kms. The other issue I discovered on Gronze is that there is not a lot of infrastructure established on CM, particularly to stay in private rooms. Maybe this will improve and we will reconsider in the future. Bob

 

[peregrina2000]

My gut told me that it would be easy to plan for short stages on the Madrid. But since my gut was wrong yesterday when I ventured the opinion that short stages on the Mozárabe would be problematic (turns out it’s EASY between Almería and Granada), I thought I should do some actual tabulation. So...

Starting with my stages from years ago, https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/my-leisurely-stages-on-the-camino-de-madrid.11148/ I came up with one option. I just used gronze with my stages as a base, but doing that showed me that there are many other ways to do this, because the accommodations on the Madrid (assuming you can splurge on private places) are quite plentiful. To start with, the albergue infrastructure is excellent, and when you factor in towns with hotels/pensiones, your options increase a lot!

Day 1 — From Church of Santiago to Fuencarral (the town, not the street). That would be about 20 and there are places to stay there, none cheap. OR you can hop on Cercanías train for a few minutes back to Madrid and then come back out the next day.

Day 2 — Fuencarral to Tres Cantos (13)

Day 3 — Tres Cantos to Colmenar (10)

Day 4 — Colmenar to Manzanares (15)

Day 5 — Manzanares to Cercedilla (20) — can also be split with a stop in Mataelpino, where there is an albergue

Day 6 — Cercedilla to La Granja (21)

Day 7 — La Granja to Segovia (8)

Day 8 — Segovia to Añe (20 km) (also easy to shorten with a stop in Los Huertos)

Day 9 — Añe to Santa María la Real (12)

Day 10 — Santa María to Nava de la Asunción (13).

Day 11 — Nava to Villeguillo (17)

Day 12 — Villeguilo to Alcazarén (17)

Day 13 — Alcazarén to Valdestillas (16)

Day 14 — Valdestillas to Simancas (15). (Here I would also recommend a detour into Valladolid if you like medium sized Spanish cities. This is a very nice one, with a beautiful barroque monastery turned into the Spanish religious sculpture museum). Buses to and from both Puente Duero and Simancas are frequent).

Day 15 — Simancas to Peñaflor (21)

Day 16 — Peñaflor to Castromonte (9) (five star albergue, as are many of them on the Madrid!)

Day 17 — Castromonte to Medina de Rioseco (15)

Day 18 — Medina to Tamariz de Campos (12)

Day 19 — Tamariz to Villalón (14)

Day 20 — Villalón to Santervás (16)

Day 21 — Santervás to Sahagún (19)

 

[Anniesantiago]

My gut told me that it would be easy to plan for short stages on the Madrid. But since my gut was wrong yesterday when I ventured the opinion that short stages on the Mozárabe would be problematic (turns out it’s EASY between Almería and Granada), I thought I should do some actual tabulation. So...

Starting with my stages from years ago, https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/my-leisurely-stages-on-the-camino-de-madrid.11148/ I came up with one option. I just used gronze with my stages as a base, but doing that showed me that there are many other ways to do this, because the accommodations on the Madrid (assuming you can splurge on private places) are quite plentiful. To start with, the albergue infrastructure is excellent, and when you factor in towns with hotels/pensiones, your options increase a lot!

Day 1 — From Church of Santiago to Fuencarral (the town, not the street). That would be about 20 and there are places to stay there, none cheap. OR you can hop on Cercanías train for a few minutes back to Madrid and then come back out the next day.

Day 2 — Fuencarral to Tres Cantos (13)

Day 3 — Tres Cantos to Colmenar (10)

Day 4 — Colmenar to Manzanares (15)

Day 5 — Manzanares to Cercedilla (20) — can also be split with a stop in Mataelpino, where there is an albergue

Day 6 — Cercedilla to La Granja (21)

Day 7 — La Granja to Segovia (8)

Day 8 — Segovia to Añe (20 km) (also easy to shorten with a stop in Los Huertos)

Day 9 — Añe to Santa María la Real (12)

Day 10 — Santa María to Nava de la Asunción (13).

Day 11 — Nava to Villeguillo (17)

Day 12 — Villeguilo to Alcazarén (17)

Day 13 — Alcazarén to Valdestillas (16)

Day 14 — Valdestillas to Simancas (15). (Here I would also recommend a detour into Valladolid if you like medium sized Spanish cities. This is a very nice one, with a beautiful barroque monastery turned into the Spanish religious sculpture museum). Buses to and from both Puente Duero and Simancas are frequent).

Day 15 — Simancas to Peñaflor (21)

Day 16 — Peñaflor to Castromonte (9) (five star albergue, as are many of them on the Madrid!)

Day 17 — Castromonte to Medina de Rioseco (15)

Day 18 — Medina to Tamariz de Campos (12)

Day 19 — Tamariz to Villalón (14)

Day 20 — Villalón to Santervás (16)

Day 21 — Santervás to Sahagún (19)

This is real close to the stages I've walked a couple of times on the Madrid.

 

[Theatregal]

My gut told me that it would be easy to plan for short stages on the Madrid. But since my gut was wrong yesterday when I ventured the opinion that short stages on the Mozárabe would be problematic (turns out it’s EASY between Almería and Granada), I thought I should do some actual tabulation. So...

Thank you so much for this list @peregrina2000 ! Just yesterday I started to plot possible 20km max stages on the Madrid and here's your wonderful research waiting this morning. Much appreciated.

 

[gittiharre]

My gut told me that it would be easy to plan for short stages on the Madrid. But since my gut was wrong yesterday when I ventured the opinion that short stages on the Mozárabe would be problematic (turns out it’s EASY between Almería and Granada), I thought I should do some actual tabulation. So...

Starting with my stages from years ago, https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/my-leisurely-stages-on-the-camino-de-madrid.11148/ I came up with one option. I just used gronze with my stages as a base, but doing that showed me that there are many other ways to do this, because the accommodations on the Madrid (assuming you can splurge on private places) are quite plentiful. To start with, the albergue infrastructure is excellent, and when you factor in towns with hotels/pensiones, your options increase a lot!

Day 1 — From Church of Santiago to Fuencarral (the town, not the street). That would be about 20 and there are places to stay there, none cheap. OR you can hop on Cercanías train for a few minutes back to Madrid and then come back out the next day.

Day 2 — Fuencarral to Tres Cantos (13)

Day 3 — Tres Cantos to Colmenar (10)

Day 4 — Colmenar to Manzanares (15)

Day 5 — Manzanares to Cercedilla (20) — can also be split with a stop in Mataelpino, where there is an albergue

Day 6 — Cercedilla to La Granja (21)

Day 7 — La Granja to Segovia (8)

Day 8 — Segovia to Añe (20 km) (also easy to shorten with a stop in Los Huertos)

Day 9 — Añe to Santa María la Real (12)

Day 10 — Santa María to Nava de la Asunción (13).

Day 11 — Nava to Villeguillo (17)

Day 12 — Villeguilo to Alcazarén (17)

Day 13 — Alcazarén to Valdestillas (16)

Day 14 — Valdestillas to Simancas (15). (Here I would also recommend a detour into Valladolid if you like medium sized Spanish cities. This is a very nice one, with a beautiful barroque monastery turned into the Spanish religious sculpture museum). Buses to and from both Puente Duero and Simancas are frequent).

Day 15 — Simancas to Peñaflor (21)

Day 16 — Peñaflor to Castromonte (9) (five star albergue, as are many of them on the Madrid!)

Day 17 — Castromonte to Medina de Rioseco (15)

Day 18 — Medina to Tamariz de Campos (12)

Day 19 — Tamariz to Villalón (14)

Day 20 — Villalón to Santervás (16)

Day 21 — Santervás to Sahagún (19)

Very close to my stages too. The stage to La Granja is somewhat longer than it states and Anje is scungy. Otherwise great. Very solitary route, but next to no asphalt! Very nice. Well marked too.

 

[peregrina2000]

Very close to my stages too. The stage to La Granja is somewhat longer than it states and Anje is scungy. Otherwise great. Very solitary route, but next to no asphalt! Very nice. Well marked too.

Hi, Gitti,
I have not stayed in Añe, but I thought I had heard that it has been spiffed up quite a bit. When were you there? The Gronze commentaries concur with your comment, so I am likely wrong about this.

 

[gittiharre]

Hi, Gitti,
I have not stayed in Añe, but I thought I had heard that it has been spiffed up quite a bit. When were you there? The Gronze commentaries concur with your comment, so I am likely wrong about this.

Passed through in 2016, met people there, who said it was grotty. Did not see it myself.

 

[igailfh]

Thanks for all this info, @peregrina2000. It'll come in handy for me too as the Camino Madrid is one of the options I'm tossing for my next Camino. 15-20kms is about my comfort zone. Any suggestions for must-sees along the way would be great.

 

[gerardcarey]

My gut told me that it would be easy to plan for short stages on the Madrid. But since my gut was wrong yesterday when I ventured the opinion that short stages on the Mozárabe would be problematic (turns out it’s EASY between Almería and Granada), I thought I should do some actual tabulation. So...

Starting with my stages from years ago, https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/my-leisurely-stages-on-the-camino-de-madrid.11148/ I came up with one option. I just used gronze with my stages as a base, but doing that showed me that there are many other ways to do this, because the accommodations on the Madrid (assuming you can splurge on private places) are quite plentiful. To start with, the albergue infrastructure is excellent, and when you factor in towns with hotels/pensiones, your options increase a lot!

You, cobber, are a ruddy champion.
Gail, igailfh from the previous post, and I have been discussing this at length.
I'm considering putting this together with the Winter Way (I'm a traditionalist) to finally wind up in Santiago.
Maybe finish up a European tour with the English slice of the VF, Canterbury to Dover, perhaps even starting in London walking Chaucer's route fm Southwark. How cool would that be.

Regards, thanks again, and Merry Christmas to all!
Gerard

 

[jungleboy]

Any suggestions for must-sees along the way would be great.

Segovia, of course. Other than that, my favourite historic sites were:

- Casa Eraso, the ruins of a 16th-century royal way station past the mountain pass on the stage into Segovia (day four for us).

Spoiler: Casa Eraso

- The Visigothic / Mozárabe-Romanesque / Gothic church and ossuary at Wamba (day nine for us).

Spoiler: Wamba

- The evocative, ruined 16th-century tower at Tamariz (day eleven for us).

Spoiler: Ruined Tower

 

[igailfh]

Segovia, of course. Other than that, my favourite historic sites were:

- Casa Eraso, the ruins of a 16th-century royal way station past the mountain pass on the stage into Segovia (day four for us).

Spoiler: Casa Eraso

View attachment 67860

- The Visigothic / Mozárabe-Romanesque / Gothic church and ossuary at Wamba (day nine for us).

Spoiler: Wamba

View attachment 67861

- The evocative, ruined 16th-century tower at Tamariz (day eleven for us).

Spoiler: Ruined Tower

View attachment 67862

Thanks for your suggestions, @jungleboy,.The pics look great.

 

[Anniesantiago]

Thanks for all this info, @peregrina2000. It'll come in handy for me too as the Camino Madrid is one of the options I'm tossing for my next Camino. 15-20kms is about my comfort zone. Any suggestions for must-sees along the way would be great.

I walked the Madrid route in Spring of 2014 and 2016.
You can find the beginning of those blog posts and follow them for photos of the trails and albergues.

For me, there were several "must sees" that people often miss.
Here are a few:

Wamba Church

To Wamba and Wamba Church

It was a chilly 8 k walk to Wamba this morning. The French people didn't want to leave until 9 am but I can't stay in bed that long, so I wa...

caminosantiago2.blogspot.com

Segovia

Segovia Day 2

Segovia is an awesome town! We are really happy we decided to take a rest day here. This morning I found breakfast right around th...

caminosantiago2.blogspot.com

The wonderful hidden paintings behind the retablo at Alcazaran!

To Alcazarén

May 11, 2014 We tried to leave a little earlier this morning and managed to be walking by 7 am. The way was once again be...

caminosantiago2.blogspot.com

The Semana Santa Museum in Medina

Museu de Semana Santa

, The Semana Santa Museum was beautiful. But the building was like a freezer inside so if you go, dress warm! I had to leave ...

caminosantiago2.blogspot.com

 

[KinkyOne]

Hi, Gitti,
I have not stayed in Añe, but I thought I had heard that it has been spiffed up quite a bit. When were you there? The Gronze commentaries concur with your comment, so I am likely wrong about this.

I was staying there last spring for the second time (first in 2014). Nothing really changed but they refreshed it a little bit. No smell of a mould anymore so I guess hospitalero/a opens the doors and windows more often or maybe there is more pilgrim traffic. New paint on the walls, small electric radiator in smaller room (2 bunks) and a little kitchenette added were main new things there but otherwise it's still very basic although I like it very much.

 

[lthrnck55]

My gut told me that it would be easy to plan for short stages on the Madrid. But since my gut was wrong yesterday when I ventured the opinion that short stages on the Mozárabe would be problematic (turns out it’s EASY between Almería and Granada), I thought I should do some actual tabulation. So...

Starting with my stages from years ago, https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/my-leisurely-stages-on-the-camino-de-madrid.11148/ I came up with one option. I just used gronze with my stages as a base, but doing that showed me that there are many other ways to do this, because the accommodations on the Madrid (assuming you can splurge on private places) are quite plentiful. To start with, the albergue infrastructure is excellent, and when you factor in towns with hotels/pensiones, your options increase a lot!

Day 1 — From Church of Santiago to Fuencarral (the town, not the street). That would be about 20 and there are places to stay there, none cheap. OR you can hop on Cercanías train for a few minutes back to Madrid and then come back out the next day.

Day 2 — Fuencarral to Tres Cantos (13)

Day 3 — Tres Cantos to Colmenar (10)

Day 4 — Colmenar to Manzanares (15)

Day 5 — Manzanares to Cercedilla (20) — can also be split with a stop in Mataelpino, where there is an albergue

Day 6 — Cercedilla to La Granja (21)

Day 7 — La Granja to Segovia (8)

Day 8 — Segovia to Añe (20 km) (also easy to shorten with a stop in Los Huertos)

Day 9 — Añe to Santa María la Real (12)

Day 10 — Santa María to Nava de la Asunción (13).

Day 11 — Nava to Villeguillo (17)

Day 12 — Villeguilo to Alcazarén (17)

Day 13 — Alcazarén to Valdestillas (16)

Day 14 — Valdestillas to Simancas (15). (Here I would also recommend a detour into Valladolid if you like medium sized Spanish cities. This is a very nice one, with a beautiful barroque monastery turned into the Spanish religious sculpture museum). Buses to and from both Puente Duero and Simancas are frequent).

Day 15 — Simancas to Peñaflor (21)

Day 16 — Peñaflor to Castromonte (9) (five star albergue, as are many of them on the Madrid!)

Day 17 — Castromonte to Medina de Rioseco (15)

Day 18 — Medina to Tamariz de Campos (12)

Day 19 — Tamariz to Villalón (14)

Day 20 — Villalón to Santervás (16)

Day 21 — Santervás to Sahagún (19)

Thanks for this stage list. I am considering a pilgrimage this fall on the Camino de Madrid. Very helpful.

 

[igailfh]

Thanks for your must sees, @Anniesantiago. I think Alcazaran is a definite.
I've just found a 2020 Camino Madrid guidebook on Amazon so I'll check that out too.

 

[Deleted member 397]

My gut told me that it would be easy to plan for short stages on the Madrid. But since my gut was wrong yesterday when I ventured the opinion that short stages on the Mozárabe would be problematic (turns out it’s EASY between Almería and Granada), I thought I should do some actual tabulation. So...

Starting with my stages from years ago, https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/my-leisurely-stages-on-the-camino-de-madrid.11148/ I came up with one option. I just used gronze with my stages as a base, but doing that showed me that there are many other ways to do this, because the accommodations on the Madrid (assuming you can splurge on private places) are quite plentiful. To start with, the albergue infrastructure is excellent, and when you factor in towns with hotels/pensiones, your options increase a lot!

Day 1 — From Church of Santiago to Fuencarral (the town, not the street). That would be about 20 and there are places to stay there, none cheap. OR you can hop on Cercanías train for a few minutes back to Madrid and then come back out the next day.

Day 2 — Fuencarral to Tres Cantos (13)

Day 3 — Tres Cantos to Colmenar (10)

Day 4 — Colmenar to Manzanares (15)

Day 5 — Manzanares to Cercedilla (20) — can also be split with a stop in Mataelpino, where there is an albergue

Day 6 — Cercedilla to La Granja (21)

Day 7 — La Granja to Segovia (8)

Day 8 — Segovia to Añe (20 km) (also easy to shorten with a stop in Los Huertos)

Day 9 — Añe to Santa María la Real (12)

Day 10 — Santa María to Nava de la Asunción (13).

Day 11 — Nava to Villeguillo (17)

Day 12 — Villeguilo to Alcazarén (17)

Day 13 — Alcazarén to Valdestillas (16)

Day 14 — Valdestillas to Simancas (15). (Here I would also recommend a detour into Valladolid if you like medium sized Spanish cities. This is a very nice one, with a beautiful barroque monastery turned into the Spanish religious sculpture museum). Buses to and from both Puente Duero and Simancas are frequent).

Day 15 — Simancas to Peñaflor (21)

Day 16 — Peñaflor to Castromonte (9) (five star albergue, as are many of them on the Madrid!)

Day 17 — Castromonte to Medina de Rioseco (15)

Day 18 — Medina to Tamariz de Campos (12)

Day 19 — Tamariz to Villalón (14)

Day 20 — Villalón to Santervás (16)

Day 21 — Santervás to Sahagún (19)

Laurie
I've looked at stage 6 and cannot find anywhere to stay in la granja...google maps seem to show it as an area rather than a place. My french guide book ploughs on to segovia whuch doesn't appeal!

 

[MaryLynn]

THANK YOU for sharing the short-stage itinerary for the Camino Madrid. I would love to walk it but would not be able to walk the 30k days. Now it feels like it is definitely in my future! Thanks!

 

[peregrina2000]

Laurie
I've looked at stage 6 and cannot find anywhere to stay in la granja...google maps seem to show it as an area rather than a place. My french guide book ploughs on to segovia whuch doesn't appeal!

I don’t know if La Granja (de San Ildefonso is the rest of its name) is a town or just a description of the place where the Royal Palace is, but in addition to its fancy parador, there is an albergue there.

La Granja is not an “official” part of the Camino de Madrid, but there are several threads here from forum members who have gone off-camino to shorten the stage into Segovia, and also to take a look at the palace and its gardens — both are really nice, great spot for an afternoon.

You have to get information on where to go off route to detour over to La Granja. Several forum members have done this. Here is one thread, but I remember there were several a few years ago. The next day, it is a roadside walk of about 11 km into Segovia, but I know that some have taken a bus as well.

Good luck with the planning, it is such a nice camino!

 

[Deleted member 397]

Many thanks

I don’t know if La Granja (de San Ildefonso is the rest of its name) is a town or just a description of the place where the Royal Palace is, but in addition to its fancy parador, there is an albergue there.

La Granja is not an “official” part of the Camino de Madrid, but there are several threads here from forum members who have gone off-camino to shorten the stage into Segovia, and also to take a look at the palace and its gardens — both are really nice, great spot for an afternoon.

You have to get information on where to go off route to detour over to La Granja. Several forum members have done this. Here is one thread, but I remember there were several a few years ago. The next day, it is a roadside walk of about 11 km into Segovia, but I know that some have taken a bus as well.

Good luck with the planning, it is such a nice camino!

Many thanks!...i'll do a bit more investigating...rough plan is levante..yet again! That section after cebreros is a favourite with rolling hills and noone around. The stage into avila has that hefty climb..i've taken the road and tge route through the valley (and the cows). At zamora might head to merida and walk back to zamora then maybe the madrid. I tried it a few years ago but accommodation was a problem,one place had 2 hostals one was closed the other fully booked with construction workers...all this because i like to avoid winter in oz

 

[trecile]

Here's the Gronze page for La Granja de San Idlefonso

La Granja de San Ildefonso, Segovia | Albergues y Hoteles | Gronze.com

Albergues, Hoteles y Servicios para Peregrinos en La Granja de San Ildefonso, Segovia, en el Camino de Santiago.

www.gronze.com

And here's the map from Gronze, where you'll find it in their Stage 4 - Cercedilla to Segovia.