Highlight Sections (???)

[John P.]

Hi All -

I was wondering if you could give me the sections of the via de la plata that stand out in your mind as highlights - Seville to Zafra?, Salamanca to Zamora?, Puebla de Sanabria to Gudina? - etc. (I'm just pulling those out of my hat) - and maybe a description as to why. Towns? - Scenery? - Food? - People? - - -

Thanks!

John P.

 

[Deleted member 397]

Good question! My overall impression is of changing scenery-endless vines/olive trees then undulating hills with various grains/crops growing then in Galicia wooded areas, greenery and hills. Salamanca stabds out as an oasis after the hard dry slogs-beautiful city with plenty to see and nice places to eat. I also shared a hotel room with a danish bloke I met so enjoyed the comparative luxury.

 

[John P.]

Thanks omar for the input!

John P.

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Until end April/May when I walk again from Salamanca my knowledge is of the first half of this route. I thought it was stunning - challenging, beautiful, the people were friendly. It was some of the best walking ever and I will definitely do it again in a different season. I always found a bed, food and breakfast. And I have long lasting memories of the most fabulous cities along the way - Sevilla, Zafra (the little Sevilla) Cacares with its medieval city and Merida with its fabulous Roman architecture and of course the unrivalled Salamanca. Some stages were totally tranquil - the Alison Raju guide book describes it like "walking on top of the world" - mostly it was rural Spain at its most alluring. As you can tell - I loved it!

 

[John P.]

Hi John,

I would be curious on your take from Salamanca also. I'm debating on where to start and was considering Salamanca, but maybe I should do the same as you did - and just start from Seville and go as far as I can.....

Thanks,

JOhn P.

 

[JohnnieWalker]

I thought I would have had more time but as it turned out I had three weeks and did the journey to Salamanca from Sevilla comfortably in 19 days - in fact on reflection I should have had at least one additional rest day. In the future I want to explore Caceres and Merida a little more. Salamanca is a good stopping point with easy access to Madrid and the airport via the express bus service.

 

[maricristina]

Highlight sections (???) Via de la Plata/camino mozarabe

John,
Walk it from Sevilla! Like Johnnalexander we loved it. We have walked a few routes and the V.de la P. is my favourite. The whole experience was wonderful. Alison Raju told me the flowers in May would be "as far as the eye could see" and they really were. The smell of the cistus and iris was marvellous, the orchids superb, the cities were unmissable, the black Iberico pigs a delight, (so was their ham!), and the people were so welcoming. You see such an interesting aspect of Spain on that route. Perhaps you have not enough time to walk it all in one go. We were walking for five weeks in 2001. This was too short a time (too many kms on some days!) but there was, then, a need to walk long distances because of lack of accommodation. Things should be easier now, I hope.
I wish you well, Buen Camino!

Marion

 

[John P.]

Thank you all for your advise! -

I will be using it as I decide - when, where, and how much time I can manage....

John P.

 

[iharrison]

Via de la Plata

I walked the section from Salamanca to Santiago in May/June 2007 and the highlight was the section over the hills from A Gudina to Campobocceros with staggering views of the embalse. It was like a walk on top of the world and if I can get my computer skills to work I'd he happy to send you photos.

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Thanks - I'm sure we'd love to see them, I set off on this section at the end of this month.