madrid in early March

[Gscamino]

I will be in Madrid the first week of March. Anyone doing the Madrid Camino? It's my first and i only have one week. Ideas? Thoughts?

 

[erith long]

we walked it last year in May, be prepared for rain and cold weather in la Sierra de Guadarrama. you might even see snow.,After Segovia weather may improve, bring warm clothing and rain gear.
Buen Camino

 

[HeidiL]

It's lovely, but there are few pilgrims and the first couple of days nobody knows there IS a Camino crossing their village. After that, you're very popular and everyone LOVES the (few) pilgrims.

Beautiful terrain, good albergues. Spanish required.

 

[Pelegrin]

It's lovely, but there are few pilgrims and the first couple of days nobody knows there IS a Camino crossing their village. After that, you're very popular and everyone LOVES the (few) pilgrims.

Beautiful terrain, good albergues. Spanish required.

Nobody is too much. but it's true that there are still quite a few people who don´t know this . In Colmenar Viejo that is quite big I think that you don´t need to ask because now is well marked.

 

[HeidiL]

It's pretty well marked, but I ended up doing impromptu talks to people on the route several times. Everybody knew about Francés, some people knew about Via de la Plata - but really, we did have at people stop us on the way to ask us what we were doing, walking with backpacks while looking foreign...

But after three days, everybody knew about pilgrims and we were patted on the back and hugged and asked to send people's love to the Saint...

 

[Pelegrin]

It's pretty well marked, but I ended up doing impromptu talks to people on the route several times. Everybody knew about Francés, some people knew about Via de la Plata - but really, we did have at people stop us on the way to ask us what we were doing, walking with backpacks while looking foreign...

But after three days, everybody knew about pilgrims and we were patted on the back and hugged and asked to send people's love to the Saint...

You meant after Segovia. Before Segovia there are a lot people from Madrid (like me) walking on the Sierra and preSierra and locals don´t pay attention to bacpackers. Puerto de Fuenfria is the most visited place on top of Sierra de Madrid (with no road).

 

[HeidiL]

A little bit before Segovia, actually - around 60 km out from Madrid we started noticing big signs welcoming pilgrims on the outskirts of towns.

Though we lived in Madrid for three years, we don't look like locals, so people were curious.

 

[Kanga]

I did it in September last year, and I loved it. Lovely off road walking, really interesting villages and towns including a couple of amazing and surprising castles. Definitely a solitary camino but I was lucky to fall in with a group of five english speakers. We only came across one or two other pilgrims the whole way. Often there had been no-one in the albergues for several days before us.

 

[Al the optimist]

snow in March in Sergovia not unusual - after all there is a ski station at Puerto de Navacerrada.