Hi,
@Kiwi-family,
I’m not able to compare since I have only walked the Levante, but as you undoubtedly know they do overlap. I think
@Bad Pilgrim has walked both, and maybe he will chime in.
The positives of the Levante, IMO:
— it starts in the BEAUTIFUL city of Valencia, well worth a day or two to enjoy. I split the first stage to Algemesí by walking from Valencia to Silla and then taking Cercanías back to Valencia. That gave me another half day in town, which I really enjoyed. From moorish Alcázar to Calatrava-land with his many wild buildings built on a diverted riverbed. Second day, Cercanías back to Silla and on to Algemesí.
— the castles are astonishing. The one at Xátiva is one of the best I’ve ever climbed around. You spend lots of other days walking towards others, all perched up high.
— the infrastructure is surprisingly good. At least half of the stages had albergues. And the private places were typically all around 20€
— Ávila and Toledo are great stops. Walking into Toledo brings you up on the hill with the El Greco view of the city. It was jaw-dropping. And of course you merge onto the Vdlp at Zamora, and who can complain about another day in Zamora.
— you can visit “Dulcinea’s house” and see the Quijote windmills.
— the plazas mayores are some of Spain’s finest. Arévalo, Tembleque, Chinchilla and a couple other places will knock your socks off.
— the countryside in springtime is dizzyingly bright green with big red splotches of poppies. Many endless fields with undulating waves of grain.
— the mountain days between Toledo and Ávila are some of the best.
And the downsides? — The main downside is that I think the first four days are 99% asphalt. That was VERY hard on my feet. Though now that I am a converted trail runners person, I bet I would breeze through that part of it. The other downside is that the city of Albacete is pretty dreary. I am really stretching here to think of downsides.
It is a very solitary walk, which i think you enjoy. I lucked out by meeting two French peregrinos on day 3, and we walked into Santiago together weeks later. We weren’t glued together, just agreed where to stop at the end of the day and then off we went at our own speeds. It was perfect. Maybe you would be lucky like that too.
So, as I think you can tell, IMO this is an absolutely wonderful walk. Forum member
@JLWV is our link to the amigos association, and I would definitely be in touch with him if you plan to do the Levante.
Buen camino, Laurie