To get a bus or not to get a bus.

[Ladybird]

Myself and my husband are currently doing the Camino Frances in short stages, (trying to fit it in with work schedules etc.) Our next stage is due to finish in Leon. I have read a number of posts and guides where people are recommending to catch a bus from Mansilla, or Peunte de Villarente as the walk into Leon is not great. Up to now we have walked into the big cities but I am not sure whether we should take the bus into Leon, the parts of the Camino I have disliked so far have been the walk into Pamplona and Logrono. I thought I would never reach Najera, walking beside the N21 from Logrono was just not pleasant. I am immensely enjoying the solitude of the meseta. I took the alternative route into Burgos and walked that last 8km along by the river which was good so if anyone knows a quieter route into Leon, could you share it with me.

So based on the fact I hate walking beside a busy road, and also dislike walking through surburbs would you recommend taking the bus, or do you think I will regret not completing the entire camino.

Dee

 

[lettinggo]

Hola

The walk into Leon is, in my opinion, one of the least interesting on the whole Camino Frances.
It will take you through an industrial area with mega outlets, and it is a long walk.
I think taking a bus might be a good idea.
It will give you some more pleasant time exploring the cathedral in Leon, as well as save you some energy for the also long and somewhat uninspiring exit of the city the day after.
I would recommend you to take the path to Villar de Mazarife instead of Villadangos del Paramo.Walking along the L-120 highway is no joy.

Buen Camino
Lettinggo

 

[Tincatinker]

While I concede that the walk in to Leon, and the exit, means walking through industrial zone, urban retail park, suburban condominium housing, city centre and the then exit is its mirror, but it is still camino. After the amazing space of the Meseta a gradual introduction to crowded pavements, traffic and pedestrians who are not peregrinos has its benefits. A 20 minute bus-ride into bedlam does not make for a gentle transition into urban life. It is about 5k from Valdelafuente (and the famous bus stop) to the centre of Leon and you pass the Albergue Santa Maria as you go. Not far for a pilgrim. The exit, especially early in the morning is scarcely traumatic and at least there are plenty of opportunities for breakfast.

"I would walk given choice through wood or field on any morn or night, but I thank those, and every man that put Oxford in my sight".

Edit: the "but", as in but it is still camino was inserted on review

 

[gerardcarey]

Hola

The walk into Leon is, in my opinion, one of the least interesting on the whole Camino Frances.
It will take you through an industrial area with mega outlets, and it is a long walk.
I think taking a bus might be a good idea.
It will give you some more pleasant time exploring the cathedral in Leon, as well as save you some energy for the also long and somewhat uninspiring exit of the city the day after.
I would recommend you to take the path to Villar de Mazarife instead of Villadangos del Paramo.Walking along the L-120 highway is no joy.

Buen Camino
Lettinggo

That long and uninspiring exit out of Leon can also be avoided by local bus.
4 or 5 blocks down Calle Ancha from the Cathedral square is a large roundabout with a garden in the middle. There is a bus stop there from where buses go to the Camino at 'la Virgen de Camino' on the outskirts of Leon. (You can see the stop & buses if you zoom down on google maps and go into street view) The particular bus you need has 'Camino de Santiago' on it's front electronic display which makes it easy.
Quite a few pilgrims use this bus so just ask the bus driver or locals where to get off.

Regds
Gerard

 

[naplesdon]

While I disagree with your opinion about the walk into Pamplona and the walk into and out of Logrono, the walk into and out of the larger cities like Burgos, Leon and Santiago are less pleasant walks. I agree with the idea of taking a local bus to the center of Burgos once you arrive in the city after walking around the airport, walking out of town is not that formidable and mainly through a city university neighborhood. Getting into Leon can be made much more pleasant on a bus from Mansilla de las Mulas to avoid the seemingly endless tract of car dealerships and furniture stores on the road to town and I do agree the bus out of town to la Virgen de Camino would be a great escape from the endless trudge up the hill out of Leon past endless small shops and vendors along the road in the late afternoon like I did it, maybe doing it in the morning is not quite so awful. I have arrived in Santiago from 2 directions and there a few other options than walking into town for an hour or so in an urban context. At that point does it matters anymore?
Buen Camino

 

[colinPeter]

...So based on the fact I hate walking beside a busy road, and also dislike walking through surburbs would you recommend taking the bus, or do you think I will regret not completing the entire camino.

Hola Dee,
Some people would regret it, some people wouldn't.
I would regret it, not sure about you.
Buen Camino
Colin

 

[Phillypilgrim]

It's just, different.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

The "entire camino" is very hard to nail down. YOU set your goal. The only "rule" is that you must walk continuously the last 100km in order to receive the compostela. Even that "continuously" can be broken into several trips. Any other rules are those you invent. I suggest that you give yourself a break, but that is entirely up to you!

 

[george.g]

How one should travel along the Camino is a very difficult question, is any one approach better than another. It begs the question what is the Camino all about ?
I guess the answer is there is no answer, I guess we all "caminar" for very different reasons. So long as when you arrive at journeys end and there are no regrets, then no problem. (Fancy getting to SDC and thinking I wish I had not got on that..........bus) But there again a good excuse to go back the next year.!
Regards
George

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Fancy getting to SDC and thinking I wish I had not thank God I got on that..........bus

 

[colinPeter]

Then again, you don't see many people wearing, "thank God I got on that..........bus" Camino T-shirts,

 

[peregrina2000]

I think we all know ourselves well enough to know whether we are more likely to regret taking a bus or to regret not taking a bus. So this has to be an individual decision.

When I was getting ready to walk the Camino de Levante from Valencia, I remember a post from Kevin saying that the first few days were through suburbs and some of it wasn't exactly bucolic, but his attitude was that he wanted to see Spain and this was Spain, the good the bad the ugly. That's one attitude that leads to the "not taking a bus" approach.

My "not taking a bus" approach is kind of different, maybe it's stubbornness, maybe it's just a sense that like the Little Engine that Could I am going to show myself that I can do it, I don't know what it is. In 13 years of walking caminos, I have taken public transportation twice -- once when my toes wouldn't stop bleeding on the Vadiniense, and once on the Levante when we were in a town where there was no place to sleep. I realize that the fact that I remember the exact circumstances and still have a kind of pang of remorse reveal a lot about my attitude/character/whatever.

But I have walked with a good friend whose approach is totally different. When she has had enough of walking, she will hop a taxi, a train, or a bus, cheerfully and unapologetically. I think that's great, but I can't do it.

If you want to take a bus and that's the right decision for you, you should do it. The Camino should be a liberating experience, and you should not, IMO, spend time worrying about what others think. Buen camino, Laurie

 

[grayland]

The walk into Leon, Burgos, etc. is simply another part of the Camino, in my opinion. I don't know why it is any more important to skip these than any other part.
This is just my personal opinion. Just as the often repeated recommendation to "bus" these areas are simply the opinions of others.
It is a look into the everyday life of Spanish city for those who have not spent much time in Spain.
It is all part of the experience that is the Camino.

 

[christer1]

The river route into Burgos is pleasant enough, it just seems to go on for an eternity. Personally I am happy that I was fortunate enough to walk every step with my pack to Fisterra

 

[wayfarer]

As has been said many times above, each person must do their on Camino, there are no rules unless you want a compostella then you must walk the last 100km. I enjoyed all parts of the Camino and just looked at them as different experiences, that and I suppose stubborness made me walk it all and carry my pack.
Your Camino, your way.

 

[Tia Valeria]

If you are planning on finishing in Leon this time then why not catch the bus. If between then and starting the next stage you find that you regret not walking in then you could simply go to Leon next time, catch a bus out to your last walking point and then walk into Leon. If you don't regret it then you can just walk on next time.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I am always curious about the things I have not seen. Having done a lot of caminos, I have seen almost everything, so perhaps I have become a bit jaded about taking a bus or taxi -- I know what I am NOT missing! If you are worried about "regret," I suggest that it be based on curiosity about something, not on an artificial barrier you have accepted that concerns whether you are violating a rule about walking a pilgrimage. If you are pretty certain that you do not care about seeing something, say urban industrial zones, take a bus/taxi without remorse. One motive for walking is to unburden yourself of life's baggage. Why take on more baggage about false regrets??

 

[Thornley]

In Leon in 2008, we were DIRECTED by the owner of the pension, an ex pilgrim, to get the bus to Virgin de Camino from the roundabout.
It was Bus No.1 and a five minute ride with workers .....and we were not the only pilgrims.....lets try about 10 others.
According to the pilgrims arriving in Mazarife it was the correct decision. There were major roadworks and diversions on the camino path that year within the city that got most frustrated, lost and tired .
We never worried about missing 5 km of the camino as we continued the walk to Muxia/Finistere and in those days most went by bus.

* The walk this year in August was ok leaving Logrono , 6am and the park is solitude , but along the motor way before Ventosa the dust from earth moving was very dangerous for any asthma suffers....it was terrible for myself and i don't have this problem....many were suffering in that town around lunch time.

There are NO rules with buses as one is sure in believing an elderly pilgrim , all those years ago on leaving Paris or Geneva or other parts of France [ NOT St JdP as it did not exist on the Frances map] would have accepted a ride with a farmer.

 

[ManyMiles2Go]

We also took the advice from this forum and bussed into Leon. I just looked out the windows to see the views, not the same as walking, but I do not regret bussing in. I am sure there were things I missed, but I had 495 miles to see lots of other scenery! The best part about bussing into Leon was that right across from the bus station (across the river) was a McDonalds I don't usually eat there when we are home, but it was a nice treat being so far away

 

[Susannafromsweden]

I think we all know ourselves well enough to know whether we are more likely to regret taking a bus or to regret not taking a bus. So this has to be an individual decision.

When I was getting ready to walk the Camino de Levante from Valencia, I remember a post from Kevin saying that the first few days were through suburbs and some of it wasn't exactly bucolic, but his attitude was that he wanted to see Spain and this was Spain, the good the bad the ugly. That's one attitude that leads to the "not taking a bus" approach.

My "not taking a bus" approach is kind of different, maybe it's stubbornness, maybe it's just a sense that like the Little Engine that Could I am going to show myself that I can do it, I don't know what it is. In 13 years of walking caminos, I have taken public transportation twice -- once when my toes wouldn't stop bleeding on the Vadiniense, and once on the Levante when we were in a town where there was no place to sleep. I realize that the fact that I remember the exact circumstances and still have a kind of pang of remorse reveal a lot about my attitude/character/whatever.

But I have walked with a good friend whose approach is totally different. When she has had enough of walking, she will hop a taxi, a train, or a bus, cheerfully and unapologetically. I think that's great, but I can't do it.

If you want to take a bus and that's the right decision for you, you should do it. The Camino should be a liberating experience, and you should not, IMO, spend time worrying about what others think. Buen camino, Laurie

+ 1 to that.
I'm also a Not taking the bus-girl.
That's because it's more fun to walk, and also because of the credencial.
When starting, I get my credencial. Then I write my name etc on it. Or someone else did that for me, in the church if Santiago in Madrid, for example. And tick the box "a pie". I actually remember getting the question, when doing this, "a pie?", and I said yes. I consider that as a promise I made, that I'm going to walk to Santiago. So that means I'm walking.

And I walked the way into Leon and it was okay, I remember.

 

[Ladybird]

Thank you for your replies, I think I will go with Wayfarers idea, I will take the bus this time, if I regret it, I will get the bus back out to Mansilla and start from there when I next come back to do more stages.

 

[Carol06]

I can not comment on entering Leon because I did not walk into it after a day from hell on the meseta that nearly finished me, but I made a point of walking into Burgos despite all the negative comments made about that. I had this strong desire to see the cathedral as all arriving pilgrims over the centuries had seen it. I walked along the river bank and gradually the cathedral spires came into view. it stands out as every bit as memorable as first sighting the cathedral in Santiago. The riverside walk was delightful and the industrial area does not even feature as one of my memories.

 

[colinPeter]

Thank you for your replies, ......

Hola Dee.
Enjoy Leon, it is a beautiful place, good tapas places at night (down around the Plaza Mayor area), wonderful Cathedral, and one of my favourite churches on the Camino, the Basilica of San Isidoro.
Buen Camino
Colin

 

[Deleted member 3000]

 

[colinPeter]

View attachment 7935

Touché (LOL)

 

[indyinmaine]

It brings up that age old question of whether you can say you really walked the Camino. Each of us has to answer that question for themselves. I took the bus into Burgos for the same reason. - car dealers, industry, warehouses, etc. took me away from what I felt was "my Camino". It wasn't that I couldn't walk it. You have to make that peace with yourself unless you feel that each and every step makes a Camino.

 

[Thornley]

The bus into Leon gives you more time to understand/enjoy this wonderful city.
We have found as we continue to returns for different camino's that nobody cares how you arrived , where you started from , only that you are there.
We have never forgot the advice given to us in Ostabat where we started the Frances in 2008...........enjoy our country when you return for Le Puy and Spain when you cross the mountains..
I hope we don't forget to enjoy the country, the people [ locals ] and the villages .
After 4 days in Spain we stopped paying a euro for the lights to go on in the church's.
We just sat in this peaceful abode......................we did not get carried away and actually left a note for Rome in a donation box to fix this little annoyance.

We and most of the people who arrived with us in Santiago never considered the credencial but we did get one @ Finistere and Muxia....thats wher we finished.
They are in the top draw somewhere.
** Ladybird go and have great camino, take as long as possible and when you get home plan the Norte or better still Le Puy.


PS Do you think Wayferer that St Jimmie would have accepted a Horse and Jinker [ worth plenty if you can find them here mate]

 

[Kathy F.]

I walked into Leon. I liked it better than the walk out of Leon.
BTW, I'm thinking that the better your Spanish, the more you'll enjoy any bus/taxi rides you find yourself taking.
IMHO.

 

[PadreQ]

It is your Camino. I caught the bus into Leon at Mansilla and have absolutely no regrets - I needed the break and time constrained - your Camino is Your Camino!

 

[journeycakes]

I've been to several places in Mexico where pilgrims arrive on particular saints' days by the busload. Had there been highway infrastructure and bus service in Spain and the rest of Europe during the Middle Ages, the Medieval pilgrims might have been tempted to use public transportation to arrive at the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. That said, honouring the tradition of walking was important to me although I pushed ahead on the bus and train at a couple of points once I realized that MY camino needed to be walked in shorter daily distances than the "one day per Brierley stage" model to which so many pilgrims aspire. It is on my bucket list to return to Spain and complete as much as possible of my unwalked segments on foot. Allotting 2 months to complete the Camino Frances in one go might have been more realistic for me, but I admit to having been heavily influenced by much of the literature out there that describes a so-called "norm" of allotting 30-35 days to walk from SJPP to SDC stacked against my own personal constraints of vacation time.

 

[Tia Valeria]

I think the original question was raised as the OP was finishing a stage at Leon, before returning at a later date. Thus a decision to use the bus could be good and the ground not walked could be done next time if it felt right. The day we did use the bus on an overlong stage in Asturias we used a hotel not an albergue, and when offered a ride within the 100km limit after Lugo it was declined. Knowing my limitations the bus for 10kms out of 280kms seemed a wise choice, made when planning. The alternative would have been to have started further along the track and actually therefore to have walked much less. Similar choices will have to be made this year, but from Narón to Santiago it is 'on foot'.
Maybe one day we will bus or car to Leon as tourists so won't face the OPs dilemma

 

[filup501]

Do it your way, whatever way that is. It's your Camino. The Call is different for everybody!

 

[filup501]

It is your Camino. I caught the bus into Leon at Mansilla and have absolutely no regrets - I needed the break and time constrained - your Camino is Your Camino!

It sure is: your Camino! I got heat for listening to my iPod along the way. I just shrugged my shoulders and turned it up. I rather enjoyed laying on a soundtrack with the amazing scenery I came across.

 

[whariwharangi]

Myself and my husband are currently doing the Camino Frances in short stages, (trying to fit it in with work schedules etc.) Our next stage is due to finish in Leon. I have read a number of posts and guides where people are recommending to catch a bus from Mansilla, or Peunte de Villarente as the walk into Leon is not great. Up to now we have walked into the big cities but I am not sure whether we should take the bus into Leon, the parts of the Camino I have disliked so far have been the walk into Pamplona and Logrono. I thought I would never reach Najera, walking beside the N21 from Logrono was just not pleasant. I am immensely enjoying the solitude of the meseta. I took the alternative route into Burgos and walked that last 8km along by the river which was good so if anyone knows a quieter route into Leon, could you share it with me.

So based on the fact I hate walking beside a busy road, and also dislike walking through surburbs would you recommend taking the bus, or do you think I will regret not completing the entire camino.

Dee

I wonder how hard it would be to pioneer a route from Mansilla de las Mulas direct to Hospital de Orbiga. That would be a shorter path ... a straight line (38km) that bypasses all of Leon ...

 

[Tincatinker]

Nice idea whariwharangi. Though I guess that for many Leon cathedral is a significant station on the Way. Nevertheless a go-around for Leon, and some of the other major urban centres, would be welcomed by the more rustic among us. would mean missing out on those amazing tapas though.

 

[Felipe]

I have read about an alternative walk into Burgos. That is, when arriving to Castañares (that´s the village after the airport) instead of going along the highway, you cross the village, then a gangway over Arlanzon river, and along a riverwalk promenade, to the nice Arlanzon avenue and to the cathedral. See http://www.asociaciongaditanajacobea.org/entradaburgoscastanares.htm It is mentioned in many guides as a "not historical but increasingly popular" option. I have seen it on the map, and looks good.

 

[petro]

I took the "river route into Burgos and it is a pleasant walk. Long but no trafic or industrial areas to cope with.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

"not historical but increasingly popular" option

Back in the 11th century, they insisted that you pass the airport on the right, I have been told.