Which are the most scenic sections?

[CaminoFrances2017]

Can experienced pilgrims make a recommendation regarding the most scenic sections for the Camino Frances Route for someone who is only able to walk around 400 km? Thanks in advance.

 

[VNwalking]

All of it. That's not much help, I know. But the best part of the Camino is the inner journey, and that has nothing to do with whatever is passing in front of the eyeballs.
If you just want a scenic walk you'll get it many other places on this planet--like NZ or the American West or Tuscany. If you're looking for more, it really doesn't matter where you start.

 

[Brigidam]

Can experienced pilgrims make a recommendation regarding the most scenic sections for the Camino Frances Route for someone who is only able to walk around 400 km? Thanks in advance.

I walked from St.-Jean-Piet-de Port to Santiago de Compostela in 2011, 2012 and 2013. I found the first half of the camino most scenic. The Pyrenees were stunning. I also loved the sections from Astorga to Sarria or Portomarin.

 

[Annie Little]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Soo true and none so truer than on Camino ... you have to be there to see what I mean ... it comes from the inner

Ultreia

 

[CaminoFrances2017]

I walked from St.-Jean-Piet-de Port to Santiago de Compostela in 2011, 2012 and 2013. I found the first half of the camino most scenic. The Pyrenees were stunning. I also loved the sections from Astorga to Sarria or Portomarin.

Thank you, this is helpful. A camino is a personal journey and scenic beauty will enhance mine.

 

[CaminoFrances2017]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Soo true and none so truer than on Camino ... you have to be there to see what I mean ... it comes from the inner

Ultreia

Yes, I'm asking experienced beholders of beauty along the Camino Frances to share their opinions on the most scenic sections.

 

[Kanga]

Well, CaminoFrance says she found the first half the most scenic - but loved the sections from Astorga (which is in the second half). The Pyrenees are only one day. The mountains of the Bierzo are also lovely, covered with heather and wildflowers, and go on for longer. Walking down from O Cebreiro in Galicia with deep green lanes and stone corredoiras is glorious. Some people dislike the meseta, but I find it peaceful, and the huge sky a constantly changing work of sublime beauty.

On the Camino Francés almost every day is a mixture imo. Day three takes you past a huge cement plant....and also past a beautiful babbling river, a medieval bridge, pretty Basque villages, and (if you are a fast walker) some boring suburbia and then the glory of entering Pamplona through the fortified walls and medieval streets. And that kind of mixture of good and bad is pretty typical.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Can experienced pilgrims make a recommendation regarding the most scenic sections for the Camino Frances Route for someone who is only able to walk around 400 km?

I think this question really amounts to "Which half should I walk? First."

 

[Robo]

Can experienced pilgrims make a recommendation regarding the most scenic sections for the Camino Frances Route for someone who is only able to walk around 400 km? Thanks in advance.

It's a really difficult question, so don't be disheartened by some of the replies. We all see different things in different sections. After you have walked for a week or more you'll understand why some people have answered the way they have.
To look at it another way, which may not help at all .....

Probably the least scenic section IMHO, was between Fromista and Leon. Lots of Senda (fine gravel tracks) next to main roads. But even then there were little Gems of villages, towns and churches along the way.

The most stunning scenery? Tough call, but those that spring to mind for me are:
St Jean to Pamplona
Pamplona to Burgos
Burgos to Fromista
Astorga to Molineseca
OCebreiro onwards

So I suppose I am leaning towards the first 'half'. But it's all so subjective

But let's get things in perspective. Which section would I like to walk, rather than be sitting at my desk working? Any section!

 

[Davie Blisters]

Agree with all the above, but for pure scenic beauty my pick would be around La Faba.

 

[AJ]

I like Leon to SdC. I have walked this section more times than any other. Individual stages are more scenic perhaps, such as the first from SJPdP to Roncesvalles, but taken as a whole...

 

[JabbaPapa]

All of them.

Seek only "the best", and you will never find it.

Start from about 400k from Santiago, then walk every single step of the Way, including through ghastly suburbs and lengthy tarmac stretches.

 

[alexwalker]

Very difficult/hard question. I will give it a twist.

The Camino is more than a walk. But this will not reveal itself until you have walked for some time. I have actually given up explaining what the Camino is and what it offers, to people who have not walked it: It is impossible to communicate it to those who do not know. But it is indeed a strong force.

Not that it is a "force" in some mysterious, God-given way: It is simply a strong force because when you are there, you have left the "ordinary" world and you are on your own, basic, and you realise some basics about life and living. Hard to explain to a newbie, but easily understod by us oldtimers (right?) For many sensitive souls; an eye-opener.

I think that the scenery will come to harmonise with your inner self. If it does, you will find "it".

The Navarra/Rioja is easy and beautiful.
The meseta is flat and open space and beautiful.
The way into Galicia is varied and beautiful.
Walking in Galicia towards SdC is varied and beautiful.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/beautiful

Beauty (of the landscape and all, that is) lies in your inner self, maturing as you walk. I know this, having experienced it several times, but I cannot explain it in words, Sorry.

Seek only "the best", and you will never find it.

Very good. Correct. Wise, indeed.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

So I suppose I am leaning towards the first 'half'.

Using Brierley stages Terradillos de los Templarios is about halfway along the Frances. Up to there you have:

• Good scenery days: 15
• Not so good scenery days: 2

Then:

• Not so good: 3
• Not mentioned: 2
• Good: 2
• Not mentioned: 2
• Good: 7

 

[CaminoFrances2017]

Very helpful. I have Brierley (2016) in front of me.

 

[alexwalker]

Seek the beauty in the place you are in currently.

But please walk the Camino and let it elevate you to another level...

And get rid of the Brierley guide: It is wrong in many places. Follow your instinct.

 

[alexwalker]

...the best part of the Camino is the inner journey...

Superbly said, and thereafter, what else really matters?

 

[C clearly]

I don't really find any of the Camino Frances to be stunning in scenic beauty. I do find much of it to be lovely in scenic terms, and I find all of it as a whole to be fascinating and beautiful in other terms.

If you are able to walk any 400 km stretch, you should encounter plenty of scenic beauty, as well as tedious parts. If you were only walking 100 km, perhaps we could land on the prettiest 100 km, but it might be followed by the ugliest 100 km. With a 400 km stretch you will get a balance. If you start cherry-picking the good parts, and skipping past all the not-so-scenic parts, you would lose something in the continuity and inner journey.

So, I would recommend that you use other criteria to choose your starting point and end point. Or, at least, give us a secondary criteria because there is no clear favourite for "scenic beauty."

 

[jsalt]

I have to agree with C Clearly, I also don’t find any of the Camino Francés scenically stunning (except, of course, the Napolean Route). My favourite part is probably crossing the meseta. If it’s scenery you are looking for, then walk the Norte from Irun. That scenery is stunning. (And the food’s good.)
Jill

 

[JabbaPapa]

Not that it is a "force" in some mysterious, God-given way

Sez who ?