Ok, here is part II
Day 16 -- Galisteo (28 km) -- private albergue is fine, it is small, and bathroom space is extremely limited. But there aren't a lot of people, I think there are two rooms, one with beds for 8, one with beds for 4. And maybe a private room as well. Rooms also available at the Bar Emigrantes, which you will pass on the way into town, and which is where I ate dinner and breakfast.
Day 17 -- Carcaboso (11 km) -- I took a short day today, so that I was well positioned to walk to Oliva de Plasencia without having to walk on the highway. Stayed at a very nice hotel, cheap for pilgrims
http://www.ciudaddecaparra.com/ (maybe 20 E?). There is also a pension here that's not too much cheaper, but it has shared rooms and shared bathrooms and I would definitely recommend the hotel over the pension Elena, I think it's called. the hotel fills up quickly because there are only four or five rooms, so calling for reservations is probably a good idea. There is also a municipal albergue, looked very basic, in a garage-like structure, on the edge of town as you leave on the Camino.
The books will tell you that from Carcoboso to Aldeanueva del Camino it's 38 km. That's true, but there are several ways to break that up:
Option one: Walk from Carcaboso to Venta Quemada (13 km), then 6 km along the highway to Oliva de Plasencia (this 6 km takes you off the Camino, but it's easy to get back on it the next day). So that's a 19 km day. If you feel like doing more, you could start your day in Galisteo and to Oliva de Plasencia it would be a total of 29 or 30, all very easy kms. From Oliva, it's 5 km on a very nice path to Arco de Caparra, then 18 or so to Aldeanueva del Camino.
Option two: Walk from Carcaboso to the Arco de Caparra, and the Hostal Asturias will pick you up and take you to their place on the highway about 6 (?) kms off the Camino. The next day you have to follow their blue arrows back to the Camino and it's a very doable day from Hostal Asturias to Aldeanueva del Camino. (The owner of Hostal Asturias and elena in Carcaboso are in cahoots in some way -- she must get a kickback for everyone she sends to Hostal Asturias, because she got very aggressive with a friend who told her he was going to Oliva instead of Hostal Asturias).
Option three: Walk from Carcaboso to Arco de Caparra (19km), then take the well marked turnoff on the nice path back to Oliva de Plasencia. This avoids highway walking, which I detest. Details are here, with a very nice map drawn by Isabelle of the forum:
camino-mozarabe-and-via-de-la-plata/topic7625.html
This is the option I took, for two reasons: I do not like walking on the shoulder of the road, and second, I wanted to visit the Arco de Caparra, where there is a visitors center and lots of ruins to walk through. The timing worked out very well for me doing Isabelle's route.
Day 18 -- Oliva de Plasencia (25 km -- using Isabelle's very wise off-road route) -- there is an albergue turistico here in this town with NOTHING, absolutely nothing else. Well, there's a pharmacy that may open for an hour in the afternoon, and there is a grocery store but it only opens in the morning so you are unlikely to be able to use it. But the albergue is VERY nice, small rooms, and comfortable and clean, and the hospitalera serves an evening meal. The meal is nothing to write home about but it's edible.
Day 19 -- Banos de Montemayor (36 km) -- I was planning to stay in Aldeanueva del Camino, the albergue is fine, but it was early, so I decided to continue on Banos de Montemayor. There is another one of these Albergue Turisticos in Banos, and it's GREAT -- small rooms (3-4 people each), a very nice hospitalero, and several decent restaurants in town. If you like staying in nice hotels every now and then, there was a very nice newly opened place,
http://www.hrlospostigos.com -- the owner told me they give good piligrim prices. I just ate in their restaurant, and it was good.
Day 20 -- Fuenterroble (33 km) -- one of the emblematic albergues of the camino, with the Priest Don Blas. It's the only game in this very small town, but there are two bars and a pharmacist who comes in the afternoon, takes orders for medicines, etc, and comes back at night to bring them to all the needy pilgrims! I was suffering from very bad allergies in all parts of my body from my chest upwards so I don't have too much of a recollection of this place. But I remember that there are two or three bars, and at least one opened early.
Day 21 -- San Pedro (28 km) -- There is a small albergue here, and a casa rural right next to it. I stayed in the third option, which was a new hotel type place (rooms about 20E for pilgrims)
http://www.turismoruralviicarreras.com/ Good choice, had a decent dinner here as well.
Day 22 -- Salamanca (24 km) -- millions of options. The albergue is very nice, but pretty small (16 beds?) I stayed here an extra day and splurged on a hotel, there are tons of choices in all price ranges.
Day 23 -- Valdunciel (15 km) -- only possibility in town was the small (maybe 6 beds total) but very nice municipal albergue. Kind of looked like the house I'd expect the hobbits to live in. Keys available in the library, I liked it very much. Took a short day because I was meeting a friend in Zamora and would have arrived too early if I did Salamanca to Zamora in two stages like most people do. Good restaurant about 1/2 km away, out on the highway. And the library has very good internet.
Day 24 -- Villanueva del Campean (33 km) -- stayed in a private albergue in town, pretty nice, connected with a bar where you can eat dinner. There is a municipal albergue, also, in a small old house, but the woman who ran it was very ill and the townspeople don't know if it will open again, and if so, when.
Day 25 -- Zamora (18 km) -- this is a STUNNING albergue. Beautifully redone old building, lots of space, rooms are small with bathroom attached. I spent three days total here, because I visited San Pedro de la Nave, which is 24 km out of town, and met a friend here. We stayed in Hostal Trefacio for several nights,
http://www.hoteltrefacio.com/ , I think a double room was about 50 E.
Day 26 -- Montamarta (19 km) -- Casa Rural is Casa del Sastre. It was 25E each, a little pricey, but definitely worth it if the alternative is the albergue. Tel.: +34 650834055/ +34 637303240 . We just called a day or two ahead, the owner lives out of town but has a resident who takes care of things. Great restaurant in town, on the highway, a very nice surprise! It's the restaurante Rosamary. Another non-iceberg lettuce salad! This is a restaurant run and operated by three women, kind of unusual. A man we know who stayed in the albergue had food and clothing taken from him. The albergue is out near the highway, not right in town, so its isolation probably is a factor.
Day 27 -- Granja de Moruela (22 km) -- The albergue looked fine, but we stayed at another Casa Rural, again a little pricey (25 E each) but very nice. Casa del Tio Quico,
http://www.casadeltioquico.com/ On weekends you may find that the entire house has been rented out, but we were lucky and arrived on a Sunday. (they rent the whole house out to families/goups, but will rent individual rooms if it's open).
Day 28 -- Tabara (26 km) -- there is a lot of construction for the new high speed train the AVE, which makes the private accommodations hard to get in at times. We stayed in a room in an apt owned by the local hotel, nothing special at all but fine. There is an albergue, I walked out to it, it's about a km outside of town, it looked fine too.
Day 29 -- Santa Croya (20 km) -- Casa Anita is DEFINITELY the place to stay, it's a fabulous albergue.
Day 30 -- Rionegro (26 km) -- albergue is in an old building, recently renovated, two floors with two rooms of beds. My friend and I were the only two in the whole albergue the night we were there (we locked the door). It seemed basically clean to us, but someone later told me that he saw a rat in a drawer and had the hospitalera come and get it. Ugh. There are two bars that serve meals, fairly standard but edible. Everyone recommended to us that we eat at the bar to the left from the front door of the albergue, not the one to the right.
Day 31 -- Palacios de Sanabria (28 km) -- you won't find an albergue listed here but there is a private home that offers rooms. They are very clean but not fancy. The evening meal was pretty bad, but she was such a nice woman we didn't really care. But be careful, the wine she serves is totally un-drinkable, and I am NOT a wine snob. We had bought a bottle in the little grocery store in town just because I had a hunch, and I'm very glad I did!
Day 32 -- Puebla de Sanabria (13 km) -- we did a short day to here because we wanted to visit this very nice old town. It's quite a popular tourist place, so there are many hotels to choose from (we stayed in one and were shocked by the 120 euro bill for the room and breakfast, but live and learn). There is also a very nice albergue, you'll pass it coming into town, I'd recommend it. Albergue Casa Luz,
http://www.alberguecasaluz.es . And the owners of the albergue own a meson in town where we had an excellent meal.
Day 33 -- Requejo de Sanabria (13 km) -- if you stop here, stay in the private albergue, right on the highway. It's the Albergue Casa Cervino, tel. 980-62-05-05. The owners are a couple with two daughters, they are helpful and friendly. They will also send you to eat at Hostal Tu Casa, it's about a 20 minute walk but WELL WORTH IT. Good food, very nice people. Do not go to the dirty municipal albergue, though the hospitalera frequently tries to pull people into it. It's filthy.
Day 34 -- Lubian (20 km) -- We stayed at the Casa Pachaca,
http://www.lapachaca.turcastilla.com, email is
lapachaca@turcastill.com, tle. 980-624-127. This is a pretty little town, very pretty. The albergue and a private place, Casa Irene, are right at the entrance to town. I would recommend ignoring both of them, as we did. The albergue,on the day we arrived, had no running water. The Casa Irene, right next door, was tempting but seemed kind of dirty to me. So I continued on to Casa Pachaca, which is on the other end of town but right on the camino, and it was great. I recommend it highly. Prices were pilgrim-friendly, can't remember the exact amount.
Day 35 -- A Gudina (24 km) -- liked the albergue very much
Day 36 -- Laza (34 km) -- another great albergue-- I had an excellent meal in the meson in town, not the bar,they are right across the street from each other. But I had an excellent breakfast in the bar in town.
Day 37 -- Vilar de Barrio (20 km) -- terrific albergue.
Day 38 -- Xunqueira de Ambia (13 km) -- great albergue. There's a new restaurant in town, on the way into town from the albergue. It's run by two women and has good food and good wine.
Day 39 -- Ourense (16 km) -- great albergue. We took the little "touristic train" out to the thermal baths, (a euro and change for a 5 km ride) and it was the one time I wished I had brought a bathing suit. The baths are beautiful and free.
In between Ourense and the monastery is the very nice albergue in Cea. We stopped and had lunch there, though those who stayed there said the hygiene wasn't top notch (but by this point on the Vdlp, you'll be used to that!). There is a casa rural also, and the bar/restaurant in town (a pulperia) is terrific.
Day 40 -- Monasterio de Oseira (34 km) -- if you have an interest in old monasteries, I'd highly recommend staying in their very basic albergue. Otherwise, getting to the monastery at the time they give visits is difficult. We walked from Ourense, got there around 3:30 pm and were able to take a tour at 4 or 5. Two bars in town, one will serve sandwiches, one will serve hot meals, very basic.
Day 41 -- Laxe (29 km) -- big modern albergue, its upkeep is less than stellar but it's fine. Restaurant on the road gives overpriced but edible meals, nothing special.
Day 42 -- Punte Ulla (31 km). I stayed in the pension across the street from the Dia supermarket. There are also rooms at the restaurant right over the bridge as you enter town. I liked the people at the pension better so stayed there. The albergue is another 4 or 5 km outside of town and it's an uphill walk. By the time I got there in the afternon, I was ready to stop walking, especially because there are detours that add on kilometers from the construction of the AVE train. It's a pretty little town, and I had a very decent meal in the pension, which is right next to the gas station on the way out of town.
Day 43 -- Santiago (22 km). We stopped at the Colegiata de Sar on the way into town. Parts of what must have been a beautiful romanesque cloister are still there, just a very nice place for a stop before your last km up into town.
There are of course tons of places to stay in Santiago. My favorite is the Hotel Costa Vella, which has pretty reasonable rates if you want to stay in a private place. For a cheaper pension, I'd recomment the Pension Linares where I have stayed several times. For eating, don't miss the Bodeguilla de San Roque, it has great simple food.
So, there you have it. I don't know if you like to plan all your stages or walk by the seat of your pants, but if you have specific questions about other places, I may also have some knowledge that I could dredge up out of my brain to help you out.
Hope lots of you are planning to walk the Vdlp -- it's spectacular. Laurie
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