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Best time to Start Walking the Mozárabe in Springtime?

lindam

Active Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Fr, VDLP, Invierno, Port, Madrid, Ingles, Aragones
Hello All,
Doing a bit of future planning here. In the midst of sorting details for the Cami Sant Jaume which I plan to walk this fall (starting in Llançà) and arranging some non-Camino travel this spring, I am thinking ahead to the spring of 2021. At that time I would like very much to walk the Mozárabe route starting in Almeria. While I do not do very well in the heat (i.e, temperatures of more than 30 degrees C.), I have no problems with cool/cold mornings and nights. I also know that I want to avoid the spring melt/run-off from the mountains in the early stages of this Camino. Given those two points to consider, when would it be best to begin walking this route?




https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/forums/camino-mozárabe.101/post-thread
 
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Hello All,
Doing a bit of future planning here. In the midst of sorting details for the Cami Sant Jaume which I plan to walk this fall (starting in Llançà) and arranging some non-Camino travel this spring, I am thinking ahead to the spring of 2021. At that time I would like very much to walk the Mozárabe route starting in Almeria. While I do not do very well in the heat (i.e, temperatures of more than 30 degrees C.), I have no problems with cool/cold mornings and nights. I also know that I want to avoid the spring melt/run-off from the mountains in the early stages of this Camino. Given those two points to consider, when would it be best to begin walking this route?




https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/forums/camino-mozárabe.101/post-thread

Hi, Linda,
There's a bunch of people who have started at different times, so I will give you my experience, and I'm sure others will chime in with theirs.

I started from Almeria on April 13. A group of us gathered there and started off together and wound up spreading out along the camino. We were exceptionally lucky because the association folks told us that it had done nothng but rain continuously from January through a day or two before we arrived. So miraculously we had virtually no rain. The rain had done a number on the fields, however, and we were treated to the most spectacular wild flower display I have ever seen. So maybe you will be lucky. My southern departure towns include Sevilla, Almeria, Valencia, the delta del Ebro and I think that's it. All of them have had start dates between mid april and very early May. No extreme heat that I can remember, and I was always lucky to have escaped the rains.

I think you'll love the Mozarabe, but oh so different than the Catalan! Laurie
 
Thank you, Laurie, for your suggestion regarding timing. It will be interesting to compare your response to suggestions made by others (assuming that I receive additional replies). I don't mind a bit of rain, but certainly would not like to have been on the Camino anywhere in Spain this past week. You've likely read about the historic storm we had here. Repairs to the rail network, roads, bridges, farmers' fields, etc. will be continuing for some time to come!
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
I want to avoid the spring melt/run-off from the mountains in the early stages of this Camino.
I was among the April 2018 walkers. Although the camino followed river beds tediously for days in the early stages, they were completely dry and mostly showed no signs of recent water. I would certainly recommend early- to mid-April as a starting time for this route.
 
I started ln March 17 last year. No more than a trickle in the river beds. Run off from the snow is not a problem. The occasional torrential rains can be. It was cool or cold at night with temps just below zero at the higher altitudes. Very pleasant during the day 15 to 20 degrees. The hostels were quite cold inside.
 
With my daughters I started from Almeria in the last week of April last year. No rain, riverbeds dry. Heat no problem. perfect walking weather. Finished in Granada to be taken up again next September. If you want to visit the Alhambra book as soon as you can - you may be too late already! And if you want to visit the underground refuge system of the civil war and ww2 in Almeria book ahead too. We thought we could just queue at the gate and found the visit was booked up days before.

Buen camino!
 
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With my daughters I started from Almeria in the last week of April last year. No rain, riverbeds dry. Heat no problem. perfect walking weather. Finished in Granada to be taken up again next September. If you want to visit the Alhambra book as soon as you can - you may be too late already! And if you want to visit the underground refuge system of the civil war and ww2 in Almeria book ahead too. We thought we could just queue at the gate and found the visit was booked up days before.

Buen camino!
En
 
We started 25 september, no rain at all. Hilly but beautifull. We met 1 peregrino in 3 weeks.
 
Hi, you should also consider the Holy Week calibrations, and think about making bookings, accommodation can get a little scarce, particularly in smaller towns.
Regards
George
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
Hi, you should also consider the Holy Week calibrations, and think about making bookings, accommodation can get a little scarce, particularly in smaller towns.
Regards
George
Absolutely, I am well aware of that having experienced it last spring for the first time! Thanks, George.g.
 
Hi, you should also consider the Holy Week calibrations, and think about making bookings, accommodation can get a little scarce, particularly in smaller towns.
It can be a struggle to find a place to stay in Granada and Cordoba during Holy Week, since they fill up with tourists and they have no dedicated pilgrim facilities.
 
In 2016 I started early April and walked the Mozarabe from Almeria to Merida. I had excellent weather most of the time although it was cold in the mountains between Almeria and Granada. I met no other pilgrim hikers before the last week, but I think things have changed since and there are more people out there. No issues with Holy Week because that was end of March.
 
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€83,-
It can be a struggle to find a place to stay in Granada and Cordoba during Holy Week, since they fill up with tourists and they have no dedicated pilgrim facilities.
Some members of the Mozárabe “mob” from 2018 also had problems in Córdoba in early May. I arrived a day or two before the “Patios de Córdoba” started up, but I know that a few who arrived a couple of days later had some problems. None slept on the streets, however. :)
 
Some members of the Mozárabe “mob” from 2018 also had problems in Córdoba in early May. I arrived a day or two before the “Patios de Córdoba” started up, but I know that a few who arrived a couple of days later had some problems. None slept on the streets, however. :)
Yes, I paid about €40 for a bed in a 4-person room in Cordoba. Later in May, Caceres was full up for a music festival. Another time, budget rooms in Merida were scarce due to a marathon. There are many events in the spring that can push up the scarcity and price of rooms. Just be aware of this when you anticipate arriving in these attractive "destination" cities. On the positive side, you will get to enjoy whatever event is happening!
 
Another time, budget rooms in Merida were scarce due to a marathon.
I think Merida's albergue is limited to pilgrims, and does not take reservations - so that should be an option when budget rooms are scarce. I have heard mixed reports about the albergue, but that's another story.
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
The albergue in Merida is fine, a little limited in facilities perhaps, stayed there a couple of times, as recent as last year, and plan to stay there again this year.
Regards
George.
 
The albergue in Merida is fine
I get the impression that it varies based on the hospitaleros/as who are there at any given time. I guess that's true of any albergue where staff and volunteers rotate in and out, but now we're off topic, which was not my intention.
 

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Hello fellow pilgrims. I will start walking the Camino Mozárabe from Almería on 5th April 2024 and just wonder whether there is anybody else there around that date with the same objective?

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