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Branching from Frances to Primitivo?

Tori996

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Planned for 2016: Camino Frances, with a planned detour via San Salvador and Primitivo in
Hello all!

I'm planning my first Camino for May 2016, and am having a bit of a debate as to what route I should take.
I am planning on walking from SJPDP along the Frances route for most of the way, but I'm wondering if it's realistic to branch away from the Frances at Leon, walk the Salvador, then walk to SDC along the primitivo route.

Do any of you have any experiences with this? Would this be significantly longer or harder than just continuing the Frances the whole way? If I were to do the Primitivo, is the terrain doable without hiking poles?

I'm a 20year old female travelling with a friend, both of us are in relatively good shape.

Thanks! :)
 
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@Tori996 That is a very enjoyable route. There is plenty of information about the terrain & challenges here on the Forum. See the Salvador & Primitivo sections. You may find that by Leon you are fancying the relative tranquility of these routes.

I walked it in 2014. I don't use hiking poles. I'm a 60+ male in typical shape ;)
 
Hello, Tori996.
...branching off along the San Salvador and El Primitivo caminos will add scenic beauty and a good physical challenge to your pilgrimage. I found hiking poles useful when sloshing through mud on El Primitivo.

Cheers
Lovingkindness
 
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Hello all!

I'm planning my first Camino for May 2016, and am having a bit of a debate as to what route I should take.
I am planning on walking from SJPDP along the Frances route for most of the way, but I'm wondering if it's realistic to branch away from the Frances at Leon, walk the Salvador, then walk to SDC along the primitivo route.

Do any of you have any experiences with this? Would this be significantly longer or harder than just continuing the Frances the whole way? If I were to do the Primitivo, is the terrain doable without hiking poles?

I'm a 20year old female travelling with a friend, both of us are in relatively good shape.

Thanks! :)

Tori996:

If you do switch to the Salvador/Primitivo, the primary difference will be the amount of Pilgrims you encounter. The Salvador is sparsely traveled, while the Primitivo is lightly populated in relation to the Frances.

Should you switch, stop at the Albergue in Leon and pick up a separate credential for the Salvador. You can also obtain a Salvador certificate at the Cathedral in Oviedo. The Salvador has less accommodation than other routes but adequate for volume of Pilgrims. I suggest, like Tincatinker recommended, you review posts on that Camino for information on food and Albergues on that route. A beautiful Camino.

The Primitivo is hilly and rural, imo. It has beautiful mountain views to the South, less traffic than the Frances and can be challenging, especially in wet weather.

The Primitivo is an 11-14 day walk and the Salvador 4-6 days. Leon is just past the midpoint on the Frances about a 14-17 day walk. Therefore, they will equate to a similar arrival date in Santiago.

Ultreya,
Joe
 
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Getting a new credential is a great idea if you want to have a separate log of your Caminos, but if pressed for time it's not strictly necessary...no one cared that mine went from Camino to Camino...the only time I noticed any even small scrutiny was at the pilgrims office, and then only over the stops from my last 100 km. he didn't even blink at the fact that my many credentials covered several months/routes. Probably pretty common.

Buen Camino!
 
Hello everyone,
Thanks for the super quick and super helpful replies!

I think I am leaning towards the detour... I would love to get some quiet reflection time. That being said, would I be missing any amazing sites along the CF route? I'm interested both in nature vistas and historical towns.

As of right now I am fairly flexible in the amount of days I can stay, I am thinking maybe 40-43 days (including rest days and buffer between flights), so I am really glad to hear that the alternate route isn't much longer than the CF!
 
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Getting a new credential is a great idea if you want to have a separate log of your Caminos, but if pressed for time it's not strictly necessary...no one cared that mine went from Camino to Camino...the only time I noticed any even small scrutiny was at the pilgrims office, and then only over the stops from my last 100 km. he didn't even blink at the fact that my many credentials covered several months/routes. Probably pretty common.

Buen Camino!
It's not a question of having separate credenciales for different Caminos, it's about getting the credencial specially designed for the Salvador. It very pretty, and shows the route. It is also only for that route, with just enough spaces for the typical 5 or 6 days it takes. It would not work for the Primitivo.
 
Hello everyone,
Thanks for the super quick and super helpful replies!

I think I am leaning towards the detour... I would love to get some quiet reflection time. That being said, would I be missing any amazing sites along the CF route? I'm interested both in nature vistas and historical towns.

As of right now I am fairly flexible in the amount of days I can stay, I am thinking maybe 40-43 days (including rest days and buffer between flights), so I am really glad to hear that the alternate route isn't much longer than the CF!
I think what you are proposing is ideal. You get the best of the CF in my opinion and add to it vistas galore! On the primitivo you will have Oviedo which is pretty, Lugo and its wall, roman ruins in Castro, a dam and all the ruins of what was built to constructed (appently considered as national monument of some sort), Sta Eulalia de Boveda. You will miss Astorga and Gaudi's palace, true but the Primitivo is superb and I hear the Salvador is even more beautiful.
 
It's not a question of having separate credenciales for different Caminos, it's about getting the credencial specially designed for the Salvador. It very pretty, and shows the route. It is also only for that route, with just enough spaces for the typical 5 or 6 days it takes. It would not work for the Primitivo.
Wow...any other routes have their very own credential (she asked, wondering what else she missed out on...)
 
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Wow...any other routes have their very own credential (she asked, wondering what else she missed out on...)
Not that I know of. It also has its own version of the Compostela; you pick it up at the Oviedo Cathedral. Look at www.caminosansalvador.es and you'll find a poor sketch of the credencial and Salvadorana. The site says you pick it up at the albergue, not the cathedral.
 
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Not that I know of. It also has its own version of the Compostela; you pick it up at the Oviedo Cathedral. Look at www.caminosansalvador.es and you'll find a poor sketch of the credencial and Salvadorana. The site says you pick it up at the albergue, not the cathedral.

You can get the compostela at both the albergue and cathedral.
 
I got mine at the Cathedral. It is beautiful - and included a free tour of the Cathedral, which was very interesting.

I loved the Salvador and Primitivo but, then again, I had walked the Frances twice. See how you feel in Leon. You may not want to interrupt your Camino Frances. That is one of the wonderful things about the camino.......plans change!

buen camino
 
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The walk along the Francés after León also has its charms. I love the section from Astorga up to the Cruz de Ferro and down to Molinasecca, the castle at Pontferrada, and the walk from Villafranca up to Cebreiro.

I'd say that whatever you decide you can't go wrong.
 
I believe that if using the special credencial for the Salvador you can ask for both credenciales to be stamped so that you still have a complete record for Santiago.
 
In a sense you don't have to decide now - at worst, you might buy a copy of the Northern Caminos guide book just to see what the Primitivo looks like - you can always throw the copy pages away if you decide to stay on the Camino Frances

You might prefer to continue with the Frances after Leon if you have already made new friends along the way - or you might be ready to escape the hordes and join the very few walking the Primitivo
 
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Hello everyone,
Thanks for the super quick and super helpful replies!

I think I am leaning towards the detour... I would love to get some quiet reflection time. That being said, would I be missing any amazing sites along the CF route? I'm interested both in nature vistas and historical towns.

As of right now I am fairly flexible in the amount of days I can stay, I am thinking maybe 40-43 days (including rest days and buffer between flights), so I am really glad to hear that the alternate route isn't much longer than the CF!


Tori996:

The one potential difficulty in jumping to the Salvador/Primitivo will be leaving your Camino family. That said, you will intersect the Frances again in Arzua. Either route, as I indicated previously, will take about the same amount of time from Leon.

Ultreya,
Joe
 
About your question about hiking poles on the Primitivo. You should explain before if you use 2 hiking poles to make easier your walking or you use 1 pole to equilibrate . In the second case I would say yes because the Primitivo can be muddy and there are also a few steep descents. Furthermore, 1 pole is always useful to set a barrier in front a loose cow or dog.
 
Based on excellent advice (I think it was from Tia Valeria) I took poles (mine were z-poles that folded up into a pack pocket)--super useful on muddy roads and to remind cars and bikes that running me down might mess up their paint job. I didn't use them for up or down climbing, and couldn't bring myself to brandish them at dogs...

As for missing things past Leon: one of my zig-zags was to get from Oviedo to Leon bc I wanted to see Leon (ah the stained glass), Astorga (this was after all my very Gaudi Camino), The Cowboy bar (trading war stories w the bar tender) in Ganso, one of my favorite albergues (and unique towns) Foncebadon, the Cruz de ferro (hey, I saw The Way too), and ponferrada (Templar castle and N. Sra. del Encino were the original draws, but Mass at Santo Tomas de Ollas was the highlight of that day for me)...you could walk that far and then take the bus back to Leon if you wanted...
 
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Awesome advice everyone!
I think I'm going to budget enough time for the detour. If I decide to walk the entire Frances and end up with some extra days at the end I might either stay in Santiago or walk to Finisterre.

This was my first experience on the forum and I'm so amazed at how friendly and helpful everyone was, guess I should've expected that from such a group! :)
 
Found an older post from @peregrina2000 last night about her San Salvador walk. In it she has a link to the friends of the Asturian Caminos, www.caminosantiagoastur.com and while simple it has two fantastic peics of info: little sketched maps of the route, with all the albergues you can find plotted in the sketch and then a second sketch showing elevations. I find this to be precious information for those of us who are not 30k/day walkers as it shows the San Salvador CAN be walked even by us! There basically is a bed every 10-15km or so!

So many Caminos , so little time...
 
Awesome advice everyone!
I think I'm going to budget enough time for the detour. If I decide to walk the entire Frances and end up with some extra days at the end I might either stay in Santiago or walk to Finisterre.

This was my first experience on the forum and I'm so amazed at how friendly and helpful everyone was, guess I should've expected that from such a group! :)
What did you end up doing?
 
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What did you end up doing?
A hint about responding on an old thread (e.g. this one which was last active in 2015)...

If you hover your mouse over the member's profile picture, or click on it, you can see when they joined the forum and when they were last seen (i.e. logged in). @Tori996 was last seen on April 26, 2016.
 

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