Camino de Invierno in January (from 01/12 to 01/22)

[chinasky]

Hi everyone,
as i wrote in another post, i'm planning to walk el camino de invierno next january, in memory of a friend that passed away last saturday and that was not able to realize her dream to walk the camino. Her brother ask me to dedicate her my next camino and i thought to do it as soon as possible.
After all the caminos walked in the past, i decided to try this camino because i've loved the camino sanabres and i would like to go to find my italian friends that run the albergue in Silleda.
I think that i won't be alone thanks to a camino friend from Malta that will probably join me in Ponferrada.

If you have any suggestions/hints/recomendations, please, write me a line.

Cheers!

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, chinasky,
I think that your idea is a wonderful way to remember your friend. I walked this past summer in memory of my mom, and solitary caminos offer lots of opportunities for thinking and remembering.

I don't know if you have seen the forum guide on the Invierno. It's a pretty complete little booklet, put together by a lot of forum members who have walked in the last few years. https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...e-to-the-camino-de-invierno-2016-edition.442/

I will be starting a 2017 revision in January, and would be delighted to get your updates.

I hope this is a very good camino for you, Buen camino, Laurie

 

[Rebekah Scott]

The Invierno is the most misnamed of all the caminos, IMHO. Be prepared for lots of MUD!

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Will albergues even be open? Someone mentioned recently in another thread they would not be and Eroski, which makes it super easy to see dates albergues are open, doens'thave info for the Invierno.

 

[Kanga]

Gronze has the information about albergues and other accommodation, including the months they are open. Click on the individual stages and then the specific accommodation. Indeed, many seem to be closed in January.

 

[peregrina2000]

I am pretty sure Asun's place in A Rua will be open, but you should call ahead. For the other towns, I've always stayed in either hoteles or pensiones, which would likely be open. That's one good thing about walking a camino with no pilgrims! There is a youth hostel in Quiroga (which says it's open all year), but there is a very decent pension down the block. When you hit the Sanabres, both Laxe and Outeiro will be open, I assume, as they are municipal. Which places are you guys seeing that are closed?

Buen camino, Laurie

 

[chinasky]

Hi, chinasky,

Thanks a lot, i've downloaded and printed the pdf and i'll study it.

Be prepared for lots of MUD!

Thanks for the advice, during my VDLP/Sanabres i literally walked in the MUD for days and days, so i know what to expect.

Will albergues even be open?

Once i'll have fixed the dates and the stages i'll write to the accomodations in order to find out which will be open.

Thanks all!

 

[chinasky]

I am pretty sure Asun's place in A Rua will be open, but you should call ahead.

Do you have any email address of Asun? I would like to write her as soon as possible.

 

[peregrina2000]

Do you have any email address of Asun? I would like to write her as soon as possible.

Hi, chinasky,
I would write to her at the association's email address, listed on their web page:

http://caminodeinvierno.es

asociacionvaldeorras@gmail.com

Asun is the president of the association, and the Casa da Solaina mentioned on that page (the albergue) is her home, so I am going to bet she will get the email.

 

[chinasky]

Hi, chinasky,
I would write to her at the association's email address, listed on their web page:

Thanks, i wrote them yestarday in english, hoping they would understand it, otherwise i'll try to write in spanish next week.
I've studied a little more the stages and i'm pretty sure i'll always find a solution for sleeping, so i'm not worried about this problem, i'm just a little worried about the weather and the temperature 'cause this will be my first winter camino and i hope to be ready for it.

 

[chinasky]

This is the first draft of my plan, with the daily destination and accomodations, written (also) after reading the pdf.

20/01 - Puente de Domingo Flórez: Hostal la torre
21/01- A Rúa: Albergue Solaina
22/01 - Quiroga: Albergue municipal
23/01 - Monforte: Hostal/Pension ?
24/01 - Chantada: Pension Yoel
25/01 - Rodeiro:Hostal/Pension ?
26/01 - A Laxe: Albergue municipal
27/01 - Dornelas: Casa Leiras
28/01 - Santiago

Any comment/suggestion?

 

[peregrina2000]

This is the first draft of my plan, with the daily destination and accomodations, written (also) after reading the pdf.

20/01 - Puente de Domingo Flórez: Hostal la torre
21/01- A Rúa: Albergue Solaina
22/01 - Quiroga: Albergue municipal
23/01 - Monforte: Hostal/Pension ?
24/01 - Chantada: Pension Yoel
25/01 - Rodeiro:Hostal/Pension ?
26/01 - A Laxe: Albergue municipal
27/01 - Dornelas: Casa Leiras
28/01 - Santiago

Any comment/suggestion?

Looks good to me. I think most people stop on day one at As Medulas to allow a visit -- there is a good little museum, and the walks over and around and up allow for some pretty fantastic views. You can also pay a couple of euros to walk through one of the canals used to blow out the mountain and disgorge the gold. Sunset time is beautiful, at least if it's sunny.

But if you are pressed for time, or uninterested in this place (it is a World Heritage UNESCO site, fyi), the remaining kms on to Puente de Domingo Florez from As Medulas are mainly downhill and not difficult.

For a splurge in Monforte, the parador is up on the hill in an old monastery. There are pensiones as well, right near the Roman bridge is the go-to pilgrim place.

In Rodeiro I have always stayed at Guerra, right on the main road, connected with the bar/restaurant of the same name. Good food there, too. People who have stayed up the hill in the other pension have liked it as well, though.

I am not a huge fan of the albergue in Laxe and prefer to stay in the town of Lalin, which has some good places to eat and some decent pensiones. Even 2** hotel with a very good pilgrim deal. I know some peregrinos who stayed in the albergue in early spring and said there was no heat (and they had a very cold night even with their sleeping bag), but I don't know if the albergue is heated in the winter.

Hope the weather holds for you -- this is such a beautiful camino.

 

[chinasky]

Looks good to me.

Thanks for all the suggestions, i'll add them to the notebook i'm starting right now and that will be my camino companion ...

 

[chinasky]

In the last days i've worked on stages of my Camino de Invierno and i've built a googlemaps joining the different tracks found on line. It's accessibile here, hope it could help other pilgrims:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=13vpRmm_2viHPkT8QoHt2Pm449lY&usp=sharing