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Search 69,459 Camino Questions

Camino de Madrid - Tips and suggestions welcome

srogg999

New Member
Dear All,

I am planning to walk the Camino de Madrid in November. I haven't done any of the routes before. If anyone has any tips and details of places to stay along the way, a guide of where and how far each of the villages are, or directions and or suggestions as to what maps I will need, that would be greatly appreciated.

I also would like to know where the best starting place is. Any help or information would be welcomed. I've only just started my research but I'm booking flights next week to make this walk a dream! I'm walking this route as I understand it's quiet and it can be done in 14 days with a bit of effort.

Anyway, many thanks in advance for any tips and replies.

Kind regards
Sonya
 
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Hi Sonya,
I´m walking the Camino Madrid in September. For me ,starting point on the 23rd of September, is Fuencarral - northern suburb of Madrid. You come there from Madrid airport by using the underground to Metrostation Fuencarral. Near there in Calle San Cugat del Valles you will find the yellow arrows leading you all the way to Sahagun. You pass from there the cemetery of Fuencarral and very soon you are in the country site. The excellent website MUNDICAMINO will show you all,
you need to know. I´ll go and finish in Santiago around the 15th of October. Will be back home around the 17th of October. So, after settled home again I will possibly give some information about my experience.
Buen camino
McGregor
 
Hi,
Just a couple of things. When I was in Madrid during the summer (2008) I went to the office of the Asociación de amigos de los Caminos de Santiago de Madrid and purchased their guide for the Camino de Madrid.

There are a number of "official" starting places in Madrid. The Iglesia de Santiago y San Juan Bautista located in the Plaza de Santiago is one...it is beautiful and certainly worth a visit even if you choose not to begin there. It is quite close to the Catedral de la Almudena where you can visit el Cristo del Buen Camino and the Palacio Real in the old section of the city. The third site to visit is the Iglesia de Santiago el Mayor. The Way is not marked through this part of the city, but if you are interested, PM me and I can give you the exact route to arrive at the first "flecha amarilla" yellow arrow at the Plaza de Castilla. From there the route is waymarked. The distance from Madrid to Santiago is 676 km. From Fuencarral 665 km.

The Junta de Castilla y León has published a pamphlet listing the monuments, health care sites and albergues/refugios available to peregrinos. I got it at the information center in Sahagún - which isn't much good if you are beginning in Madrid!

I happened to be in Segovia during the summer visiting the cathedral and asked if there were an albergue in Segovia. I was told that there was none. This seems to be confirmed by the pamphlet but in contradiction to the guide which lists a "cierto tipo de acogida" as being available in Segovia. There are however, hostales available in many places.

The Camino de Madrid joins the Francés in Sahagún. Sonya, I'm presuming you are talking about walking from Madrid to Sahagún in 14 days - it is another 14 -16 days to Santiago.

The following is the listing of albergues and refugios from the Junta de Castilla y León:
Provincia de Segovia:
Villeguillo - 10 places

Provincia de Valladolid:
Alcazarén - 4 camas
Puenteduero - 8 camas
Ciguñuela - 16 camas
Peñaflor de Hornija - floor of the polideportivo - showers but no hot water
La Santa Espina - mattresses on the floor
Castromonte - 20 camas
Valverde de Campos - mattresses on the floor - no showers nor hot water
Medina de Rioseco - 16 camas
Cuenca de Campos - 30 camas
Villalón de Campos - 28 camas
Santervás de Campos - floor - no showers nor hot water
Melgar de Arriba - 5 camas

Provincia de León:
Sahagún - Refugio Municipal "La Trinidad" , Albergue privado "Viatoris", Refugio Hermanas Benedictinas

Buen Camino,
 
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Hello Dierdre and all and thanks for the little discussion here about starting points and churches. We hope to be leaving for Madrid on or about the 3rd of October and will have the weekend to see the Iglesia de Santiago and the one with the Christ of the Camino. Monday the 6th will be our start day. We thought it was a bit much with 34 km the first day so we will try Tres Cantos and not Colmenar Viejo. We are using the excellent guide book (the little blue one) bought online from the Confraternity bookshop for the princely sum of four pounds! We have used these books before, and found them to be reasonably accurate, updated regularly, waterproof and light :D
Hope this is a help Sonja. Deirdre thanks for the list of refugios from the Junta. That will come in handy.

Best,

Kevin and Kari
 
Hi Kevin & Kari,

I"d be most interested in your thoughts and experiences on the Camino de Madrid when you have completed it - if you think of it. I spend alot of time in Madrid and would like to walk it - I was a bit cautious about the summer heat, though. I was also concerned about the lack of infrastructure - am I getting too comfortable with the availability of "services" on the Francés? Javier Martin would be a good person to jump in here - he knows quite a bit about the Camino de Madrid, I believe.

Buen Camino,
 
Okay Deirdre, we will try to send an account to all after arrival at Santiago and/or Finisterre depending on how much time we use. Javier has been a big help with info and encouragement. We will hopefully be meeting him in Madrid.

Best,

Kevin
 
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Wonderful! Thank you! I hope you get to meet Javier - we met when I was in Madrid during the summer and enjoyed a great evening chatting about all things Camino!
Buen camino,
 
I'm sorry, too many messages waiting for me in my email, so usually I read it a bit late. But Sonia sent me a private one, so I could answer her quickler.

Deirdre, was nice to meet you in Madrid this summer.

About the Deirdre's mail, there's an special albergue in this list, the albergue in PuenteDuero, very close to Valladolid. Special and usually very well attended.

And, from Villalón the Campos to Sahagun I had to walk 40 km. Not a problem for me, but when you arrive in Sahagún it's possible that hot water is finished, a lot of pilgrims ... If you can sleep in Melgar, may be a better option. When I walked this Camino there was much less albergues than now!!

Buen Camino, enjoy it.

Javier Martin
Madrid, Spain.
 
Kevin and Cari,

I would suggest to continue to Colmenar Viejo. Tres Cantos don't have accomodation for pilgrims, may be any hotels, which commercial offer is made for people who come to Tres Cantos for working several days, not for pilgrims. And of course much expensive than a pension.

This distance is not difficult to walk, beginning in the Plaza de Castilla (first yellow arrow in front the "Rodilla" Restaurant) and you can find an hostal run by a woman who walked the Camino several years ago. Hostal Chaveli, tfno 626882237

Hope this information is useful for you

Buen Camino,

Javier Martin
Madrid, Spain.
 
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Thanks once again Javier. We are still juggling plane departure dates with work/holiday dates. Thanks for the tips about Ponte Duero and Colmenar. Perhaps we will get a chance to meet in Madrid?

Best,

Kevin and Kari
 
Perhaps we will get a chance to meet in Madrid? (Kevin)

It would be great!! The problem is that now I'm not sure if I'll be in Madrid during this weekend. But, the other option could be to meet you on monday in Tres Cantos or Colmenar, depending on where you finish your first walking day.

We are in touch to see how can we meet.

Buen Camino,

Javier Martin
Madrid, Spain.
 
At the tail end you don´t have to go via Melgar and Duenas, you can hook a right and go to Villada, which has a big and almost unused pilgrim hostel. I´m not sure just why the junta has cut them, and the fabulous castle town of Grajal, out of the Camino Madrid "action!"

I would love to meet up with any of the Camino Madrid people who make it to Sahagun... I live only a few km. away and I´m intrigued by this pathway. (We´ve walked and/or driven parts of it on our many wanderings about the place.) Free dinner and bed for whichever hearty souls make the trip!

Rebekah
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
I do remember Grajal de Campos. I nice place where to rest only 5 km. from Sahagun (is possible to see it on the distance).

It's the last "quiet" place to visit before arriving in the Camino Frances.

Buen Camino de Madrid,

Javier Martin
Madrid, Spain.
 
Deirdre said:
...

Peñaflor de Hornija - floor of the polideportivo - showers but no hot water

...

When I slept in Peñaflor de Hornija the Polideportivo had hot water, about three years ago.

I'm sure because during the winter on the meseta it's impossible to take a shower without.

Buen Camino,

Javier Martin
Madrid, Spain.
 
Dear All,

Thank you very much for all your advice and tips. Apologies for the delay in replying - I've been busy considering, planning and doing this in my limited spare time! I have since surfed all the websites and worked out a proposed plan (and a thousand back-up options just in case). All your advice and suggestions have been very helpful. The website http://www.mundicamino.com/ has been a 'God'-send, together with a few public blogs (Caroline's in particular). I have to say that when I first visited the mundicamino website, I didn't realise there was an English option but thankfully I discovered that on a second visit. A lot of hard work has gone into that website and the contributors should be thanked.

I am leaving on my camino in 2.5 weeks. I am very much looking forward to the journey but am also a little cautious (and nervous) as to what the whole physical, emotional and spiritual journey will entaill. I am walking to Sahgun from Colmenar Viejo and then catching a bus from Sahgun to Sarria to qualify for the Compostella (as I don't have enough time to walk the whole pilgrimage).

The only remaining questions I have which have arisen from your postings and my own research are as follows and I would appreciate your advice if you have any:

1) Javier mentioned in an earlier post that the only point not "perfectly" marked is the pass of La Fuenfria. Can you please explain further? I plan to walk from Cercedilla to Segovia in a day (as we all know, one has no choice), and this requires heading north from Cercedilla to La Fuenfria. I assume the path out of Cercedilla is easy to find? Any tips and handy hits would be appreciated.

2) Can anyone describe in further detail what the weather conditions could be like walking the camino in the first two weeks of November? I'm particularly interested in the strip from Colmenar Viejo to Segovia and including how cold (and wet) it could be in the Sierra de Guadarrama.

Many thanks in advance for all your help.

Kind regards
Sonya
 
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srogg999 said:
1) Javier mentioned in an earlier post that the only point not "perfectly" marked is the pass of La Fuenfria. Can you please explain further? I plan to walk from Cercedilla to Segovia in a day (as we all know, one has no choice), and this requires heading north from Cercedilla to La Fuenfria. I assume the path out of Cercedilla is easy to find? Any tips and handy hits would be appreciated.

The only problem is that this mountain has a lot of circles painted to mark different routes different than Camino de Santiago. I had problems (several years ago) to find all arrows.

But you have to climb to La Fuenfria by the Calzada Romana. This is the only difficult part of the etapa. After that it's easy to walk down to Segovia.

When the forest finish, you can see at your left the Cathedral of Segovia, 5 km. left.

srogg999 said:
2) Can anyone describe in further detail what the weather conditions could be like walking the camino in the first two weeks of November? I'm particularly interested in the strip from Colmenar Viejo to Segovia and including how cold (and wet) it could be in the Sierra de Guadarrama.

Weather will be cold, may be with rain, and may be misty (with niebla). There's no towns during all the etapa, so you have to buy the day before your own lunch. It will take you about 7-8 hours.

Ask what you need, I will try to help you if possible.

Buen Camino,

Javier Martin
Madrid, Spain
 

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