• ⚠️ Emergency contact in Spain - Dial 112 and AlertCops app. More on this here.
  • Remove ads on the forum by becoming a donating member. More here.

Search 74,075 Camino Questions

Camino de Madrid Trip Report - March 2023

Dave

Veteran Member
Time of past OR future Camino
First: Camino Francés 2002; most recent: Norte/Primitivo 2019
I’m sitting at the Sahagún train station, waiting on my lift to Valladolid, having just completed the Camino de Madrid. (OK, flight delays cost me Madrid-Tres Cantos, so technically the walk was Tres Cantos to Sahagún. Someday I’ll fill in that gap.)

I only had the spring break week to make the pilgrimage, so it was a whirlwind affair, but I loved it, and found myself frequently wondering what had taken me so long to follow this Camino. It was certainly a joy, though, to get to experience it for the first time now.

I’m a planner and a detail-minded person, but even still, my walking in recent years—mostly guidebook-oriented or leading high schoolers—has been so consumed with tracking specifics that I decided to come into this almost entirely blind. Given the limited accommodation options this time of year, and the need to go a certain daily distance plus the desire to not go far beyond that, I established a daily schedule. Sometimes, when wifi was available at day’s end, I checked whether a store would be in my next day’s final destination, or a kitchen at the albergue. Otherwise, though, I took everything as it came. I just walked and walked, unbothered.

It's difficult to exaggerate my good fortune. Never once did it rain. Only a single day was even overcast. The temperature never broke 20/70. I always had sufficient fuel to proceed without hunger. I didn’t encounter a single pilgrim—a loss in many regards, but the solitude served my purposes for this walk. The greatest suffering I endured was a few days where the first café con leche didn’t come until 25-30km in, but that only served to make the remainder of the walk fly past.

The first day’s walk, from Tres Cantos to Manzanares El Real, while pilgrim-free, was filled with Madrileños enjoying a sunny spring Saturday. Packs of bicyclists sped past, returning (I suspect) to the capital. Families picnicked. Small groups of children walked with patient leaders. I saw bunnies bounding back and forth and storks swooping overhead. The church in Colmenar Viejo proved to be a rarity on this walk—open and even with a sello available—and I arrived just as a walking group surged in. After a stony descent, I enjoyed the sparkling lake beneath Manzanares and the majestic castle above it. The first of many to come.

While I had avoided reading much about the route, I knew two things about my second day. First, it would lead me to Segovia, which I once visited 20 years ago, and that was thrilling enough. Second, it included practically all of the noteworthy elevation gain and loss of the entire Camino de Madrid. That was exhilarating. Coming off my first sleep following a trans-Atlantic flight, and grappling with the time conversion in the wake of that morning’s conclusion of Spain’s daylight savings period, I was renewed if a little groggy, and not fully prepared for darkness to reign until nearly 8am. The route to Cercedilla was pleasant walking on the fringe of foothills, boulders all around, and even included a mid-stage opportunity for coffee and tortilla. The bartender asked me if I had come to ski, complete with a “swoosh-swoosh” gesture. My confusion was only resolved in Cercedilla, when I discovered a museum of skiing.

I confess that, several kilometers from town, I was mildly disappointed. The route followed a minor road, climbing steadily into the mountains, and while the scenery was lovely, and I reckoned that my jet-lagged body should be grateful for the least strenuous gain of 500m of elevation possible, I was saddened to think that the full extent of this lone mountainous stretch would be road-bound. However, the route quickly disabused me of such notions, veering onto a rocky footpath climbing ever higher. At one point, I reached a wide stone bridge, jarring for its man-made imposition on this rugged terrain, and a reminder that today’s nature trail was yesterday’s highway. Not long after, I finally crested the top, and while I wasn’t rewarded with a memorable vista, I was still satisfied. The descent, first through the trees and then later offering a splendid view of the green valley below, was a delight, and easy walking to boot.

Segovia on a Sunday afternoon was a stunning contrast to the quiet march through the mountains, filled with crowds and even marching bands. I remembered the aqueduct as a defining feature, but even still I wasn’t prepared for that dramatic encounter in the town center. The albergue is further down the Camino, so I decided to stay in a hotel in the central plaza, across from the cathedral. Room prices in March are awesome.

On my third day, I braced for flat, agricultural monotony, but encountered nothing of the sort. First, in March, everything is a luminous, rich, spectacular green. The land sparkles, it teems with life. And in this stretch from Segovia, while certainly not mountainous, neither is the land flat. It rolls languidly away from the city. And on the way, it is interrupted by pine groves, through which run sandy trails. I had never seen the harvesting of pine resin in the fashion done here, with lines hacked into the base of the trunk at different points and buckets positioned below. A mid-day stopping point, Santa María la Real de Nieva, stunned me, as the cloisters are on par with any I’ve ever seen—the sculpted capitals are on par with Moissac’s. I was so happy to be walking through such beautiful country that when I arrived in Nava de la Asunción, my anticipated destination, my body told me I was not yet done. I bought some snacks at Lupa, a supermarket handily situated on the route, plopped down in the parking lot to dispose of them, and then pushed onto Coca.

I laughed out loud when I arrived. To be clear, I believed there was an albergue there, but I didn’t know for sure—such was my limited preparation. I travel with a burner smartphone, but it only works on wifi, so I was just optimistic things would work out. I didn’t know what was waiting for me in Coca. As it turns out, a spectacular, dramatic castle was waiting, with elegant stonework lining its crenellations. If I had passed through early the next morning, following the Camino around the village, would I have even noticed? Instead, I had to scrape my jaw off the ground and—eventually—march onward in search of accommodation. I found my way to the biblioteca, where the very helpful librarian confirmed there was an albergue, provided me with a map to reach it, and also directed me to a place where I could retrieve the keys. Alone in the albergue that night, preparing dinner in the kitchen, I marveled at the good fortune that had brought me there. I marveled, too, at how this Camino offered another reminder of what my body is capable of, for at this point, three days in, I had already completed what would be the two longest and hardest stages of this short walk, and I felt healthy and content.

That was a good thing, because day four began with 24km of nearly-uninhabited country en route to Alcazarén. After a quick coffee, I headed over to the grocery store for a quick visit that became a long one. It was “by your own lunch day” at the preschool, so a pack of adorable tots were determinedly (and adorably) counting out their centimos at the counter, while a line of local adults waited behind, cheering them on. I had to join them, of course. Once finished, I flopped down behind the ruined Iglesia de San Pedro, took off my shoes, and started working my way through a four-pack of yogurt. Between cartons #2 and #3, I applied a bandaid to a problematic pinky toe that was showing early signs of chafing. As I did so, a woman walked by and wished me good appetite and successful medical care. I might not have seen any pilgrims, but locals were consistent cheerful enough to see me.

Another long, open stretch remained, en route to Valdestillas—a long road that thinks it’s a town. That’s unfair, but it was still a prolonged bit of exposed walking to my hotel for the night on the far, far side. The amazing thing, though, was that a Spaniard approached me later that night for directions in town, and I was able to provide them. And they were even accurate!

Day five opened up with the least pleasant stretch of walking to that point, on a track alongside a rural highway to Puente Duero, and then a good bit of pavement onward to Simancas. It’s worth noting that I was impressed time and again by just how much of the Camino de Madrid is offroad. It might be the highest percentage of any Camino I’ve done. While that wasn’t true this morning, that was offset by the fact that I was able to get coffee 9km in and then 6km later. Plus, each of the first two towns had impressive medieval bridges, and the latter even had a castle.

There was a rhythm to this day. Puente Duero was low and tucked away. Simancas towered above. Once beyond that town, the emerald carpet rippled forth around me, but in the distance I could see the steeple that promised Ciguñuela. But then Wamba was like Puente Duero, hidden out of site until just before arrival. Climbing back out, I saw a lump in the distances. Was it a rock pile 500m ahead, or a hill town 5km further? I couldn’t say. And is that difference a matter of distance or time? Regardless, I pushed on. I had been warned at the bar in Valdestillas that the final ascent to Peñaflor was a doozy. I didn’t realize there was a false ascent before the real one, but the latter was as promised. It’s a shame that the albergue is closed in Peñaflor, as that’s a lovely old village, but at least the grocery remains open, and there’s an impressive assortment of stuff tucked away in there! And, the silver lining is that this pushed me—and likely many other pilgrims—onto Castromonte, and they have a marvelous albergue, complete with a free washing machine, well-equipped kitchen, and even accessible wifi from the municipal swimming pool across the street. The butcher’s shop, while closed in the afternoon, will reopen for pilgrims and has a small selection of groceries. The town even features the “Museum of Imaginary Rocks,” which I enjoyed.

My penultimate day’s major surprise was Medina de Rioseco. I wasn’t ready for such a big town—the biggest on the route aside from Segovia. A hole-in-the-wall churrería was my first stop. Then it was onto a café to wash down the chocolate with coffee, and if the bartender threw in a couple of cream puffs for good measure, who was I to say no? Keep your eyes peeled and you’ll see a life-size crocodile hanging from a house on Calle Mayor, and then you may see something even more surprising—an open church. Staying in Medina would have been a joy, but leaving it was also exciting, as this next stretch follows the Canal de Castilla, which brought back fond memories of the walk into Frómista. In Cuenca de Campos and Villalón de Campos I really enjoyed the many overhanging rooms (enclosed balconies?) perched above the sidewalk on old wooden pillars.

This final march was a mostly somnambulant affair, with the lone coffee stop landing just 5km before Sahagún. The last couple days of the Camino de Madrid mostly flatten out, with agricultural land dominating the landscape in all directions. It’s not as interesting or varied as what precedes it. Even so, I was excited to discover that I was in Ponce de León’s birthplace in Santervás de Campos. Given how many people have found the fountain of youth on the Camino, it makes Ponce’s pursuit seem as ironic as it was futile. I was also thrilled to add another beauty of a castle to the trip in Grajal de Campos—a handsome town with a wonderfully situated albergue.

In my final approach to Sahagún, I realized it had been nearly a decade since I was last here. At that time, my student group was suffering from “the plague”—an intense gastrointestinal event that had caused more than 24 hours of projectile vomiting. Most were thus awaiting transport on this day, while I walked onward with the healthy ones. (My co-leader was among the infected; between purges, she politely asked me to kill her.) Even though I was holding up, I could feel the sickness at work within, vying for control—as though angels and demons were battling it out, except the stakes were higher.

Today, though, such agonies were far in the past. For at the moment when many pilgrims reach their midpoint, I arrived at my ending. And now I finish this in Valladolid, where I’m spending the night before continuing onto Madrid tomorrow, and then home.

Anyway, I loved the walk. Couldn’t have asked for a better spring break.
 
3rd Edition. More content, training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
Dave,
Your description is priceless. You should write a book about some of the other routes.
I loved the short part of that route I did in 2018. I was out wandering around that summer doing the Norte until Santander until the weather got the best of me, went south to Fromista and walked part of the Canal de Castille. The went to Valladolid to walk to Puente Duero to see my friend Oliver Kliot, who was the hospitalero. I walked as far as Medina de Rioseco in some very nasty weather and my crippled foot finally gave out and I had to take a bus to Sahagun.
My two nights in Rioseco were wonderful. The Museum they have in one of their churches with the votive platforms they carry on religious occasions is out of this world.
I can't remember the town I walked out of one morning in a dense fog when I lost the trail and ended up in a mystical castle town, Torrelobaton, where several films have used it as background in their movies. It is worth seeing but not walking about 30k out of the way to see.
 
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
Thanks so much for this. I set out on the Madrid in mid-May so I really appreciate the currency of your information. I did not know that albergue in Penaflor was closed, so I will have to look at my schedule again. Many thanks, Mel
 
I’m sitting at the Sahagún train station, waiting on my lift to Valladolid, having just completed the Camino de Madrid. (OK, flight delays cost me Madrid-Tres Cantos, so technically the walk was Tres Cantos to Sahagún. Someday I’ll fill in that gap.)

I only had the spring break week to make the pilgrimage, so it was a whirlwind affair, but I loved it, and found myself frequently wondering what had taken me so long to follow this Camino. It was certainly a joy, though, to get to experience it for the first time now.

I’m a planner and a detail-minded person, but even still, my walking in recent years—mostly guidebook-oriented or leading high schoolers—has been so consumed with tracking specifics that I decided to come into this almost entirely blind. Given the limited accommodation options this time of year, and the need to go a certain daily distance plus the desire to not go far beyond that, I established a daily schedule. Sometimes, when wifi was available at day’s end, I checked whether a store would be in my next day’s final destination, or a kitchen at the albergue. Otherwise, though, I took everything as it came. I just walked and walked, unbothered.

It's difficult to exaggerate my good fortune. Never once did it rain. Only a single day was even overcast. The temperature never broke 20/70. I always had sufficient fuel to proceed without hunger. I didn’t encounter a single pilgrim—a loss in many regards, but the solitude served my purposes for this walk. The greatest suffering I endured was a few days where the first café con leche didn’t come until 25-30km in, but that only served to make the remainder of the walk fly past.

The first day’s walk, from Tres Cantos to Manzanares El Real, while pilgrim-free, was filled with Madrileños enjoying a sunny spring Saturday. Packs of bicyclists sped past, returning (I suspect) to the capital. Families picnicked. Small groups of children walked with patient leaders. I saw bunnies bounding back and forth and storks swooping overhead. The church in Colmenar Viejo proved to be a rarity on this walk—open and even with a sello available—and I arrived just as a walking group surged in. After a stony descent, I enjoyed the sparkling lake beneath Manzanares and the majestic castle above it. The first of many to come.

While I had avoided reading much about the route, I knew two things about my second day. First, it would lead me to Segovia, which I once visited 20 years ago, and that was thrilling enough. Second, it included practically all of the noteworthy elevation gain and loss of the entire Camino de Madrid. That was exhilarating. Coming off my first sleep following a trans-Atlantic flight, and grappling with the time conversion in the wake of that morning’s conclusion of Spain’s daylight savings period, I was renewed if a little groggy, and not fully prepared for darkness to reign until nearly 8am. The route to Cercedilla was pleasant walking on the fringe of foothills, boulders all around, and even included a mid-stage opportunity for coffee and tortilla. The bartender asked me if I had come to ski, complete with a “swoosh-swoosh” gesture. My confusion was only resolved in Cercedilla, when I discovered a museum of skiing.

I confess that, several kilometers from town, I was mildly disappointed. The route followed a minor road, climbing steadily into the mountains, and while the scenery was lovely, and I reckoned that my jet-lagged body should be grateful for the least strenuous gain of 500m of elevation possible, I was saddened to think that the full extent of this lone mountainous stretch would be road-bound. However, the route quickly disabused me of such notions, veering onto a rocky footpath climbing ever higher. At one point, I reached a wide stone bridge, jarring for its man-made imposition on this rugged terrain, and a reminder that today’s nature trail was yesterday’s highway. Not long after, I finally crested the top, and while I wasn’t rewarded with a memorable vista, I was still satisfied. The descent, first through the trees and then later offering a splendid view of the green valley below, was a delight, and easy walking to boot.

Segovia on a Sunday afternoon was a stunning contrast to the quiet march through the mountains, filled with crowds and even marching bands. I remembered the aqueduct as a defining feature, but even still I wasn’t prepared for that dramatic encounter in the town center. The albergue is further down the Camino, so I decided to stay in a hotel in the central plaza, across from the cathedral. Room prices in March are awesome.

On my third day, I braced for flat, agricultural monotony, but encountered nothing of the sort. First, in March, everything is a luminous, rich, spectacular green. The land sparkles, it teems with life. And in this stretch from Segovia, while certainly not mountainous, neither is the land flat. It rolls languidly away from the city. And on the way, it is interrupted by pine groves, through which run sandy trails. I had never seen the harvesting of pine resin in the fashion done here, with lines hacked into the base of the trunk at different points and buckets positioned below. A mid-day stopping point, Santa María la Real de Nieva, stunned me, as the cloisters are on par with any I’ve ever seen—the sculpted capitals are on par with Moissac’s. I was so happy to be walking through such beautiful country that when I arrived in Nava de la Asunción, my anticipated destination, my body told me I was not yet done. I bought some snacks at Lupa, a supermarket handily situated on the route, plopped down in the parking lot to dispose of them, and then pushed onto Coca.

I laughed out loud when I arrived. To be clear, I believed there was an albergue there, but I didn’t know for sure—such was my limited preparation. I travel with a burner smartphone, but it only works on wifi, so I was just optimistic things would work out. I didn’t know what was waiting for me in Coca. As it turns out, a spectacular, dramatic castle was waiting, with elegant stonework lining its crenellations. If I had passed through early the next morning, following the Camino around the village, would I have even noticed? Instead, I had to scrape my jaw off the ground and—eventually—march onward in search of accommodation. I found my way to the biblioteca, where the very helpful librarian confirmed there was an albergue, provided me with a map to reach it, and also directed me to a place where I could retrieve the keys. Alone in the albergue that night, preparing dinner in the kitchen, I marveled at the good fortune that had brought me there. I marveled, too, at how this Camino offered another reminder of what my body is capable of, for at this point, three days in, I had already completed what would be the two longest and hardest stages of this short walk, and I felt healthy and content.

That was a good thing, because day four began with 24km of nearly-uninhabited country en route to Alcazarén. After a quick coffee, I headed over to the grocery store for a quick visit that became a long one. It was “by your own lunch day” at the preschool, so a pack of adorable tots were determinedly (and adorably) counting out their centimos at the counter, while a line of local adults waited behind, cheering them on. I had to join them, of course. Once finished, I flopped down behind the ruined Iglesia de San Pedro, took off my shoes, and started working my way through a four-pack of yogurt. Between cartons #2 and #3, I applied a bandaid to a problematic pinky toe that was showing early signs of chafing. As I did so, a woman walked by and wished me good appetite and successful medical care. I might not have seen any pilgrims, but locals were consistent cheerful enough to see me.

Another long, open stretch remained, en route to Valdestillas—a long road that thinks it’s a town. That’s unfair, but it was still a prolonged bit of exposed walking to my hotel for the night on the far, far side. The amazing thing, though, was that a Spaniard approached me later that night for directions in town, and I was able to provide them. And they were even accurate!

Day five opened up with the least pleasant stretch of walking to that point, on a track alongside a rural highway to Puente Duero, and then a good bit of pavement onward to Simancas. It’s worth noting that I was impressed time and again by just how much of the Camino de Madrid is offroad. It might be the highest percentage of any Camino I’ve done. While that wasn’t true this morning, that was offset by the fact that I was able to get coffee 9km in and then 6km later. Plus, each of the first two towns had impressive medieval bridges, and the latter even had a castle.

There was a rhythm to this day. Puente Duero was low and tucked away. Simancas towered above. Once beyond that town, the emerald carpet rippled forth around me, but in the distance I could see the steeple that promised Ciguñuela. But then Wamba was like Puente Duero, hidden out of site until just before arrival. Climbing back out, I saw a lump in the distances. Was it a rock pile 500m ahead, or a hill town 5km further? I couldn’t say. And is that difference a matter of distance or time? Regardless, I pushed on. I had been warned at the bar in Valdestillas that the final ascent to Peñaflor was a doozy. I didn’t realize there was a false ascent before the real one, but the latter was as promised. It’s a shame that the albergue is closed in Peñaflor, as that’s a lovely old village, but at least the grocery remains open, and there’s an impressive assortment of stuff tucked away in there! And, the silver lining is that this pushed me—and likely many other pilgrims—onto Castromonte, and they have a marvelous albergue, complete with a free washing machine, well-equipped kitchen, and even accessible wifi from the municipal swimming pool across the street. The butcher’s shop, while closed in the afternoon, will reopen for pilgrims and has a small selection of groceries. The town even features the “Museum of Imaginary Rocks,” which I enjoyed.

My penultimate day’s major surprise was Medina de Rioseco. I wasn’t ready for such a big town—the biggest on the route aside from Segovia. A hole-in-the-wall churrería was my first stop. Then it was onto a café to wash down the chocolate with coffee, and if the bartender threw in a couple of cream puffs for good measure, who was I to say no? Keep your eyes peeled and you’ll see a life-size crocodile hanging from a house on Calle Mayor, and then you may see something even more surprising—an open church. Staying in Medina would have been a joy, but leaving it was also exciting, as this next stretch follows the Canal de Castilla, which brought back fond memories of the walk into Frómista. In Cuenca de Campos and Villalón de Campos I really enjoyed the many overhanging rooms (enclosed balconies?) perched above the sidewalk on old wooden pillars.

This final march was a mostly somnambulant affair, with the lone coffee stop landing just 5km before Sahagún. The last couple days of the Camino de Madrid mostly flatten out, with agricultural land dominating the landscape in all directions. It’s not as interesting or varied as what precedes it. Even so, I was excited to discover that I was in Ponce de León’s birthplace in Santervás de Campos. Given how many people have found the fountain of youth on the Camino, it makes Ponce’s pursuit seem as ironic as it was futile. I was also thrilled to add another beauty of a castle to the trip in Grajal de Campos—a handsome town with a wonderfully situated albergue.

In my final approach to Sahagún, I realized it had been nearly a decade since I was last here. At that time, my student group was suffering from “the plague”—an intense gastrointestinal event that had caused more than 24 hours of projectile vomiting. Most were thus awaiting transport on this day, while I walked onward with the healthy ones. (My co-leader was among the infected; between purges, she politely asked me to kill her.) Even though I was holding up, I could feel the sickness at work within, vying for control—as though angels and demons were battling it out, except the stakes were higher.

Today, though, such agonies were far in the past. For at the moment when many pilgrims reach their midpoint, I arrived at my ending. And now I finish this in Valladolid, where I’m spending the night before continuing onto Madrid tomorrow, and then home.

Anyway, I loved the walk. Couldn’t have asked for a better spring break.
Great read - captures the spirit of this Camino
 
I can't remember the town I walked out of one morning in a dense fog when I lost the trail and ended up in a mystical castle town, Torrelobaton, where several films have used it as background in their movies. It is worth seeing but not walking about 30k out of the way to see.
Sorry to have missed that one! Looks like another impressively preserved castle--so many in this area. Looks like maybe a detour from Ciguñuela or Wamba? There's a lot to see...
 
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
I’m sitting at the Sahagún train station, waiting on my lift to Valladolid, having just completed the Camino de Madrid. (OK, flight delays cost me Madrid-Tres Cantos, so technically the walk was Tres Cantos to Sahagún. Someday I’ll fill in that gap.)

I only had the spring break week to make the pilgrimage, so it was a whirlwind affair, but I loved it, and found myself frequently wondering what had taken me so long to follow this Camino. It was certainly a joy, though, to get to experience it for the first time now.

I’m a planner and a detail-minded person, but even still, my walking in recent years—mostly guidebook-oriented or leading high schoolers—has been so consumed with tracking specifics that I decided to come into this almost entirely blind. Given the limited accommodation options this time of year, and the need to go a certain daily distance plus the desire to not go far beyond that, I established a daily schedule. Sometimes, when wifi was available at day’s end, I checked whether a store would be in my next day’s final destination, or a kitchen at the albergue. Otherwise, though, I took everything as it came. I just walked and walked, unbothered.

It's difficult to exaggerate my good fortune. Never once did it rain. Only a single day was even overcast. The temperature never broke 20/70. I always had sufficient fuel to proceed without hunger. I didn’t encounter a single pilgrim—a loss in many regards, but the solitude served my purposes for this walk. The greatest suffering I endured was a few days where the first café con leche didn’t come until 25-30km in, but that only served to make the remainder of the walk fly past.

The first day’s walk, from Tres Cantos to Manzanares El Real, while pilgrim-free, was filled with Madrileños enjoying a sunny spring Saturday. Packs of bicyclists sped past, returning (I suspect) to the capital. Families picnicked. Small groups of children walked with patient leaders. I saw bunnies bounding back and forth and storks swooping overhead. The church in Colmenar Viejo proved to be a rarity on this walk—open and even with a sello available—and I arrived just as a walking group surged in. After a stony descent, I enjoyed the sparkling lake beneath Manzanares and the majestic castle above it. The first of many to come.

While I had avoided reading much about the route, I knew two things about my second day. First, it would lead me to Segovia, which I once visited 20 years ago, and that was thrilling enough. Second, it included practically all of the noteworthy elevation gain and loss of the entire Camino de Madrid. That was exhilarating. Coming off my first sleep following a trans-Atlantic flight, and grappling with the time conversion in the wake of that morning’s conclusion of Spain’s daylight savings period, I was renewed if a little groggy, and not fully prepared for darkness to reign until nearly 8am. The route to Cercedilla was pleasant walking on the fringe of foothills, boulders all around, and even included a mid-stage opportunity for coffee and tortilla. The bartender asked me if I had come to ski, complete with a “swoosh-swoosh” gesture. My confusion was only resolved in Cercedilla, when I discovered a museum of skiing.

I confess that, several kilometers from town, I was mildly disappointed. The route followed a minor road, climbing steadily into the mountains, and while the scenery was lovely, and I reckoned that my jet-lagged body should be grateful for the least strenuous gain of 500m of elevation possible, I was saddened to think that the full extent of this lone mountainous stretch would be road-bound. However, the route quickly disabused me of such notions, veering onto a rocky footpath climbing ever higher. At one point, I reached a wide stone bridge, jarring for its man-made imposition on this rugged terrain, and a reminder that today’s nature trail was yesterday’s highway. Not long after, I finally crested the top, and while I wasn’t rewarded with a memorable vista, I was still satisfied. The descent, first through the trees and then later offering a splendid view of the green valley below, was a delight, and easy walking to boot.

Segovia on a Sunday afternoon was a stunning contrast to the quiet march through the mountains, filled with crowds and even marching bands. I remembered the aqueduct as a defining feature, but even still I wasn’t prepared for that dramatic encounter in the town center. The albergue is further down the Camino, so I decided to stay in a hotel in the central plaza, across from the cathedral. Room prices in March are awesome.

On my third day, I braced for flat, agricultural monotony, but encountered nothing of the sort. First, in March, everything is a luminous, rich, spectacular green. The land sparkles, it teems with life. And in this stretch from Segovia, while certainly not mountainous, neither is the land flat. It rolls languidly away from the city. And on the way, it is interrupted by pine groves, through which run sandy trails. I had never seen the harvesting of pine resin in the fashion done here, with lines hacked into the base of the trunk at different points and buckets positioned below. A mid-day stopping point, Santa María la Real de Nieva, stunned me, as the cloisters are on par with any I’ve ever seen—the sculpted capitals are on par with Moissac’s. I was so happy to be walking through such beautiful country that when I arrived in Nava de la Asunción, my anticipated destination, my body told me I was not yet done. I bought some snacks at Lupa, a supermarket handily situated on the route, plopped down in the parking lot to dispose of them, and then pushed onto Coca.

I laughed out loud when I arrived. To be clear, I believed there was an albergue there, but I didn’t know for sure—such was my limited preparation. I travel with a burner smartphone, but it only works on wifi, so I was just optimistic things would work out. I didn’t know what was waiting for me in Coca. As it turns out, a spectacular, dramatic castle was waiting, with elegant stonework lining its crenellations. If I had passed through early the next morning, following the Camino around the village, would I have even noticed? Instead, I had to scrape my jaw off the ground and—eventually—march onward in search of accommodation. I found my way to the biblioteca, where the very helpful librarian confirmed there was an albergue, provided me with a map to reach it, and also directed me to a place where I could retrieve the keys. Alone in the albergue that night, preparing dinner in the kitchen, I marveled at the good fortune that had brought me there. I marveled, too, at how this Camino offered another reminder of what my body is capable of, for at this point, three days in, I had already completed what would be the two longest and hardest stages of this short walk, and I felt healthy and content.

That was a good thing, because day four began with 24km of nearly-uninhabited country en route to Alcazarén. After a quick coffee, I headed over to the grocery store for a quick visit that became a long one. It was “by your own lunch day” at the preschool, so a pack of adorable tots were determinedly (and adorably) counting out their centimos at the counter, while a line of local adults waited behind, cheering them on. I had to join them, of course. Once finished, I flopped down behind the ruined Iglesia de San Pedro, took off my shoes, and started working my way through a four-pack of yogurt. Between cartons #2 and #3, I applied a bandaid to a problematic pinky toe that was showing early signs of chafing. As I did so, a woman walked by and wished me good appetite and successful medical care. I might not have seen any pilgrims, but locals were consistent cheerful enough to see me.

Another long, open stretch remained, en route to Valdestillas—a long road that thinks it’s a town. That’s unfair, but it was still a prolonged bit of exposed walking to my hotel for the night on the far, far side. The amazing thing, though, was that a Spaniard approached me later that night for directions in town, and I was able to provide them. And they were even accurate!

Day five opened up with the least pleasant stretch of walking to that point, on a track alongside a rural highway to Puente Duero, and then a good bit of pavement onward to Simancas. It’s worth noting that I was impressed time and again by just how much of the Camino de Madrid is offroad. It might be the highest percentage of any Camino I’ve done. While that wasn’t true this morning, that was offset by the fact that I was able to get coffee 9km in and then 6km later. Plus, each of the first two towns had impressive medieval bridges, and the latter even had a castle.

There was a rhythm to this day. Puente Duero was low and tucked away. Simancas towered above. Once beyond that town, the emerald carpet rippled forth around me, but in the distance I could see the steeple that promised Ciguñuela. But then Wamba was like Puente Duero, hidden out of site until just before arrival. Climbing back out, I saw a lump in the distances. Was it a rock pile 500m ahead, or a hill town 5km further? I couldn’t say. And is that difference a matter of distance or time? Regardless, I pushed on. I had been warned at the bar in Valdestillas that the final ascent to Peñaflor was a doozy. I didn’t realize there was a false ascent before the real one, but the latter was as promised. It’s a shame that the albergue is closed in Peñaflor, as that’s a lovely old village, but at least the grocery remains open, and there’s an impressive assortment of stuff tucked away in there! And, the silver lining is that this pushed me—and likely many other pilgrims—onto Castromonte, and they have a marvelous albergue, complete with a free washing machine, well-equipped kitchen, and even accessible wifi from the municipal swimming pool across the street. The butcher’s shop, while closed in the afternoon, will reopen for pilgrims and has a small selection of groceries. The town even features the “Museum of Imaginary Rocks,” which I enjoyed.

My penultimate day’s major surprise was Medina de Rioseco. I wasn’t ready for such a big town—the biggest on the route aside from Segovia. A hole-in-the-wall churrería was my first stop. Then it was onto a café to wash down the chocolate with coffee, and if the bartender threw in a couple of cream puffs for good measure, who was I to say no? Keep your eyes peeled and you’ll see a life-size crocodile hanging from a house on Calle Mayor, and then you may see something even more surprising—an open church. Staying in Medina would have been a joy, but leaving it was also exciting, as this next stretch follows the Canal de Castilla, which brought back fond memories of the walk into Frómista. In Cuenca de Campos and Villalón de Campos I really enjoyed the many overhanging rooms (enclosed balconies?) perched above the sidewalk on old wooden pillars.

This final march was a mostly somnambulant affair, with the lone coffee stop landing just 5km before Sahagún. The last couple days of the Camino de Madrid mostly flatten out, with agricultural land dominating the landscape in all directions. It’s not as interesting or varied as what precedes it. Even so, I was excited to discover that I was in Ponce de León’s birthplace in Santervás de Campos. Given how many people have found the fountain of youth on the Camino, it makes Ponce’s pursuit seem as ironic as it was futile. I was also thrilled to add another beauty of a castle to the trip in Grajal de Campos—a handsome town with a wonderfully situated albergue.

In my final approach to Sahagún, I realized it had been nearly a decade since I was last here. At that time, my student group was suffering from “the plague”—an intense gastrointestinal event that had caused more than 24 hours of projectile vomiting. Most were thus awaiting transport on this day, while I walked onward with the healthy ones. (My co-leader was among the infected; between purges, she politely asked me to kill her.) Even though I was holding up, I could feel the sickness at work within, vying for control—as though angels and demons were battling it out, except the stakes were higher.

Today, though, such agonies were far in the past. For at the moment when many pilgrims reach their midpoint, I arrived at my ending. And now I finish this in Valladolid, where I’m spending the night before continuing onto Madrid tomorrow, and then home.

Anyway, I loved the walk. Couldn’t have asked for a better spring break.
Thank you.
 
I did this Camino in 2018 and your beautiful writing brought back many memories. Thankyou for taking the time to write this. It's writings like this that make this forum so wonderful. I loved this Camino and you've made me want to do it again.
 
I’m sitting at the Sahagún train station, waiting on my lift to Valladolid, having just completed the Camino de Madrid. (OK, flight delays cost me Madrid-Tres Cantos, so technically the walk was Tres Cantos to Sahagún. Someday I’ll fill in that gap.)

I only had the spring break week to make the pilgrimage, so it was a whirlwind affair, but I loved it, and found myself frequently wondering what had taken me so long to follow this Camino. It was certainly a joy, though, to get to experience it for the first time now.

I’m a planner and a detail-minded person, but even still, my walking in recent years—mostly guidebook-oriented or leading high schoolers—has been so consumed with tracking specifics that I decided to come into this almost entirely blind. Given the limited accommodation options this time of year, and the need to go a certain daily distance plus the desire to not go far beyond that, I established a daily schedule. Sometimes, when wifi was available at day’s end, I checked whether a store would be in my next day’s final destination, or a kitchen at the albergue. Otherwise, though, I took everything as it came. I just walked and walked, unbothered.

It's difficult to exaggerate my good fortune. Never once did it rain. Only a single day was even overcast. The temperature never broke 20/70. I always had sufficient fuel to proceed without hunger. I didn’t encounter a single pilgrim—a loss in many regards, but the solitude served my purposes for this walk. The greatest suffering I endured was a few days where the first café con leche didn’t come until 25-30km in, but that only served to make the remainder of the walk fly past.

The first day’s walk, from Tres Cantos to Manzanares El Real, while pilgrim-free, was filled with Madrileños enjoying a sunny spring Saturday. Packs of bicyclists sped past, returning (I suspect) to the capital. Families picnicked. Small groups of children walked with patient leaders. I saw bunnies bounding back and forth and storks swooping overhead. The church in Colmenar Viejo proved to be a rarity on this walk—open and even with a sello available—and I arrived just as a walking group surged in. After a stony descent, I enjoyed the sparkling lake beneath Manzanares and the majestic castle above it. The first of many to come.

While I had avoided reading much about the route, I knew two things about my second day. First, it would lead me to Segovia, which I once visited 20 years ago, and that was thrilling enough. Second, it included practically all of the noteworthy elevation gain and loss of the entire Camino de Madrid. That was exhilarating. Coming off my first sleep following a trans-Atlantic flight, and grappling with the time conversion in the wake of that morning’s conclusion of Spain’s daylight savings period, I was renewed if a little groggy, and not fully prepared for darkness to reign until nearly 8am. The route to Cercedilla was pleasant walking on the fringe of foothills, boulders all around, and even included a mid-stage opportunity for coffee and tortilla. The bartender asked me if I had come to ski, complete with a “swoosh-swoosh” gesture. My confusion was only resolved in Cercedilla, when I discovered a museum of skiing.

I confess that, several kilometers from town, I was mildly disappointed. The route followed a minor road, climbing steadily into the mountains, and while the scenery was lovely, and I reckoned that my jet-lagged body should be grateful for the least strenuous gain of 500m of elevation possible, I was saddened to think that the full extent of this lone mountainous stretch would be road-bound. However, the route quickly disabused me of such notions, veering onto a rocky footpath climbing ever higher. At one point, I reached a wide stone bridge, jarring for its man-made imposition on this rugged terrain, and a reminder that today’s nature trail was yesterday’s highway. Not long after, I finally crested the top, and while I wasn’t rewarded with a memorable vista, I was still satisfied. The descent, first through the trees and then later offering a splendid view of the green valley below, was a delight, and easy walking to boot.

Segovia on a Sunday afternoon was a stunning contrast to the quiet march through the mountains, filled with crowds and even marching bands. I remembered the aqueduct as a defining feature, but even still I wasn’t prepared for that dramatic encounter in the town center. The albergue is further down the Camino, so I decided to stay in a hotel in the central plaza, across from the cathedral. Room prices in March are awesome.

On my third day, I braced for flat, agricultural monotony, but encountered nothing of the sort. First, in March, everything is a luminous, rich, spectacular green. The land sparkles, it teems with life. And in this stretch from Segovia, while certainly not mountainous, neither is the land flat. It rolls languidly away from the city. And on the way, it is interrupted by pine groves, through which run sandy trails. I had never seen the harvesting of pine resin in the fashion done here, with lines hacked into the base of the trunk at different points and buckets positioned below. A mid-day stopping point, Santa María la Real de Nieva, stunned me, as the cloisters are on par with any I’ve ever seen—the sculpted capitals are on par with Moissac’s. I was so happy to be walking through such beautiful country that when I arrived in Nava de la Asunción, my anticipated destination, my body told me I was not yet done. I bought some snacks at Lupa, a supermarket handily situated on the route, plopped down in the parking lot to dispose of them, and then pushed onto Coca.

I laughed out loud when I arrived. To be clear, I believed there was an albergue there, but I didn’t know for sure—such was my limited preparation. I travel with a burner smartphone, but it only works on wifi, so I was just optimistic things would work out. I didn’t know what was waiting for me in Coca. As it turns out, a spectacular, dramatic castle was waiting, with elegant stonework lining its crenellations. If I had passed through early the next morning, following the Camino around the village, would I have even noticed? Instead, I had to scrape my jaw off the ground and—eventually—march onward in search of accommodation. I found my way to the biblioteca, where the very helpful librarian confirmed there was an albergue, provided me with a map to reach it, and also directed me to a place where I could retrieve the keys. Alone in the albergue that night, preparing dinner in the kitchen, I marveled at the good fortune that had brought me there. I marveled, too, at how this Camino offered another reminder of what my body is capable of, for at this point, three days in, I had already completed what would be the two longest and hardest stages of this short walk, and I felt healthy and content.

That was a good thing, because day four began with 24km of nearly-uninhabited country en route to Alcazarén. After a quick coffee, I headed over to the grocery store for a quick visit that became a long one. It was “by your own lunch day” at the preschool, so a pack of adorable tots were determinedly (and adorably) counting out their centimos at the counter, while a line of local adults waited behind, cheering them on. I had to join them, of course. Once finished, I flopped down behind the ruined Iglesia de San Pedro, took off my shoes, and started working my way through a four-pack of yogurt. Between cartons #2 and #3, I applied a bandaid to a problematic pinky toe that was showing early signs of chafing. As I did so, a woman walked by and wished me good appetite and successful medical care. I might not have seen any pilgrims, but locals were consistent cheerful enough to see me.

Another long, open stretch remained, en route to Valdestillas—a long road that thinks it’s a town. That’s unfair, but it was still a prolonged bit of exposed walking to my hotel for the night on the far, far side. The amazing thing, though, was that a Spaniard approached me later that night for directions in town, and I was able to provide them. And they were even accurate!

Day five opened up with the least pleasant stretch of walking to that point, on a track alongside a rural highway to Puente Duero, and then a good bit of pavement onward to Simancas. It’s worth noting that I was impressed time and again by just how much of the Camino de Madrid is offroad. It might be the highest percentage of any Camino I’ve done. While that wasn’t true this morning, that was offset by the fact that I was able to get coffee 9km in and then 6km later. Plus, each of the first two towns had impressive medieval bridges, and the latter even had a castle.

There was a rhythm to this day. Puente Duero was low and tucked away. Simancas towered above. Once beyond that town, the emerald carpet rippled forth around me, but in the distance I could see the steeple that promised Ciguñuela. But then Wamba was like Puente Duero, hidden out of site until just before arrival. Climbing back out, I saw a lump in the distances. Was it a rock pile 500m ahead, or a hill town 5km further? I couldn’t say. And is that difference a matter of distance or time? Regardless, I pushed on. I had been warned at the bar in Valdestillas that the final ascent to Peñaflor was a doozy. I didn’t realize there was a false ascent before the real one, but the latter was as promised. It’s a shame that the albergue is closed in Peñaflor, as that’s a lovely old village, but at least the grocery remains open, and there’s an impressive assortment of stuff tucked away in there! And, the silver lining is that this pushed me—and likely many other pilgrims—onto Castromonte, and they have a marvelous albergue, complete with a free washing machine, well-equipped kitchen, and even accessible wifi from the municipal swimming pool across the street. The butcher’s shop, while closed in the afternoon, will reopen for pilgrims and has a small selection of groceries. The town even features the “Museum of Imaginary Rocks,” which I enjoyed.

My penultimate day’s major surprise was Medina de Rioseco. I wasn’t ready for such a big town—the biggest on the route aside from Segovia. A hole-in-the-wall churrería was my first stop. Then it was onto a café to wash down the chocolate with coffee, and if the bartender threw in a couple of cream puffs for good measure, who was I to say no? Keep your eyes peeled and you’ll see a life-size crocodile hanging from a house on Calle Mayor, and then you may see something even more surprising—an open church. Staying in Medina would have been a joy, but leaving it was also exciting, as this next stretch follows the Canal de Castilla, which brought back fond memories of the walk into Frómista. In Cuenca de Campos and Villalón de Campos I really enjoyed the many overhanging rooms (enclosed balconies?) perched above the sidewalk on old wooden pillars.

This final march was a mostly somnambulant affair, with the lone coffee stop landing just 5km before Sahagún. The last couple days of the Camino de Madrid mostly flatten out, with agricultural land dominating the landscape in all directions. It’s not as interesting or varied as what precedes it. Even so, I was excited to discover that I was in Ponce de León’s birthplace in Santervás de Campos. Given how many people have found the fountain of youth on the Camino, it makes Ponce’s pursuit seem as ironic as it was futile. I was also thrilled to add another beauty of a castle to the trip in Grajal de Campos—a handsome town with a wonderfully situated albergue.

In my final approach to Sahagún, I realized it had been nearly a decade since I was last here. At that time, my student group was suffering from “the plague”—an intense gastrointestinal event that had caused more than 24 hours of projectile vomiting. Most were thus awaiting transport on this day, while I walked onward with the healthy ones. (My co-leader was among the infected; between purges, she politely asked me to kill her.) Even though I was holding up, I could feel the sickness at work within, vying for control—as though angels and demons were battling it out, except the stakes were higher.

Today, though, such agonies were far in the past. For at the moment when many pilgrims reach their midpoint, I arrived at my ending. And now I finish this in Valladolid, where I’m spending the night before continuing onto Madrid tomorrow, and then home.

Anyway, I loved the walk. Couldn’t have asked for a better spring break.
I have just started my 11th Camino, the Via Augusta/VDLP combo (I have just passed 7000km total distance, I think) and I have to confess the Madrid isn’t something I’ve considered. Due to your excellent description I certainly will consider it now. Gracias!
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
Wonderful report....I depart from Madrid on the 16th of May...planning 13 days to Sahagun, then on to Leon and the San Salvador...did you find lodging hard to find?
 
Thanks so much for this. I set out on the Madrid in mid-May so I really appreciate the currency of your information. I did not know that albergue in Penaflor was closed, so I will have to look at my schedule again. Many thanks, Mel
I will start from Madrid on 12 May. Hope to see you along the route. So glad to hear of more people walking at that time.
 
I’m sitting at the Sahagún train station, waiting on my lift to Valladolid, having just completed the Camino de Madrid. (OK, flight delays cost me Madrid-Tres Cantos, so technically the walk was Tres Cantos to Sahagún. Someday I’ll fill in that gap.)

I only had the spring break week to make the pilgrimage, so it was a whirlwind affair, but I loved it, and found myself frequently wondering what had taken me so long to follow this Camino. It was certainly a joy, though, to get to experience it for the first time now.

I’m a planner and a detail-minded person, but even still, my walking in recent years—mostly guidebook-oriented or leading high schoolers—has been so consumed with tracking specifics that I decided to come into this almost entirely blind. Given the limited accommodation options this time of year, and the need to go a certain daily distance plus the desire to not go far beyond that, I established a daily schedule. Sometimes, when wifi was available at day’s end, I checked whether a store would be in my next day’s final destination, or a kitchen at the albergue. Otherwise, though, I took everything as it came. I just walked and walked, unbothered.

It's difficult to exaggerate my good fortune. Never once did it rain. Only a single day was even overcast. The temperature never broke 20/70. I always had sufficient fuel to proceed without hunger. I didn’t encounter a single pilgrim—a loss in many regards, but the solitude served my purposes for this walk. The greatest suffering I endured was a few days where the first café con leche didn’t come until 25-30km in, but that only served to make the remainder of the walk fly past.

The first day’s walk, from Tres Cantos to Manzanares El Real, while pilgrim-free, was filled with Madrileños enjoying a sunny spring Saturday. Packs of bicyclists sped past, returning (I suspect) to the capital. Families picnicked. Small groups of children walked with patient leaders. I saw bunnies bounding back and forth and storks swooping overhead. The church in Colmenar Viejo proved to be a rarity on this walk—open and even with a sello available—and I arrived just as a walking group surged in. After a stony descent, I enjoyed the sparkling lake beneath Manzanares and the majestic castle above it. The first of many to come.

While I had avoided reading much about the route, I knew two things about my second day. First, it would lead me to Segovia, which I once visited 20 years ago, and that was thrilling enough. Second, it included practically all of the noteworthy elevation gain and loss of the entire Camino de Madrid. That was exhilarating. Coming off my first sleep following a trans-Atlantic flight, and grappling with the time conversion in the wake of that morning’s conclusion of Spain’s daylight savings period, I was renewed if a little groggy, and not fully prepared for darkness to reign until nearly 8am. The route to Cercedilla was pleasant walking on the fringe of foothills, boulders all around, and even included a mid-stage opportunity for coffee and tortilla. The bartender asked me if I had come to ski, complete with a “swoosh-swoosh” gesture. My confusion was only resolved in Cercedilla, when I discovered a museum of skiing.

I confess that, several kilometers from town, I was mildly disappointed. The route followed a minor road, climbing steadily into the mountains, and while the scenery was lovely, and I reckoned that my jet-lagged body should be grateful for the least strenuous gain of 500m of elevation possible, I was saddened to think that the full extent of this lone mountainous stretch would be road-bound. However, the route quickly disabused me of such notions, veering onto a rocky footpath climbing ever higher. At one point, I reached a wide stone bridge, jarring for its man-made imposition on this rugged terrain, and a reminder that today’s nature trail was yesterday’s highway. Not long after, I finally crested the top, and while I wasn’t rewarded with a memorable vista, I was still satisfied. The descent, first through the trees and then later offering a splendid view of the green valley below, was a delight, and easy walking to boot.

Segovia on a Sunday afternoon was a stunning contrast to the quiet march through the mountains, filled with crowds and even marching bands. I remembered the aqueduct as a defining feature, but even still I wasn’t prepared for that dramatic encounter in the town center. The albergue is further down the Camino, so I decided to stay in a hotel in the central plaza, across from the cathedral. Room prices in March are awesome.

On my third day, I braced for flat, agricultural monotony, but encountered nothing of the sort. First, in March, everything is a luminous, rich, spectacular green. The land sparkles, it teems with life. And in this stretch from Segovia, while certainly not mountainous, neither is the land flat. It rolls languidly away from the city. And on the way, it is interrupted by pine groves, through which run sandy trails. I had never seen the harvesting of pine resin in the fashion done here, with lines hacked into the base of the trunk at different points and buckets positioned below. A mid-day stopping point, Santa María la Real de Nieva, stunned me, as the cloisters are on par with any I’ve ever seen—the sculpted capitals are on par with Moissac’s. I was so happy to be walking through such beautiful country that when I arrived in Nava de la Asunción, my anticipated destination, my body told me I was not yet done. I bought some snacks at Lupa, a supermarket handily situated on the route, plopped down in the parking lot to dispose of them, and then pushed onto Coca.

I laughed out loud when I arrived. To be clear, I believed there was an albergue there, but I didn’t know for sure—such was my limited preparation. I travel with a burner smartphone, but it only works on wifi, so I was just optimistic things would work out. I didn’t know what was waiting for me in Coca. As it turns out, a spectacular, dramatic castle was waiting, with elegant stonework lining its crenellations. If I had passed through early the next morning, following the Camino around the village, would I have even noticed? Instead, I had to scrape my jaw off the ground and—eventually—march onward in search of accommodation. I found my way to the biblioteca, where the very helpful librarian confirmed there was an albergue, provided me with a map to reach it, and also directed me to a place where I could retrieve the keys. Alone in the albergue that night, preparing dinner in the kitchen, I marveled at the good fortune that had brought me there. I marveled, too, at how this Camino offered another reminder of what my body is capable of, for at this point, three days in, I had already completed what would be the two longest and hardest stages of this short walk, and I felt healthy and content.

That was a good thing, because day four began with 24km of nearly-uninhabited country en route to Alcazarén. After a quick coffee, I headed over to the grocery store for a quick visit that became a long one. It was “by your own lunch day” at the preschool, so a pack of adorable tots were determinedly (and adorably) counting out their centimos at the counter, while a line of local adults waited behind, cheering them on. I had to join them, of course. Once finished, I flopped down behind the ruined Iglesia de San Pedro, took off my shoes, and started working my way through a four-pack of yogurt. Between cartons #2 and #3, I applied a bandaid to a problematic pinky toe that was showing early signs of chafing. As I did so, a woman walked by and wished me good appetite and successful medical care. I might not have seen any pilgrims, but locals were consistent cheerful enough to see me.

Another long, open stretch remained, en route to Valdestillas—a long road that thinks it’s a town. That’s unfair, but it was still a prolonged bit of exposed walking to my hotel for the night on the far, far side. The amazing thing, though, was that a Spaniard approached me later that night for directions in town, and I was able to provide them. And they were even accurate!

Day five opened up with the least pleasant stretch of walking to that point, on a track alongside a rural highway to Puente Duero, and then a good bit of pavement onward to Simancas. It’s worth noting that I was impressed time and again by just how much of the Camino de Madrid is offroad. It might be the highest percentage of any Camino I’ve done. While that wasn’t true this morning, that was offset by the fact that I was able to get coffee 9km in and then 6km later. Plus, each of the first two towns had impressive medieval bridges, and the latter even had a castle.

There was a rhythm to this day. Puente Duero was low and tucked away. Simancas towered above. Once beyond that town, the emerald carpet rippled forth around me, but in the distance I could see the steeple that promised Ciguñuela. But then Wamba was like Puente Duero, hidden out of site until just before arrival. Climbing back out, I saw a lump in the distances. Was it a rock pile 500m ahead, or a hill town 5km further? I couldn’t say. And is that difference a matter of distance or time? Regardless, I pushed on. I had been warned at the bar in Valdestillas that the final ascent to Peñaflor was a doozy. I didn’t realize there was a false ascent before the real one, but the latter was as promised. It’s a shame that the albergue is closed in Peñaflor, as that’s a lovely old village, but at least the grocery remains open, and there’s an impressive assortment of stuff tucked away in there! And, the silver lining is that this pushed me—and likely many other pilgrims—onto Castromonte, and they have a marvelous albergue, complete with a free washing machine, well-equipped kitchen, and even accessible wifi from the municipal swimming pool across the street. The butcher’s shop, while closed in the afternoon, will reopen for pilgrims and has a small selection of groceries. The town even features the “Museum of Imaginary Rocks,” which I enjoyed.

My penultimate day’s major surprise was Medina de Rioseco. I wasn’t ready for such a big town—the biggest on the route aside from Segovia. A hole-in-the-wall churrería was my first stop. Then it was onto a café to wash down the chocolate with coffee, and if the bartender threw in a couple of cream puffs for good measure, who was I to say no? Keep your eyes peeled and you’ll see a life-size crocodile hanging from a house on Calle Mayor, and then you may see something even more surprising—an open church. Staying in Medina would have been a joy, but leaving it was also exciting, as this next stretch follows the Canal de Castilla, which brought back fond memories of the walk into Frómista. In Cuenca de Campos and Villalón de Campos I really enjoyed the many overhanging rooms (enclosed balconies?) perched above the sidewalk on old wooden pillars.

This final march was a mostly somnambulant affair, with the lone coffee stop landing just 5km before Sahagún. The last couple days of the Camino de Madrid mostly flatten out, with agricultural land dominating the landscape in all directions. It’s not as interesting or varied as what precedes it. Even so, I was excited to discover that I was in Ponce de León’s birthplace in Santervás de Campos. Given how many people have found the fountain of youth on the Camino, it makes Ponce’s pursuit seem as ironic as it was futile. I was also thrilled to add another beauty of a castle to the trip in Grajal de Campos—a handsome town with a wonderfully situated albergue.

In my final approach to Sahagún, I realized it had been nearly a decade since I was last here. At that time, my student group was suffering from “the plague”—an intense gastrointestinal event that had caused more than 24 hours of projectile vomiting. Most were thus awaiting transport on this day, while I walked onward with the healthy ones. (My co-leader was among the infected; between purges, she politely asked me to kill her.) Even though I was holding up, I could feel the sickness at work within, vying for control—as though angels and demons were battling it out, except the stakes were higher.

Today, though, such agonies were far in the past. For at the moment when many pilgrims reach their midpoint, I arrived at my ending. And now I finish this in Valladolid, where I’m spending the night before continuing onto Madrid tomorrow, and then home.

Anyway, I loved the walk. Couldn’t have asked for a better spring break.
Thank you for taking the time to write this route report. Much appreciated and just heightens my excitement to embark on this route in May.
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
I’m sitting at the Sahagún train station, waiting on my lift to Valladolid, having just completed the Camino de Madrid. (OK, flight delays cost me Madrid-Tres Cantos, so technically the walk was Tres Cantos to Sahagún. Someday I’ll fill in that gap.)

I only had the spring break week to make the pilgrimage, so it was a whirlwind affair, but I loved it, and found myself frequently wondering what had taken me so long to follow this Camino. It was certainly a joy, though, to get to experience it for the first time now.

I’m a planner and a detail-minded person, but even still, my walking in recent years—mostly guidebook-oriented or leading high schoolers—has been so consumed with tracking specifics that I decided to come into this almost entirely blind. Given the limited accommodation options this time of year, and the need to go a certain daily distance plus the desire to not go far beyond that, I established a daily schedule. Sometimes, when wifi was available at day’s end, I checked whether a store would be in my next day’s final destination, or a kitchen at the albergue. Otherwise, though, I took everything as it came. I just walked and walked, unbothered.

It's difficult to exaggerate my good fortune. Never once did it rain. Only a single day was even overcast. The temperature never broke 20/70. I always had sufficient fuel to proceed without hunger. I didn’t encounter a single pilgrim—a loss in many regards, but the solitude served my purposes for this walk. The greatest suffering I endured was a few days where the first café con leche didn’t come until 25-30km in, but that only served to make the remainder of the walk fly past.

The first day’s walk, from Tres Cantos to Manzanares El Real, while pilgrim-free, was filled with Madrileños enjoying a sunny spring Saturday. Packs of bicyclists sped past, returning (I suspect) to the capital. Families picnicked. Small groups of children walked with patient leaders. I saw bunnies bounding back and forth and storks swooping overhead. The church in Colmenar Viejo proved to be a rarity on this walk—open and even with a sello available—and I arrived just as a walking group surged in. After a stony descent, I enjoyed the sparkling lake beneath Manzanares and the majestic castle above it. The first of many to come.

While I had avoided reading much about the route, I knew two things about my second day. First, it would lead me to Segovia, which I once visited 20 years ago, and that was thrilling enough. Second, it included practically all of the noteworthy elevation gain and loss of the entire Camino de Madrid. That was exhilarating. Coming off my first sleep following a trans-Atlantic flight, and grappling with the time conversion in the wake of that morning’s conclusion of Spain’s daylight savings period, I was renewed if a little groggy, and not fully prepared for darkness to reign until nearly 8am. The route to Cercedilla was pleasant walking on the fringe of foothills, boulders all around, and even included a mid-stage opportunity for coffee and tortilla. The bartender asked me if I had come to ski, complete with a “swoosh-swoosh” gesture. My confusion was only resolved in Cercedilla, when I discovered a museum of skiing.

I confess that, several kilometers from town, I was mildly disappointed. The route followed a minor road, climbing steadily into the mountains, and while the scenery was lovely, and I reckoned that my jet-lagged body should be grateful for the least strenuous gain of 500m of elevation possible, I was saddened to think that the full extent of this lone mountainous stretch would be road-bound. However, the route quickly disabused me of such notions, veering onto a rocky footpath climbing ever higher. At one point, I reached a wide stone bridge, jarring for its man-made imposition on this rugged terrain, and a reminder that today’s nature trail was yesterday’s highway. Not long after, I finally crested the top, and while I wasn’t rewarded with a memorable vista, I was still satisfied. The descent, first through the trees and then later offering a splendid view of the green valley below, was a delight, and easy walking to boot.

Segovia on a Sunday afternoon was a stunning contrast to the quiet march through the mountains, filled with crowds and even marching bands. I remembered the aqueduct as a defining feature, but even still I wasn’t prepared for that dramatic encounter in the town center. The albergue is further down the Camino, so I decided to stay in a hotel in the central plaza, across from the cathedral. Room prices in March are awesome.

On my third day, I braced for flat, agricultural monotony, but encountered nothing of the sort. First, in March, everything is a luminous, rich, spectacular green. The land sparkles, it teems with life. And in this stretch from Segovia, while certainly not mountainous, neither is the land flat. It rolls languidly away from the city. And on the way, it is interrupted by pine groves, through which run sandy trails. I had never seen the harvesting of pine resin in the fashion done here, with lines hacked into the base of the trunk at different points and buckets positioned below. A mid-day stopping point, Santa María la Real de Nieva, stunned me, as the cloisters are on par with any I’ve ever seen—the sculpted capitals are on par with Moissac’s. I was so happy to be walking through such beautiful country that when I arrived in Nava de la Asunción, my anticipated destination, my body told me I was not yet done. I bought some snacks at Lupa, a supermarket handily situated on the route, plopped down in the parking lot to dispose of them, and then pushed onto Coca.

I laughed out loud when I arrived. To be clear, I believed there was an albergue there, but I didn’t know for sure—such was my limited preparation. I travel with a burner smartphone, but it only works on wifi, so I was just optimistic things would work out. I didn’t know what was waiting for me in Coca. As it turns out, a spectacular, dramatic castle was waiting, with elegant stonework lining its crenellations. If I had passed through early the next morning, following the Camino around the village, would I have even noticed? Instead, I had to scrape my jaw off the ground and—eventually—march onward in search of accommodation. I found my way to the biblioteca, where the very helpful librarian confirmed there was an albergue, provided me with a map to reach it, and also directed me to a place where I could retrieve the keys. Alone in the albergue that night, preparing dinner in the kitchen, I marveled at the good fortune that had brought me there. I marveled, too, at how this Camino offered another reminder of what my body is capable of, for at this point, three days in, I had already completed what would be the two longest and hardest stages of this short walk, and I felt healthy and content.

That was a good thing, because day four began with 24km of nearly-uninhabited country en route to Alcazarén. After a quick coffee, I headed over to the grocery store for a quick visit that became a long one. It was “by your own lunch day” at the preschool, so a pack of adorable tots were determinedly (and adorably) counting out their centimos at the counter, while a line of local adults waited behind, cheering them on. I had to join them, of course. Once finished, I flopped down behind the ruined Iglesia de San Pedro, took off my shoes, and started working my way through a four-pack of yogurt. Between cartons #2 and #3, I applied a bandaid to a problematic pinky toe that was showing early signs of chafing. As I did so, a woman walked by and wished me good appetite and successful medical care. I might not have seen any pilgrims, but locals were consistent cheerful enough to see me.

Another long, open stretch remained, en route to Valdestillas—a long road that thinks it’s a town. That’s unfair, but it was still a prolonged bit of exposed walking to my hotel for the night on the far, far side. The amazing thing, though, was that a Spaniard approached me later that night for directions in town, and I was able to provide them. And they were even accurate!

Day five opened up with the least pleasant stretch of walking to that point, on a track alongside a rural highway to Puente Duero, and then a good bit of pavement onward to Simancas. It’s worth noting that I was impressed time and again by just how much of the Camino de Madrid is offroad. It might be the highest percentage of any Camino I’ve done. While that wasn’t true this morning, that was offset by the fact that I was able to get coffee 9km in and then 6km later. Plus, each of the first two towns had impressive medieval bridges, and the latter even had a castle.

There was a rhythm to this day. Puente Duero was low and tucked away. Simancas towered above. Once beyond that town, the emerald carpet rippled forth around me, but in the distance I could see the steeple that promised Ciguñuela. But then Wamba was like Puente Duero, hidden out of site until just before arrival. Climbing back out, I saw a lump in the distances. Was it a rock pile 500m ahead, or a hill town 5km further? I couldn’t say. And is that difference a matter of distance or time? Regardless, I pushed on. I had been warned at the bar in Valdestillas that the final ascent to Peñaflor was a doozy. I didn’t realize there was a false ascent before the real one, but the latter was as promised. It’s a shame that the albergue is closed in Peñaflor, as that’s a lovely old village, but at least the grocery remains open, and there’s an impressive assortment of stuff tucked away in there! And, the silver lining is that this pushed me—and likely many other pilgrims—onto Castromonte, and they have a marvelous albergue, complete with a free washing machine, well-equipped kitchen, and even accessible wifi from the municipal swimming pool across the street. The butcher’s shop, while closed in the afternoon, will reopen for pilgrims and has a small selection of groceries. The town even features the “Museum of Imaginary Rocks,” which I enjoyed.

My penultimate day’s major surprise was Medina de Rioseco. I wasn’t ready for such a big town—the biggest on the route aside from Segovia. A hole-in-the-wall churrería was my first stop. Then it was onto a café to wash down the chocolate with coffee, and if the bartender threw in a couple of cream puffs for good measure, who was I to say no? Keep your eyes peeled and you’ll see a life-size crocodile hanging from a house on Calle Mayor, and then you may see something even more surprising—an open church. Staying in Medina would have been a joy, but leaving it was also exciting, as this next stretch follows the Canal de Castilla, which brought back fond memories of the walk into Frómista. In Cuenca de Campos and Villalón de Campos I really enjoyed the many overhanging rooms (enclosed balconies?) perched above the sidewalk on old wooden pillars.

This final march was a mostly somnambulant affair, with the lone coffee stop landing just 5km before Sahagún. The last couple days of the Camino de Madrid mostly flatten out, with agricultural land dominating the landscape in all directions. It’s not as interesting or varied as what precedes it. Even so, I was excited to discover that I was in Ponce de León’s birthplace in Santervás de Campos. Given how many people have found the fountain of youth on the Camino, it makes Ponce’s pursuit seem as ironic as it was futile. I was also thrilled to add another beauty of a castle to the trip in Grajal de Campos—a handsome town with a wonderfully situated albergue.

In my final approach to Sahagún, I realized it had been nearly a decade since I was last here. At that time, my student group was suffering from “the plague”—an intense gastrointestinal event that had caused more than 24 hours of projectile vomiting. Most were thus awaiting transport on this day, while I walked onward with the healthy ones. (My co-leader was among the infected; between purges, she politely asked me to kill her.) Even though I was holding up, I could feel the sickness at work within, vying for control—as though angels and demons were battling it out, except the stakes were higher.

Today, though, such agonies were far in the past. For at the moment when many pilgrims reach their midpoint, I arrived at my ending. And now I finish this in Valladolid, where I’m spending the night before continuing onto Madrid tomorrow, and then home.

Anyway, I loved the walk. Couldn’t have asked for a better spring break.
Thank you! You have a nice writing style. I will be walking from Madrid, June 1, 2023 After, Lisbon to Santiago in May. Peace God bless. 👍👍😊
 
I’m sitting at the Sahagún train station, waiting on my lift to Valladolid, having just completed the Camino de Madrid. (OK, flight delays cost me Madrid-Tres Cantos, so technically the walk was Tres Cantos to Sahagún. Someday I’ll fill in that gap.)

I only had the spring break week to make the pilgrimage, so it was a whirlwind affair, but I loved it, and found myself frequently wondering what had taken me so long to follow this Camino. It was certainly a joy, though, to get to experience it for the first time now.

I’m a planner and a detail-minded person, but even still, my walking in recent years—mostly guidebook-oriented or leading high schoolers—has been so consumed with tracking specifics that I decided to come into this almost entirely blind. Given the limited accommodation options this time of year, and the need to go a certain daily distance plus the desire to not go far beyond that, I established a daily schedule. Sometimes, when wifi was available at day’s end, I checked whether a store would be in my next day’s final destination, or a kitchen at the albergue. Otherwise, though, I took everything as it came. I just walked and walked, unbothered.

It's difficult to exaggerate my good fortune. Never once did it rain. Only a single day was even overcast. The temperature never broke 20/70. I always had sufficient fuel to proceed without hunger. I didn’t encounter a single pilgrim—a loss in many regards, but the solitude served my purposes for this walk. The greatest suffering I endured was a few days where the first café con leche didn’t come until 25-30km in, but that only served to make the remainder of the walk fly past.

The first day’s walk, from Tres Cantos to Manzanares El Real, while pilgrim-free, was filled with Madrileños enjoying a sunny spring Saturday. Packs of bicyclists sped past, returning (I suspect) to the capital. Families picnicked. Small groups of children walked with patient leaders. I saw bunnies bounding back and forth and storks swooping overhead. The church in Colmenar Viejo proved to be a rarity on this walk—open and even with a sello available—and I arrived just as a walking group surged in. After a stony descent, I enjoyed the sparkling lake beneath Manzanares and the majestic castle above it. The first of many to come.

While I had avoided reading much about the route, I knew two things about my second day. First, it would lead me to Segovia, which I once visited 20 years ago, and that was thrilling enough. Second, it included practically all of the noteworthy elevation gain and loss of the entire Camino de Madrid. That was exhilarating. Coming off my first sleep following a trans-Atlantic flight, and grappling with the time conversion in the wake of that morning’s conclusion of Spain’s daylight savings period, I was renewed if a little groggy, and not fully prepared for darkness to reign until nearly 8am. The route to Cercedilla was pleasant walking on the fringe of foothills, boulders all around, and even included a mid-stage opportunity for coffee and tortilla. The bartender asked me if I had come to ski, complete with a “swoosh-swoosh” gesture. My confusion was only resolved in Cercedilla, when I discovered a museum of skiing.

I confess that, several kilometers from town, I was mildly disappointed. The route followed a minor road, climbing steadily into the mountains, and while the scenery was lovely, and I reckoned that my jet-lagged body should be grateful for the least strenuous gain of 500m of elevation possible, I was saddened to think that the full extent of this lone mountainous stretch would be road-bound. However, the route quickly disabused me of such notions, veering onto a rocky footpath climbing ever higher. At one point, I reached a wide stone bridge, jarring for its man-made imposition on this rugged terrain, and a reminder that today’s nature trail was yesterday’s highway. Not long after, I finally crested the top, and while I wasn’t rewarded with a memorable vista, I was still satisfied. The descent, first through the trees and then later offering a splendid view of the green valley below, was a delight, and easy walking to boot.

Segovia on a Sunday afternoon was a stunning contrast to the quiet march through the mountains, filled with crowds and even marching bands. I remembered the aqueduct as a defining feature, but even still I wasn’t prepared for that dramatic encounter in the town center. The albergue is further down the Camino, so I decided to stay in a hotel in the central plaza, across from the cathedral. Room prices in March are awesome.

On my third day, I braced for flat, agricultural monotony, but encountered nothing of the sort. First, in March, everything is a luminous, rich, spectacular green. The land sparkles, it teems with life. And in this stretch from Segovia, while certainly not mountainous, neither is the land flat. It rolls languidly away from the city. And on the way, it is interrupted by pine groves, through which run sandy trails. I had never seen the harvesting of pine resin in the fashion done here, with lines hacked into the base of the trunk at different points and buckets positioned below. A mid-day stopping point, Santa María la Real de Nieva, stunned me, as the cloisters are on par with any I’ve ever seen—the sculpted capitals are on par with Moissac’s. I was so happy to be walking through such beautiful country that when I arrived in Nava de la Asunción, my anticipated destination, my body told me I was not yet done. I bought some snacks at Lupa, a supermarket handily situated on the route, plopped down in the parking lot to dispose of them, and then pushed onto Coca.

I laughed out loud when I arrived. To be clear, I believed there was an albergue there, but I didn’t know for sure—such was my limited preparation. I travel with a burner smartphone, but it only works on wifi, so I was just optimistic things would work out. I didn’t know what was waiting for me in Coca. As it turns out, a spectacular, dramatic castle was waiting, with elegant stonework lining its crenellations. If I had passed through early the next morning, following the Camino around the village, would I have even noticed? Instead, I had to scrape my jaw off the ground and—eventually—march onward in search of accommodation. I found my way to the biblioteca, where the very helpful librarian confirmed there was an albergue, provided me with a map to reach it, and also directed me to a place where I could retrieve the keys. Alone in the albergue that night, preparing dinner in the kitchen, I marveled at the good fortune that had brought me there. I marveled, too, at how this Camino offered another reminder of what my body is capable of, for at this point, three days in, I had already completed what would be the two longest and hardest stages of this short walk, and I felt healthy and content.

That was a good thing, because day four began with 24km of nearly-uninhabited country en route to Alcazarén. After a quick coffee, I headed over to the grocery store for a quick visit that became a long one. It was “by your own lunch day” at the preschool, so a pack of adorable tots were determinedly (and adorably) counting out their centimos at the counter, while a line of local adults waited behind, cheering them on. I had to join them, of course. Once finished, I flopped down behind the ruined Iglesia de San Pedro, took off my shoes, and started working my way through a four-pack of yogurt. Between cartons #2 and #3, I applied a bandaid to a problematic pinky toe that was showing early signs of chafing. As I did so, a woman walked by and wished me good appetite and successful medical care. I might not have seen any pilgrims, but locals were consistent cheerful enough to see me.

Another long, open stretch remained, en route to Valdestillas—a long road that thinks it’s a town. That’s unfair, but it was still a prolonged bit of exposed walking to my hotel for the night on the far, far side. The amazing thing, though, was that a Spaniard approached me later that night for directions in town, and I was able to provide them. And they were even accurate!

Day five opened up with the least pleasant stretch of walking to that point, on a track alongside a rural highway to Puente Duero, and then a good bit of pavement onward to Simancas. It’s worth noting that I was impressed time and again by just how much of the Camino de Madrid is offroad. It might be the highest percentage of any Camino I’ve done. While that wasn’t true this morning, that was offset by the fact that I was able to get coffee 9km in and then 6km later. Plus, each of the first two towns had impressive medieval bridges, and the latter even had a castle.

There was a rhythm to this day. Puente Duero was low and tucked away. Simancas towered above. Once beyond that town, the emerald carpet rippled forth around me, but in the distance I could see the steeple that promised Ciguñuela. But then Wamba was like Puente Duero, hidden out of site until just before arrival. Climbing back out, I saw a lump in the distances. Was it a rock pile 500m ahead, or a hill town 5km further? I couldn’t say. And is that difference a matter of distance or time? Regardless, I pushed on. I had been warned at the bar in Valdestillas that the final ascent to Peñaflor was a doozy. I didn’t realize there was a false ascent before the real one, but the latter was as promised. It’s a shame that the albergue is closed in Peñaflor, as that’s a lovely old village, but at least the grocery remains open, and there’s an impressive assortment of stuff tucked away in there! And, the silver lining is that this pushed me—and likely many other pilgrims—onto Castromonte, and they have a marvelous albergue, complete with a free washing machine, well-equipped kitchen, and even accessible wifi from the municipal swimming pool across the street. The butcher’s shop, while closed in the afternoon, will reopen for pilgrims and has a small selection of groceries. The town even features the “Museum of Imaginary Rocks,” which I enjoyed.

My penultimate day’s major surprise was Medina de Rioseco. I wasn’t ready for such a big town—the biggest on the route aside from Segovia. A hole-in-the-wall churrería was my first stop. Then it was onto a café to wash down the chocolate with coffee, and if the bartender threw in a couple of cream puffs for good measure, who was I to say no? Keep your eyes peeled and you’ll see a life-size crocodile hanging from a house on Calle Mayor, and then you may see something even more surprising—an open church. Staying in Medina would have been a joy, but leaving it was also exciting, as this next stretch follows the Canal de Castilla, which brought back fond memories of the walk into Frómista. In Cuenca de Campos and Villalón de Campos I really enjoyed the many overhanging rooms (enclosed balconies?) perched above the sidewalk on old wooden pillars.

This final march was a mostly somnambulant affair, with the lone coffee stop landing just 5km before Sahagún. The last couple days of the Camino de Madrid mostly flatten out, with agricultural land dominating the landscape in all directions. It’s not as interesting or varied as what precedes it. Even so, I was excited to discover that I was in Ponce de León’s birthplace in Santervás de Campos. Given how many people have found the fountain of youth on the Camino, it makes Ponce’s pursuit seem as ironic as it was futile. I was also thrilled to add another beauty of a castle to the trip in Grajal de Campos—a handsome town with a wonderfully situated albergue.

In my final approach to Sahagún, I realized it had been nearly a decade since I was last here. At that time, my student group was suffering from “the plague”—an intense gastrointestinal event that had caused more than 24 hours of projectile vomiting. Most were thus awaiting transport on this day, while I walked onward with the healthy ones. (My co-leader was among the infected; between purges, she politely asked me to kill her.) Even though I was holding up, I could feel the sickness at work within, vying for control—as though angels and demons were battling it out, except the stakes were higher.

Today, though, such agonies were far in the past. For at the moment when many pilgrims reach their midpoint, I arrived at my ending. And now I finish this in Valladolid, where I’m spending the night before continuing onto Madrid tomorrow, and then home.

Anyway, I loved the walk. Couldn’t have asked for a better spring break.
Many thanks, Dave, for your insightful report on your Madrid Camino. I've walked all the other major Caminos and am planning to fly from my Australian home to Madrid in May to begin walking from there approx 30th May. Your practical tips on where to find sustenance along the way and great places to stay will be invaluable for me as I make my way to Sahagun which I passed through last July on the Camino Aragonese and Frances. John
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Join the Camino cleanup. Logroño to Burgos May 2025 & Astorga to OCebreiro in June
Hi Dave. That has made interesting reading. Have arrived in Zamora from Seville not wanting to go on to Santiago having completed the Frances twice and was considering various options. Am a pretty fit 77 year old from NZ. Do you consider the Camino de Madrid a viable option? Most of the stages seem to offer accommodation at sensible distances, unlike the de la Plata.
 
Thanks so much for this. I set out on the Madrid in mid-May so I really appreciate the currency of your information. I did not know that albergue in Penaflor was closed, so I will have to look at my schedule again. Many thanks, Mel
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
The albergue in Penaflor is open. Stayed there last night.
Thank you for the confirmation! I will start the Camino de Madrid on Friday the 12th and also plan to stay in Penaflor.
I tried to contact Hostel Avanto in Santa Maria la Real de Nieva, but to no avail. Do you know if they are open or of any other reasonable accommodation in Santa Maria la Real de Nieva? I plan to stay there after Segovia.
 
3rd Edition. More content, training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
I stayed at Hostel Avanto. They don't speak english so a spanish speaker is good. I telephoned.
Thank you! Will do so when I am in Spain. Sent the mail in Spanish though, but got no answer. Just good to know that they are taking pilgrims. Buen Camino!
 
Thank you for the confirmation! I will start the Camino de Madrid on Friday the 12th and also plan to stay in Penaflor.
I tried to contact Hostel Avanto in Santa Maria la Real de Nieva, but to no avail. Do you know if they are open or of any other reasonable accommodation in Santa Maria la Real de Nieva? I plan to stay there after Segovia.
I do hope you will post about your accommodation experiences. I plan to walk the Madrid in Sept so I watching carefully for what the options may be.
 
Join the Camino cleanup. Logroño to Burgos May 2025 & Astorga to OCebreiro in June
Accommodation up to Zamarramala can be trickey, especially on weekends as places close to Madrid are popular hikeing locations. From Zamarramala it is fairly straight forward. Highlights for me are albergues in Puente Duero, Villalon de Campos and Santervas de Campos.
 
Accommodation up to Zamarramala can be trickey, especially on weekends as places close to Madrid are popular hikeing locations. From Zamarramala it is fairly straight forward. Highlights for me are albergues in Puente Duero, Villalon de Campos and Santervas de Campos.
I've seen posts recommending the albergiue in Santervás de Campos and others recommending Grajal de Campos as a stopping point. It's hard to choose. Of course, one could stop in both but that would seem to make for two very short days into Sahagun.
 
3rd Edition. More content, training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
Can I please ask those recently or currently on the trail about the availability of water along the way. How frequent are there fuentes or places to obtain water? I need to decide on carrying 2 liters of water in my bladder or to take my 600 ml insulated water bottle as I have done on previous Caminos where getting water along the way was not a problem. I am unsure of what the situation is on the Camino de Madrid.
 
Can I please ask those recently or currently on the trail about the availability of water along the way. How frequent are there fuentes or places to obtain water? I need to decide on carrying 2 liters of water in my bladder or to take my 600 ml insulated water bottle as I have done on previous Caminos where getting water along the way was not a problem. I am unsure of what the situation is on the Camino de Madrid.
I walked last year and I would say definitely take the 2 litre option. There are many towns but there are also long stretches without a town or any shade. Lovely camino though.
 
Thank you! Will do so when I am in Spain. Sent the mail in Spanish though, but got no answer. Just good to know that they are taking pilgrims. Buen Camino!
I emailed and also got no response. So just turned up and hoped for the best. I got a room without a problem but would have been in trouble if not, there's nowhere else. Phone them if you can, but you will need Spanish.
 
Ideal pocket guides for during & after your Camino. Each weighs only 1.4 oz (40g)!
Can I please ask those recently or currently on the trail about the availability of water along the way. How frequent are there fuentes or places to obtain water? I need to decide on carrying 2 liters of water in my bladder or to take my 600 ml insulated water bottle as I have done on previous Caminos where getting water along the way was not a problem. I am unsure of what the situation is on the Camino de Madrid.
I'd agree with Phil--having capacity for two liters is the safer option in many cases. There were at least a few villages where I circled around hunting for a fountain, found it, and then discovered it was broken. Even when there's a bar, it may not be open if you pass through in the morning.
 
I carried 1.5L and never ran out. I drink 1L before leaving in the morning and don't need to drink again for 2-3 hours. You will find some fuente along the way but I never used them.
 
Thank you for the comments on my question re the best hydration option. The 2 liter bladder it will be then! :)
 
Holoholo automatically captures your footpaths, places, photos, and journals.
I always take a 2l bladder and a spare 500m in a sealed bottle (and I drink as much as I can before I set out in the morning) - I can walk all day without food or tea/coffee but water is essential.
 
Last edited:
I've seen posts recommending the albergiue in Santervás de Campos and others recommending Grajal de Campos as a stopping point. It's hard to choose. Of course, one could stop in both but that would seem to make for two very short days into Sahagun.
I stayed in both but Grajal was extra special.
 
Last edited:
Can I please ask those recently or currently on the trail about the availability of water along the way. How frequent are there fuentes or places to obtain water? I need to decide on carrying 2 liters of water in my bladder or to take my 600 ml insulated water bottle as I have done on previous Caminos where getting water along the way was not a problem. I am unsure of what the situation is on the Camino de Madrid.
I always carried two L and topped-off my bottles whenever possible. I travel light but will always carry two L for precaution and convenience.
 
Holoholo automatically captures your footpaths, places, photos, and journals.
What a gem of a report @Dave. Brought back many memories. Thank you.
 
Great report! I posted the question elsewhere on the forum, but I'm wondering what part of March you walked during?

I'm thinking of the first week of March from Segovia and worried that might be just a little early...?
I was later than that. Started from Madrid on 25 March. So, maybe a bit colder for you and a bit wetter. The biggest variable is snow in the mountain crossing. I had some wet melt after I crossed the top and began my descent, but I remember someone else in the forum posted about encountering more significant snow a couple weeks earlier.
 
3rd Edition. More content, training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
I was later than that. Started from Madrid on 25 March. So, maybe a bit colder for you and a bit wetter. The biggest variable is snow in the mountain crossing. I had some wet melt after I crossed the top and began my descent, but I remember someone else in the forum posted about encountering more significant snow a couple weeks earlier.
I think Stephan is starting from Segovia to avoid the mountain snow.
 
Join the Camino cleanup. Logroño to Burgos May 2025 & Astorga to OCebreiro in June
@Dave, having walked the Camino de Madrid this past October, I have just found this thread again. On my first read shortly after you had posted your delightful recap, I had totally forgotten about it as I was in process of final preparations to leave to on another camino.
I loved reliving my recent memories through many of your descriptive words!
 
I’m sitting at the Sahagún train station, waiting on my lift to Valladolid, having just completed the Camino de Madrid. (OK, flight delays cost me Madrid-Tres Cantos, so technically the walk was Tres Cantos to Sahagún. Someday I’ll fill in that gap.)

I only had the spring break week to make the pilgrimage, so it was a whirlwind affair, but I loved it, and found myself frequently wondering what had taken me so long to follow this Camino. It was certainly a joy, though, to get to experience it for the first time now.

I’m a planner and a detail-minded person, but even still, my walking in recent years—mostly guidebook-oriented or leading high schoolers—has been so consumed with tracking specifics that I decided to come into this almost entirely blind. Given the limited accommodation options this time of year, and the need to go a certain daily distance plus the desire to not go far beyond that, I established a daily schedule. Sometimes, when wifi was available at day’s end, I checked whether a store would be in my next day’s final destination, or a kitchen at the albergue. Otherwise, though, I took everything as it came. I just walked and walked, unbothered.

It's difficult to exaggerate my good fortune. Never once did it rain. Only a single day was even overcast. The temperature never broke 20/70. I always had sufficient fuel to proceed without hunger. I didn’t encounter a single pilgrim—a loss in many regards, but the solitude served my purposes for this walk. The greatest suffering I endured was a few days where the first café con leche didn’t come until 25-30km in, but that only served to make the remainder of the walk fly past.

The first day’s walk, from Tres Cantos to Manzanares El Real, while pilgrim-free, was filled with Madrileños enjoying a sunny spring Saturday. Packs of bicyclists sped past, returning (I suspect) to the capital. Families picnicked. Small groups of children walked with patient leaders. I saw bunnies bounding back and forth and storks swooping overhead. The church in Colmenar Viejo proved to be a rarity on this walk—open and even with a sello available—and I arrived just as a walking group surged in. After a stony descent, I enjoyed the sparkling lake beneath Manzanares and the majestic castle above it. The first of many to come.

While I had avoided reading much about the route, I knew two things about my second day. First, it would lead me to Segovia, which I once visited 20 years ago, and that was thrilling enough. Second, it included practically all of the noteworthy elevation gain and loss of the entire Camino de Madrid. That was exhilarating. Coming off my first sleep following a trans-Atlantic flight, and grappling with the time conversion in the wake of that morning’s conclusion of Spain’s daylight savings period, I was renewed if a little groggy, and not fully prepared for darkness to reign until nearly 8am. The route to Cercedilla was pleasant walking on the fringe of foothills, boulders all around, and even included a mid-stage opportunity for coffee and tortilla. The bartender asked me if I had come to ski, complete with a “swoosh-swoosh” gesture. My confusion was only resolved in Cercedilla, when I discovered a museum of skiing.

I confess that, several kilometers from town, I was mildly disappointed. The route followed a minor road, climbing steadily into the mountains, and while the scenery was lovely, and I reckoned that my jet-lagged body should be grateful for the least strenuous gain of 500m of elevation possible, I was saddened to think that the full extent of this lone mountainous stretch would be road-bound. However, the route quickly disabused me of such notions, veering onto a rocky footpath climbing ever higher. At one point, I reached a wide stone bridge, jarring for its man-made imposition on this rugged terrain, and a reminder that today’s nature trail was yesterday’s highway. Not long after, I finally crested the top, and while I wasn’t rewarded with a memorable vista, I was still satisfied. The descent, first through the trees and then later offering a splendid view of the green valley below, was a delight, and easy walking to boot.

Segovia on a Sunday afternoon was a stunning contrast to the quiet march through the mountains, filled with crowds and even marching bands. I remembered the aqueduct as a defining feature, but even still I wasn’t prepared for that dramatic encounter in the town center. The albergue is further down the Camino, so I decided to stay in a hotel in the central plaza, across from the cathedral. Room prices in March are awesome.

On my third day, I braced for flat, agricultural monotony, but encountered nothing of the sort. First, in March, everything is a luminous, rich, spectacular green. The land sparkles, it teems with life. And in this stretch from Segovia, while certainly not mountainous, neither is the land flat. It rolls languidly away from the city. And on the way, it is interrupted by pine groves, through which run sandy trails. I had never seen the harvesting of pine resin in the fashion done here, with lines hacked into the base of the trunk at different points and buckets positioned below. A mid-day stopping point, Santa María la Real de Nieva, stunned me, as the cloisters are on par with any I’ve ever seen—the sculpted capitals are on par with Moissac’s. I was so happy to be walking through such beautiful country that when I arrived in Nava de la Asunción, my anticipated destination, my body told me I was not yet done. I bought some snacks at Lupa, a supermarket handily situated on the route, plopped down in the parking lot to dispose of them, and then pushed onto Coca.

I laughed out loud when I arrived. To be clear, I believed there was an albergue there, but I didn’t know for sure—such was my limited preparation. I travel with a burner smartphone, but it only works on wifi, so I was just optimistic things would work out. I didn’t know what was waiting for me in Coca. As it turns out, a spectacular, dramatic castle was waiting, with elegant stonework lining its crenellations. If I had passed through early the next morning, following the Camino around the village, would I have even noticed? Instead, I had to scrape my jaw off the ground and—eventually—march onward in search of accommodation. I found my way to the biblioteca, where the very helpful librarian confirmed there was an albergue, provided me with a map to reach it, and also directed me to a place where I could retrieve the keys. Alone in the albergue that night, preparing dinner in the kitchen, I marveled at the good fortune that had brought me there. I marveled, too, at how this Camino offered another reminder of what my body is capable of, for at this point, three days in, I had already completed what would be the two longest and hardest stages of this short walk, and I felt healthy and content.

That was a good thing, because day four began with 24km of nearly-uninhabited country en route to Alcazarén. After a quick coffee, I headed over to the grocery store for a quick visit that became a long one. It was “by your own lunch day” at the preschool, so a pack of adorable tots were determinedly (and adorably) counting out their centimos at the counter, while a line of local adults waited behind, cheering them on. I had to join them, of course. Once finished, I flopped down behind the ruined Iglesia de San Pedro, took off my shoes, and started working my way through a four-pack of yogurt. Between cartons #2 and #3, I applied a bandaid to a problematic pinky toe that was showing early signs of chafing. As I did so, a woman walked by and wished me good appetite and successful medical care. I might not have seen any pilgrims, but locals were consistent cheerful enough to see me.

Another long, open stretch remained, en route to Valdestillas—a long road that thinks it’s a town. That’s unfair, but it was still a prolonged bit of exposed walking to my hotel for the night on the far, far side. The amazing thing, though, was that a Spaniard approached me later that night for directions in town, and I was able to provide them. And they were even accurate!

Day five opened up with the least pleasant stretch of walking to that point, on a track alongside a rural highway to Puente Duero, and then a good bit of pavement onward to Simancas. It’s worth noting that I was impressed time and again by just how much of the Camino de Madrid is offroad. It might be the highest percentage of any Camino I’ve done. While that wasn’t true this morning, that was offset by the fact that I was able to get coffee 9km in and then 6km later. Plus, each of the first two towns had impressive medieval bridges, and the latter even had a castle.

There was a rhythm to this day. Puente Duero was low and tucked away. Simancas towered above. Once beyond that town, the emerald carpet rippled forth around me, but in the distance I could see the steeple that promised Ciguñuela. But then Wamba was like Puente Duero, hidden out of site until just before arrival. Climbing back out, I saw a lump in the distances. Was it a rock pile 500m ahead, or a hill town 5km further? I couldn’t say. And is that difference a matter of distance or time? Regardless, I pushed on. I had been warned at the bar in Valdestillas that the final ascent to Peñaflor was a doozy. I didn’t realize there was a false ascent before the real one, but the latter was as promised. It’s a shame that the albergue is closed in Peñaflor, as that’s a lovely old village, but at least the grocery remains open, and there’s an impressive assortment of stuff tucked away in there! And, the silver lining is that this pushed me—and likely many other pilgrims—onto Castromonte, and they have a marvelous albergue, complete with a free washing machine, well-equipped kitchen, and even accessible wifi from the municipal swimming pool across the street. The butcher’s shop, while closed in the afternoon, will reopen for pilgrims and has a small selection of groceries. The town even features the “Museum of Imaginary Rocks,” which I enjoyed.

My penultimate day’s major surprise was Medina de Rioseco. I wasn’t ready for such a big town—the biggest on the route aside from Segovia. A hole-in-the-wall churrería was my first stop. Then it was onto a café to wash down the chocolate with coffee, and if the bartender threw in a couple of cream puffs for good measure, who was I to say no? Keep your eyes peeled and you’ll see a life-size crocodile hanging from a house on Calle Mayor, and then you may see something even more surprising—an open church. Staying in Medina would have been a joy, but leaving it was also exciting, as this next stretch follows the Canal de Castilla, which brought back fond memories of the walk into Frómista. In Cuenca de Campos and Villalón de Campos I really enjoyed the many overhanging rooms (enclosed balconies?) perched above the sidewalk on old wooden pillars.

This final march was a mostly somnambulant affair, with the lone coffee stop landing just 5km before Sahagún. The last couple days of the Camino de Madrid mostly flatten out, with agricultural land dominating the landscape in all directions. It’s not as interesting or varied as what precedes it. Even so, I was excited to discover that I was in Ponce de León’s birthplace in Santervás de Campos. Given how many people have found the fountain of youth on the Camino, it makes Ponce’s pursuit seem as ironic as it was futile. I was also thrilled to add another beauty of a castle to the trip in Grajal de Campos—a handsome town with a wonderfully situated albergue.

In my final approach to Sahagún, I realized it had been nearly a decade since I was last here. At that time, my student group was suffering from “the plague”—an intense gastrointestinal event that had caused more than 24 hours of projectile vomiting. Most were thus awaiting transport on this day, while I walked onward with the healthy ones. (My co-leader was among the infected; between purges, she politely asked me to kill her.) Even though I was holding up, I could feel the sickness at work within, vying for control—as though angels and demons were battling it out, except the stakes were higher.

Today, though, such agonies were far in the past. For at the moment when many pilgrims reach their midpoint, I arrived at my ending. And now I finish this in Valladolid, where I’m spending the night before continuing onto Madrid tomorrow, and then home.

Anyway, I loved the walk. Couldn’t have asked for a better spring break.
I just found this thread. A very interesting read.
What strikes me the most other than the rock museum which I missed is you did the entire walk in 6/7 days?
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
My husband Mitch and I are right behind you, we start 13th.
We're looking forward to this walk.
We may have changed our minds . . . again.
We'll decide when we arrive in Madrid on the 10th - see you there?
We've gone full circle from walking the Meseta to walking from Montserrat to walking the Madrid route and back to the Meseta. Paula has had a foot injury so we're trying to decide. Two more weeks. Easier just to wait and see when we arrive how we both feel. lol!
 
I just found this thread. A very interesting read.
What strikes me the most other than the rock museum which I missed is you did the entire walk in 6/7 days?
I get one week off for spring break, so I hit a camino, try to walk a long ways, and see where I end up. Pulling the same trick on the Primitivo right now. Two days in, arrived in Campiello today. I'll try to reach Santiago by Saturday, but if I'm miserable, I'll dial it back and be happy with Lugo.

I'm fortunate that my body, to this point, permits all kinds of nonsense, and I'm happy to be walking far, far more often than not.
 
I get one week off for spring break, so I hit a camino, try to walk a long ways, and see where I end up. Pulling the same trick on the Primitivo right now. Two days in, arrived in Campiello today. I'll try to reach Santiago by Saturday, but if I'm miserable, I'll dial it back and be happy with Lugo.

I'm fortunate that my body, to this point, permits all kinds of nonsense, and I'm happy to be walking far, far more often than not.
Those are some long days. Some young folks I was with on the Primitivo walked Lugo to Santiago in two days. I walked the first 50km's Lugo to Melide but back to back 50's is over the top for an old guy like me.
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
We may have changed our minds . . . again.
We'll decide when we arrive in Madrid on the 10th - see you there?
We've gone full circle from walking the Meseta to walking from Montserrat to walking the Madrid route and back to the Meseta. Paula has had a foot injury so we're trying to decide. Two more weeks. Easier just to wait and see when we arrive how we both feel. lol!
We will arrive the 12th in Madrid. Try to get our credentials at the Santiago-church and then stay one night in Madrid.
Yes, then is best to just want and decide when your there. Hope she'll be ok by then for walking.
Buen camino
 
We will arrive the 12th in Madrid. Try to get our credentials at the Santiago-church and then stay one night in Madrid.
Yes, then is best to just want and decide when your there. Hope she'll be ok by then for walking.
Buen camino
The 12th we take the train to Barcelona so we'll miss you But depending on the weather, we may see you on the Camino Madrid. At any rate, have a wonderful walk. Be sure to see the churches at Alcazaran (ask for key at TI) and at Wamba (book the night before).
 
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.

❓How to ask a question

How to post a new question on the Camino Forum.

Featured threads

❓How to ask a question

How to post a new question on the Camino Forum.

Featured threads

Forum Rules

Forum Rules

Camino Updates on YouTube

Camino Conversations

Most downloaded Resources

This site is run by Ivar at

in Santiago de Compostela.
This site participates in the Amazon Affiliate program, designed to provide a means for Ivar to earn fees by linking to Amazon
Official Camino Passport (Credential) | 2024 Camino Guides
Back
Back
Top