Babyboomergirl
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Frances 2017
Primitivo 2018
Finisterre/Muxía 2018
Norte 2019
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Thanks @Jenny@zen .@Babyboomergirl as you know from our conversations, I loved the Madrid Way but won’t be walking the VdeP until April so can’t offer a direct comparison.
Regarding weather, we walked in early September - cool to cold mornings turning into hot afternoons. Suspect it could be similar in April. We walked the Mozarabe from beginning of May and wouldn’t have wanted to leave it any later. Again, not a a direct comparison but possibly similar climate?
I don’t recall that we had a guide book - well signposted - but we did have a list of accommodation. Maybe we got if from the church in Madrid where we got our credenciale. I’m sure others on the forum better with important details will know.
Accommodation wise, there was not a lot of choice - other than in Segovia We stayed almost exclusively in Albergues but there were so few people we often had the place to ourselves or close enough. Standard was good. You have my blog where I think I mentioned where we stayed each night.
We took 12 days to get to Sahagun (that last day was 36 kms which could have been split) and we didn’t have any rest days. Joining the Frances in Sahagun gives you lots of options to connect with other camimos for remaining time.
Sorry I can’t offer a direct comparison but if the Madrid fits with your time and other considerations I’d highly recommend it.
It was pretty fabulous - if you don’t mind not many (sometimes any) peopleThanks @Jenny@zen .
I think it was your blog that switched me to CM
I still really want to walk the VdlP but perhaps that could be in 2023 !
Thank you. That’s fantasticJust found this thread on the forum posted by Ivar in October last year.
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/attachments/20201021_albergues-camino-de-madrid-pdf.85704/
More choice than I remember
That’s a great list. Just scrolling through it, I would note that people should check to see if the places listed as “cerrado” are actually still closed (I think they were covid closures). I know a forum member who stayed with Ray y Rosa last week in Manzanares, and I remember seeing one of Álvaro Lazaga’s youtube videos recently in which he stayed in the albergue in Santervás. Both of those are listed on this document as closed. So it’s always good to check.Just found this thread on the forum posted by Ivar in October last year.
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/attachments/20201021_albergues-camino-de-madrid-pdf.85704/
More choice than I remember
Thank you @peregrina2000 for these comments.That’s a great list. Just scrolling through it, I would note that people should check to see if the places listed as “cerrado” are actually still closed (I think they were covid closures). I know a forum member who stayed with Ray y Rosa last week in Manzanares, and I remember seeing one of Álvaro Lazaga’s youtube videos recently in which he stayed in the albergue in Santervás. Both of those are listed on this document as closed. So it’s always good to check.
And as for the choice itself, I personally cannot think of a better place to be in springtime than on the Vdlp. Like Jenny@zen, though, I very much liked the Madrid. After two weeks to get from Madrid to Sahagún, you will be on the Francés and the Holy Year crowds. You could detour off at León to walk the Salvador/Primitivo, but that would take more than the time you have.
So if you want to walk the full 3-4 weeks, Camino de Madrid is short for that time frame, but it’s a very nice two week walk. Four weeks from Sevilla, though, and you will have @Jenny@zen’s dilemma of where to end.
train from Sahagún to Ponferrada and then walk the Invierno, which is also one I’ve been considering for a while.
Hi @BabyboomergirlPerhaps though I should just stay the course of planning for the VdlP …
—if I did decide on the Camino Madrid I could possibly train from Sahagún to Ponferrada and then walk the Invierno.
So many choices !As one of the charter members of the ”we love the Invierno” group here on the forum, I think that would be a great idea. I know weather is totally unpredictable, but my rule of thumb is that if I start in April or May, I start south; if I start in June, I start north. I think the Invierno is a perfect summer camino (Olvidado plus Invierno in June equals heaven). I have never walked the Invierno in springtime, though, so I’m not trying to dissuade you.
Hi @Babyboomergirl
That would be my choice too.
Realistically- i say it doesn’t matter - only because you’ll be back to walk the other choice?
I’ve done both & both in spring. (Vdlp still to be completed from where I finished @ Tábara on the Sanabrés)..
Vdlp will give you a little more camaraderie. I found a good number along this route.
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I did that combination too - the year before my Vdlp.
I also caught train from Sahagun to Ponferrada..before starting the invierno.
I didn’t meet another walker (peregrino/a or have company at all) on the invierno- but really loved the time alone. it depends whether you ‘need’ company.
Both choices are good., butspring on the Vdlp .
Definitely !Realistically- i say it doesn’t matter - only because you’ll be back to walk the other choice?
Thank you @Jenny@zen@Babyboomergirl just reading all the great responses as I sit up in bed with morning cuppa!
Re VdeP in case you decide to stick with that - I’ve just about finished working out our stages for VdeP in time available. - thanks to the virtual planning thread and @C clearly list
I’m at 29 days from Seville to Pueblo Sanabres with bussing for a couple of stages after Zamora. There are not many long days. I’ve got accommodation listed as well. I’ll send it to you if you like?
If you have 3-4 weeks —- 3 weeks would get you to Salamanca and whatever days you have left gives you a day or so there and through to Zamora. Both are easy places to travel out from and back to if you go back for the Sanabres later on.
I think all great options.
VDLP is easy to break in two. First three weeks will take you to Salamanca which is a wonderful walk in April/May. I had to return to Australia due to a bereavement in the family and I then returned in the September and restarted from Salamanca to Santiago via the Sanabrese, another enjoyable experience.So many choices !
I‘ll have to look at Olvidado/ Invierno for another time.
Thanks @camino07VDLP is easy to break in two. First three weeks will take you to Salamanca which is a wonderful walk in April/May. I had to return to Australia due to a bereavement in the family and I then returned in the September and restarted from Salamanca to Santiago via the Sanabrese, another enjoyable experience.
I have also walked the Camino Madrid at the end of September in 2019. Must admit it was too hot for me and I was lucky to meet and walk with a lovely Argentinian couple or I would have been rather lonely.
If I return it would be in April as I love Spring Caminos, then you have to factor in the water crossings if it has been a wet winter. Hope this helps.
Great news @Babyboomergirl Sounds like a great plan. Sounds like we will be on the VdeP at the same time, at least for some of the time!!Thanks @camino07
I think I’ve decided exactly that. Walk halfway to Salamanca and then walk the rest another time.
It will be the first time in 3 caminos that I haven’t finished the complete walk to Santiago in one journey but I’m also wanting to spend time with family in the UK next year after what will then be almost 2 and a half years apart.
It will be a very emotional reunion !
Hi Sharon - Spring walking is great - but if it has to be Autumn ... we walked the Madrid Way in 2018 starting the end of the first week of September. It was wonderful!I loved the VdlP. We started in April. Hope to walk the Madrid route next year. Spring would be my choice for walking this route. However, due to other demands, might have to be autumn.
Yes we might finish in Zamora too !My latest idea is that we will plan to 'finish' our VdeP in Zamora. We then have another 5 or 6 days available before returning to Paris to spend some time with the grandchildren in the second week of the school holidays.
I like to call them ‘post it notes’ until they actually happen! And Domi always says ‘plans are made to be changed.’I’m glad I’m not the only one who changes the plan
Thanks Jenny. Good to know.Hi Sharon - Spring walking is great - but if it has to be Autumn ... we walked the Madrid Way in 2018 starting the end of the first week of September. It was wonderful!
I just finished the Portuguese Way from Lisbon to Fatima to Porto, Coastal to Santiago on October 1. I hit 3 days of 98degrees weather. Too hot for this Maine gal. But also went to low 50’s at Santiago so bottom line is September is a great time . No rain only at nights. I did have problems with signs out of Lisbon and Albergue s. So check out yes, Lisbon in Lisbon, and Travellers at the train station in Porto. Two nice options.I had originally planned to walk the VdlP in 2020 and of course Covid changed that.
I am now hopeful that I may be able to walk a Camino next year probably starting after Easter.
Given that 2022 is a Holy Year and the first year that many will be able to walk again and I will only have 3-4 weeks I am now thinking Camino Madrid might be a better option.
I’d really appreciate any advice on weather and availability of albergues and private accomodation. I walked the CF in April 2017 and mostly had the perfect mix of cold mornings and sunny afternoons. I realise that weather is unpredictable but would prefer warmer weather.
Other option is to split the VdlP over 2 years.
Thanks for any thoughts from those who have walked both
Hi, I'm planning for Easter in Scotland to visit my brothers families ,praying my 101 year old Aunt is still around. I was booked to go for her 100th and we know what happened to that plan.Yes we might finish in Zamora too !
I’m glad I’m not the only one who changes the plan.
I’m currently trying to decide whether to spend Easter in UK and then travel to Spain or to go to UK early April for school holidays and be in Spain for Semana Santa. We were walking Camino Norte during that time in 2019 and enjoyed seeing all the festivities . I’m not sure I’ll feel comfortable with large gatherings of people so all these uncertainties are affecting my decisions.
Well, just do it - a distance that suits your circumstances.I still really want to walk the VdlP
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