Crossing the Sierra de Guadarrama; Madrid to Segovia vs Toledo to Ávila

[Madrood]

Hi all,

Was glancing over the maps and thought about the possibility of extending the CdM to Toledo, but apparently this isn't a great idea due to having to navigate Madrid's (and Getafe etc) infrastructure. So the question then would be if you wanted to combine these two routes, which to cross the mountains with.

I'm leaning towards the Levante since Toledo seems like more of a camino city than Madrid, due to it's medieval history. I got the sense from the virtual walk for this route that there may be more albergues too on this way. Which would you take?

 

[dick bird]

Not sure if I get this. Toledo is roughly south of Madrid so you would be extending the CdM from Toledo rather than to it. The Levante passes through Toledo and passes west of Madrid, so your choices are: follow the Camino de Levante starting in Toledo and miss out Madrid; start the Camino de Madrid starting in Madrid and miss out Toledo; or walk to Madrid from Toledo (which you have already rejected for what seem to be good reasons), then continue along the Madrid. I haven't walked the Levante, but I have walked the Madrid and would recommend it. It crosses the Sierra de Guadarrama (via a very historic route, parts of the Roman road are still there) before entering Segovia (well worth seeing). How about a compromise? You go to Madrid, take a day trip (good train connection) to Toledo, then walk the Madrid by starting there?

 

[Former member 99290]

How about a compromise? You go to Madrid, take a day trip (good train connection) to Toledo, then walk the Madrid by starting there?

Great idea. That's exacty what we did - had a day in Toledo before starting the Madrid Way. It was a quick and easy train ride - and if you have time to spare, you could stay longer in Toledo. There sure is plenty to see and enjoy. And agree with @dick bird the Camino de Madrid is pretty fab!

 

[Madrood]

Not sure if I get this. Toledo is roughly south of Madrid so you would be extending the CdM from Toledo rather than to it. The Levante passes through Toledo and passes west of Madrid, so your choices are: follow the Camino de Levante starting in Toledo and miss out Madrid; start the Camino de Madrid starting in Madrid and miss out Toledo; or walk to Madrid from Toledo (which you have already rejected for what seem to be good reasons), then continue along the Madrid. I haven't walked the Levante, but I have walked the Madrid and would recommend it. It crosses the Sierra de Guadarrama (via a very historic route, parts of the Roman road are still there) before entering Segovia (well worth seeing). How about a compromise? You go to Madrid, take a day trip (good train connection) to Toledo, then walk the Madrid by starting there?

Sorry if it wasn't clear, I was thinking something like this at first: if you wanted to

1. Walk as much of the CdM as you could
2. Visit Toledo
3. Not walk directly from Toledo to Madrid
4. Not use public transport

Would it be better to cross the mountains via the Levante route and then go from Avila to Segovia, or somehow get to e.g. Cercedilla and then cross, skipping Avila.

At this point though I realised I had never considered the Levante properly since I mistakenly assumed it had few albergues, so I thought I would try to open up the question by dropping the requirement to walk onto the CdM and just see if people liked the Toledo-Avila section more than the Madrid-Segovia section.

The compromise you suggest is definitely the most straightforward solution, but I'm still interested to see if it would be worth deferring joining the CdM until after crossing the mountains.

 

[peregrina2000]

just see if people liked the Toledo-Avila section more than the Madrid-Segovia section.

I’ve walked and very much enjoyed both the Levante and the Madrid, and comparisons are always tough. But you asked specifically about the Madrid-Segovia vs. Toledo-Avila segments. The day from Cercedilla to Segovia is a pretty great day (except for the last interminable straight flat 8 kms or so into Segovia), but I think the stretch between San Martín de Valdeiglesias and Cebreros (and beyond until about the last 10 flat km into Ávila) has it beat in terms of mountain scenery.

Avila to Segovia is about 70 km, and there are lots of mountain biking tracks, so even if it’s not off-road it would likely not be too hazardous for walking. But I haven’t walked that, so I’m just guessing.

Though the Madrid has an incredible albergue infrastructure with very few pilgrims, there are albergues on the Levante (maybe half of the stages I walked had albergues, but covid may change things). But all of the towns without albergues had very reasonably priced pensiones, so this is not a camino that will break the bank.

The great thing about the camino de Madrid is that you can exit Madrid without going through any industrial or commercial park areas. It is one of the best camino city exits I’ve experienced.
This is a hard decision!

 

[Keith H]

Oh man. Many years ago I visited both Avila and Toledo. I also love Madrid. if you have the time visiting all of them would be amazing

 

[PilgrimPillar]

I’ve done both

Camino Madrid out of Madrid - Sahagun on
Camino Levante out of Valencia - Sanabres on

Initially I did like the idea connecting to Madrid after Toledo….the Sierras /Cercedilla walk towards Segovia was sweet…

Would I trade it of missing Avilla all the same…..no….

These two Camino’s stay strong on theire own terms

https://www.facebook.com/345921619564760/posts/347961099360812

https://www.facebook.com/1444233982332771/posts/1478095442279958