- Time of past OR future Camino
- Several and counting...
@Magwood and @Undermanager as your experience is fresh
@KinkyOne and @peregrina2000 as you know nearly everything
@JohnnieWalker for archival purposes
Where exactly is the turn off for La Granja de San Ildefonso and/or Valsaín when walking from Cercedilla?
I'm here now and loving it. Tucking in to judiones and morcilla.
The CSJ guide says: Before arriving at the Fuente del Pastor, about 10 kilometres before Segovia, there is a split -the branch to the right is on asphalt and used by bikes. Take it. Two or three kms further on, you come to another intersection. Take the path on the right, which takes you downhill and into Valsaín. There is a hostal and a Casa Rural in Valsaín.
With all due respect to the esteemed writer, that's a bit like the commonly heard advice in Ireland, "keep on down the road, and if you come to (eg) a church, you've gone too far".
The latter part of today's walk was overshadowed by a 'bovine incident' which I'll address in my 'live from the Camino ' thread. And my judgement may be clouded.
I was watching constantly for a right turn. And I was a little distracted by the large number of recreational walkers - a simple statement, not a value judgment. Then I came upon the Fuente del Pastor and decided to keep going rather than backtrack (towards the scene of the trauma)! I'm reasonably confident I didn't miss a labelled turn to the right, and never lost arrows.
So next I came to a big notice in a field, with a large but hand drawn map saying Ud. está aqui and saying I was in Valsaín which I manifestly wasn't. I was in an open field. With cows. And Bulls. I could see Valsaín in front of me to the right and Segovia clearly over to the left. The Camino was clearly marked with arrows roughly between the two. I could see a 'monolith' 200m to the right and took a walk over there instead. It was a monument announcing the National Park.
@Undermanager I had your trace for maps.me but hadn't been using it as I went along as the version I opened had you going straight to Segovia without variant. Maybe you have other ones (which possibly I have already). I'm still a bit tentative with wikiloc and maps.me. Your trace WAS very useful though as I could see I was only about 6km from San Ildefonso. So I carried on past the monolith 'off Camino' with a dozen assorted 'recreationals' and made my way to Valsaín easily. I had wonderful lunch, (partly redressing my bovine incident) despite the Argentine restaurant with 120 seats being completo for mother's day, though it was in fact empty at that moment. I'll explain that elsewhere too.
I'm not sure where the route marked would have taken me, (apart obviously from Segovia) but it couldn't have been far from Valsaín . From Valsaín to San Ildefonso is less than an hour on quiet main road. You need to cross the river and veer left in the town. You'll pass another two or three bars and restaurants there.
La Granja is lovely. Upmarket - it has a Parador! Loads of nice bars and a splendud private albergue, Camino de Lis maybe 200m from the palace and gardens. Exceptionally well equipped. €10 for pilgrims. More for others.
If I was coming again, I'd come the way I came but it's not marked or signposted. In fact you can follow your nose as you can see Valsaín - though you may not be sure that's what it is.
So, any wise words?
@KinkyOne and @peregrina2000 as you know nearly everything
@JohnnieWalker for archival purposes
Where exactly is the turn off for La Granja de San Ildefonso and/or Valsaín when walking from Cercedilla?
I'm here now and loving it. Tucking in to judiones and morcilla.
The CSJ guide says: Before arriving at the Fuente del Pastor, about 10 kilometres before Segovia, there is a split -the branch to the right is on asphalt and used by bikes. Take it. Two or three kms further on, you come to another intersection. Take the path on the right, which takes you downhill and into Valsaín. There is a hostal and a Casa Rural in Valsaín.
With all due respect to the esteemed writer, that's a bit like the commonly heard advice in Ireland, "keep on down the road, and if you come to (eg) a church, you've gone too far".
The latter part of today's walk was overshadowed by a 'bovine incident' which I'll address in my 'live from the Camino ' thread. And my judgement may be clouded.
I was watching constantly for a right turn. And I was a little distracted by the large number of recreational walkers - a simple statement, not a value judgment. Then I came upon the Fuente del Pastor and decided to keep going rather than backtrack (towards the scene of the trauma)! I'm reasonably confident I didn't miss a labelled turn to the right, and never lost arrows.
So next I came to a big notice in a field, with a large but hand drawn map saying Ud. está aqui and saying I was in Valsaín which I manifestly wasn't. I was in an open field. With cows. And Bulls. I could see Valsaín in front of me to the right and Segovia clearly over to the left. The Camino was clearly marked with arrows roughly between the two. I could see a 'monolith' 200m to the right and took a walk over there instead. It was a monument announcing the National Park.
@Undermanager I had your trace for maps.me but hadn't been using it as I went along as the version I opened had you going straight to Segovia without variant. Maybe you have other ones (which possibly I have already). I'm still a bit tentative with wikiloc and maps.me. Your trace WAS very useful though as I could see I was only about 6km from San Ildefonso. So I carried on past the monolith 'off Camino' with a dozen assorted 'recreationals' and made my way to Valsaín easily. I had wonderful lunch, (partly redressing my bovine incident) despite the Argentine restaurant with 120 seats being completo for mother's day, though it was in fact empty at that moment. I'll explain that elsewhere too.
I'm not sure where the route marked would have taken me, (apart obviously from Segovia) but it couldn't have been far from Valsaín . From Valsaín to San Ildefonso is less than an hour on quiet main road. You need to cross the river and veer left in the town. You'll pass another two or three bars and restaurants there.
La Granja is lovely. Upmarket - it has a Parador! Loads of nice bars and a splendud private albergue, Camino de Lis maybe 200m from the palace and gardens. Exceptionally well equipped. €10 for pilgrims. More for others.
If I was coming again, I'd come the way I came but it's not marked or signposted. In fact you can follow your nose as you can see Valsaín - though you may not be sure that's what it is.
So, any wise words?
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