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Crowdsourcing a question re Camino Madrid

timr

Active Member
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:);):D, 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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Tim, this is the point at which I turned to go to Valsain. The road seen coming in from left continues across the walking track and down through the forest. So.... I turned right and then just made sure I was always walking down hill. There was only a solitary arrow all the way to Valsain, but the village was in sight most of the time so I kept heading in that direction.
Enjoying your posts, many thanks........Donovan
 

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Yes, Tim, that's the spot when you turn right onto tarmac road and once more right (I think it's the T-junction) and down hill.
Once you approach Valsain you can head straight on or slightly left and walk past Valsain. I don't know that road but if you go through Valsain and left on main road there's earth path to the right hand side of the road once you leave the village. And two or three bars ;)

EDIT: Oh, now I see you're already there :D I don't remember the variante to/through Valsain was marked but it was easy to find for me and obviously same for you. Enjoy!
 
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Enjoying your posts Tim...buen Camino and ultreia! May you have no further bovine surprises.
Thanks. One was enough. I'm lying in bed in my albergue with 31 empty beds around. Time to get up!:) I'll catch up on yesterday's account when I get to Segovia. It's only 12k from here and it's my designated rest day.
 
Looking forward to reading about your bovine adventure, Tim! And how cool to have met Ray y Rosa- their website is a goldmine of Camino information. I'd love be to meet them sometime.
 
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Looking forward to reading about your bovine adventure, Tim! And how cool to have met Ray y Rosa- their website is a goldmine of Camino information. I'd love be to meet them sometime.
They were quite exceptional. They'd love to meet you too! Just arrived Segovia. I think it's obligatory to eat a whole suckling pig here.
 
Hi, Tim,
Sorry I didn't see this till now, but I wouldn't have been able to help you anyway -- I've never walked that detour to Valsain. If I ever get back to the Madrid, I will definitely veer that way, though, because that long slog into Segovia once you come down from the mountains is neverending.

That piece of news about Ray y Rosa is surely going to be welcomed by many forum members! Ever since the church closed that wonderful little albergue up on the rock next to the ermita, there have not been a lot of good options.

Glad you are in Segovia, loving the posts!
 
Hi, Tim,
Sorry I didn't see this till now, but I wouldn't have been able to help you anyway -- I've never walked that detour to Valsain. If I ever get back to the Madrid, I will definitely veer that way, though, because that long slog into Segovia once you come down from the mountains is neverending.

That piece of news about Ray y Rosa is surely going to be welcomed by many forum members! Ever since the church closed that wonderful little albergue up on the rock next to the ermita, there have not been a lot of good options.

Glad you are in Segovia, loving the posts!
I was posting my question afterwards, so no problem. Ray y Rosa terrific hosts. They are really only looking for one person at a time though I am sure they might negotiate. And on this route that seems not so strange. There is seemingly no immediate prospect of the albergue opening again in Manzanares El Real.
Valsaín was a lovely stop for lunch. More about that later. La Granja then a really fascinating place and wonderful albergue, not specifically for peregrinos, but with a discount. 12km along highway on senda into Segovia very nice in the morning.
 
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