First-timer walking from Montserrat?

[kbarca]

I will be walking my first camino in April/May 2012 and recently posted a question about walking the norte vs. the Frances. I got some very helpful responses, but as I began to read the many posts about getting to the starting point (I've become somewhat addicted to this forum already!) of either route it dawned on me that it would be much easier for me to leave from Montserrat, since I live only an hour away in Barcelona. However, there is very little information on this route (Sant Jaume) on this forum or any of the other links I tried...and I'm worried that if I choose this way I'll be completely alone (esp. in April) with few places to stay for the first couple weeks, until it joins the Frances. I'm not averse to walking alone for part of the day, but meeting and walking with other pilgrims is important to me. So my questions are...does anyone do this route? Is its connection to the Frances reasonably easy to find? And how long is it from Montserrat to Compostela?
Or should I bag this idea, do the Frances, and get myself to SJPP or Roncasvalles to start my journey? I'm a woman in my fifties, if that's relevant.

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Hola

Greetings from Santiago. From time to time we do get pilgrims arriving here in the Pilgrims Office who have started off from Barcelona. Not enough for the number to be recorded I'm afraid.
There is a quite a lot of information on this route available on the internet but almost exclusively in Spanish or Catalan: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camino_de_ ... a_del_Ebro

If you enter "ruta de montserrat a santiago de compostela" into Google and use the translator you will get a lot of information. There is little pilgrim infrastructure although I understand from the pilgrims I have spoken to that it is waymarked. There is even a website which has an English version (press I for Ingles not E for English!) http://www.camidesantjaume.cat/cami_esp.php

This site has a route description, maps and guidebooks for the route.

My own view is that at least in the initial stages until you join the Camino Frances you will have a solitary time of it and need to use hostales etc.

Let us know what you decide and how you get on please.

Best wishes

John

 

[nousername]

kbarca,

From memory i can assist, in addition and or repetition of information found elsewere on this site and links to it.

You can start in Barcelona. There are 2 routes from barcelona, where i can only comment on the southern trail. There are yellow arrows and signs. albeit the battle of the signs is evident probably because the barcelona-montserat leg is shared between perhaps 3 routes. a very general rule would be to follow the white and red horisontal stripes where exist and yellow arrows are absent.





Signs before montserat
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There dwells two trail angels on the barcelona-montserat leg, ill pm their info to you if you like.

Montserat has guidebooks for approx 5 euro, written in spanish. Indicates the route as 1100km to Santiago and follows the southern ebro (they split at Tarrega! while you may want to go to Lleida and the arrows trail to balageur).




Signs after Montserrat
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I found that spanish is well understood by many in the area, if you have limited vocabulary the guidebook is handed over to strangers with amazing results. Catalan is spoken in that area and makes locals smile.

After Montserat the arrows are well placed except on 3 occasions, where deviations exist.
Distance to Logrono approx 300-400 km

Your questions:

I'm not averse to walking alone for part of the day, but meeting and walking with other pilgrims is important to me.

Barcelona - Logrono ( 20 days)
Total mountainbikes = 7
Total pilgrims = 3

So my questions are...does anyone do this route?

Yes

Is its connection to the Frances reasonably easy to find?

Yes, it joins the Camino Frances at Logrono (if you follow the Montserrat guidbook)

And how long is it from Montserrat to Compostela?

According to the guidebook about 1100km

Or should I bag this idea, do the Frances, and get myself to SJPP or Roncasvalles to start my journey? I'm a woman in my fifties, if that's relevant.

This choice is yours, but i would like to know how big your 'bag' is

 

[kbarca]

Thanks for all this information! I think you've answered my question--sounds like few pilgrims take this route in the early spring, so I'll be walking the Frances or the Norte in April.

 

[oursonpolaire]

I have done the Montserrat-Huesca-Jaca route twice and only ever met two other pilgrims-- cycling priests from Austria. There were some pilgrims about five days ahead of me. There are very few albergues-- Tarrega, Huesca, Bolea etc. The Huesca Association has information on them. I found the signing terrible in 2007 and greatly improved in 2009. If you look back, you will find threads where I have written more fully on this.

Everyone understands Castilian, and French is not a bad backup language. I think I only ran into an English-speaker twice.

This is a seriously unvisited part of Spain, but the path is very scenic in its northern parts, up towards Loarre. Everywhere people were helpful and welcoming, mayors greeting me, and dragging teachers out to give me historical tours. However, there are no fuentes between villages and you need to be careful of your food and water, particularly in the long stretches in Catalonia.

 

[andy.d]

Thanks for the information. Very interested in this route next time I get a few months free,

Andy

 

[anniethenurse]

http://www.gronze.com has some nice info on many routes even the Catalan Routes. Camino de Barcelona between Barcelona and Montserrat two alternatives as JW and nousername already mentioned (the northern and the southern).

Continuation from Montserrat also two alternatives:

1) Camino Catalan por Lieida y Zarrogaza joins Camino Frances in Logrono

or

2) follow the Camino Catalan to Tarrega (see the map in a previous post by nousername and take a look at the map in JW´s link = very nice) and continue on a another branch Camino Catalan in a northwestern direction and join Camino Aragones in Santa Cilla de Jaca. Joins Camino Frances in Puente la Reina.

Gronze has some nice info - in Spanish but can be translated to other languages. I don´t know how accurate the info is though...

http://www.mundicamino.com/ nice information on the Camino Catalan I and Camino Catalan II as the Catalan routes are called here.

I have not walked these routes yet but they are on my future list (just like walking from Arles to CF, or walking G10 or G11 from the Meriterranean to the Atlantic cost) etc....


buen camino whenever whereever
regards
annie

 

[nousername]

Camino from Montserrat Deviation 1

Here is the deviation as experienced August 2011 on the areas indicated.

Deviation One
Tarrega-Lleida-Balageur


In the event that you did end not being able to locate yourself on the small map found in the Montserrat guidebook and because of that suffer from the temporary but mild symptoms 'i dont know where i am at present' sindrome. As indicated on the picture below



For your convinience with picture below the proposed route to follow (to get back on the southern ebro). The route travels from Tournabous to barbens and on the LV-3341 back to Bellpuig. Approx 15km detour, very beutifull cenery even at night

 

[nousername]

Camino Montserrat Deviation 2

Here is the deviation as experienced August 2011 on the areas indicated. GPS coordinates is as shown in the pictures.

Deviation Two
Burjaraloz - Pina de Ebro
N-II and A -1105

Strictly speaking this is not a deviation but a 'little sidestep' where a shorter route is possible.
The indicated route is approxamitly 3 kilometers, while keeping to the main road equates to about 1 kilometer.

This deviation has very nice rock formations in places, plowed but unplanted fields (during that time of year), with a very slight but fullfilling uphill to excersize your temprament/temper. In all a very interesting sidestep.

It is furturemore assumed that the longer route may have been blazed due to traffic conditions on the main highway as a means to prevent pilgrims damaging the vehicles.

 

[nousername]

Camino Montserrat Deviation 3

Here is the deviation as experienced August 2011 on the areas indicated. GPS coordinates is as shown in the pictures.

Deviation Three
Castejón – Milagro
N-113

This deviation occurs due to a difference in the guidebook (the one you picked up in Montserrat)
and the yellow arrows found in the region.

This 'alternative route' is very well marked , the turn right towards the river , over the bridge and of the tar road on the other side of the bridge is indicated on mostly every lamp post. You will not have difficulty to follow this route , if you want to go to milagro.

The picture shows the original route in yellow and the deviation in blue.



Once you have determined that you are in any case on your way to Milagro, since you walked of the guidebook map again, you may be able to attend the 'running of the bulls' , or as a spanish lady refered to it 'playing with the cows' . This event will depend on the time of year and the precieved difference (in terms of horn lenth) between cows and bulls.



If you decide that you dont want to go to Milagro (after you walked of the map, and dont want to turn back), the original route is accross the river on your left hand side approx 3.3 km as the crow fly and you dont mind to swim.

 

[DSouthard]

I know that the person who made the original post has completed her Camino by now, this being early in 2013. For anyone reading this thread, I'd like to add my two cents.

I found the Camino from Montserrat, where I began May 21, 2012 to Logrono to be a lonely stretch of road. But, I wanted some solitude so I was on exactly the right Camino. I found the local people in every pueblo and city I passed through to be warm, friendly, and very helpful, many times going out of their way to help me. Although there are not very many albergues until you get to Logrono, where I found them they were free of charge. You have to find the ayuntamiento when you enter the town where you're going to stay the night in order to check into the albergue, but even if you arrive after business hours it's easy to find someone who will open the office for you, stamp your passport, and give you the key to the albergue. Starting in late May, I found that I was the only person in each albergue I stayed in. Where there are no albergues, you'll have to find a hostel or pension and cough up the 25 euros or so that it will cost.

I found this to be, literally, the experience of a lifetime and it has taken me over six months since I completed the Camino in Finisterre to come back to Earth, or at least begin the descent. I feel like I'm experiencing post traumatic stress syndrome, except my traumatic event was from something so wonderful that it defies description. I'm not sure I'll ever completely return to Earth. I know that I don't want to.

I've just begun writing my thoughts and experiences at ThePilgrimWalker.blogspot.com.

 

[nospacebar14]

For anyone thinking of taking this route, I second DSouthard's comment. I walked from Barcelona last winter and the contrast between the Camino Frances and everything else makes it feel almost like two different caminos. Can't recommend it enough.

Enjoying the blog, DSouthard! Especially the part where you wrote: it's like trying to out-give God.

But also! I forgot to mention, make sure to meet the very nice people at the Amics dels Pelegrins a Santiago -- Barcelona. They gave me my first credencial, told me how the signage works, and told me where I could expect to find snow in January. I think they meet every week (on Tuesday maybe? it's escaping me now).

http://www.amicsdelspelegrins.org/

http://goo.gl/maps/MaUby

 

[sebwalks]

Thanks for everyone who has posted about this route!

I am taking my first Camino this june (2014) and am thinking of starting at Montserrat. the distance of 1100km has been thrown out there and as a novice walker I am wondering if anyone can help me figure out how much time the whole route takes from Montserrat to Campostela.

And are there any other suggested starting points in Catalonia?

I am traveling alone and am very excited about the prospect of walking some of my Camino by myself before meeting up witht the Camino Frances.

 

[KinkyOne]

Thanks for everyone who has posted about this route!

I am taking my first Camino this june (2014) and am thinking of starting at Montserrat. the distance of 1100km has been thrown out there and as a novice walker I am wondering if anyone can help me figure out how much time the whole route takes from Montserrat to Campostela.

And are there any other suggested starting points in Catalonia?

I am traveling alone and am very excited about the prospect of walking some of my Camino by myself before meeting up witht the Camino Frances.

I's quite easy to calculate that roughly. If your average per day is 25km, than you need approximately 44 walking days. But of course you have to take into consideration some possible longer stages where there isn't any place to stay overnight. I'm not familiar with Cami Catalan, but on Camino Frances you'll have plenty of options to adapt daily stages. As far as I remember the longest stage without accommodation on CF (summer) is that 17km long stretch after Carrion de los Condes.

Ultreia!