Getting to Villaviciosa from Santander

[ConnachtRambler]

I have searched the site and elsewhere on the Internet for specific details on travelling between Santander and Villaviciosa.

One contributor in 2011 spoke of going by bus to Llanes and changing there. The Villaviciosa website claims that there is a bus service from Llanes and refers to the Alsa website. The Alsa website, however, states that there is no such service.

The only way to get there appears to be by bus to Gijon and another bus to Villaviciosa. That does not fit in with our plan to start walking (to San Salvador) the day we arrive.

We arrive Santander in the evening of May 16. We will stay that night and catch an early bus on May 17.

Liam

 

[Tia Valeria]

You could try to e-mail the ayuntamiento (town hall) in Llanes for information. We found the one in Lugo helpful.
info@ayuntamientodellanes.com

You may need a local bus rather than ALSA

 

[peregrina2000]

I've found that movelia.es is a better starting place when searching for bus routes. I haven't looked at ALSA's website, but at movelia, it shows that there are three buses a day from Llanes to Villaviciosa, at 4 pm, 6 pm, and 8 pm. Trip takes an hour and costs 6.5 euros.

Good luck with this, you'll love the Primitivo! Laurie

 

[ConnachtRambler]

Thank you Tia, Thank you Laurie, Both replies proved helpful.

Just before I posted the original message I sent an email to the ayuntamiento in Villaviciosa. The reply was prompt and stated:

“La empresa ALSA varía los servicios y horarios sin previo aviso. Lamentamos los problemas.”

Which Google translates as:

“The company ALSA services and hours vary without notice. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

The website movelia.es informed me that ALSA does not allow sales so far in advance. This prompted me to enter an April date and I found the services mentioned by Laurie. These would have us sitting in Llanes for nearly five hours and we would arrive too late in Villaviciosa to start walking that day.

I am now hoping that when the May timetable appears, it will show a more frequent bus service between Llanes and Villaviciosa. Failing that I will be investigating the price of a taxi for the 22km journey from Infiesto to Villaviciosa. There is a frequent bus service from Santander to Infiesto.

Liam

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Liam,
I wouldn't get your hopes up that the May schedule will show much of an increase in daily buses. But I suppose it could.

If you can easily get to 22 kms from Villaviciosa, I think you can get a taxi for about 22 euros. Standard taxi rate is a euro per km.

I could have this all wrong, but movelia shows that there are only two buses a day from Santander to Infiesto, 8:30 am and 3:30 p.m. And it's a 2 1/2 hour trip.

If I'm right about the infrequency of buses from Santander to Infiesto, I think it's going to be easier to get to Villaviciosa staying on the coast. I know you said that the Gijon-Villaviciosa route will get you there too late, but movelia shows you can take a 7:15 bus to Gijon and get there in time to catch the noon bus for the 1/2 hour ride to Villaviciosa. Starting after lunch to get to your destination (I assume that by San Salvador you mean San Salvador de Valdedios, what a heavenly place to spend your first night!) would be easy. It's a very short 10 kms, I think.

Good luck with this! Laurie

 

[ConnachtRambler]

Thanks Laurie,

I continued researching after I posted my last note and have been thinking along the same lines as yourself. I was assuming that many of the buses to Oviedo would stop at Infiesto but was only interested in the 8:30am service. Taking that bus and a taxi I believe we could be in Villaviciosa by noon at the latest.

I also just found the 7:15am express to Gijon. I reckon there is a 10:00am bus from there to Villaviciosa which we can comfortably catch and arrive by 10:35am. We could then take our time in reaching San Salvador de Valdedios.

Our original plan was to spend a day in Gijon before heading for Villaviciosa but suddenly we find that we have to be back in Ireland on a specific date and we don't want any pressure towards the end. Our revised schedule gets us to Santiago by June 4 and we fly home on the the sixth. I am sure you don't consider that a very aggressive schedule but we are slow on level ground so the mountains will present a problem. I try not to think on that hill outside Castrojeriz or the climb to O Cebreiro, both of which I found more painful than Cruz de Ferro or the Pyrenees.

We are looking forward to it (nervously)

Liam

 

[peregrina2000]

Sounds like a good plan. And your first 10 km day is either level of downhill to get to Valdedios. That of course means that Day 2 will start with a big uphill but it's stunning.

Hope you have a wonderful time. Buen camino, Laurie

[attachment=1]Valdedios.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=0]valdediosvalley.jpg[/attachment]

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Liam,
Thanks to someone else bringing up an earlier post of mine, my memory was jolted into remembering that the albergue in Valdedios had been reported closed in January.

el-camino-del-norte/topic16562.html

I will do some sleuthing on some Spanish forums to see if I can get up to date information about whether it is open or not. But Barbara's posting on the thread I linked above is kind of a cautionary tale anyway. Hope you can figure this out, Laurie

 

[peregrina2000]

Just a quick update on the albergue in Valdedios. Though I haven't found anyone with first-hand recent knowledge, this article from the 13th of Feb. states that though the priests have left the monastery, the church remains open for visits, and the albergue remains open.

http://www.lne.es/centro/2013/02/18/val ... 70287.html

I assume that you will be able to get good information in Villaviciosa, though there's no albergue there unfortunately.

 

[ConnachtRambler]

Thank you again Laurie,

The possible lack of an albergue at Valdedios shouldn’t be a problem as we are now considering a few more kilometres given that we are going to be starting earlier than anticipated. Getting to la Vega de Sariego should be manageable if we are on the road from Villaviciosa by 11:00 to 11:30am. Does anyone know where we can get our passports stamped in Villaviciosa?

It looks as if we will miss out on what is reported to be an excellent albergue at Pola de Siero – the extra 10.6km to Pola would be too much for day 1 and too little for day 2.

Liam

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Liam,
If I were you, I'd just get it stamped in a bar/restaurant/hotel, in the tourist office. It doesn't have to be any official place. All businesses in Spain have stamps, but not all of them are pretty.

If you are not intending to visit Valdedios (don't know what the opening times are), you won't even need to make that detour down to the church in the valley. The turn-off is well marked.

I walked to Pola de Siero from Villaviciosa and with the detour to visit Valdedios, it was a really long day, so you're wise not to attempt it starting at 11 am!

There is a bar in Vega de Sariego if I remember correctly, but not much else, so you might want to have food with you. Buen camino, Laurie