Hotel Fuente del Cura in Sax and on and on

[george.g]

This hotel offers special prices for Perugino's for rooms and food.
Caudete Albergue Santa Ana, well equipped.
Montealegre del Castillo, beds, shower but no cooking facilities.
Petrola, albergue very basic, mattresses on floor, loo and not much else.
Signs very good, yellow arrows, yellow on blue and red elephants, yes red elephants.
Regards
G

 

[stuwmson]

This hotel offers special prices for Perugino's for rooms and food.
Caudete Albergue Santa Ana, well equipped.
Montealegre del Castillo, beds, shower but no cooking facilities.
Petrola, albergue very basic, mattresses on floor, loo and not much else.
Signs very good, yellow arrows, yellow on blue and red elephants, yes red elephants.
Regards
G

Hi George, I am enjoying your comments. Stu

 

[Bad Pilgrim]

Hi,

2015 update:

Caudete: the Paco Serra guide (of 2010) does not go through Caudete. (But if there is a good albergue in Caudete, it's worth a try!) The options are: Villena - Caudete - Montealegre, or Villena - Yecla - Montealegre. There is no albergue in Yecla but at least two hotels, and I'm sure a lot of pensions. It is a large town. Hotel Avenida is expensive, 34 euros for pilgrims (june 2015) but very kind people and the know about the Camino.

Pétrola: there are now beds in the albergue. I think there were four. When I was there, the plastic was still wrapped around them - no need to fear bed bugs ! :O) I saw extra matresses as well - but here are so few people on the sureste that I don´t think mattresses will ever be necessary. Perhaps for a large group then. Still there is NO SHOWER in this albergue. For shower, I would go for the piscina, but it's only open a certain period in summer.

Blue and red elephants (as waymarkers, that is...) - I saw them alright, but only on the stage between Yecla and Montealegre del Castillo. Did you see them in other places as well? Perhaps more of them if you take the option through Caudete? They were cute! :O)

Waiting for update 2016................. :O)

Ciao

/BP

 

[george.g]

Hi BP,
In 2014 I was advised by Snr Paco at the Novelda albergue to go via Caudette, there is a good albergue the "Albergue Santa Ana", good facilities, the local Amigos have a web site.
As I remember there is a "Camino Anibal" (Hannibal) that shares the route for a while hence the red elephants.
Regards
George
PS just googled Camino Anibal and found that there is some info about this route, so many caminos, so little time!!

 

[Bad Pilgrim]

Hi BP,
In 2014 I was advised by Snr Paco at the Novelda albergue to go via Caudette, there is a good albergue the "Albergue Santa Ana", good facilities, the local Amigos have a web site.
As I remember there is a "Camino Anibal" (Hannibal) that shares the route for a while hence the red elephants.
Regards
George
PS just googled Camino Anibal and found that there is some info about this route, so many caminos, so little time!!

Hi George,

Thanks for the info. I will definitely go for Caudete the next time as I've heard good things about the albergue. And what about Caudete: small/big town, what's to see? I actually don't think people miss out a lot in Yecla: it's a large town but not much to see. On the other hand, between Yecla and Montealegre there's a lot of Roman remains that could be interesting for people that are into the historical stuff. Are there Roman things/ruins/calzadas on the Caudete option as well?

 

[george.g]

Hi BP,
Truth to tell, I did't do too much sightseeing (but I did find a bar) and after looking at the town website it seems that there's not a great deal to see.
Regards
George

 

[Bad Pilgrim]

Ok, I guess I have to do the Sureste a 2nd time in order to find out...! :OD

 

[alansykes]

I quite liked Caudete, my first ever night in Castilla-La Mancha. The albergue is very comfortable - the only thing against it is that it is right at the top of the town, and I was knackered on a boiling afternoon after having somehow got lost wandering around in Villena (handsome town, with a cleverly executed sombrero on its plaza de toros, so it's now an all-weather concert hall etc, but no albergue - or hotel either, as far as I can remember).

Caudete isn't exactly exciting, but on a hot Friday it was a pleasant spot to have dinner and watch the people beginning to enjoy their weekend. A slightly drunk man in one of the bars told me flatly there was no camino de Santiago going through the town, but that's hardly a unique experience on the southern caminos - in fact, the girl in the turismo in Elda the previous day had started denying that one went through there ("¿aquí? - no"), before doing a bit of quick internet searching after having had a second look at my hiking sticks, rucksack, scallop shell and general air of bloody-minded determination.

 

[Bad Pilgrim]

I quite liked Caudete, my first ever night in Castilla-La Mancha. The albergue is very comfortable - the only thing against it is that it is right at the top of the town, and I was knackered on a boiling afternoon after having somehow got lost wandering around in Villena (handsome town, with a cleverly executed sombrero on its plaza de toros, so it's now an all-weather concert hall etc, but no albergue - or hotel either, as far as I can remember).

Caudete isn't exactly exciting, but on a hot Friday it was a pleasant spot to have dinner and watch the people beginning to enjoy their weekend. A slightly drunk man in one of the bars told me flatly there was no camino de Santiago going through the town, but that's hardly a unique experience on the southern caminos - in fact, the girl in the turismo in Elda the previous day had started denying that one went through there ("¿aquí? - no"), before doing a bit of quick internet searching after having had a second look at my hiking sticks, rucksack, scallop shell and general air of bloody-minded determination.

Oh that's interesting because I read on a blog from a Spanish guy already in 2011 who took the option through Caudete, staying in an albergue there if I'm not mistaken, so I thought the Caudete option was established a long time ago. Strangely enough, as I already commented, this option is not mentioned at all in the printed Sureste guide from... 2010. I hear even the author of the guidebook promotes Caudete. I'd like to ask more people of the Asociación which one is the proper historical route!! (If there is one.) Not that it matters, I knoooow, but I always have o find out....

/BP

 

[DkPond]

We decided to go by way of Yecla and it was well marked and quite a nice walk. It is true that there is no albergue there, however.

 

[Bad Pilgrim]

We decided to go by way of Yecla and it was well marked and quite a nice walk. It is true that there is no albergue there, however.

Hi DkPond,

So you didn't get lost in the suburbs like I did... Where you there recently? I agree that the way to Yecla is nice and I quite liked the town, with the church with the candy-roof... So you stayed in one of the hotels? They were pilgrim-friendly as I remember it.

And you had no trouble leaving in the morning?? I saw almost no arrows in the morning, not until several kilometers out in the countryside...

/BP

 

[DkPond]

Sorry for the delay in responding. For some reason, I can't seem to access these forums on my iPhone. We stayed in a hotel that was listed in a Sureste Guide that someone gave me in Alicante, but I forget the name. Leaving town was no problem, but mainly because I have the gpx file on Google Maps.

 

[Bad Pilgrim]

Sorry for the delay in responding. For some reason, I can't seem to access theses forums on my iPhone. We stayed in a hotel that was listed in a Sureste Guide that someone gave me in Alicante, but I forget the name. Leaving town was no problem, but mainly because I have the gpx file on Google Maps.

Okay, I remember there were two hotels in the guidebook, la Paz and... I forgot the other one. Next to the Parque de la Constitución. Anyway!

I think most people take the camino through Caudete, skipping Yecla. I'll go through Caudete this summer to see what it's like.

/BP