LexKatherine
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- Time of past OR future Camino
- 10/5-16/23; 09/2025
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If one considers Leon to be the end of the Meseta, then @trecile is correct. I walked to Villar de Mazarife after that, which would make the total to Astorga about 230 km.It depends on who you ask. Some people will tell you that the Meseta is between Burgos and León - about 178 km. Others put Astorga as the end point of the Meseta on the Camino, which makes it about 225 km.
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Its about 170kms, which for me, would have been about seven days walking, however, in the interest of time, I rented a bike to cross it which cut timing down to just over two days. It was a great way to see the meseta, although many will say walking is the only way to go. I walked to Tardajos, to La Fabrica, an incredible albergue about 12kms outside of Burgos where the bike was delivered to me, and returned the bike in Leon.My blessing and I are planning to walk the Camino Frances in September 2025. We have another trip this year so…
How long is the Meseta? About how long are we on it? What could in be like in Sept -Oct? Thank you in advance. Buen Camino!
We just loved the Meseta.Hi, and welcome to the forum! I'm sure you'll get lots of answers to your question and also to questions you didn't ask!
Googling "meseta" found this explanation, as well as one suggestion that the Camino crosses it roughly from Burgos to Astorga. That's consistent with what the other posters have said above.
I am curious why you ask. I expect that you have heard things about the infamous "meseta" that might be misleading.
But watch out for flies. They can be relentless. Certainly in September. I highly recommend some form of light netting for face, arms and legs.The meseta for all practical purposes is the stretch between Burgos and Leon, but more well known as the stretch between Carrion de los Condes and Leon.
It's farmland, plain and simple. Not desert nor a barren wasteland. Definitely doesn't challenge one's mind or soul due to its flatness and lack of shade. It's just sunnier in clear weather. Wear a good hat and extra sunscreen.
For some reason it's the subject of exaggerated descriptions and embellishments. Some accounts of walking it sound like a bad acid trip.
I am off to continue my Camino from Burgos this year to the end and look forward to the Meseta April 17. I suppose will be windy and getting green. The website you recommended is awesome. Thank you!If you visit the webpage below you can click a link to have an elevation profile of the Camino Francés displayed. The meseta is the relatively level area in a basin. So, using that, I would say the meseta extends from a bit before Burgos to a bit after Astorga. My guidebook gives a distance of 230 km between the two towns and suggests to take ten days to do it.
Bicycles can be rented in the Burgos area and returned in the León area if you want to save some days crossing the meseta but still do it slowly and under your own power.
▷ Camino Frances: Route Planner, Stages & Map | French Way | Pilgrim
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I'm guessing that from Leon, you took the route through Villadangos del Páramo, instead of the much more pleasant route through Villar de MazarifeThe meseta has it's good parts, but sections of walking beside a busy highway for hours are Not for me.
I walked the CF in September and October. I was in the meseta in Mod September and It was possibly my favorite part of the Camino.My blessing and I are planning to walk the Camino Frances in September 2025. We have another trip this year so…
How long is the Meseta? About how long are we on it? What could in be like in Sept -Oct? Thank you in advance. Buen Camino!
Not long as it seems!My blessing and I are planning to walk the Camino Frances in September 2025. We have another trip this year so…
How long is the Meseta? About how long are we on it? What could in be like in Sept -Oct? Thank you in advance. Buen Camino!
Yes, went in June last year. Vast fields of green with red poppies growing and when a breeze comes up it all sways back in forth, quite mesmerizing and beautiful. Will be walking through the Meseta in June again this year, so looking forward to it.I have walked parts of the Meseta three times. It is a very special section of the CF and particularly lovely in June, when red poppies and stork nests abound. My favourite memory is the pre-dawn climb out of Castrojeriz and looking back as sunrise illuminates the valley.
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Yes!! Bring a face net if you can. I had one day on the Meseta in October 2016 with fruit flies in my nose, ears, eyes, anywhere they could get. My walking partner went back to the UK at Burgos and I wrote to him about the flies. He wrote back “I actually had two face nets and was going to offer one to you but I knew you’d say no because you are so independent and stubborn”. It was at this moment I learned I need to accept generosity from others and stop being such a stubborn mule.But watch out for flies. They can be relentless. Certainly in September. I highly recommend some form of light netting for face, arms and legs.
Hi, I walked the Camino Frances from SJPDP with a friend starting 1st September 2013 and crossed the Meseta during September. As others have said, it is <230km. It was quite hot and arid that year, from memory late 20’s c and we needed to carry more water than normal for some stretches. I’d describe it as something like prairie, gently rolling with the small towns often hidden from the “big skies”vistas, in valleys. It doesn’t have a lot of shade (hence the extra water) and can get windy. I found it peaceful, beautiful in its way and great for quiet contemplation whilst you’re walking. Although a number of people we’d met bypassed it, I’m glad we didn’t it as to me, it was a special section of the Camino.My blessing and I are planning to walk the Camino Frances in September 2025. We have another trip this year so…
How long is the Meseta? About how long are we on it? What could in be like in Sept -Oct? Thank you in advance. Buen Camino!
So, if you start your Camino in Astorga you skip the physical and mental, and only celebrate?For the Frances, I feel the meseta is an important part.
1. St.Jean to Burgos is the physical section. 2. Burgos to Astorga is the mental section.
3. Astorga to Santiago is the celebration.
IMHO, that 200k of meseta is an important part of the experience.
Might account for the party atmosphere that so many people complain about in the last 100km...So, if you start your Camino in Astorga you skip the physical and mental, and only celebrate?
You might call it " spiritual awaremess" as well. I know I laughed and cried more in the last part than ever before.I thought the third phase was "spiritual awareness." Is that the same as celebration? (I don't identify much with any of those phases.)
And if you start in Le Puy you are patiently waiting until SJPP to start the physical challenges and Burgos for the mental challenges. ;-)So, if you start your Camino in Astorga you skip the physical and mental, and only celebrate?
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