How's the waymarking?

[peregrino_tom]

Hi
I apologise if someone has already covered this elsewhere, but there are quite a lot of postings here!

I'm setting off from Sevilla at the start of October. I see that Alison Raju's guide recommends taking a map. I wasn't planning to do this. I was wondering how anyone who had walked this year had found the waymarking. Is it good enough so you just need to take the CSJ booklet? And if there are problems (perhaps with building works?) where were they and how serious are they please?

many thanks, tom

 

[skilsaw]

I walked Seville to Santiago through Astorga in 2006
and seville to Santiago through Ourense this spring.

The way marking is very good now. Much improved since 2006.
I used the VdlP guide by Pila Pala Press.
It is getting old now - 2004, but the basics are still Okay.
And with the improved way marking, you should have little trouble.

David, Victoria, Canada.

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Tom,
I walked this past May from Sevilla and had no maps. My only guide was the printed pages of the eroski website, which basically gave good general verbal directions, listed towns, attractions, albergues, etc. You will probably come to a few infuriating detours for the AVE (high speed train) construction, but they, too, will be well marked. I don't remember ever getting lost, and I am prone to get lost, so if I made it without maps, you certainly can. Buen camino, Laurie

 

[jl]

sadly the Pila Pala Press is now out of print and according to my communication with them - not likely to be reprinted. Cheers, Janet

 

[peregrino_tom]

David, Laurie, Janet
thank you for replying. You've reassured me quite a lot.
Sounds as if the friends of the Camino have been doing some good work with the signage.
I'll study the Eroski pages.
cheers, tom

 

[AJ]

I'll study the Eroski pages.
cheers, tom

And don't forget tourist information offices. You might be pleasantly surprised by what they have, and it is likely to be more up to date than any guidebook.

 

[+@^^]

i walked the vdlp from mid sept to end oct, using only the alison raju 2005 csj booklette
it forced me to engage with the route and with other pilgrims who had great German/ Spanish guides
i found the waymarking pretty good
through my own error i missed markings twice and paid dearly with stages of 48 and 50 kays
once i started too early in the morning by torchlight (duh, what was i thinking)
and the other when i relied on information from a single uninformed source
what it did was to add a huge element of excitement and discovery to my journey - i sometimes felt like the first pilgrim to have gone there
.
i was never envious by the gps / 1:50k map-touting competitors
.
but like so much in life, the waymarking is terrible if youre not concentrating
.
jfdi
tamtamplin

 

[hel&scott]

We found the waymarking in 2008 excellent and comments from others that have done it recently indicated it is still good, apart from a few bits where the new rail or roads have gone through, stick with the cube waymarkings in this case and DONT follow the Raju guide it is hopelessly out of date.

Pila Pala Press are reprinting their excellent guide book apparently and you can get copies (old or used) on Amazon last time I looked. Or you might find the one we left behind in Funte!

Have a good trip.

 

[andy.d]

When I walked the Camino de Levante last year, and joined up with the VDLP at Zamora I was struck by how brilliant the waymarking on the VDLP was. Other pilgrims did not agree, but if you keep your eyes open you shouldn't get particularly lost,

Andy

 

[mmm042]

I ran from Orense to Santiago last October with no maps or directions. Most of the way there were numerous markers any time you had to turn, but every once in awhile there was nothing -- or, after searching for quite awhile, you'd find a very faded yellow arrow on the pavement, or arrows fashioned by stones or sticks from previous pilgrims. It helps if you know a little Spanish and can ask locals where the path is.

I'm heading over in two weeks to start a mobile app on the VDLP, since there aren't many up-to-date guidebooks out there on this particular trail. I'll put one out on the Sevilla-Merida leg first, hopefully in January, then return every other month until I've got an app on the entire VDLP via Orense done by the end of 2011. If there's any particular type of info you'd like to see in such an app, please let me know!

Melanie

 

[hel&scott]

I've got an app..

I think I've got a cream for that Melanie, these apple infections are easily treated if you catch them early...

 

[durzon]

My advice (having just finished the Via de la Plata from Seville) is, if you don't see an arrow for a couple of 100 yards, go back unless you're on a very obvious one way path with no possible deviations. It's quite easy to get into a "walking trance" and just carry on. Usually that's fine, but it can carry you way off the way.

I thought the blocks (with the Caparra indicators) in Extremadura were probably the best markers, but they didn't always agree with the official camino.

http://www.alansviadelaplata.blogspot.com