Information on the Portuguese route from Zamora to Verin

[gns]

I am planning to walk this route in April.

The CSJ guide is out of print, and searching online I haven't turned up anything except the stages on a site called "Ray y Rosa".

Is anyone aware of a guide or other resource that could help along the way?

Many Thanks

 

[Sara_Dhooma]

I spent some time chatting at the Zamora Tourist Office a couple weeks ago. The guy there gave me a printout of all the upcoming albergues in the province with details and contact numbers on the Camino Sanabres. He first asked me if I was heading through Portugal.

Perhaps contact the Zamora Tourist Office to check if they have a similar printout with albergue information for the Portuguese direction?

Sorry, I couldn't be more helpful. I will add that the turn to Portugual is very well marked out of Zamora. In fact, it was so well marked that I almost took it by mistake!

 

[Kanga]

I also can't help except to say that "Ray Y Rosa"'s gps guide to the Camino Madrid was spot on!

 

[KinkyOne]

Some of this links might be useful:
http://www.xacobeo.fr/ZE3.01.Por-Pla.htm
https://pilgrimdb.github.io/braganca.html
https://www.traildino.com/trace/continents-Europe/countries-Portugal/trails-Via_Portugués_de_la_Via_de_la_Plata
http://americanpilgrims.com/camino/route_descriptions/route_la_plata_portuguese.html
https://www.editorialbuencamino.com/caminodesantiago/41/camino-portugues-via-de-la-plata

I know just one forum member that has walked it: @gracethepilgrim

Buen Camino!

 

[gns]

Many thanks for the replies.

I will take notes as I go along and hopefully post some useful info when I get back.

Regards

 

[peregrina2000]

I did some translation for the a group interested in getting funding for albergues on the Camino Zamorano Portugués. This was a few years ago and at that time, there were albergues only in two places -- Fonfria and Alcanices. I am not sure what progress has been made towards improving the infrastructure. Buen camino, @gns, hope you get the info you need, Laurie

 

[KinkyOne]

I did some translation for the a group interested in getting funding for albergues on the Camino Zamorano Portugués. This was a few years ago and at that time, there were albergues only in two places -- Fonfria and Alcanices. I am not sure what progress has been made towards improving the infrastructure. Buen camino, @gns, hope you get the info you need, Laurie

My friend told me there are many more now and you can walk "usual" stages meaning 20-30km a day. They were looking for volunteer hospitaleros in fall of 2016. If I remember correctly I believe the famous hospitalero in Tabara is/was kind of the mastermind of all this.

 

[bjorgts]

We will walk this camino now in April. I have found the information I need on the addresses which KinkyOne post here. If you want to see a video from the camino, I found this one good:

This Bruno also has a blog:
http://blogdibruno.blogspot.com
If you scroll down to CAMINO PORTUGUES DE LA VIA DE LA PLATA, Zamora-Bragança-Verin, 05/06-2015, you will find GPS maps with his route. I plan to use them.
I have planned these places to stop:
Muelas del Pan: Centro de Turismo Rural El Vedal (hostal?)
Fonfria – albergue
Alcañices – albergue? (other posibilities too)
Quintanilha – albergue
Braganca – maybe no albergue, but a lot of other posibiliteies
Vinhais – Pensao (hostel) and a cheap hotel
Edral - R&F (roof and floor)
Edral – Verin. ??? DOES ANYONE KNOW OF A PLACE TO STAY BETWEEN THESE TWO PLACES?
Verin - albergue

Good luck!

Bjørg

 

[gns]

We will walk this camino now in April. I have found the information I need on the addresses which KinkyOne post here. If you want to see a video from the camino, I found this one good:

This Bruno also has a blog:
http://blogdibruno.blogspot.com
If you scroll down to CAMINO PORTUGUES DE LA VIA DE LA PLATA, Zamora-Bragança-Verin, 05/06-2015, you will find GPS maps with his route. I plan to use them.
I have planned these places to stop:
Muelas del Pan: Centro de Turismo Rural El Vedal (hostal?)
Fonfria – albergue
Alcañices – albergue? (other posibilities too)
Quintanilha – albergue
Braganca – maybe no albergue, but a lot of other posibiliteies
Vinhais – Pensao (hostel) and a cheap hotel
Edral - R&F (roof and floor)
Edral – Verin. ??? DOES ANYONE KNOW OF A PLACE TO STAY BETWEEN THESE TWO PLACES?
Verin - albergue

Good luck!

Bjørg

Thanks. I had seen the video but didn't know about the blog
Regards

 

[p_mci]

Just "bumping" this thread as I hope to walk this way next Spring (post-Levante). So if anyone has any updates, that would be great.

 

[p_mci]

Just "bumping" this thread as I hope to walk this way next Spring (post-Levante). So if anyone has any updates, that would be great.

Oh wait! I have just found the more recent thread by @bjorgts

 

[chinalil]

Sorry if I’ve missed something, but what is the status of the Albergue in Almendra pleaseIs it open yet?

 

[Deleted member 73526]

Sorry if I’ve missed something, but what is the status of the Albergue in Almendra pleaseIs it open yet?

The last update about the Almendra albergue came from Paul Garland on Jan 21, 2020.
(Search for "Almendra")

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/on-the-camino-zamorano-portugués.65292/#post-817688

Not yet I'm afraid. It was due to open last autumn but when laying the floor - it was an abandoned casa consistorial being renovated and converted- it was found that tree routes had grown under the walls, necessitating much more work by the volunteers. José Almeida, permanent hospi at Tábara, and President of the Zamoran Camino Friends, assures me it will be open very soon. I will post in this thread as soon as it is open. Also u can follow updates on fb group <Albergue Ricobayo>. Paul, hospi, Ricobayo.

 

[peregrina2000]

The route from Zamora through Bragança and up to Verín is called the Camino Zamorano-Portugués. @alansykes for one has walked and posted about it.

Methinks it needs its own little subforum in the Via de la Plata section, and I will ask Ivar to see about setting it up. Much more rewarding than reading coronavirus posts.

 

[bjorgts]

When we walked this camino, I tried to find the right name, and ended up with Via de la Plata Portugues. I found this name many places on Internet, but also along the route. Camino Zamorano Portugues is a new name for me. Is this the official name? For how long? Why then Via de la Plata Portugues so many places?

When people try to find information, two different names is not good. The camino is a nice one! So should I change the name of my photo video, for example???

On a map I bought here from Ivar, this camino is also called Camino Portugues de la Via de la Plata. Confused!

 

[peregrina2000]

When we walked this camino, I tried to find the right name, and ended up with Via de la Plata Portugues. I found this name many places on Internet, but also along the route. Camino Zamorano Portugues is a new name for me. Is this the official name? For how long? Why then Via de la Plata Portugues so many places? When people try to find information, two different names is not good. The camino is a nice one! So should I change the name of my photo video, for example???

Totally agree with you Bjorts, so I will do some more searching to see what is up. With the Caminho da Geira e Arrieros, and the Caminho Portugues Interior, we should try to find a way to limit the name confusion.

It seems like both Camino Zamorano-Portugués and Via de la Plata Portugués are used -- does anyone have a good argument for preferring one over the other?

 

[Deleted member 73526]

It seems like both Camino Zamorano-Portugués and Via de la Plata Portugués are used -- does anyone have a good argument for preferring one over the other?

I think "Camino Zamorano-Portugués" gives the greatest clarity to users of this forum. People might eventually abbreviate this to "Camino Zamorano." But we should let that emerge naturally rather than forcing a new name into an already crowded field.

Some thoughts -

For this community - in which pilgrims discuss recommendations and experiences that are specific to different paths - it's helpful to have a mutually exclusive, clearly distinguishable, and comprehensive set of names for the paths that we discuss. (Refer to the MECE principle for taxonomies - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MECE_principle).

In other contexts (e.g. for historians), it is necessary to use names that group paths together. For example, the Via de la Plata and all of its tributaries are referred to as "Mozarabic" routes because they were used by the Christians who lived under Muslim rule (i.e. throughout most of Spain, except the north). and this is why pilgrims on the Camino Sanabres will see signs that say "Camino Mozarabe." This is always going to be tricky for us because people in this community think of Mozarabic Caminos as starting in the south east of Spain and ending in Merida.

Please also consider where to put a forum relating to the Camino Zamorano-Portugués (or whatever you decide to call it). Do you create a separate forum or fold it into the VDLP forum (as per Camino Sanabres)? Forums on this site are organized into Caminos ending in Santiago and those that don't. Via de la Plata is listed as a Camino that ends in Santiago, which is true if you consider the Sanabres to be a branch of the Via de la Plata (as the pilgrim office in Santiago does) ... But it gets complicated because (1) Sanabres is not the only branch that leads pilgrims to Santiago and (2) the original Roman Via de la Plata leads to Astorga.

 

[peregrina2000]

I think "Camino Zamorano-Portugués" gives the greatest clarity to users of this forum. People might eventually abbreviate this to "Camino Zamorano." But we should let that emerge naturally rather than forcing a new name into an already crowded field.

Some thoughts -

For this community - in which pilgrims discuss recommendations and experiences that are specific to different paths - it's helpful to have a mutually exclusive, clearly distinguishable, and comprehensive set of names for the paths that we discuss. (Refer to the MECE principle for taxonomies - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MECE_principle).

In other contexts (e.g. for historians), it is necessary to use names that group paths together. For example, the Via de la Plata and all of its tributaries are referred to as "Mozarabic" routes because they were used by the Christians who lived under Muslim rule (i.e. throughout most of Spain, except the north). and this is why pilgrims on the Camino Sanabres will see signs that say "Camino Mozarabe." This is always going to be tricky for us because people in this community think of Mozarabic Caminos as starting in the south east of Spain and ending in Merida.

Please also consider where to put a forum relating to the Camino Zamorano-Portugués (or whatever you decide to call it). Do you create a separate forum or fold it into the VDLP forum (as per Camino Sanabres)? Forums on this site are organized into Caminos ending in Santiago and those that don't. Via de la Plata is listed as a Camino that ends in Santiago, which is true if you consider the Sanabres to be a branch of the Via de la Plata (as the pilgrim office in Santiago does) ... But it gets complicated because (1) Sanabres is not the only branch that leads pilgrims to Santiago and (2) the original Roman Via de la Plata leads to Astorga.

Thanks, @Raggy, this is exactly the conversation Ivar and I are having now. (FYI, years ago, we had discussions about whether to break out a separate Vdlp subforum for the Sanabrés, but found that the threads were pretty well blended together and that it would be confusing, so we never did that).

So, for others who have any thoughts about this, here are the two questions—

1. Should we call it Camino Zamorano-Portugués or Via de la Plata Portugués?

2. Should it be a sub-forum of the Camino Portugués or the Via de la Plata?

These are not hugely important questions, since the search function will get you to the right place without much difficulty, but for sake of organizational clarity, we should try to get it right.

As of right now, I tend to agree with @Raggy that we should use the term Zamorano-Portugués and also that it should be a sub-forum of the Vdlp. But I would love to hear if there are considerations on the other side that we aren’t considering.

 

[bjorgts]

1: I am not sure. As I said, I had not heard the name Zamorano Portugues, and I have walked this camino. But I am not sure if that is important.
2: Sub- forum under Via de la Plata! This camino starts and ends in Spain, with Via de la Plata/Sanabres before and after. Zamora also is the place where Levante ends up. When we continued on Zamorano, we came from Levante. Sub-forum under Camino Portugues would be confusing - at least for me.