Invierno vs. Sanabres

intrepidtraveler

Active Member

Time of past OR future Camino

Caminos Madrid, Frances and Finisterre (2015)
Camino Norte-2017; Camino Ingles from A Coruna - 2017

• May 1, 2018

• #1

I would like to hear from anyone who has walked both of these routes. Did you prefer one over the other? If so, why? Or is comparing them the proverbial apples vs. oranges situation. Thanks in advance for your replies.

 

peregrino_tom

Member

Donating Member

Time of past OR future Camino

.

• May 1, 2018

• #2

I quite liked the Invierno. It was OK. But I saw no other pilgrims at all in 2015 (apart from 2 cyclists) and very few other people. But of those I did meet, many were refreshingly surprised by the idea of someone actually walking to Santiago. It was July, very hot and I got a bit ill, so maybe that clouds my assessment.
Sanabres in 2010 blew my mind, with those wide open spaces, Tabaran Beatus (no longer on display?), becoming Sanabrian chestnut woods, becoming wild Galician mountains - but I wonder if I would have felt the same powerful emotions if I'd started in Granja rather than enduring the character-building slog up from Seville?

 

Kiwi-family

{Rachael, the Mama of the family}

Time of past OR future Camino

walking every day for the rest of my life

• May 1, 2018

• #3

I have yet to walk the Invierno and need to go back and do the Sanabres in "not rain" (I'm sure there were stunning views beyond the mist!) - so I'm of no help whatsoever, but I'm sure neither are bad options!

 

MikeJS

Veteran Member

Donating Member

Time of past OR future Camino

Olvidado/San Salvador/Primitivo 2019

• May 1, 2018

• #4

I have walked both and they are very different. Lots of steep ups and downs on the invierno, saw no other pilgrims and options for accommodation and food are limited.

 

intrepidtraveler

Active Member

Time of past OR future Camino

Caminos Madrid, Frances and Finisterre (2015)
Camino Norte-2017; Camino Ingles from A Coruna - 2017

• May 2, 2018

• #5

peregrino_tom said:

I quite liked the Invierno. It was OK. But I saw no other pilgrims at all in 2015 (apart from 2 cyclists) and very few other people. But of those I did meet, many were refreshingly surprised by the idea of someone actually walking to Santiago. It was July, very hot and I got a bit ill, so maybe that clouds my assessment.
Sanabres in 2010 blew my mind, with those wide open spaces, Tabaran Beatus (no longer on display?), becoming Sanabrian chestnut woods, becoming wild Galician mountains - but I wonder if I would have felt the same powerful emotions if I'd started in Granja rather than enduring the character-building slog up from Seville?

Click to expand...

Wow! This doesn't sound like a rave review of the VDLP. What do you think made it feel like a slog vs. something enjoyable?

 

peregrino_tom

Member

Donating Member

Time of past OR future Camino

.

• May 2, 2018

• #6

intrepidtraveler said:

Wow! This doesn't sound like a rave review of the VDLP. What do you think made it feel like a slog vs. something enjoyable?

Click to expand...

Something that is hard work and challenging can still be worthwhile. The difficulties of the first part added, eventually, to the value of the overall experience.

 

MikeJS

Veteran Member

Donating Member

Time of past OR future Camino

Olvidado/San Salvador/Primitivo 2019

• May 2, 2018

• #7

Cannot say that ‘enduring the character-building slog up from Seville?’ is my memory of the VDLP. In fact it remains one of my favourite routes.

 

ranthr

Veteran Member

Donating Member

Time of past OR future Camino

C Frances 2005, 2007
Le Puy en Velay -SdC 2009
Via de la Plata 2011
gr 653 from Oloron to Puente la Reina 2012
Gr65 from le Puy to Figeac 2013
Irun to Santander 2013
Porto to SdC 2014
Astorga to SdC 2015

• May 9, 2018

• #8

There are every day pictures of peregrinos on different inviernopages on facebook, so I have got the hope of meeting some other pilgrims when I start walking next Wednesday. Since I walked Via de la Plata to Astorga and not the Sanabres because of loads of people and problems of finding a bed, I won't be able to compare, but people I walked with up to the two ways separated was not so happy about the Sanabres when we met again in SdC.

 

intrepidtraveler

Active Member

Time of past OR future Camino

Caminos Madrid, Frances and Finisterre (2015)
Camino Norte-2017; Camino Ingles from A Coruna - 2017

• May 10, 2018

• #9

ranthr said:

There are every day pictures of peregrinos on different inviernopages on facebook, so I have got the hope of meeting some other pilgrims when I start walking next Wednesday. Since I walked Via de la Plata to Astorga and not the Sanabres because of loads of people and problems of finding a bed, I won't be able to compare, but people I walked with up to the two ways separated was not so happy about the Sanabres when we met again in SdC.

Click to expand...

Did they say why they were not happy with it?

 

MikeJS

Veteran Member

Donating Member

Time of past OR future Camino

Olvidado/San Salvador/Primitivo 2019

• May 11, 2018

• #10

I found the Sanabres to be one of my favourite parts of a camino!

 

camino07

Veteran Member

Donating Member

Time of past OR future Camino

Frances x5, Portuguese VdlP12, Sanabres, Aragones, Norte,Salvador,Primitivo, VdlP 17,Madrid18Norte

• May 12, 2018

• #11

Walked the Sanabrese twice and loved it both times.

 

ranthr

Veteran Member

Donating Member

Time of past OR future Camino

C Frances 2005, 2007
Le Puy en Velay -SdC 2009
Via de la Plata 2011
gr 653 from Oloron to Puente la Reina 2012
Gr65 from le Puy to Figeac 2013
Irun to Santander 2013
Porto to SdC 2014
Astorga to SdC 2015

• May 16, 2018

• #12

intrepidtraveler said:

Did they say why they were not happy with it?

Click to expand...

I really don’t remember, it’s some years ago, but I felt I did not loose anything.