Just wondering, will I or won't I?

[Bobcat77]

Greetings all.
I did Camino Frances this year, 2019. On my own. Nothing booked. Took my time. Just 6 weeks. Loved it. Amazed I could do it. Now, I'm just wondering ... The only one that attracts me, apart from CF again, is the Camino from Seville, 'Camino de la Plata'. The 'hook' for me is the roundy number of kilometres ... 1006. Juicy.
My question is what are the services like? distances between hostels, facilities along the way, way-marks etc. CF is sooo well serviced. I suppose, at my age (just turned 70) I need to be sensible. We found on CF, we had a sweet spot of around 18k per day. I reckon I would do a bit more myself, but I was happy with my 'family'. We're still in touch online.
Thoughts anyone?

 

[Jay Es]

We are starting out on the VdlP in January. We are all different. Especially as we age differently, it is hard to say what one can do from another. When planning the VdlP we used godesalco and gronze. Its generally do able in less than 20km a day except there are one or two 30km days. where these come early in the walk we will probably take a taxi to split the days.
We are youngsters at 60 and 65 BTW.

 

[Donna Sch]

We are starting out on the VdlP in January. We are all different. Especially as we age differently, it is hard to say what one can do from another. When planning the VdlP we used godesalco and gronze. Its generally do able in less than 20km a day except there are one or two 30km days. where these come early in the walk we will probably take a taxi to split the days.
We are youngsters at 60 and 65 BTW.

If you carefully plan it you can keep many stages down to 20-25 km. There are some unavoidable long stages and some tricky areas eg Caparra, Northern Extremadura where you definitely don't want to wing it or you will end up with crazy extremes. It's an older demographic on the VDLP and dare I say it, a different type of peregrino.

 

[SYates]

There is an old thread by me which is pretty much a day by day account here somewhere on the forum ...
But in short: Way marking and services are good. There are a few stages longer then you, and I like!, but you can always taxi to accommodation and the next morning taxi to where you stopped walking the previous day.

Also, some stream crossing necessary and don't walk in summer. March would be ideal imo.

BC SY

 

[Bernice M]

I did the VDLP from Sevilla mid-September to early November 2014 and from Salamanca October-November this year, aged 60 and 65. In 2014 my walking buddy was 67. We usually did less than 20km/day. Always found accommodation even after 1 November. I highly recommend the Wisely/Wise Pilgrim app available for a few $$ for both maps and accommodation lists.

 

[DeansFamily]

We just completed the VdlP / Sanabres from Seville on Tuesday. From Salamanca onwards we could sense that things were winding down for Winter and we had a few occasions where we had to walk further on as private alburgues marked as open all year were not open that particular day (Fontamontanos de Tabara) or shut for the season with no other option but to walk on or be prepared to pay big dollars for a bed (Puebla de Sanabria). You will definitely have a few days walking farther than your preferred distance but as SYates advised, calling a taxi to get you to a bed may need to be used. When you walk the Caparra Arch stage you can shorten it by ringing Hotel Asturias the night before for a pick up at the Arch at 4pm and stay there (good pilgrim menu there too) and then walk the road on from there which joins back on to the VdlP a few kms further on. The VdlP is very worthwhile doing, you will definitely need warm, waterproof clothing (anything extra can be purchased at Decathlons along the way) and be prepared to be on your own both day and night, be prepared to carry food for lunch and dinner on many sections. If there is anything we can be of help with just let us know. Have fun planning!

 

[Ernesto.IT]

Greetings all.
I did Camino Frances this year, 2019. On my own. Nothing booked. Took my time. Just 6 weeks. Loved it. Amazed I could do it. Now, I'm just wondering ... The only one that attracts me, apart from CF again, is the Camino from Seville, 'Camino de la Plata'. The 'hook' for me is the roundy number of kilometres ... 1006. Juicy.
My question is what are the services like? distances between hostels, facilities along the way, way-marks etc. CF is sooo well serviced. I suppose, at my age (just turned 70) I need to be sensible. We found on CF, we had a sweet spot of around 18k per day. I reckon I would do a bit more myself, but I was happy with my 'family'. We're still in touch online.
Thoughts anyone?

 

[Ernesto.IT]

Greetings all.
I did Camino Frances this year, 2019. On my own. Nothing booked. Took my time. Just 6 weeks. Loved it. Amazed I could do it. Now, I'm just wondering ... The only one that attracts me, apart from CF again, is the Camino from Seville, 'Camino de la Plata'. The 'hook' for me is the roundy number of kilometres ... 1006. Juicy.
My question is what are the services like? distances between hostels, facilities along the way, way-marks etc. CF is sooo well serviced. I suppose, at my age (just turned 70) I need to be sensible. We found on CF, we had a sweet spot of around 18k per day. I reckon I would do a bit more myself, but I was happy with my 'family'. We're still in touch online.
Thoughts anyone?

Dear Bobcat77, you got nothing to worry about, I was 71 when I decided to walk Rome, Santiago, Fisterre, Muxia 3300Km in 98 days. So, buen camino peregrino.
Ultreia
Ernesto

 

[NomadBoomer]

I did the half vdlp from Salamanca in may 2018 after doing the CF in sept 2017. It's a very different experience than the CF, I think you may need to do a bit more research before committing, a round number of km is not enough. The distance between villages and alburges is greater and you can't stick to a fixed number of km every day. I found it easy to walk greater distances on this route, geography and less reasons to stop. The walkers on this camino tend to be older fitter more experienced walkers and hence if you walk low km you will be always falling behind the nice folks you meet. For me the best thing about the vdlp was due to low numbers of walkers and alburges was that most evenings you knew 90% of the people in the alburge from previous nights. Real sense of family when you knew everyone on the path and if you didn't you chatted to make sure you did ( till the last 100km anyhow)

I had a fantastic time and made some great friends but I missed the magic that CF has for me. More of a long distance walk than a pilgrimage, not so much in the way of churches or pilgrim masses. Also too much walking near highways or rail tracks for my liking. I walked the CF again in Aug /September 2019 - absolutely magic. Always worth considering, mind you I'm thinking only every second walk on the CF, norte/ primitivo 2020.
Buen camino

 

[geraldkelly]

There is quite a few stages on the Via where you'll have to walk 20km and about 4 where you'll have to do more than 25km. Also, once you get into Galicia it's very mountainous for about a week, much more so than on the Frances, that could also present difficulties for you.

That said, lots of people over 70 do the Via and manage, mostly by knowing their limits and sticking to them, and possibly some occasional use of taxis, etc.

I publish a free guide, it's available from my website http://www.viadelaplataguide.net/

I just finished updating it for 2020. I walked the Via this year (3rd time).

Regarding when to walk, departing Seville in March has become popular in the last few years to such an extent that the phenomenon of full albergues has begun to appear. Depending how you feel about cold / rain / heat you might consider starting in February or April.

Buen Camino!
Gerald