I'm looking out for AJGuillaume to knock those distances back.
Me too.
We're coming, wait for us!
Part 1; Cuenca to Noheda 24.5km
The distance I am quoting today comes from my OSMand app; the distance quoted in the guides is roughly 30 km. I'm sorry AJ, there is not much in the way of options to break this up. One potential choice, though, is to go as far as Noheda, which is roughly 24.5km from Cuenca. I see nowhere to stay there, but you could taxi back to Cuenca and continue the next day.
Slow walkers always find ways to break stages up

According to the Amigos' guide book, the distance from Cuenca to Noheda is 19.3 km, which would be acceptable, but as has been pointed out, there's no where to sleep.
A taxi ride back to Cuenca and then back to Noheda could definitely be considered, although it might be an expensive option, as rome2rio reckons it would cost us €60 to €75 one way.
A better plan, knowing AJ and his beloved, would be to get a taxi ride out of Cuenca 8 or 10 km and then walk from there to Villar de Domingo Garcia.
Google shows some lodging in Chillaron de Cuenca, but you'd want to confirm that before setting out from Cuenca. You could spend an extra half-day in Cuenca, walk 9 km to Chillaron, and then have about 20 km to go the next day to Villar.
Oh,
@C clearly , how well you know us!!
Chillarón is actually on the train line from Cuenca, and a ticket is likely to be less than €10 for a 10 minute ride.
The option of walking 8.7 km from Cuenca to Chillarón de Cuenca is the one we would consider. Having some extra time in Cuenca is appealing, and in Chillarón there is a choice of staying at the Hostal Los Ángeles, or at the
Hotel Midama. The latter offers a 20% discount for pilgrims:
Aprovechando que la Ruta de la Lana pasa por la puerta de nuestro hotel camino a Santiago, todos los peregrinos que pernocten tendrán un 20% de descuento.
Then we would have 19.3 km to walk to Villar de Domingo García the next day, a good day's walk.
This is definitely a possibility for those who are not purists wanting to walk every step.
Nah, we're not purists, we're slow walkers and realists
I was thinking that stopping in Noheda would be a wonderful option because of the amazing Roman villa...although to be sure not everybody might share my fascination with such things.
Obviously, walking at our pace all the way to Villar de Domingo García from Chillarón means we might not have enough time to stop in Noheda. That would be a shame, as we share your fascination for such things,
@VNwalking .
Part 2; Noheda - Villar de Domingo Garcia. 9.9km
After Noheda, there are some kilometers of road walking on a busy road, so it's a place to take care.
In case of rainy weather the first part of the way is either on the road or on sandy tracks, but after Noheda, the mud is the miserable sticky kind. Luis at the albergue in Cuenca recommends following the road the whole way because of mud. @Magwood and @Ninja followed the marked Camino where it left the road after Noheda, and soon discovered the last section has the kind of surface to be avoided after a rain (photo from Magwood's blog)!
Ah, lovely mud. We had that on the Podiensis in 2018, and the lovely people on the Podiensis installed boot brushes:
VN, all the wikiloc tracks put the distance to Villar de Domingo García at about 27 - 30 km. I can’t remember if your distance was higher or lower than wikiloc’s the last time I compared but there does seem to be some not trivial spread. Wonder why. Some routing takes you through Bascuñana de San Pedro (but there is no place to stay there), which may be a bit longer, but the wikiloc routes all go directly to Villar de Domingo García.
Interestingly, the Amigos' guide book gives this stage as:
ETAPA 3: CUENCA – BASCUÑANA DE SAN PEDRO (24,2 KM)
with an alternative:
Itinerario alternativo por Villar de Domingo García (10,7 Km)
It is interesting, as the guide book also indicates that the only accommodation is:
Centro social (acogida no garantizada)
Tondos to Bascuñana de San Pedro is 8.5 km, so the total distance from Cuenca to Villar de Domingo García at 26.4 km, according to the Amigos. I guess it all comes down to the start and end points.
Aaaah, it's good to be walking again!
