March or April Start?

[hieudovan]

I had walked the Camino Frances last Spring. I am planning to walk again and heard that the VDLP is longer and less crowded. I am retired so time is not an issue. Currently I'm narrowing down to the time of departure and researching the "long" stages (comparing to CF) and albergues. Any word of wisdom would be much appreciated.

I've been reading the posts on this forum and came to the conclusion that Spring is a good time to walk the VDLP. I assume that April is a better month to start than March. Though the weather is unpredictable, "generally" April should have less rain and also less swollen "streams/rivers" to ford. Another positive is that there should have more albergues open in April. Are my assumptions correct? Are there positives to walk in March rather than April? I would appreciate any feedback/advice that you might have.

Buen Camino

 

[Cejanus]

My brother and I will be doing the VDLP starting early April. I too completed the Camino Frances fro SJPD in April/May of this year. At this stage we have not planned stages at all. I anticipate we would start around 3rd April. We are both retired and so will take our time.

 

[Espero]

I plan on walking the VDLP in late April or early May (dates are flexible). I'm retired military, so I'm going to try to catch a space A hop out of Travis to Rota, Spain. I'll be interested in the feedback/advice you get.

 

[handzondeck2]

I have walked the via de la plata twice. 2006 and 2011 both times in April/May. My posts are under handzondeck2. However, a lot has changed since I last walked especially with the new railway. I hope to walk the via de la plata again next year around the same time next year.

 

[alansykes]

Everybody will be hoping that this winter/spring is less wet than the last one. There were no seasonally shut albergues when I walked last November/December, other than the one at the embalse de Alcántara, and I think I was just unlucky with that one. Spring travels northwards at roughly walking pace, and one year I'm planning to leave Seville round about the time the almonds come in to bloom, and have a whole month of the first day of spring.

 

[piogaw]

Hello,

I would recommend that you start your vdlp in april. I walked the vdlp this past winter starting 01/02/2013 to the 20/03/2013 from sevilla to sdc. Many of the municipal albergues along the way were closed either for renovation or closed for the winter. Practically all of them reopens in april. From salamanca onwards you will not have any problem. All xunta de galicia albergues in galicia are open.

April is also a good time to start. I can not advised you as to the weather, but this year has been quite bad. The weather in march can still be very cold and wet. There are many swollen streams? in the first few stages to cross (caused by heavy rains?) without any stone or concrete block to help you cross.

Also the camino path can be very messy to walk due to heavy rains and you may have to walk on the road.

April on the other hand is wonderful, the route is very beautiful and scenic. If you are a history fan, you will enjoy italica, caparra, merida, carceres, etc where there are many roman ruins.

Yes, there are some long stages to walk, but not many. This is due to albergue closures during the winter months.

Buen camino and god bless.

 

[hieudovan]

Hi Piogaw, thank you for your response. It confirms my thinking. I shall start in April. Buen Camino!

 

[bsewall]

I agree with piogaw, April is probably the best month. Just keep in mind that there is a likelihood of a higher number of pilgrims on the trail around Easter vacation. Also, the weather on the Camino at that time of year can be unpredictable. I started out on April 5 from Sevilla expecting warm days with an occasional rain shower. While there were few rainy days, by the end of April we were dealing with freezing temperatures and blinding snow. Go figure. To give you an idea of what Spring on the VdlP looks like, you can visit my web site at: http://camino.bsewall.com/.

 

[jirit]

I agree with bsewall that April is probably a better month to start walking the Via de la Plata especially from Seville. But the weather this past spring was unseasonable weird (both bsewall and I experienced the same blinding snow situation) and other experienced sub minus temperatures on the camino frances route.

I can only suggest that spring in Spain and most of Europe seems to be arriving later each year, last longer into the June some years, and the summer comes later and is hotter than previous summers.

 

[peregrina2000]

Here's a plug for May -- I started once from Sevilla in mid April and once in May, and there were big crowds in April and non in early May. This may have to do with Easter, though, because I think a lot of people start their Vdlp in Holy Week (the week before Easter). In 2014, Easter is very late, so maybe the April crowds will be less than the early May crowds this year!

In any event, I thought May was a delightful month, the wildflowers were just wild and crazy, the streams had not yet dried up and were babbling over the rocks, and the temperatures were great.

Though the weather is really crazy, I think jirit has a good point -- I think that as a general trend, you can predict that things get better the later into the spring you start. So long as you arrive in Santiago by the end of June, you will probably avoid a lot of the really bad heat of summer.

Either way, you'll love the Vdlp. Buen camino, Laurie

 

[reg2450]

March. Seriously... March. April is a better month, but we survived 5 metres of snow when we were prepared for a balmy Spring. Added interest to the whole "you'll never believe what I just did" story

 

[hieudovan]

Here's a plug for May -- I started once from Sevilla in mid April and once in May, and there were big crowds in April and non in early May. This may have to do with Easter, though, because I think a lot of people start their Vdlp in Holy Week (the week before Easter). In 2014, Easter is very late, so maybe the April crowds will be less than the early May crowds this year!
Either way, you'll love the Vdlp. Buen camino, Laurie

Hi Laurie et al., thanks for the information. Since Easter will be on April 20 in 2014, does that mean it'd better to start either the first or last week of April in order to avoid the Holy Week and Easter's crowd? Another reason for me to start in April, rather than later, is that the airfare from the U.S. would be cheaper... Buen camino! Hieu

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Hieu,
Well, of course this is all unscientific and anecdotal, and if you've read Tom's comments about how chaos theory plays into all of this, you'll take anything I or anyone else says with a grain of salt. http://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/full-albergues-every-day.18600/

But if it's right that a lot of people start in Sevilla at the beginning of Holy Week, and if it's also right that the earlier in April you go, the higher your chances of bad weather, I guess the week after Easter would be the best for both of those concerns. In the final analysis, though, I think it really isn't that big of a deal, I would just avoid starting in Holy Week. And what I found was that the "wave theory" really holds true. If you find yourself in a big bubble of pilgrims on the Vdlp, it's usually the case that slowing down or speeding up for a day or two will get you out of it. A German I walked with paid careful attention to tally up the albergue totals ahead of us by looking at the registry and guest books and the variations were tremendous from one day to the next.

Good luck with your planning, no matter when you go, springtime is beautiful on the Vdlp! Laurie

 

[Donovan]

Hi, Hieu,
Well, of course this is all unscientific and anecdotal, and if you've read Tom's comments about how chaos theory plays into all of this, you'll take anything I or anyone else says with a grain of salt. http://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/full-albergues-every-day.18600/

But if it's right that a lot of people start in Sevilla at the beginning of Holy Week, and if it's also right that the earlier in April you go, the higher your chances of bad weather, I guess the week after Easter would be the best for both of those concerns. In the final analysis, though, I think it really isn't that big of a deal, I would just avoid starting in Holy Week. And what I found was that the "wave theory" really holds true. If you find yourself in a big bubble of pilgrims on the Vdlp, it's usually the case that slowing down or speeding up for a day or two will get you out of it. A German I walked with paid careful attention to tally up the albergue totals ahead of us by looking at the registry and guest books and the variations were tremendous from one day to the next.

Good luck with your planning, no matter when you go, springtime is beautiful on the Vdlp! Laurie

 

[Donovan]

Here is one person’s experience of how Easter affects pilgrim numbers. Last year I left Seville about two weeks before Easter. As far as Laza numbers were moderate and, except at the small places, albergues were generally around half full or less. Merida was an exception, but that was on Good Friday. I had a two week halt in Laza, so when I restarted I was joined by those who had left Seville at Easter. Pilgrim numbers had doubled, and most albergues from Laza to Santiago were full or nearly so. The sole exception was Vilar de Bario where there were only five or six.

As far as start date goes, I prefer a March start simply because I prefer walking in cooler weather. The wildflowers were still coming out, so not at their best, but still lovely. The weather varied from perfect early on, to cold in Fuentorroble, and very wet in Galicia. We certainly did not experience the extremes of this year, but that seems to have been a particularly cold spell. Every year is different, you just have to hope.

 

[peregrina2000]

I had walked the Camino Frances last Spring. I am planning to walk again and heard that the VDLP is longer and less crowded. I am retired so time is not an issue. Currently I'm narrowing down to the time of departure and researching the "long" stages (comparing to CF) and albergues.....
Buen Camino

Hi Hieu,
Just to say that you should let us know what you think are the "long" stages, because when I walked the Vdlp, I was able to find workarounds for all of the reported long stages. My stages are here:
http://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/my-stages-on-the-vdlp.8961/

Bottom line -- there are workarounds, you don't ever have to walk 40 kms on the Vdlp, though you may have to walk some really short days to do that. That is the dilemma. Buen camino, Laurie

 

[freescot]

I had walked the Camino Frances last Spring. I am planning to walk again and heard that the VDLP is longer and less crowded. I am retired so time is not an issue. Currently I'm narrowing down to the time of departure and researching the "long" stages (comparing to CF) and albergues. Any word of wisdom would be much appreciated.

I've been reading the posts on this forum and came to the conclusion that Spring is a good time to walk the VDLP. I assume that April is a better month to start than March. Though the weather is unpredictable, "generally" April should have less rain and also less swollen "streams/rivers" to ford. Another positive is that there should have more albergues open in April. Are my assumptions correct? Are there positives to walk in March rather than April? I would appreciate any feedback/advice that you might have.

Buen Camino

I began on March 17th, 2010. The streams were swollen but after the first day were no problem. I'm just now blogging about, http://www.the-raft-of-corks.com/bl...corks/the-camino-de-santiago/via-de-la-plata/

buen camino,
John

 

[Cejanus]

I began on March 17th, 2010. The streams were swollen but after the first day were no problem. I'm just now blogging about, http://www.the-raft-of-corks.com/bl...corks/the-camino-de-santiago/via-de-la-plata/

buen camino,
John

Thanks for the blog. I have enjoyed reading it. I look forward to further updates. I am planning to walk the VDLP starting in Early April next year.myour blog has given me an insight to this Camino. I walked the Camino Frances in April Maynof this year.

 

[Davroos]

April is good down South, but the further North you go, the colder it gets. A couple of years ago in May, there was a blizzard in Leon. I rode the track last year starting in April. It was 25 in Seville, but 2 weeks later, coming into Santiago, it was -2.5.

Also, during Easter, it can be very hard to find accommodation as the Spanish walk the three days that they have off, and this being the VDLP, beds are scarcer

 

[hieudovan]

Hi Hieu,
Just to say that you should let us know what you think are the "long" stages, because when I walked the Vdlp, I was able to find workarounds for all of the reported long stages. My stages are here:
http://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/my-stages-on-the-vdlp.8961/

Bottom line -- there are workarounds, you don't ever have to walk 40 kms on the Vdlp, though you may have to walk some really short days to do that. That is the dilemma. Buen camino, Laurie

Thanks Laurie. I will definitely look into your stages and albergues. I was looking at the link http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/. I counted a total of 11 stages over 30 km and one stage that is 40.5 km long. On the CF, I averaged 25 km a day. So, the VDLP stages are a little farther than I was used to. However, as it's my second camino, I think I'll be alright. Thanks again and buen camino. Hieu

 

[Saint Mike II]

I agree with Donovan, late April (or at least a couple of weeks after Easter) will improve your opportunities for a less crowded Camino. I also agree that May 2013 was totally unseasonal - reported as being the coldest May in Spain for 40 years (it snowed in Madrid in mid-May). If its very wet then the trail between Sevilla and Merida will be affected and you may have to detour (or take a bus around any flooded parts). The construction of the AVE railway was a problem for us around Alconetar (a detour of 2-3 km was required). How much this will affect you next May is difficult to say as the construction is still proceeding at pace. The major factor on the VDLP are the distances between towns and alburgues - most days you will have to carry your lunch or mid-day meal and if it does turn out to be very warm (say over 27-29 C) then you will need to carry at least 2-3 litres of water. So pack light! Hope this helps.

 

[KinkyOne]

...as the construction is still proceeding at pace (or it will as long as the German tax payers keep loaning to the Spanish Govt!!).

You don't want to go into this on this forum! It's so inappropriate...

B.

 

[Saint Mike II]

You don't want to go into this on this forum! It's so inappropriate...

B.

Agree - I have deleted this section. M