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More information -- from St. Pere de Rodes

peregrina2000

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I have been trying to help Eze find some information for his upcoming Camí St. Jaume, and in the process have received some more general information that I thought I would post separately.

The maps show that there is a branch of the camino that starts in Port de la Selva, and goes to the Monastery of San Pere de Rodes. I have visited that monastery before and it sticks out in my mind as one of the most beautiful sites I´ve ever seen, so if I walk this route I would definitely want to start in Port de la Selva.

Here is information I´ve received, which I have translated. My comments are in [brackets].

The Catalan government put waymarkings on a camino from Port de la Selva to San Pere around the year 2009. This isn´t actually a Camino de Santiago, it´s more of a touristic undertaking. But starting in San Pere, the "authentic" camino begins. In fact, the Association of Girona is trying to re-establish the historical route from San Pere northward to the French border. This would start at Coll de Banyuls, then to the monastery Sant Quirze de Colera, then to Vilamaniscele and finally Sant Pere de Rodes. This route is already known as the Cami de Rodes. [ *** -- I take it that this Cami de Rodes would "replace" Port de la Selva to Sant Pere as the "preferred" route. ]

There is another branch from the monastery of Sant Quirze de colera that goes towards Rabós de l'Empordá and Perelada, and at that point it joins the cami de Rodes.

If you walk from Sant Pere de Rodes to Figueres, you can do that in one day. Stay at the Hostal Bartis, on Calle Mendez Nunez 2 (Xaflán Plaça del Gra) TF-972501473. This hostal has rooms and prices at special pilgrim prices and sellos for the credentials.

If you´re worried about getting stamps on your credentials, you can get them at: the monastery Sant Pere de Rodes; in Pau at the Centro Social (at the entrance to the town on the left side of the Camino), En Vilajuiga en the C.A.T. on your way out of town (not sure what that is, maybe some traveler's aid place); in Perelada, at the tourist office (when you get to the center of town, at the roundabout go to the right and ignore the marking that sends you to Vilabertran). Leaving Perelada, you will cross over a bridge and stay straight till Vilabertran where they also stamp credentials in the Centro Social. In Figueras, you can get stamps in the tourist office and in the hostal mentioned above.

From Figueras, the Camino takes you to Girona and everything is well marked to Girona. The camino goes on the Via Augusta.

From Girona, I don´t have information about the way to Salt, Angeles, Pasteral, because we don´t consider it to be on the Camino, though all roads lead to Rome. But the Association does not maintain that part of the route.

From Girona, the Camino goes to Fornells de la Selva, Hostalric, Sant Celoni, Granollers Sabadell, Tarrassa, etc,. etc, This is the traditional and most direct Camino.

In Girona, there is another important historical route, the Ruta del Ripollés. It starts in Coll d'Ares and goes through Molló, Camprodón, Sant Pau de Seguries, Sant Joan de les Abadesses, Ripoll, etc. etc. until Vic. It is well marked and has accommodation.

In the province of Girona there are four routes that come from Perpignan, which are: Font Romeu (which passes through Puigcerdá); Coll dÁres- Molló (Route of Ripollés); Coll de Panissars- La Jonquera (Via Augusta); Coll de Banyuls (Via Heraclea y Cami de Rodes).

[All of this information comes from the Association of Girona. There is a lot of information here but hopefully it will helpful to people who are trying to figure out how to walk the Cami St. Jaume.

Sulu and anyone else who has walked this route -- am I right that you followed the Ruta del Ripollés from Girona to Vic and not the route to Tarrassa?]

I need to forget about the Cami St. Jaume and concentrate on my upcoming Caminos Olvidado and Invierno!!! Buen camino, Laurie
 
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According to the website: http://camisantjaume.cat/ the Camino de Santiago from El Port de la Selva was inaugurated last March 27th. I started on March 15th and there was a big sign in the port at El Port de la Selva and shells on the coastal path out of town.
DSC_0399.jpg

I took the route out of Girona that lead towards Salt. It is the route in the brochure, there are no signs in Girona and no signs leading out so I don't think that the friends in Girona are promoting any route, though I got the impression that maybe the Friends and the Tourist Office were on a collision course and not actually talking to each other.
Anyway. ignore that Laurie, I know you have other things on your mind at the moment.
Buen camino and buen camino to anyone considering doing the Cami Catalan, it is beautiful and, overall, well signed.
Sue
 
According to the website: http://camisantjaume.cat/ the Camino de Santiago from El Port de la Selva was inaugurated last March 27th. I started on March 15th and there was a big sign in the port at El Port de la Selva and shells on the coastal path out of town.
View attachment 10630

I took the route out of Girona that lead towards Salt. It is the route in the brochure, there are no signs in Girona and no signs leading out so I don't think that the friends in Girona are promoting any route, though I got the impression that maybe the Friends and the Tourist Office were on a collision course and not actually talking to each other.
Anyway. ignore that Laurie, I know you have other things on your mind at the moment.
Buen camino and buen camino to anyone considering doing the Cami Catalan, it is beautiful and, overall, well signed.
Sue

Hi, Sue,
In reading between the lines from the emails I am getting from my new friends in the Girona association, I agree that there might be some tension with the tourist office. But today's announcement is that there will be an arrow marking taking place for part of the Ruta del Ripollés, which is not on the map on the official Cami Catala website. But it looks like this route goes from Coll D´Ares on the French border down to Vic without going through Girona. I think that by next year there will be more options and maybe more clarity on these options! Buen camino, Laurie
 
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Hi, Sue,
In reading between the lines from the emails I am getting from my new friends in the Girona association, I agree that there might be some tension with the tourist office. But today's announcement is that there will be an arrow marking taking place for part of the Ruta del Ripollés, which is not on the map on the official Cami Catala website. But it looks like this route goes from Coll D´Ares on the French border down to Vic without going through Girona. I think that by next year there will be more options and maybe more clarity on these options! Buen camino, Laurie

Now that looks like a completely different route, it is well away from anything I walked. It seems strange, when the numbers of pilgrims are so small. to split them between different routes. I sense a lot of politics and not much help for pilgrims. This will just be another route to Montserrat I think. I'm glad I did the Catalan this year :)
 
I took the route out of Girona that lead towards Salt. It is the route in the brochure, there are no signs in Girona and no signs leading out so I don't think that the friends in Girona are promoting any route, though I got the impression that maybe the Friends and the Tourist Office were on a collision course and not actually talking to each other.

Buen camino and buen camino to anyone considering doing the Cami Catalan, it is beautiful and, overall, well signed.
Sue

So, sulu, am I right that you used the Catalan tourism website as your only guide? http://www.camidesantjaume.cat/index_ing.php Thanks, buen camino, Laurie
 
Yes, I just downloaded it and transferred bits that I wanted as it is pretty big and I do like to limit what I carry.:)
 
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Hi, Sulu,
Looking at the online guide, it doesn't look like the route even goes through Girona. Did you have to take a detour?
No, not a detour, the arrows go right up to Girona they just don't go in, they lead around the edge. Girona does not welcome pilgrims, I suspect we lower the tone! They do provide accommodation though.
The following is from the guide, Sarria de Ter is almost a suburb of Girona, as it says after the Puente de Pedret you can either go into the city or follow the arrows that lead to the Via Verde, at which point the arrows stop.
"km 29,1 · Sarrià de Ter Cruzamos el pueblo por la calle Major hasta el puente de L’Aigua, sobre el Ter. Entramos en el barrio del Pont Major, que cruzamos por la calle del Pont Major y el paseo de Sant Joan Bosco. Más adelante podremos seguir por el camino, bien arreglado, de la orilla del Ter. Al llegar al puente de Pedret, podremos cruzarlo y seguir hacia la Vía Verde por el paseo de la Devesa, o entrar en el barrio antiguo de Girona por la calle de Bellaire.km 33,1 · Girona"
 
Hello Sulu,
I really do not know whether Girona welcomes pilgrims or not, but i have to mention that when we arrived in city tourism office, close to the river and at the foot of the old town, we were warmly welcomed and our credencial was stamped with a nice sello dedicated to cami sant jaume.
We didn't ask for the "albergue" as we had a booking in Melia hotel.
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
I don't know if they are welcoming or not in Girona, but I saw several arrows passing through the centre, not far from the cathedral and juderia.
 
I spent ten days in Girona over Xmas; mostly studying but also hiking in the surrounding countryside which was quite beautiful. I came across the inevitable yellow arrow on the main road adjacent to my lodgings in the university residence at Montilivi. I also walked some of the via verde (Ruta del Carrilet: http://www.viesverdes.cat/ES/53/ruta-del-carrilet-i.html.)

I can't imagine why Girona wouldn't welcome pilgrims. I've been there several times in the past few months and I've found it a most pleasant, unpretentious city; I much prefer it to Barcelona. The local authorities have developed an excellent network of trails for hiking and cycling; far from discouraging them I'd say they actively encourage walkers, pilgrims and any similar itinerants.
 
Hi, Ramblanista, I have been in touch with the Girona Camino Association, and they have been very helpful and kind, so maybe sulu's experence was unusual (and appears limited to signage, not people).

I'm planning this route now, and have had a few more emails from the Girona people explaining that the segment from Port de la Selva to Figueres was an artificial, tourism-boosting construct pushed by the mayor of Port de la Selva. I may still start from there, just so I can visit St. Pere de Rodes again (amazing!), but I'm hoping to learn of another departure point that would also go through St. Pere but put me on a more "authentic" path from the start. So long as I can get there in a day from Barcelona, I'm willing to start anywhere that has a place for me to sleep and good signage! Buen camino, Laurie
 
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I'm planning this route now, and have had a few more emails from the Girona people explaining that the segment from Port de la Selva to Figueres was an artificial, tourism-boosting construct pushed by the mayor of Port de la Selva. I may still start from there, just so I can visit St. Pere de Rodes again (amazing!), but I'm hoping to learn of another departure point that would also go through St. Pere but put me on a more "authentic" path from the start. So long as I can get there in a day from Barcelona, I'm willing to start anywhere that has a place for me to sleep and good signage!

I think the camino that goes through St. Pere de Rodes is just one camino so if you want to stick to a camino route and want to visit St. Pere de Rodes, you wouldn't have an alternative (AFAIK). However, if you don't bother to make part of the route out of a camino route, I know of a possible alternative.

Disclaimer: I didn't walk myself the alternative I'm going to quote so I can't comment about signage as well as I can't commet about quality of the route.

The route would start in Llançà and would be Llançà-St Pere de Rodas-Port de la Selva on the GR 11 (part of the etapa 23 on the link I'll provide you), Port de la Selva-Sant Martí de Empuries on the GR 92 (etapas 2 -just part of it-, 3, 4 and 5 on the link) and Sant Martí de Empuries-Orriols on the GR 1 (etapas 1 and part of the 2 on the link). Once in Orriols, you would continue on the Camí de Sant Jaume. With this route you would miss Figueres so it would be a good idea to visit it before starting your walking in Llançà.

More info about the quoted stages on the quoted GRs can be found on this link:

http://webantiga.feec.cat/senders/sender-comarca?comarca=5427

You can get to Llançà from Barcelona (or from Figueres) by Regional train or by MD train. If you prefer to go to Figueres first, you can make it either by Regional or MD train (arriving at Figueres station) or by high speed train (arriving at Figueres-Vilafant station). If you prefer to go from Barcelona to Figueres by bus, take a look at www.barcelonabus.es for info about schedules. From Figueres, you can reach Llançà either by train or by bus (bus company: Sarfa).

For info about accommodations in Llançà, take a look at this link:

http://www.visitllanca.cat/?page_id=168&lang=en
 
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Hi Laurie

I really fell in love with the Catalunyan countryside during my Xmas sojourn in Girona; I think the Camino Catalan/Camì Gironí de Sant Jaume will make for a beautiful, varied walk. I'm planning to walk it next year as part of my PhD fieldwork but not sure whether to link it with the Camino Aragones or the Ruta del Ebro to Gallur to follow the Castellano-Aragones to Burgos to join the Frances. The intention is to compare the landscape experience on the solitude of the less well-known caminos to that of the Frances. Above all, I like the idea of starting at the Mediterranean and finishing on the Atlantic.

Good luck with you're planningh, I'll be following your Camino with interest.

Sian
 
It looks like there are many Camino routes into Girona from France, but none of them go to Port de la Selva! Here is what my amigo at the Girona amigos told me (my translation):

"The caminos come from Perpignan. From there, four different routes arrive at the border and cross the Pirineo to enter into the province of Girona. One of those enters through Coll de Banyuls, on the old Via Heraclea, and it arrives at the monastery of Sant Quirze de Culera. At that point the Camino diides into two branches, one continues on the Via Heraclea to arrive a Rabos de L'Empurda y Perelada, tnd the second goes to Vilamaniscle on the Cami de Rodes and arrives at the monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes. It then continues towards Pau, Vilajuiga, and then in Perelada it merges with the first branch and then continues on to Vilaberyran and Figueres."

"As you see, I haven't mentioned Port de la Selva. This departure point was an invention of the Generalitat (the Catalan government) because of pressure of the mayor of Port de la Selva for tourism interests."

Then when I asked him if he could suggest a starting point on one of the branches of the more authentic camino, he told me he would start in the Monastery of Sant Pere because the stretch between the Monastery of Sant Quirze de Colera to the Monastery is not completely waymarked, although the amigos are working on it.

Based on castilian's suggestion, I suppose I could start in Llanca and get to Sant Pere on the GR and then continue to Figueres on the Camino. My guess is that at some point the GR from Llanca and the waymarked route from Port de la Selva merge to get up to the monastery, because we are only talking about a few kms here. In any event, this suggests I can broaden my search for a place to stay to include Llanca. And Llanca has the advantage of being directly on a train route, with no taxi needed as it would be if I start in Port de la Selva.

Buen camino, Laurie
 
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And Llanca is also cheaper acommodation wise. So I guess you're set, Laurie ;)

Ultreia!
 
Thanks, amigos. One last question -- does anyone know if one of the two places (Llanca or Port de la Selva) is nicer? Is one a beautiful little fishing village and one a big touristy strip? Or are they both about the same?
 
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One last question -- does anyone know if one of the two places (Llanca or Port de la Selva) is nicer? Is one a beautiful little fishing village and one a big touristy strip? Or are they both about the same?

I haven't been to either Llançà or El Port de la Selva so I'm not really qualified to answer your question but I'd like to provide you some info/thoughts that may help you to take a decision. Firt of all the tourist webs of both towns:

http://www.visitllanca.cat
http://ca.elportdelaselva.cat/turisme

can help you to get an idea of what they have to offer.

As Llançà has direct train links with Barcelona, a question to consider may be whether El Port de la Selva has something to justify the detour...

P.S.: Don't overlook there's an albergue in Llançà (not a pilgrims one though).
 

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