New member(s)

[David Baylor]

Hi, David from Milwaukee Wisconsin. My son Austin and I will be doing the Camino in June of 2015. Still in the planning stage but are considering doing a highly unusual route. We want to avoid the crowds and have time to bond before he heads off to college. He speaks fluent Spanish.

I am considering doing the Madrid route to Coca, then cutting west to Medina del Campo and joining the de Levante to Zamora and finishing on the Sanabres route.

I would appreciate any assistance with recommendations for good guides for the three routes and any information on the stretch between Coca and Medina del Campo.

 

[Al the optimist]

Have you looked in the "Camino Resources" tab at the top of the page?

 

[KinkyOne]

Hi, David from Milwaukee Wisconsin. My son Austin and I will be doing the Camino in June of 2015. Still in the planning stage but are considering doing a highly unusual route. We want to avoid the crowds and have time to bond before he heads off to college. He speaks fluent Spanish.

I am considering doing the Madrid route to Coca, then cutting west to Medina del Campo and joining the de Levante to Zamora and finishing on the Sanabres route.

I would appreciate any assistance with recommendations for good guides for the three routes and any information on the stretch between Coca and Medina del Campo.

Welcome to the forum, David (& son)

I walked Madrid (& Invierno) this summer and can only recommend it. You can find lots of info here:
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/forums/camino-de-madrid.45/
In this section I also posted day-by-day blog. Maybe you should think about going further on Madrid than Coca. I don't know about bus/train connections with Medina del Campo but I guess they are better from Valladolid, which is 2-3 stages further on from Coca. Or maybe from Villeguillo, Alcazaren or Puente Duero?

There's a separate section on Levante here also:
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/forums/camino-de-levante.55/
I'm planning to walk it with extension on Sanabres (& Muxia & Fisterra) next year and found lots of useful info here:
http://www.vieiragrino.com/camino/camino-de-levante.asp

And about Sanabres:
http://mundicamino.com/rutas.cfm?id=44

If your son is fluent in Spanish there won't be any problem with sites like:
http://mundicamino.com/
http://www.gronze.com/
http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/

There are also few local Pilgrim Associations with web pages that contains lots of usefull infos.

Happy planing and Ultreia!

 

[David Baylor]

Al, I am working my way through the resources.

Kinky One, thanks a ton, those are some great resources.

Does anyone know where I can find downloadable guides to the Levante and Sanabres routes. I will be getting guide books but want to start looking at specifics now to help in planning the daily routes.

 

[David Baylor]

Welcome to the forum, David (& son)

I walked Madrid (& Invierno) this summer and can only recommend it. You can find lots of info here:
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/forums/camino-de-madrid.45/
In this section I also posted day-by-day blog. Maybe you should think about going further on Madrid than Coca. I don't know about bus/train connections with Medina del Campo but I guess they are better from Valladolid, which is 2-3 stages further on from Coca. Or maybe from Villeguillo, Alcazaren or Puente Duero?

There's a separate section on Levante here also:
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/forums/camino-de-levante.55/
I'm planning to walk it with extension on Sanabres (& Muxia & Fisterra) next year and found lots of useful info here:
http://www.vieiragrino.com/camino/camino-de-levante.asp

And about Sanabres:
http://mundicamino.com/rutas.cfm?id=44

If your son is fluent in Spanish there won't be any problem with sites like:
http://mundicamino.com/
http://www.gronze.com/
http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/

There are also few local Pilgrim Associations with web pages that contains lots of usefull infos.

Happy planing and Ultreia!

Our plan was to walk from Coca to Olmedo and stay the night. Then from Olmedo to Medina del Campo. We hope to do the entire route on foot with no bus/taxi/train trips until we are ready to come home.

 

[KinkyOne]

Our plan was to walk from Coca to Olmedo and stay the night. Then from Olmedo to Medina del Campo. We hope to do the entire route on foot with no bus/taxi/train trips until we are ready to come home.

I remember there's a branch to the left approx.4kms after Villeguillo that goes to Olmedo for another 7kms. From what I see on the map from Asociacion de Madrid it is marked.
Here's another link:
http://pilgrim.peterrobins.co.uk/routes/details/levante.html
What I see from maps here it should be another 20kms from Olmedo to Medina del Campo.

 

[David Baylor]

I remember there's a branch to the left approx.4kms after Villeguillo that goes to Olmedo for another 7kms. From what I see on the map from Asociacion de Madrid it is marked.
Here's another link:
http://pilgrim.peterrobins.co.uk/routes/details/levante.html
What I see from maps here it should be another 20kms from Olmedo to Medina del Campo.

The KML files are fantastic!

 

[Arn]

David and son...Welcome to yhe Forum and the Class of 2015.
Your request for assistance has opened the flood gates and also highlights how the Camino's less known routes have gained popularity in such a short time.
As you and other pilgrims populate these Camino route options, I am confident the attendant infrastructure will follow.
Buen Camino,
Arn

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, David,
I have walked both the Camino de Madrid and the Levante, but in two separate years, so I didn't make the connections you describe. But I think it's highly do-able because the distance from Coca to Medina is 46 km, so depending on your stamina, it's a one or two day walk. Looks like a logical stopping place would be Olmedo.

For the Camino de Madrid, I think the CSJ online guide is more than sufficient, along with posts on this forum. From Medina on the Levante, I would recommend the Association guide; the route is very well marked, but I think the guide is a good idea.

I don't know if there are downloadable guides to the Levante, but I did post a pretty lengty report on my stages on the forum. https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/my-stages-on-the-levante.19142/

Sounds like a great Camino, I loved both of them! Buen camino, Laurie

 

[David Baylor]

Hi, David,
I have walked both the Camino de Madrid and the Levante, but in two separate years, so I didn't make the connections you describe. But I think it's highly do-able because the distance from Coca to Medina is 46 km, so depending on your stamina, it's a one or two day walk. Looks like a logical stopping place would be Olmedo.

For the Camino de Madrid, I think the CSJ online guide is more than sufficient, along with posts on this forum. From Medina on the Levante, I would recommend the Association guide; the route is very well marked, but I think the guide is a good idea.

I don't know if there are downloadable guides to the Levante, but I did post a pretty lengty report on my stages on the forum. https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/my-stages-on-the-levante.19142/

Sounds like a great Camino, I loved both of them! Buen camino, Laurie

Thanks Laurie, I will look at your stages. We are planning a 2 day switch between Caminos but I will go beyond Coca at the advice of another forum member.

 

[peregrina2000]

So, now that I'm putting this together, it looks like you will only be on the Levante for three days. Is that right?
Medina to Sieteiglesias
Sieteiglesias to Toro
Toro to Zamora

Buying the Levante guide for that short a time seems silly, though the guide does include the Sanabres. I would be happy to scan and send you the pages from my Spanish Levante guide for those three days, just send me a PM with your email address.

For the Sanabres, I think the best online guide is the Eroski site. http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/los-caminos-de-santiago/sanabres/
I have walked the Sanabres several times now, in connection with the Vdlp and the Levante, and the first two times used only their pages. They have good walking instructions as well as information on albergues and other services. The only thing they don't include is reference to private lodging, so for a full list of accommodation you would need to supplement with mundicamino or information from the forum. The Eroski site has changed a bit since I used it, but there is a way to print out things in a very page-saving way, I just don't see exactly where that function is now.

One last thing on the Sanabres -- jirit from the forum has a great accommodation guide to the Vdlp and the Sanabres, which is now being updated by Geoff, to whom jirit has handed the baton.

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...ommodation-and-walking-schedule-update.29641/ It has been very highly praised by people who used it.

Planning a camino is always fun, and in your case, the mix and match feature makes it even more fun! Buen camino, Laurie

 

[peregrina2000]

Sent the scan, happy camino planning! Buen camino, Laurie