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Old Ingles vs New Ingles Route

FSP

Active Member
Time of past OR future Camino
CF-2013
CP-2016
Fin-2016
Norte-2018
Muxia-2018
Is it still possible to do the Ingles via the old routing? The new routing seems to be a lot of road walking and a route that steers away from much nicer countryside. Judging from comments on the forum and a good number of the youtube videos I have watched I can't say I am inspired to walk the new route. It seems that whenever any of these trials get rerouted the growing propensity is to just move to the shoulder or sidewalk of the nearest road.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Yes! It is possible. I used the buen camino app which shows both the new and the old route. Old route on forestry tracks. New route on roads. Madness (imho). But using the app with maps and gps it's easy to stay on the old route. Only had 1 spot where the old route was physically gone, but there was another footpath right alongside so not a problem. You do need an app or a map.and some good knowledge though, the old route is now not marked.
 
Depends which part of the 'old route' you want to walk.

I walked the old route from Vilar do Colo to Cabanas by mistake by not walking under the motorway and following yellow arrows which were still painted on the road and telegraph poles. Came out under the railway and onto the beach at Cabanas and walked all the way along the beach. Think this old route is better than the new route which misses out the beach and comes very steeply down from the concello de Cabanas almost to the roundabout where the bridge takes you to Pontedeume.

the new route that takes you along a main road from Cos to Presedo wasn't much fun, as the waymarks are sometimes at least a kilometre apart and you see country lanes going right which you think you should go on, when you just need to keep on the pavement. And the nee route is not especially fun when the pavement stops and you need to walk about a kilometre down the side of the road round bends in a forest where there is no footpath.

On the old route via Bar Julia, you need to know where the old route branches off past Presedo. As I was reaching Hospital de Bruma, someone joined my path having come along the old route, and therefore walking it clearly is possible. The new route does miss out the steep hill up to Hospital de Bruma, but you end up walking along a busy main road passed an electricity sub-station for about a kilometre once you come to Bar Avelina.

the new route which takes you alongside the motorway for over 2 kilometres on the way to Sigueiro is not much fun. If I did the Ingles again, I would not turn right onto the motorway embankment as I walked over the motorway, but carry on on the country road and walked that way. That does mean you are walking along a road, as opposed to grass, but walking along a a motorway embankment for a good 40 minutes was really depressing.

Coming out of Sigueiro, I actually think the new routing, taking the Ingles from off the main road and walking along country lanes about 1/2 kilometre away, past small settlements Like Marantes is actually much better. You just need to be on the right hand side of the main road as you come over the river bridge out of Sigueiro to find it, as there are still Camino signs along the old route that walked alongside the main road.

I agree with Phil, as the old route is not marked from the new one, you either need an old guide / map, or a good app to find it.
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Yes! It is possible. I used the buen camino app which shows both the new and the old route. Old route on forestry tracks. New route on roads. Madness (imho). But using the app with maps and gps it's easy to stay on the old route. Only had 1 spot where the old route was physically gone, but there was another footpath right alongside so not a problem. You do need an app or a map.and some good knowledge though, the old route is now not marked.

Is the buen camino app you mentioned the "Guide of the Way of St. James"? I'm beginning my walk in May and would prefer to walk on a more beautiful/peaceful route than walking along a road/highway.
Thanks.
 
“Buen Camino” is a smartphone app that has gps-based maps, route descriptions, and accommodation info for multiple different Camino routes. You pay per route, so it’s very inexpensive if you just need one map. I used it for the Frances and Aragones last year and found it excellent!
 
“Buen Camino” is a smartphone app that has gps-based maps, route descriptions, and accommodation info for multiple different Camino routes. You pay per route, so it’s very inexpensive if you just need one map. I used it for the Frances and Aragones last year and found it excellent!

The only apps I have available to me through the Apple App Store are "Camino Santiago" or "The Guide of the Way of St. James", nothing that is specifically "Buen Camino".
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Hi Drew. On android (which I use) the app is buen Camino. I've just had a look at the Apple app store and yes I think you're right. The guide of the way of st James looks like the same app. Yellow arrow on blue for an icon and the screen shots look the same. Hope this helps.
 
Yes - I think it's the right app - the irritating thing is that the first screen is in English then when I get to the Ingles everything else is in Spanish (which I don't speak) and I can't seem to pull up any maps. I'll download it to my iPad later and mess with it and see if I can't figure it out. I have 2 months so I'm good (I hope). One of the reasons that I chose the Ingles was that fact that it isn't well traveled and I wanted to have some down time while making my pilgrimage and the thought of walking along highways doesn't really appeal to me.
Thanks for your help.
 
On my app...
Pull up the main menu (top left button with 3 lines). Then settings (bottom left button shaped like a cog). From there you can set the language in a drop down box at the top. Like I say - on my android.....
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
Depends which part of the 'old route' you want to walk....

@peb thank you so much for this detail, I'm walking the ingles in June and I think I'd like to walk part of the old route too... will download the app and make notes... and copy your notes!

I'll be interested to hear from anyone else walking before 2nd June... I'm not a huge fan of road/motorway walking :)

p.s. Do we know why the route has been changed?
 
When it is written that much of the Ingles is now on roads, what you will find is that the majority of the roads which the Ingles walks on are very little used country roads, where you can walk down the middle of the road and you move aside when you see the occasional car / van / tractor coming. Personally, I didn't see walking on country lanes that big an issue.

The exceptions on the new route are the walk from Cos to Presedo on the Betanzos to Hospital de Bruma section, and later on at that section, the 1 to 2km walk past the large electricity substation and Bar Avelina.

The new detour on the motorway embankment outside Sigueiro actually takes you off a country road and onto a grass path on the motorway embankment (there is a wire fence separating you and the hard shoulder of the motorway, and therefore there is no safety issue on this path). However, if I did the Ingles again, there is no way that I would go down this section again and carry on down the tarmacked road and walk on the country road of the old Ingles to Sigueiro. It was simply soul destroying walking for the good part of an hour watching noisy cars achieve in a minute what you will do in an hour ….. and there is also little privacy if you need to relieve yourself on that section!
 
@peb thank you so much for this detail, I'm walking the ingles in June and I think I'd like to walk part of the old route too... will download the app and make notes... and copy your notes!

I'll be interested to hear from anyone else walking before 2nd June... I'm not a huge fan of road/motorway walking :)

p.s. Do we know why the route has been changed?
I'll be starting my walk on May 5th so I'll let you know how it goes once I return home.
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Hola, Just as an aside why was the old route changed or deleted. From the above it appears that the "old route" is definitely superior. BTW I have not walked either camino and doubt I will. Cheers
 
The only apps I have available to me through the Apple App Store are "Camino Santiago" or "The Guide of the Way of St. James", nothing that is specifically "Buen Camino".
You can find the app on the Editorial Buen Camino website


The website is in Spanish, but the app will be in the language of your choice.
The app is free, but you need to pay a few $$ or Euros for each route. I think that it's a fantastic app, with features that kept discovering along the way.
 
the route up to Hospital de Bruma was changed because the hill that you climbed up at the end was deemed too steep. The Betanzos to Hospital de Bruma stage is the longest, with only 2 bars / restaurants the whole way, and you already have the big hill you need to walk up out of Betanzos at the start.

The other sections I can only assume have been changed because the Ingles is becoming more popular. Some parts of the Ingles, for example; between Mino and Pontedeume, are single track paths, meaning that you cannot even walk side by side. Also, as it rains a lot in Galicia, I can also see behind the idea of moving the Ingles from unpaved footpaths to quiet paved roads. When I walked the Ingles in March, parts of Ingles were so muddy and the puddles on the path so large, Wellington boots would have been the appropriate footwear.

As I have noted above, not all of the changes of the route are for the worse. Some of the changes are actually for the better.
 
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When it is written that much of the Ingles is now on roads, what you will find is that the majority of the roads which the Ingles walks on are very little used country roads, where you can walk down the middle of the road and you move aside when you see the occasional car / van / tractor coming. Personally, I didn't see walking on country lanes that big an issue.

The exceptions on the new route are the walk from Cos to Presedo on the Betanzos to Hospital de Bruma section, and later on at that section, the 1 to 2km walk past the large electricity substation and Bar Avelina.

The new detour on the motorway embankment outside Sigueiro actually takes you off a country road and onto a grass path on the motorway embankment (there is a wire fence separating you and the hard shoulder of the motorway, and therefore there is no safety issue on this path). However, if I did the Ingles again, there is no way that I would go down this section again and carry on down the tarmacked road and walk on the country road of the old Ingles to Sigueiro. It was simply soul destroying walking for the good part of an hour watching noisy cars achieve in a minute what you will do in an hour ….. and there is also little privacy if you need to relieve yourself on that section!

Could I ask for a bit of clarification? I am going to walk the Ingles in October, so I am hopeful that I can avoid the changes that are the most unpleasant, sticking to the old route in those sections.

Which sections would YOU recommend ignoring the new route in favor of the old? Do you think those old sections would still bear the visible way marks (arrows, etc)?
 
Long live the old route!
Long live Bar Julia!

I haven’t walked the Ingles in two years.
Hopefully the old markings are still visible.

Get you water filled at Bar Julia.
Eat there
Little girl making pancakes on that old spin around device is cool.

The hill is steep. I am 70+ and made it.

If they got rid of the old route cause of the steep hill, then wrong reason!!

Hopefully people can keep the old route alive.
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
When it is written that much of the Ingles is now on roads, what you will find is that the majority of the roads which the Ingles walks on are very little used country roads, where you can walk down the middle of the road and you move aside when you see the occasional car / van / tractor coming. Personally, I didn't see walking on country lanes that big an issue.

The exceptions on the new route are the walk from Cos to Presedo on the Betanzos to Hospital de Bruma section, and later on at that section, the 1 to 2km walk past the large electricity substation and Bar Avelina.

The new detour on the motorway embankment outside Sigueiro actually takes you off a country road and onto a grass path on the motorway embankment (there is a wire fence separating you and the hard shoulder of the motorway, and therefore there is no safety issue on this path). However, if I did the Ingles again, there is no way that I would go down this section again and carry on down the tarmacked road and walk on the country road of the old Ingles to Sigueiro. It was simply soul destroying walking for the good part of an hour watching noisy cars achieve in a minute what you will do in an hour ….. and there is also little privacy if you need to relieve yourself on that section!
We had a wonderful Camino Ingles walk in October 2018 mostly on trails and beautiful quiet country roads. You are right though the last 5 k into Sigüeiro beside the motorway were the longest and worst part of our walk. We saw the alternate way but were footsore and very tired so didn’t have the energy to check it out. Our mistake!!! but we do remember it and it was certainly a reminder of our environmental impact on the landscape and how it made us reflect on our use of cars and highways in order for us to get somewhere quickly. Another difficult Camino lesson
 
Long live the old route!
Long live Bar Julia!

Get you water filled at Bar Julia.
Eat there
Little girl making pancakes on that old spin around device is cool.

The hill is steep. I am 70+ and made it.

If they got rid of the old route cause of the steep hill, then wrong reason!!

Hopefully people can keep the old route alive.
I did the Ingles in 2015. I walked right past Bar Julia in a driving rain storm not know its importance. A few meters later I made a right turn up a short hill. It was only 30 minutes later that it came to me that I was climbing this formidle hill, about half way up the hill to Bruma I had to knock on someone's door and ask for water. I got to the top of the hill after walking in a ankle deep stream of water and some kind farmer picked me up on the road to Bruma and told me I would never make it there on a day like that day.
 
@peb thank you so much for this detail, I'm walking the ingles in June and I think I'd like to walk part of the old route too... will download the app and make notes... and copy your notes!

I'll be interested to hear from anyone else walking before 2nd June... I'm not a huge fan of road/motorway walking :)

p.s. Do we know why the route has been changed?


i am also planning to do the Camino but in the end of June. Havent decided between the english or the portiguese way though
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Despite the route changes, I still think the Ingles is a great Camino. It is quiet, the first two days walk by the coast, and if you only have a week, walking the whole of a Camino from start to finish, rather than the last 100km of a longer Camino, gives you a different feeling when you queue up for your compostela at the Pilgrim's office
 
Despite the route changes, I still think the Ingles is a great Camino. It is quiet, the first two days walk by the coast, and if you only have a week, walking the whole of a Camino from start to finish, rather than the last 100km of a longer Camino, gives you a different feeling when you queue up for your compostela at the Pilgrim's office

I understand exactly where you are coming from. :)

The Frances was, overall, a great experience with certain exceptions. I am really looking forward to doing both the Ingles (with She Who Must Be Obeyed) and Aragones (with my son, Caleb) this fall. :)
 
As I understand from many posts (also in other threads) the major route change happened between Presedo and Hospital de Bruma. Old route bypassed Bar Julia and then followed that "famous" uphill. Here is my GPS track of that old route from 2016:

@biarritzdon mentioned that he ran out of water. There is a fountain just after the village after that climb. But it is kind of hidden because water runs down the huge white rock by some kind of small control hut of the water reservoir. On the righthand side on the Camino. Use it if you'll gonna take the old route.
 
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€149,-

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