Can anyone comment on doing Olvidado Invierno vs the VdLP (Salamanca) / Sanabres?
I have walked both of these combos and would walk either again. The Olvidado has a lot of great mountain days (especially after Aguilar de Campóo) and it contrasts nicely with the more bucolic rural Galician scenery of the Invierno. There is a fair amount of road walking on the Invierno, but it’s almost never on a road that has any kind of traffic.
Most, probably nearly all (except
@Robo and
@C clearly) , of those who walk the Vdlp to Santiago take the Sanabrés rather than heading north at the split and going to Astorga to join the Francés. It is a wonderful route, again lots of contrasts. In springtime, the southern part is wildflower heaven (at least if the drought doesn’t mess things up again), and there is an amazing stretch through what is called the dehesa (boulders, wetlands, flowers, streams). There is a “boring meseta part” from south of Salamanca to around Zamora, but I am a meseta fan so that wasn’t a problem for me. The Sanabrés has a lot of hills, no real mountains that come to mind.
The Vdlp looks crowded compared to the Olvidado/Invierno. Traffic on the Invierno is definitely on the uptick and you’ll probably meet a few others on that route, but you are unlikely to meet (m)any on the Olvidado. There are a couple of pretty remote sections on the Olvidado - they are glorious, but you would be well-advised to have GPS, imho.
I don’t think you will be disappointed with either of these routes. Let us know what you choose!