Olvidado/Invierno vs VdLP/Sanabres

[BombayBill]

Can anyone comment on doing Olvidado Invierno vs the VdLP (Salamanca) / Sanabres? I would like to avoid too much road walking (here’s looking at you Norte) and prefer rural landscapes. Hills are not a concern. Any thoughts from those aficionados of odd combos? @jungleboy @Elle Bieling ?

 

[peregrina2000]

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!

 

[OZAJ]

I have walked both and would agree with P2000

 

[dick bird]

I don’t think you will be disappointed with either of these routes. Let us know what you choose

Agree 100%. having done both I´d say there´s not much to choose between them except the Plata/Sanabrés has a lot more infrastructure, and starting in Andalucía then passing through Extremadura, Castille y Léon then Galicia, it crosses a much greater variety of landscape and local culture.

 

[jungleboy]

Any thoughts from those aficionados of odd combos? @jungleboy @Elle Bieling ?

P2K is the real aficionado of odd combos and was unsurprisingly the first to reply! Of these four routes I have only walked half of the Sanabrés, so I see I need to up my odd combo game quick smart to retain aficionado status!

 

[BobY333]

Thank you for asking this question - I was thinking about exactly this just yesterday!

I had thought I wanted to walk the Allerano and then either the Primitivo (again) or the Norte next May. But, then I started looking at the Sanabres and the Invierno. The Sanabres was appealing for a number of reasons, including that it's easy to get to from Madrid.

So, I'm pivoting in this direction (Sanabres) with the only real downside being that I'll miss the spectactular mountains between León and Oviedo.

 

[David Tallan]

The Sanabres was appealing for a number of reasons, including that it's easy to get to from Madrid.

You know what Camino is even easier to get to from Madrid...?