Places not to miss

[sharon w]

Flights are booked as well as accommodation in Sevilla for April next year. After reading many posts on this forum, I realise there are variants along the way. I am wondering if there are any "must sees" and best routes to take along the VDLP. Also, any favourite places to stay.
Thanks
Sharon

 

[domigee]

So many places! I am sure others will give more details but I'd say for a start every town is a must: Sevilla of course, Mérida, Cáceres, Zamora, Salamanca, ....
It's all good
I am not sure what the 'variants' are.... I chose to end with the Sanabres rather than joining the CF...

Buen camino and happy planning

 

[Castilian]

Must sees depend on your interests, preferences, likes and dislikes. All the cities quoted by @domigee above are interesting (IMHO). Zafra is also nice. Santa Lucía del Trampal church close to Alcuéscar. The ruins of the monastery of St. Mary in Granja de Moreruela (out of town). You might be interested in making a detour to Hervás... Tons of options. Tons of possible interesting places.

P.S.: Do you plan to continue on the Camino Sanabrés or on the Camino Francés?

 

[Marion-SantiagoInLove]

Hi Sharon! Congrats on booking your flights
Most variants on la Plata are actually routes that join it from other starts than Sevilla. You can chose not to start from Sevilla if you want, but there are only 2 variant on this Way: after Salamanca, you can go either by the Camino Sanabres (which can also go 2 ways) or by the rest of la Plata to Astorga + the end of the Camino Frances.

I joined la Plata in Merida from the Camino Mozarabe (started in Granada) and went to Santiago with the Camino Sanabres, which I loved. La Plata is not a popular route like the Frances, it's not as touristy. I could describe this Way as a gigantic Meseta The Sanabres is even wilder, but I found it amazing.

Like you said, there is plenty to see along the way.
Like domigee said, most cities are enjoyable. Caceres has an beautiful historical city center; Galisteo is a very interesting city for its architecture; the albergue and the owner in Fuenterroble are very nice; Salamanca is a big city for cultural must-see.
On the Sanabres, Santa Marta de Croya has a nice place to stay at and one of the oldest statue of St James presented as a pilgrim; Villar de Farfon has a nice albergue (Rehobost); Lubian is a nice village with an interesting energy; the Rincon del peregrino in Albergueria after Laza has a nice albergue and its bar is not to be missed (scallops all over the place, pretty famous!); I didn't really like Ourense, but nice things to see there; Cea has a nice albergue. Then it's Santiago!

In between cities are also lots of nice places... Landscape is breathtaking most of the time, so I'm not going to list it, you'll see for yourself The embalse de Alcantara (a bit after Caceres) is nice to stay at; the ruins of Caparra are impressive (its gate is the symbol of la Plata, the only problem is it's more or less in the middle of a 40km stage that can't be shortened without getting out of the path); there is an amazing point of view after Fuenterroble, at the top of the hill with windmills (I passed the wires to sit at their foot to admire the landscape: it's forbidden but worth it).
On the Sanabres, the dam and lake before Villar de Farfon is very nice and bathing friendly (although in April...?); the stage after Puebla de Sanabria is very nice (but tough on the first part); so is the one between A Gudina and Laza (means to stop in between, don't remember the name of the village); so is the one between Ourense and Cea (I loved it despite bad rain...).
Then it's Santiago!

I think Santiago is also a place that's worth it

Here the wiki of la Plata + the Sanabres (in Spanish, but Google can translate it, can't he?)

Buen Camino

 

[Castilian]

You can chose not to start from Sevilla if you want, but there are only 2 variant on this Way: after Salamanca, you can go either by the Camino Sanabres (which can also go 2 ways) or by the rest of la Plata to Astorga + the end of the Camino Frances

Not really. The Vía de la Plata goes from Sevilla to Astorga. Many pilgrims choose to leave it at Granja de Moreruela continuing to Santiago on the Camino Sanabrés. However, if you don't want to end in Astorga and continue on the Camino Francés, you can leave the Vía de la Plata at locations other than Granja de Moreruela like, for example, Zamora from where you could continue on the Camino Portugués de la Vía de la Plata, Salamanca from where you could continue on the Camino (de) Torres or Cáceres from where you could continue on the Vía da Estrela.

The route from Sevilla to Astorga itself has its (minor) variants like, for example, to go through Pedrosillo de los Aires or through San Pedro Rozados or to go through Riolobos or not to go through Riolobos.

 

[sharon w]

Thank you all for your replies. Yes, I should have said minor variants. We will do the Sanabrese route as we have already walked the Frances and Portuguese routes.
Wonderful to know which places are good to stay in and visit.
Wasn't sure about Riolobos or the other way, orPedrosillo or Rozados.
Thanks
Sharon

 

[mmm042]

Riolobos is now officially part of the VDLP. There are two wonderful casas rurales there -- Abuela Maxi and La Troje. The owners are extremely friendly and kind. http://www.abuelamaxi.com/ and https://www.extremadura.com/paginas/casa-rural-la-troje. Both are very well-appointed and inexpensive.

Melanie

 

[Juanajoanna]

I just checked on Gronze.com and they say the route through Finca Larios the bypasses Riolobos is open again.
Anyone been that way recently?

 

[SYates]

I just checked on Gronze.com and they say the route through Finca Larios the bypasses Riolobos is open again.
Anyone been that way recently?

Yes, as I walked this spring I didn't to go through Riolobos. Buen Camino, SY

 

[gracethepilgrim]

The Sanabres (Zamora to Santiago) also has a couple of variants. I have walked bothe the upper and the lower variants. I loved the ‘lower’ leg from A Gudina to Verin which then takes you through to Allariz, a gorgeous historic town with pretty stone houses, amazing food and a pretty stone albergue in the grounds of the Monastery of Santa Clara. This route sees very few pilgrims.

 

[sharon w]

Thanks Grace and SYates.
The lower leg out of AGudina sounds like the route for us.

 

[MileHighPair]

Sharon, we walked the VdlP north from Merida beginning the end of March this year. It is a beautiful, but somewhat difficult Camino. Don't miss the city walls of Galisteo, we ate lunch on top of the wall, after spending the night in Riolobos (in the already mentioned Abuela Maxi Casa Rural). Feel free to browse our blog, I tied to include one "pilgrim tip" for each days walk. Also, I need to mention the map in this thread is a bit off concerning the trails north of Zamora. Do not go west at Zamora unless you want to go to Portugal along a route with extremely long stages. The Sanabres route goes west a day or two after Zamora, depending on which variant you choose.
Buen Camino. Our blog: http://ourboatleavestheharbor.blogspot.com/

 

[sharon w]

Just read your great blog. Love the tips. Definitely, will explore the walls in Galisteo.
At the moment, I am looking at working out rough stages. We have allowed 40 days to walk from Sevilla to SdC. However, can extend this by a day or two so that some days aren't too big.
Thanks