San Salvador-Norte, or Via Podiensis

[Gailerart]

Hi All


After completing the Primitivo in May, I've got the bug, and am planning a longer hike next year. I loved carrying a small pack, without all the necessary items for through hiking, a bed at night and all the other services, which we don't get here in Australia on multi-day hikes. Plus the camaraderie of other pilgrims, the history etc.


My question is for those of you who have hiked the Norte and the Via Podiensis (GR65). At first I decided to start in Leon, hike the San Salvador, walk across to Aviles from Oviedo, finish the Norte and hike on to Fisterra and Muxia.


I have also been researching the Via Podiensis and now need to decide which route to take, either in May or September. Any advice or opinions on both routes would be welcome.

 

[trecile]

At first I decided to start in Leon, hike the San Salvador, walk across to Aviles from Oviedo, finish the Norte and hike on to Fisterra and Muxia.

I did all that in 2019, but I walked the Francés to León first. It was a great Camino.

 

[truenorthpilgrm]

You got my vote for the Via Podiensis. Stunning landscape and villages, and I still dream of the food. I was expecting it to be like the Frances, so had a little bit of a bumpy road in the beginning adjusting, but by the time I reached SJPdP I was hooked.

 

[David Tallan]

I haven't done either the Podiensis or the Norte (that is, the majority of either option) but the San Salvador was wonderful.

 

[kayagee66]

The Podiensis is considered to be one of the most beautiful of the ways towards Santiago.
The food is fantastic.
Not many bunk beds.
Very friendly.
A bit more expensive than Spain, but not too much, depends where you stay.
If you google The Camino Podcast by Dave Whitson. It has a series of podcasts about the Podiensis. Interviewing different people about different sections.
I’m being interviewed on episode 71

 

[Pafayac]

I have walked Podiensis, Francés (until León), Salvador, and Primitivo.
Podiensis is wonderful, but more expensive. Choose it if you like food and wine, and opened churches ;-)
Salvador is very nice, but steep, with reasonably few pilgrims. Choose it if you like wildness.
Anyway, try to avoid to arrive in Santiago during summer, it is overcrowded. I am in O Pedrouzo right now and we are too many.

 

[Antonius Vaessen]

I did the routes you mentioned. I liked the Salvador very much, though short, the Norte also.
The via podiensis is very beautifull and has the advantages allready mentioned before. One aspect was not mentioned though.
The big majority of fellow walkers will be french, the via podiensis is part of the GR network, for many walkers it is not a part of a camino, with the ultimate goal to get to Santiago. The main effect on your experience would probably be that the common language will be french. Especially at dinnertables this can be a little difficult when you are the only non french speaker.

 

[Pafayac]

I do not agree with the fact that GR65 is not considered as a part of the Camino. Let’s consider that all the walkers walk southward, in the direction of Santiago.
However I understand that for non french-speakers, dinner time could be boring.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I have walked all except the San Salvador. I love Spain, but the Via Podiensis was definitely a stand out Camino for me. It has completely different architecture, food, terrain and is very beautiful. Yes, it's quite expensive and there are nearly all French walkers, but it was definitely a wonderful change of pace for me.

EDITED to say that I have loved all of my Caminos in Spain and do not want to discredit their variety of beautiful landscape and villages.
Whichever the OP chooses will be a win for him!

 

[Gailerart]

I have walked all except the San Salvador. I love Spain, but the Via Podiensis was definitely a stand out Camino for me. It has completely different architecture, food, terrain and is very beautiful. Yes, it's quite expensive and there are nearly all French walkers, but it was definitely a wonderful change of pace for me.

EDITED to say that I have loved all of my Caminos in Spain and do not want to discredit their variety of beautiful landscape and villages.
Whichever the OP chooses will be a win for him!

Hi Camino Chrissy and everybody else who has replied.
Thanks for your advice, and I would really love to hear your opinions on the Norte from Aviles. From my research I am beginning to think there could be too much road walking involved and too many pilgrims.
I thought the Primitivo was wonderful and might consider doing it again after the San Salvador.

 

[Antonius Vaessen]

I do not agree with the fact that GR65 is not considered as a part of the Camino. Let’s consider that all the walkers walk southward, in the direction of Santiago.
However I understand that for non french-speakers, dinner time could be boring.

I meant that for many walkers it is not part of a camino, for the next walk they could choose another GR and not continu into Spain. Of course this does not make much difference while walking we are all "compagnons en route" ( if that is correct french)

 

[trecile]

I would really love to hear your opinions on the Norte from Aviles. From my research I am beginning to think there could be too much road walking involved and too many pilgrims.

I don't know what "too many pilgrims" means to you, but I found that there were fewer pilgrims on the Norte after Villaviciosa where there's the option to join the Camino Primitivo than there were before Villaviciosa.

 

[David Tallan]

I do not agree with the fact that GR65 is not considered as a part of the Camino. Let’s consider that all the walkers walk southward, in the direction of Santiago.
However I understand that for non french-speakers, dinner time could be boring.

It's a subtle distinction, but I think there is a relevant difference between saying "it is not part of the Camino", which implies it is not part of one of the established and recognized routes leading to Santiago and

for many walkers it is not a part of a camino, with the ultimate goal to get to Santiago

which implies it is not part of a Camino that the individual walker is walking, with the intention of reaching Santiago.

Certainly, the GR65 and the Via Podiensis are considered a part of the Camino de Santiago. The route is documented in the Codex Callixtinus, for heaven's sake. But as one of the network of GR trails it is possible to walk it, or parts of it, without considering Santiago at all, just as a recreational ramble. For those who do so, I think it is fair to say that they are not walking a camino and thus their walk is not part of a camino.

Not having walked it myself, I have no idea what proportion of walkers these folk would constitute.

 

[Former member 104756]

Apologies for the sidetrack @Gailerart - but just another perspective. You may read comments on the forum, as I have done over the years, on threads discussing the Le Puy and other camino paths in France, to the effect that most French people are 'just hiking for a week or two' as opposed to being pilgrims. It’s not really a camino for them. They don’t even try to do it in one go. …

It’s true that some French people will hike along the Le Puy way / GR 65 for a long weekend, a week etc - particularly in May - why wouldn’t they? It’s a beautiful path and for many it’s in their backyard so to speak or a short train ride away. I’ve done it myself, though I’m not French.

But … in fact, many French people you will meet on the Le Puy Way and other routes in France are undertaking the pilgrimage / walking to Santiago de Compostela over many years. You can't know their circumstances, motivation or intentions without having that conversation. And, even then, perhaps you will only discover where they began and where they will finish - this year. In my experience they are rarely concerned or competitive about how many kms and how many days … Many leave from their home or from one of the 'starting points' of the major French routes or somewhere in between - and walk as much time as is available to them each year, given work or family commitments or health or financial considerations. The next year they recommence where they left off. I have met many French pilgrims/ walkers doing just that. Imagine their joy when arriving in Santiago after so many years.

There is a recent / current thread where the OP is a pilgrim / walker who plans to walk her pilgrimage in the same way, over many years, from her home in Germany. How wonderful

 

[Gailerart]

Apologies for the sidetrack @Gailerart - but just another perspective. You may read comments on the forum, as I have done over the years, on threads discussing the Le Puy and other camino paths in France, to the effect that most French people are 'just hiking for a week or two' as opposed to being pilgrims. It’s not really a camino for them. They don’t even try to do it in one go. …

It’s true that some French people will hike along the Le Puy way / GR 65 for a long weekend, a week etc - particularly in May - why wouldn’t they? It’s a beautiful path and for many it’s in their backyard so to speak or a short train ride away. I’ve done it myself, though I’m not French.

But … in fact, many French people you will meet on the Le Puy Way and other routes in France are undertaking the pilgrimage / walking to Santiago de Compostela over many years. You can't know their circumstances, motivation or intentions without having that conversation. And, even then, perhaps you will only discover where they began and where they will finish - this year. In my experience they are rarely concerned or competitive about how many kms and how many days … Many leave from their home or from one of the 'starting points' of the major French routes or somewhere in between - and walk as much time as is available to them each year, given work or family commitments or health or financial considerations. The next year they recommence where they left off. I have met many French pilgrims/ walkers doing just that. Imagine their joy when arriving in Santiago after so many years.

There is a recent / current thread where the OP is a pilgrim / walker who plans to walk her pilgrimage in the same way, over many years, from her home in Germany. How wonderful

Hi Pelerina
Thanks. I've probably decided to hike the 3 Camino's starting in Leon, although the Podiensis is still on my radar. I think Spain is calling me again. On my last day on the Primitivo in May I passed a female pilgrim walking the opposite way. I of course stopped to ask why and she informed me she was walking to Czechoslovakia crossing France and Germany along pilgrim trails. She had given herself 6-8 months. The Pilgrims she meets will be passing her by, never to be seen again, which is a bit sad, as I found the camaraderie between pilgrims from all over the world very rewarding and uplifting.
Thanks to everybody for your replies.

I did the routes you mentioned. I liked the Salvador very much, though short, the Norte also.
The via podiensis is very beautifull and has the advantages allready mentioned before. One aspect was not mentioned though.
The big majority of fellow walkers will be french, the via podiensis is part of the GR network, for many walkers it is not a part of a camino, with the ultimate goal to get to Santiago. The main effect on your experience would probably be that the common language will be french. Especially at dinnertables this can be a little difficult when you are the only non french speaker.