- Time of past OR future Camino
- A few and hopefully lots more.
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What I remember is a lot of road from Campiello to Borres.
Another possility is going to Pola and taking a taxi back to Borres the following day. I like Pola I think that deserves a visit and the descent to Pola from Alto de la Lavadoira is beautiful. If the weather is not good you can continue to Puerto del Palo from Pola.
I'm putting together a very tentative plan for our Camino del Salvador/Primitivo this Autumn. We'd like to take the Hospitales route, unless the weather makes it dangerous to do so. I think that means we should ideally stay in Borres and if possible, book beds in Berducedo for the next night (thanks @peregrina2000 for the heads-up on this in another thread).
My questions for those of you who have walked the Hospitales route:
1. I see that Campiello is about 3kms before Borres. Is it realistic to walk from Campiello to Berducedo? Campiello seems to have more accommodation options, so depending on where we stayed the previous night, we might end up wanting to stop there. However, I'd be interested to know if there are any compelling reasons to start from Borres, rather than Campiello.
2. According to Gronze, the walk from Campiello to Berducedo is about 29kms. This is within our comfort zone - BUT - I've seem some comments about variances in the estimated distances on the Primitivo. To anyone who has walked from Campiello to Berducedo, did it 'feel' like 29kms, or did you end up wishing that you had started 3kms later in Borres?
Thanks in anticipation!
Campiello is quite the pilgrim center with restaurant, large dorm, hotel, store, etc. Borres is basic, not impeccable (like Esclampero, the muni in Berducedo) but it will do the job. Nice small bar in the village 500 meters away where they can even make you a bacadillo for the day ahead.
I am a 20km a day girl, so I would not have wanted to walk an extra 3 km that day. In fact I walked to the first road crossing at Alto de la Muerta (?) and called a taxi and did not walk to Alto de Palo and down to Berducedo, a good thing considering even the super fit crawled into Berducedo very tired.
If you decide to stay in Borres don't arrive too late as those who did last May when I was there ended up sleeping on the picnic table and under a tractor. Not ideal for the trek waiting for you the next day.
I did not see the rooms but the people who were lucky enough to find accommodation there were satisfied.Anemone, not to derail this thread, but I know Nuala has been wondering about Berducedo as well. You told me in another thread that the CAsa Marques (the bar/restaurant) now offers rooms as well. Do you know anything about those rooms and how they are? Since the private place gets so many reports of rudeness, I wonder if that's a better alternative. I've found a phone number for them but no info on accommodation. Thanks, Laurie
Hi, Nuala,
I've only stayed in Campiello, and hopefully someone who has recently slept in Borres can comment. What I've seen about Borres is that the big improvement is that there is now a bar there that serves meals. The owner is, I think, also the hospitalera, and reports are varied about the upkeep of the albergue. Better than the previous unattended state, but I've read many complaints about hygiene there even since she has "taken over." If I have this wrong, I hope someone will correct me.
The ascent from Borres to Puerto de Palo is not a strenuous one. It may be a bit more vigorous than "gentle" but it is nothing at all like the SJPP to Orisson, for example. In fact, it is more gentle and less elevation gain than going from Pola de Allande to Puerto de Palo. My memory is the same as Pelegrin's, that it's all on the side of the road from Campiello to Borres.
The last time I was on the Primitivo, my little Camino family and I all stayed in Herminia's albergue. It is fine, extremely clean, a bit institutional perhaps (essentially it's inside a big metal barn), but has good facilities inside, including industrial strength washer and dryer. Herminia would not serve us breakfast till, I believe, 7:30, telling us that it was because it makes no sense to leave earlier because of fog. I have had enough dealings with Herminia to know that she shades the truth to fit her own interests. But even with that relatively late departure, it was well after 8, probably closer to 8:30, we arrived fine in Berducedo. Mid afternoon, after a long lunch stop up at the Puerto de Palo. The worst part of the day was the rocky descent to Montefurado.
I'm hoping to be there again this summer, and will probably stay in the other private albergue in Campiello, have you seen the information on that? http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/albergue-casa-ricardo#bloque-informacion -- I think someone said they have a nice litle garden out back. I think it's nice to spread the wealth a bit, and Herminia does have quite an empire.
What I would probably do is leave earlier than I did from Campiello, have a coffee in the bar in Borres if you're unsure about the weather. But unless conditions are terrible, you should be fine on the Hospitales part. The signage is extremely good. Even in really bad visibility, with two of you, one could stay at a marker while the other went to the next one. Once he/she found it, the one who stayed behind would follow the voice. The markers are never far apart, always within earshot, and usually visible from one to the next in good weather, so you would not be in danger of losing each other. But of course the whole point of walking Hospitales is the views, so you might choose the Pola alternative not so much for safety as for comfort.
I've also stayed in Pola de Allande, in the albergue once and in the hotel once, and the hotel is very nice, not expensive, with a restaurant that serves traditional Asturian food. That means beans and lots of meat -- people come from all over to eat there and it is also very reasonably priced. The walk from Pola up to the Puerto de Palo (where the two routes join) is lovely, kind of reminds me of the pre-AVE walk between Aciberos and Lubian on the Sanabres. So once again, there's no bad decision!
Buen camino, Laurie
Thanks Anemone - good to know that there are taxi options to break the stage if needed. And thanks for your observation about arriving too late in Borres. That was one my concerns and a reason why I would be very tempted to stop in Campiello.I am a 20km a day girl, so I would not have wanted to walk an extra 3 km that day. In fact I walked to the first road crossing at Alto de la Muerta (?) and called a taxi and did not walk to Alto de Palo and down to Berducedo, a good thing considering even the super fit crawled into Berducedo very tired.
If you decide to stay in Borres don't arrive too late as those who did last May when I was there ended up sleeping on the picnic table and under a tractor. Not ideal for the trek waiting for you the next day.
Tom, was it you who introduced me to the second albergue in Campiello, or did you stay with Herminia?Us three started from Campiello, went over Hospitales on a clear late September day. We picnicked high up, just before making that slightly tricky descent that Laurie mentions. Later we stopped in Berducedo for refreshments and then as the weather was still glorious, strolled on to La Mesa and stayed at the albergue there. It was such an exhilarating day it seemed a shame to stop.
Us three started from Campiello, went over Hospitales on a clear late September day. We picnicked high up, just before making that slightly tricky descent that Laurie mentions. Later we stopped in Berducedo for refreshments and then as the weather was still glorious, strolled on to La Mesa and stayed at the albergue there. It was such an exhilarating day it seemed a shame to stop.
Anemone, not to derail this thread, but I know Nuala has been wondering about Berducedo as well. You told me in another thread that the CAsa Marques (the bar/restaurant) now offers rooms as well. Do you know anything about those rooms and how they are? Since the private place gets so many reports of rudeness, I wonder if that's a better alternative. I've found a phone number for them but no info on accommodation. Thanks, Laurie
Fantastic information @timr, thank you for taking the time to share it.@NualaOC @peregrina2000 I stayed in Borres a couple of weeks ago and it is fine. Very clean and well cared for. About 20 beds, and plenty of colchones for latecomers. Not over-spacious, but not over-cramped either. The hospitalera (Maria I think) looked in in the late afternoon and was very friendly. You need to go beyond the albergue up to the bar, another 500m at most, to book in and pay. Bar very friendly. There is a microwave only in the albergue, no other cooking facilities but there is cake(!) and coffee and tea, donativo. Everyone who stayed there seemed happy with their choice.
I stopped for lunch in Herminia's in Campiello, but it was like a railway station (about 2pm on a Sunday), bursting with people (many local people I guess who seemed very happy - it was Mother's Day and there were family parties). Nowhere to sit. I went back to Casa Ricardo a few metres before. Nice, gentle, quiet - much more my style. Horses for courses.... I didn't look into the albergue over the road from the bar, but if I were to stay in Campiello, I am sure that is where I would go. But I have no complaint against Herminia's - just the crowds.
The albergue in Berducedo almost identical to that in Borres, in build, but not in upkeep. So I stayed at the private albergue, Camin Antiguo, in Berducedo. Again I thought it was fine. I didn't find the owner rude at all - in fact quite friendly. Very large room with 10 bunks. Clean and comfortable. Good kitchen with free coffee and tea and milk. Three latecomers were given three settee/beds to sleep on. I think there are rooms also, but I didn't see them. Only possibly problem was that the wifi didn't work.
In short: would stay in Borres again. Would stay in private albergue in Berducedo again. Would stay in Casa Ricardo if for some reason I was to stay in Campiello.
Don't stay in Borres the place is filthy.
it does provoke a simple question:- "How do you know if you did not stay there?"Saturday morning the weather was spectacular, I was going to walk to Borres and stay there, but took at taxi from Tineo to Borres and did the Hospitales route.
This is a very negative statement. However, because of your comment on another thread - it does provoke a simple question:- "How do you know if you did not stay there?"
Tio Tel
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