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Yeah, my mum already warned me about buying a wide brimmed hat. How bad is the infrastructure? I would have thought it would be ok to at least find hotels but maybe I'm wrong. It also seems to be slightly better than the invierno, I've heard that there a lot of 30km+ stages on that and I'm hoping the madrid isn't as bad...I walked it in June 2019. It was very hot, but wonderful. I had a good hat with a wide brim so I didn’t need an umbrella. I wish, though, that I had brought and used a stronger face cream/sunblock because my lower face became chapped from the sun and wind. A minor problem.
The Madrid doesn’t have the infrastructure you can find on other, more-traveled routes, and who knows how it is now, with Covid? It was sometimes a challenge to find food and water, so stock up whenever you can.
It is a wonderful Camino!
Thanks, that's helpful to know!Hi SpanBrit,
I got stamps from Hostels, Hotels, Bars, Albergues (I think I got one in a small supermarket). I ended in Sahagun, and still had 27 stamps when I was done. It is definitely an official route, although I did run into a couple of guys from Portugal, who drive on it every day, and didn't know it was a Camino. Have fun planning. Peace, Bob
Yeah, my mum already warned me about buying a wide brimmed hat. How bad is the infrastructure? I would have thought it would be ok to at least find hotels but maybe I'm wrong. It also seems to be slightly better than the invierno, I've heard that there a lot of 30km+ stages on that and I'm hoping the madrid isn't as bad...
The Camino de Madrid probably has the least amount of roadwalking of any of the caminos I have walked, because it was put together and marked well after the highway system was in place. Off the top of my head, I don't remeber any scary road shoulder segments at all. And the exit from Madrid is painless, industrial-park-free and quite pleasant.Does anyone know if much of it is on the road?
Thanks a lot, this is both super helpful and encouraging! Do you think it's necessary to reserve accommodation in advance on the route? I've read that some routes, for example the primitivo, have had an increase in pilgrims without any concomitant increase in infrastructure so people end up with nowhere to sleep or racing for beds sometimes. I don't have any problems staying in a hotel or casa rural as well but who knows if they exist at every point on the route.The infrastructure is very good, but unlike the Invierno, where there are only very few municipal albergues, the albergue system on the Madrid is predominantly municipal. Those are much more likely to be closed for covid. If you search around a bit on the forum, you'll see people have been walking the Invierno without many problems. The Invierno offers mainly private pensiones/hotels and a growing number of private albergues, and most of that seems to be open.
But with regard to the Madrid during Covid. Here is a list that I cobbled together last summer, from watching Álvaro Lazaga’s videos of him walking it from north to south. This is likely to change, of course, but hopefully only for the better!
Between Madrid and Vileguillo no albergues are open. (from memory, though, there is no shortage of private options — Tres Cantos, Colmenar, Cercedilla, Segovia….
Santa María Real there is a hotel
In Navas de Asunción there is a pilgrim albergue (closed) but also an albergue juvenil. It was full when he passed, but I don’t know if he could have stayed there if it had not been full with a youth group.
Coca - albergue closed but good bar (closed Tuesdays)
Vileguillo - albergue open
Alcazarén — albergue open
Valdestillas — bar open
PUente Duero — albergue open
Simancas — hotels, bar
Ciguñuela — albergue closed
Wamba — bar open
Peñaflor — albergue closed
Castromonte — albergue open
Medina del Ríoseco — hotels
Tamariz (a bit off camino) - albergue open with 1 bed!
Vilallón de Campo — albergue closed but I remember there is a hotel across the street from the albergue
Santervás — albergue open
The Camino de Madrid probably has the least amount of roadwalking of any of the caminos I have walked, because it was put together and marked well after the highway system was in place. Off the top of my head, I don't remeber any scary road shoulder segments at all. And the exit from Madrid is painless, industrial-park-free and quite pleasant.
I always reserve in Tres Cantos, Colmenar, Manzanares, Cercedilla and Segovia if I'm staying in any of those.Thanks a lot, this is both super helpful and encouraging! Do you think it's necessary to reserve accommodation in advance on the route? I've read that some routes, for example the primitivo, have had an increase in pilgrims without any concomitant increase in infrastructure so people end up with nowhere to sleep or racing for beds sometimes. I don't have any problems staying in a hotel or casa rural as well but who knows if they exist at every point on the route.
Thanks! Will definitely say a prayer for all you guys once, if, i get to SantiagoI always reserve in Tres Cantos, Colmenar, Manzanares, Cercedilla and Segovia if I'm staying in any of those.
I have found those places full some years.
No worries, I'm from Spain so I'm well aware of how crazy the temperatures can get. As you say, and as my mum advised me, I intend on getting up around 5-6am, walking till 11ish, stopping for lunch and/or a siesta and then I guess finding somewhere to say. I'm hoping 5/6 hrs walking is enough, but if necessary I suppose I could do more in the later afternoon.I would take a liner and a fitted sheet to cover the mattress beneath you.
I walked this route in August 2016, and ended up with heat exhaustion the one day I got a late start. I highly recommend you wake up early and get your day's walk done while the sun is relatively low.. the summer temperatures tend to peak in the late afternoon, and OMG can it overwhelm you out there on the flat plains north of Simancas!
I haven't heard the word manky in so long, thanks for making my day aha.It's not necessary, but it's a real plus when the mattresses are manky. I never felt self-conscious about having one. .. I think I was occasionally the object of envy!
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