Traffic?

[lordoftheinn]

I am making plans to walk the Camino Frances I prefer the road less travelled. Is it true that a large proportion of the Camino Frances follows motorways and major roads.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

No it's not. It does happen, but certainly not in a large proportion. Now, if the road less travelled is what you prefer, how do you feel about pilgrims everywhere? That would be my question.

 

[scruffy1]

There are indeed places where you can choose to walk next to a major road but there is an alternative. There are many places above a road, bridges that cross over a road or tunnels under. The entrance to Astorga comes to mind with what must be called a Rube Goldberg approach for pedestrian bridges built over a railroad line. Not really a worry.

 

[Tincatinker]

I am making plans to walk the Camino Frances I prefer the road less travelled. Is it true that a large proportion of the Camino Frances follows motorways and major roads.

No, its not true. There are stretches where major high-ways are in sight / ear-shot. The majority of the way is on minor roads, bye-ways, tracks and paths. There are a few stretches where you will walk beside fairly busy high-ways or along major city streets. If your preference is truly for a road less travelled you may find the volume of pilgrims more irksome than the traffic. Try researching the Norte or the Primitivo.

 

[Felipe]

The CF is not an outlying path. It was not "designed" as a touristic attractive for modern hikers, but created by thousands of pilgrims who looked for the easier way and for villages and cities as refuges against the wilderness. That means that it goes more or less parallel to current paved roads and highways, with some sections that shortcut through woods and hills. Most of the time you can see traffic or villages in the distance, but you walk besides main roads only in a section, between Mansilla de las Mulas and Astorga. Actually, after Leon there is a good, rural variant.
If you want a really lonely, off the road path, you may try Camino del Salvador or Primitivo.

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

I am making plans to walk the Camino Frances I prefer the road less travelled. Is it true that a large proportion of the Camino Frances follows motorways and major roads.

No it's not, Buen Camino, Peter.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

There is a trace here. You can see what is on roads, what is next to roads, and what is off road.

http://pilgrim.peterrobins.co.uk/routes/details/frances.html

 

[fraluchi]

[...]The entrance to Astorga comes to mind with what must be called a Rube Goldberg approach for pedestrian bridges built over a railroad line.[...]

A similar "work of art" is located on the Camino Portugués crossing the railroad near Porriño. (After what I would call the worst road walking piece of any Camino

 

[MTtoCamino]

Pick what route suites you but it has been around a long time. More the question does it even matter? If you have the call just go.

 

[Lord Longpath]

I am making plans to walk the Camino Frances I prefer the road less travelled. Is it true that a large proportion of the Camino Frances follows motorways and major roads.

I'd say yes it is. I was surprised how much road walking there was compared with any other long distance route I've walked.

Brierley plays this down in his otherwise excellent guide book, often describing sections as being on a 'natural earth path' and omitting that they're only metres away from a busy main road. It's OK if you're mentally prepared for it. There is a plus side to this - the albergues and cafes are bang on the route, and there are plenty of them. I took Brierley's green alternatives wherever possible. Other people seemed happy to lap up the road miles.