VDLP and Sanabres

[karen stowell]

Hoping to walk VDLP and Sanabres starting late May. We have roughly 30 days. Wondering if there are any obvious sections we could skip. Happy to walk 35kms a day.

 

[alexwalker]

At that pace there is no need to skip anything. You'll get there (Santiago) in time. But you will have to skip a lot of experiences, IMHO. Don't take the VdlP lightly: It is a fantastic walk and experience. Use your time wisely. Slow down, if you can. You will be walking through Roman history.

Just my own experience, having done that walk.

Mérida, Spain - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Your choice of walking the Sanabres as the last etapa is wise, IMHO. More peaceful, and nice places.

 

[Peregrinopaul]

Hoping to walk VDLP and Sanabres starting late May. We have roughly 30 days. Wondering if there are any obvious sections we could skip. Happy to walk 35kms a day.

Posibly Villafranca de los Barros to Merida will save you a couple of days, but others may disagree. As @alexwalker implies, you will need to forgo rest days in some of the beautiful cities you pass through.

 

[karen stowell]

Thank you. Yes we are hoping to have rest days as well as some shorter days and to enjoy the experience.

 

[karen stowell]

Maybe I was being a little keen about 35kms. I am sure we would prefer closer to 30kms and still get to enjoy as much as possible. Hence missing some bits.

 

[C clearly]

If I had only 30 days, I would probably walk from Merida.

 

[karen stowell]

Thanks. Worth considering. I have just read that from Zamora to Riego del Camino can be a little boring. Any comments please

 

[C clearly]

There are many areas that can be a little boring. The problem is that almost any stage has boring parts and wonderful parts. For me, it becomes too stressful and fragmented to sort out the "good" parts and "bad" parts.

 

[Peregrinopaul]

A couple I met in a similar situation bused from Zamora to Puebla de Sanabria.

 

[Peregrinopaul]

If I had only 30 days, I would probably walk from Merida.

Personally, I'm enthusiastic about the V from Sevilla to Villafranca. Sevilla is an awesome place to start.

 

[saara kinnunen]

Posibly Villafranca de los Barros to Merida will save you a couple of days, but others may disagree. As @alexwalker implies, you will need to forgo rest days in some of the beautiful cities you pass through.

Posibly Villafranca de los Barros to Merida will save you a couple of days, but others may disagree. As @alexwalker implies, you will need to forgo rest days in some of the beautiful cities you pass through.

We took a buss from Villafranca de Los Barros to Merida. It was a good choise because after rain the trail Is muddy.

 

[Rita Flower]

We took a buss from Villafranca de Los Barros to Merida. It was a good choise because after rain the trail Is muddy.

Same - due to accomodation shortage because at a Huge fiesta in Zamora.
I also took a bus from Cásares to Canaveral again because of accommodation shortage (I didn’t want to / couldn’t walk over 30 Km at that stage).
If you don’t feel you have to walk every step I would start at Sevilla and see how you go. Otherwise as suggested Mérida might be a better starting point.

 

[Damien Reynolds]

Salamanca was awesome the one time i did it before. I wouldn't skip that part. Nice university town, though my experience may have been influenced by a festival. They had musical groups set up all over the town from a local university.

 

[lt56ny]

At that pace there is no need to skip anything. You'll get there (Santiago) in time. But you will have to skip a lot of experiences, IMHO. Don't take the VdlP lightly: It is a fantastic walk and experience. Use your time wisely. Slow down, if you can. You will be walking through Roman history.

Just my own experience, having done that walk.

Mérida, Spain - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Your choice of walking the Sanabres as the last etapa is wise, IMHO. More peaceful, and nice places.

Happy to walk 35kms a day

I agree completely with Alex. I have walked the VDLP and I started in mid October and the first 10 days there was not a cloud in the sky and it was 90+ every day with hardly any shade anywhere. Be careful and do not bite off too much too soon. Early on it the camino may not be a physical challenge but it can be a mental challenge and you need to watch the weather. You also need to do more planning in terms of food and water than you would on any of the more crowded routes. I have heard (not sure if this is correct so someone with greater knowledge please correct) there can be some pretty heavy rains. Of course you can't even come close to predicting the weather these days. I would recommend starting even a little closer to Santiago than Merida and taking it a little easier (I don't know your hiking experience of course). It will give you a little time to visit some of the other cities if you choose and have a rest day or two. It is a camino we need to respect.

 

[camino07]

Last year I took a bus from Salamanca to Zamora to free up a couple of days . I had walked that stage previously .

 

[peregrino_tom]

Along with a few others on this forum I'm an advocate of walking a shorter camino rather than starting at the typically quoted/'traditional' start point and then skipping stages. I agree with C Clearly that it makes sense to start at Merida. There's not much that's memorable before there IMO.
Check out Seville then travel to Merida. Check out the Roman town then start walking. One of the amazing things about walking the VDLP is the sense of moving (under your own power) from the endless plain, to the high plateau and the Transhumance, to the chestnut woods and hills of Sanabria, and thence to the mountains of Galicia. I think it's a shame - and not necessary - to interrupt that experience with motorised transport.