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I begin on the 15th of January and I suspect I will be alone?
Does anyone have any tips on what to expect comparing to Francais?
Are there pilgrim menus? What can I expect to face cost/conditions wise? All tips gratefully received!
Yes the VDLP is very different. Longer stages at times, rugged, albergues are varied in quality and I found it to be just a bit more expensive. Very few cafes and many of the smaller towns don’t have shops. We had to carry a bit of food with us sometimes. I downloaded an app called Via de la Plata Basic and Sanabres Premium-VERY helpful. The VDLP is fabulous, tough but fabulous. You will love it. The history and the Roman stuff along the way is mind blowing. Pilgrim menues everywhere.Hello,
Booked my ticket to Seville and will start a 3 week pilgrimage to Salamanca and then complete the second part on my next adventure to Santiago.
I begin on the 15th of January and I suspect I will be alone?
Does anyone have any tips on what to expect comparing to Francais?
Are there pilgrim menus? What can I expect to face cost/conditions wise? All tips gratefully received!
About 36 days for the standard stops.How many days will be needed
Thank you! If buying the premium apps, is G Kelley's book still needed?
Thank you so much, these two websites are super helpful. Last camino I carried no phone, no hard copy map or book, only Kelly’s ebook, a profile map for the French road and list of Albergues given by the Pilgrim office, completely relied on the road sign. It had no problem. However my daily average was not near 30+. Since some of the stages are long on this road, potentially I may need to call to check the availability of the Albergues, I am going to bring a smartphone. I like the contents on these two websites, all essential information. You are right, it is sufficient, if checking on it a day before to make sure you have internet access.I walked from Sevilla to Bejar in October and will be returning next week to walk another stage. I used the free condensed PDF version of Mr Kelly's guide and the Eroski and Gronze mobile websites. I also had Maps.me on my phone with maps and a gps track downloaded for offline use if needed (it rarely was!). I did not feel any need for a printed guidebook. The Eroski and Gronze websites have complementary strengths - Eroski is better on outline maps and background historical and cultural information, while Gronze has more comprehensive accommodation lists including private rooms. Neither is in English but if Spanish is a problem for you then viewing them through translation software works pretty well - I like the built-in translation offered by the Google Chrome browser.
In spring 2017 I had a 30-day visitor's plan with Lebara (owned by Vodafone) with several GB data. It served me well and I don't remember ever finding myself without a signal, from Seville to Astorga.How is the connection or signals on this route? Are you able to access while walking? Which phone carrier you used? Got a data plan?
Thank you Bradypus, you have mentioned about your own home network and no roaming charge.I am British and my phone network is the 3 UK network. In Spain the partner networks seem to be Movistar, Orange and Yoigo - roaming automatically between them. Coverage is very good with few dead spots. As roaming charges for EU customers have been abolished I no longer need a special data or calls package for Spain.
Thank you Bradypus, you have mentioned about your own home network and no roaming charge.
The T-Mobile simple choice plan I have from US also has partners with Movistar and Orange I believe, so the good news is that I may not need to buy a local SIM card. Only calls are US $.20 per minute, guess more than local rate.
Sarah I plan to start walking from Sevilla on 10 January 2018. Like you I have given myself 3 weeks to reach Salamanca. Our paths may cross at some stage.
Buen Camino
Update to this:
I've hired a bike from Triana Backpackers, and as I only have around 20 days, have decided to bike it up to Santiago and become, for the first time, a bicigrino.
Any tips then on being a cyclist on camino (how many stamps per day do you need/any essentials for the pack/how many kms a day is good to get going etc?) also gratefully received!!!
Sarah, you might be interested in looking up videos from De rutas y sendas on Youtube. They makes videos of all their stages on a number of Caminos and they cycled VDLP last year.
Read Ailsa Piper’s book called Sinning Across Spain.Hello,
Booked my ticket to Seville and will start a 3 week pilgrimage to Salamanca and then complete the second part on my next adventure to Santiago.
I begin on the 15th of January and I suspect I will be alone?
Does anyone have any tips on what to expect comparing to Francés?
Are there pilgrim menus? What can I expect to face cost/conditions wise? All tips gratefully received!
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