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VdlP Rest Days Recommendations Please

SYates

Camino Fossil AD 1999, now living in Santiago de C
Time of past OR future Camino
First: Camino Francés 1999
...
Last: Santiago - Muxia 2019

Now: http://egeria.house/
Now that I have booked my flights and have an idea about my itinerary (stages are certainly not set in stone, just planned a bit to know when I might be where approximately) which places would you recommend for a rest day or short day? So far I have:

Sevilla - Will stay there two full days to 'change the chip', get SIM card and Credencial and to do sightseeing/savouring life.

Fuenterobles - Most likely will take a rest day there to chat with Blas whom I haven't seen in ages, if he is there.

Salamanca - My friend there would be very disappointed if I only would stay one night at her place ...

So, as I have a generous schedule, where else would you recommend to stay a wee bit longer on the VdlP?

Buen Camino, SY
 
Altus 24 Liters daypack (DENON 24 H30)
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
SYates said:
where else would you recommend to stay a wee bit longer on the VdlP?
Click to expand...

Cáceres and Zamora. Maybe an extra day in Sevilla too (you can always visit nearby Carmona if you think you are done with Sevilla earlier). Zafra if you are looking for a smaller place.
 
Castilian hit the button before I did. He added two places which crossed my mind when I read your post. Have stayed in Zamora 4x as a peregrina and 4 days as a hospitalera and will certainly return again. There is something special about the entry into the city...crossing the bridge (both from the Plata and the Levante) and up to the albergue.

Salamanca is also a must but it is already on your list.

Re Fuenterroble: I have stayed three times and Don Blas was not there on any of the occasions. He is quite a busy bee!
 
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I agree with all of these suggestions and would add that in Ourense you have an opportunity to visit the municipally run spotlessly clean thermal baths (or pay a very low fee and go to the private place next door). Ourense has its charms, though I don't think it's as spectacular as the other cities mentioned.

For something different -- before I go on and on about Santa Lucia de Trampal (lovely 3 km walk from Alcuescar, a visigothic church in a meadow of flowers) or San Pedro de la Nave (about 20 km outside of Zamora but marked as the Braganca variant) let me know if you are as enamored of these old stones as I am. There are some absolutely amazing carvings, especially in San Pedro, and Santa Lucia has a nice informative display inside the church to explain the old monastic life of which it was a part. I think these two places are among the most beautiful old sites I've visited on my caminos.
 
I would certainly love to know more about them and how to get there @peregrina2000 Buen Camino, SY
 
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Ok, SY,
To Santa Lucia: Go to the ayuntamiento and there you will see the markings, the way is all marked. It is along country roads mostly, so it's on asphalt, but the only car that passed me belonged to the woman who works in the church. I had a short day from Aljucen, showered and dropped off my pack in Alcuescar and took a packed lunch out to the fields outside the church and then had a nice siesta till the woman came to open. It's about 3 km each way, I think, totally flat.

To San Pedro de la Nave: A bit more complicated. I was lucky because the hospitalero at the albergue in Zamora wanted to see the church, too, so he drove me out, we visited it, and I walked back alone. Since I am so good at getting lost, this was the perfect opportunity, walking backwards. I lost the arrows but wound up back in Zamora with no problem, it's all across agricultural fields and tracks. I can dig up more information on the route, but I'm not going to have access to my computer for about five days. If I had my choice, I would rather have walked out, visited the church and gotten a ride back, that would have reduced the odds of my getting lost, but hey it was fine. There is no public transportation that I'm aware of, so it would be a pricey taxi ride or a hope that you found someone in town going into Zamora.
 
Thanks a lot! Noted down, SY
 
Merida is wonderful with a lot of great ruins to see - a day at least there.
I'd personally book a private room in Merida. The albergue is unattended and had thefts occurring when I was there, plus it's just a nice place to rest in a private room.
 
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peregrina2000 said:
There is no public transportation that I'm aware of
Click to expand...

www.castanoehijos.com offers bus service between Zamora and Campillo twice a week... or so they say in their web. Confirm schedules with them and ask if it's a regular service or a public on-demand one. If it's a public on-demand one, ask how it works the system (or go directly to the point and ask if you can use it and if you get an afirmative answer, when would you need to book it).

P.S.: If you walk from Zamora to San Pedro de la Nave (or backwards from San Pedro de la Nave to Zamora) following the Portuguese variant of the Vía de la Plata, don't overlook the church in La Hiniesta (http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iglesia_de_Santa_María_la_Real_(La_Hiniesta)).
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Anniesantiago said:
Merida is wonderful with a lot of great ruins to see - a day at least there.
I'd personally book a private room in Merida. The albergue is unattended and had thefts occurring when I was there, plus it's just a nice place to rest in a private room.
Click to expand...

Any recommendations? SY
 
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Get a Spanish mobil number + data while on the Camino
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
As I remember our forum member @Charrito is from Salamanca. I have no doubt youl'll get all his attention in case of need.

Ultreia!
 
Stay longer at anyplace that catches your fancy. One persons rock can be anothers diamond in the ruff. Buen Camino

Happy Trails
 
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Merida, Ourense, Salamanca have already been covered. Usually big city towns. Merida full of roman history and giant aqeduct on the way out. Salamanca cathedral and house of concha plus more (university type town) Ourensa thermal baths, cathedral with statue of St James and very good artwork and architecture plus roman history. So much to see and do but have fun
 
Merida! Be aware that on Mondays most museums etc. is closed in Merida as in many most places in Spain.
I stayed another night to visit the Roman museum bacause it was closed on Mondays.
 
Urban Trekker said:
One persons rock can be anothers diamond in the ruff.
Click to expand...

So true. I'm not a fan of Mérida but I know it has its fans and, as you can see on this thread, they are many. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean Mérida doesn't deserve a visit (it, in fact, deserves it) what I mean is that I wouldn't spend an extra day there. But maybe I'm too used to Roman ruins...
 
Altus ANDES 400 H30 sleeping bag
Down bag (90/10 duvet) of 700 fills with 180 g (6.34 ounces) of filling. Mummy-shaped structure, ideal when you are looking for lightness with great heating performance.

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Taking notes - we'll be walking from Merida (where we left off many years ago) to Salamanca in a couple of months.
 

SY
I would strongly recommend Merida. Google it (images) and you will see why.
I also liked the old town section of Caceres.

Dave
 
Ok, you all have convinced me, Merida is certainly on the list! Buen Camino, SY
 
Altus ANDES 400 H30 sleeping bag
Down bag (90/10 duvet) of 700 fills with 180 g (6.34 ounces) of filling. Mummy-shaped structure, ideal when you are looking for lightness with great heating performance.

€149,-
ZAFRA without a shadow of a doubt - the old town is wonderful.
 
My vote goes to Mérida as well - a great cheap hotel there: La Flor de Al-Andalus.
 
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Everything you have said plus Merida, lots to see and a delightful place to relax. Ourense, plenty of churches and back streets to explore with superb restaurants. The monastery of Oseira, isolated, calm and you can attend the monks evening service, you don't have to be religious to enjoy the medieval atmosphere this engenders. And if you take a day off here you can prepare yourself for the last hilly assault to SdeC.

You will find my blog and video at
www.dartmoorwalker.blogspot.co.uk

Have a good walk, I did in 2015.
 
As above, but also Baños de Montemayor. Lovely mountain town, with hot thermal spas. They have pilgrim rates, 3.50e got us robes, swimsuit, slippers, and two hours in one lovely warm bath. And Baños is close to Hervás, a short detour off the camino. You can explore Hervás, then walk a marked route on to Baños, same day. Hervás is a lovely city higher in the hills, with a rare well-preserved Jewish quarter. And, if you're going in spring, the Jerta valley is nearby, which is reportedly awash with cherry blossoms and a sight to behold in season.
I would have loved to stay an extra day just to relax, do a full round of the spa, after a day of exploring. Good food there too.
 
Altus 24 Liters daypack (DENON 24 H30)
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
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