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Greetings from middle Germany. The via Regia passes my town around 30km to the north (Naumburg).
I have yet to walk it, but i can add a little to the weather.
Winters can be rather wet. I find hiking in wet conditions harder than in cold conditions. (solid ground vs. mud mostly)
It rarely gets really cold, but it can happen. We had around -20°C for a few days winter before last.
It can also get quite pleasant. We also had around 20°C just 2 weeks after the -20 (but also only a few days)
Snow can happen, but again, not so often. Yes, theres also examples of lot of snow but they are rare.
all in all, weather has become quite unpredictable and you can encounter pretty much everything most times of the year. Still, chances are, most parts of Spain will have nicer weather than most parts of Germany for the average year.
The area around Naumburg is definitely nice, no arguing that. If it compares to Tuscany, i don't know. But yeah, they call it that and to be honest, i have not spent that much time there since for my day hikes i usually use whats around my town.So it seems anything goesThe scenery around Naumburg is actually one of the draws for me on this route, another poster here described it as Germany's Tuscany, though I'm sure he wasn't thinking about what it would be like in winter.
The motivation behind looking into this route at this time of year is that there might be less mud in Germany than Spain in winter. It's counter-intuitive (to me at least), but that's what the data suggests. For example, according to the climate data on Wikipedia, Leipzig can expect an average of 31.9 mm of precipitation in January, while Salamanca can expect 31.7 mm. Seville gets 66 mm, while Dresden gets 46.5 mm. SdC is up at 210 mm, while Frankfurt is at only 45 mm. Where Spain has the edge is in sunshine hours.
Thanks Marc that chimes with what I've been reading. Someone did the VB recently and I think camped all the way, could be wrong. I quite like the Brick Gothic you get in that part of Germany, but I'd assumed it would be the coldest place in the country, probably because in Ireland (and probably elsewhere) we use 'Baltic' as a synonym for 'very very cold'.I have walked the Via Regia and the Elisabethpfad (Eisenach - Marburg), but not in winter. However, I can adress some of the question you raised in previous posts.
There is indeed a lot of pilgrim accomodation on the VR. And also and the EP from Eisenbach-Marburg, it is in fact also very well marked. I am not too sure about pilgrim accomodation from Marburg to Koln. I recently did some research as I considered walking it this autumn (using the listings on the Elisabethpfad website) but it seemed it was only available on some stages.
From what I know these two have the best pilgrim infrastructure in terms of accomodation. Although, from what I have read, the Via Baltica (from Usedom to Leipzig) also has a lot of pilgrim accomodation. But anyway, the VR and EP are both perfect options - I really enjoyed walking them.
Concerning accomodation. I don't know your budget considerations but I normally find it quite feasible to find a private room (b and b, or Gasthof) for 30-40 euro, that is in the small villages (mostly including the use of a fully equipped kitchen). Worked for me this September when I walked the Via Imperii from Berlin to Leipzig. One tip if you are looking for a room: avoid booking.com and go to the local tourist information website or office, they show options that are not available at booking.com.
Anyway, Guten Weg !!
Yes I've browsed it before but thanks for reminding me of it.Hello @Madrood
Are you familiar with this website? It has an interactive map of all the Jacobswegs in Germany plus links to further information.
Happy planning!
-Lovingkindness
Hi there @MadroodYes I've browsed it before but thanks for reminding me of it.
This might be a mistaken assumption, but it seems to like the routes with the most development are in those regions which were traditionally Protestant. Is this accurate? Was there some kind of pilgrimage revival in German Protestantism over the last few decades?
Thanks lk, I might dive into this a bit more if I can. I came across a hiking route before which I think was called the Wanderweg, from Aachen to also Goerlitz, to celebrate reunification. It's didn't follow the VR, but perhaps there was also a hiking boom in Germany at the time which syngergised with the increasing popularity of the SdC camino to renew interest in local pilgrimages. But maybe I'm just focusing too narrowly on Germany.Hi there @Madrood
...in 1987 the Council of Europe certified el Camino de Santiago de Compostela as the First Cultural Route of Europe. Later, in 1993 El Camino also became a UNESCO World Heritage Site...
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