Walking the Via de la Plata May/June 2006

[Fionna Sheppard]

Hi,
I'm planning to leave Seville in early May, arriving Santiago around 22nd June. I'm not so concerned about the km, but does anyone know about the level of accommodation and cost? I'm in my early 50's, relatively fit, female.

 

[William Marques]

does anyone know about the level of accommodation and cost?

From our 4 year old experience much less refugio accommodation than the Camino Frances but I understand that many new albergues have been opened since then and the CSJ update to their guide certainly shows some of them.
http://www.csj.org.uk/update-viadelaplata-2006.htm
We ended up staying mainly in hostales and small hotels which did add to the cost.

Buen Camino
William

 

[Deleted member 397]

Fionna
I'm leaving australia on 3rd may and plan to start walking on the 6th.accommodation does not seem to be a problem from the 2 guide books i have.csj also has updates which i will check just before i go.
good luck!

 

[Deleted member 397]

Fiona
I replied to your first email and I am the aussie you met on the way!
let me know how things went.I finished on 17th june.
kevin

 

[peregrina2000]

Kevin and Fionna,
We get so little information about the Via de la Plata. If you write something, consider posting it here for all to read. I'd love to hear what it's like this year and what your high and low points were. Many thanks.

 

[Markus]

Hi Kevin and Fionna,
I will start at the end of September from Sevilla to Santiago. I`m interest to hear whats new on the VdlP too. Please write what you find.
Thanks
Markus

 

[Deleted member 397]

The first thing i would say is something you have probably heard before-pack light.i took 7kgs without water and it certainly got heavy after 6-7 hours of walking.in my opinion extra shoes are a waste.some of the refugios are dumps.the one in casar caceres is one.the beds are within 1 metre of the toilets and overcrowded.but the ones in galicia are very good.the vdlp is much less organised than the french way.i travelled with a dane who had walked the french way 3 times and he said he would never do the vdlp again-too tough and very little infrastructure.some times there are no bars open in the mornings so have some food handy.shops open late-if you can find them.
relax-some people were up at 6am to walk 20kms which meant they reached their destination at around noon-why? they then faced 10 hours of boredom.you shoudnt have the problem of heat in september so leaving early would be pointless-sleep in,its not the army.spain is very cheap so meals are reasonably priced-if a bit monotonous.
learn some spanish-as far as english is concerned you may as well be an alien-noone speaks english.
some stretches are tedious-miles and miles of vines and olive trees,or corn/wheat fields.
having said all that it is a great sense of achievement but it is hard,250kms longer than the french way without the facilities-some stretches have no bars,towns or anything for a drink
be prepared;i walked 28kms to an embalse with a new refugio only to find it closed ;for technical reasons; so i had to walk 12kms to the next town.the concept of the closed refugio advising the previous refugio that it is closed so pilgrims should avoid it seems an alien concept in spain.
do have a good time-i'm sure it will be eventful and memorable-let me know how you get on!
kevin

 

[Markus]

Thanks for the Info

Thanks for the Info and when I`m back I will write down here my adventure. I had learn last year on my Camino many things but the inportent one was "trust the way" and that will I do this year too,
Gracias and bon camino
Markus

The first thing i would say is something you have probably heard before-pack light.i took 7kgs without water and it certainly got heavy after 6-7 hours of walking.in my opinion extra shoes are a waste.some of the refugios are dumps.the one in casar caceres is one.the beds are within 1 metre of the toilets and overcrowded.but the ones in galicia are very good.the vdlp is much less organised than the french way.i travelled with a dane who had walked the french way 3 times and he said he would never do the vdlp again-too tough and very little infrastructure.some times there are no bars open in the mornings so have some food handy.shops open late-if you can find them.
relax-some people were up at 6am to walk 20kms which meant they reached their destination at around noon-why? they then faced 10 hours of boredom.you shoudnt have the problem of heat in september so leaving early would be pointless-sleep in,its not the army.spain is very cheap so meals are reasonably priced-if a bit monotonous.
learn some spanish-as far as english is concerned you may as well be an alien-noone speaks english.
some stretches are tedious-miles and miles of vines and olive trees,or corn/wheat fields.
having said all that it is a great sense of achievement but it is hard,250kms longer than the french way without the facilities-some stretches have no bars,towns or anything for a drink
be prepared;i walked 28kms to an embalse with a new refugio only to find it closed ;for technical reasons; so i had to walk 12kms to the next town.the concept of the closed refugio advising the previous refugio that it is closed so pilgrims should avoid it seems an alien concept in spain.
do have a good time-i'm sure it will be eventful and memorable-let me know how you get on!
kevin