For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
Well, it sounds like one Camino to tick off any bucket list I have before even considering or attempting it...I'm a little adventurous, but all the above observations have scared me off and I'm glad! Thank you all for the warnings, seriously!
I don't want to scare people, I just want them to be prepared so that they can have a wonderful experience. I wish I had known this before attempting this trail.Well, it sounds like one Camino to tick off any bucket list I have before even considering or attempting it...I'm a little adventurous, but all the above observations have scared me off and I'm glad! Thank you all for the warnings, seriously!
No worries. I appreciate the info. Thank you for sharing your honest assessment through your personal experience.I don't want to scare people, I just want them to be prepared so that they can have a wonderful experience. I wish I had known this before attempting this trail.
Jabbapapa, can you name a few places not on the official route that should be. I’d like to know what we missed, maybe we can see those places someday.
I walked solo last May from Oloron til Puenta la Reina in mostly heavy rain! I can confirm your experience. Even in the evening one could not always find another pilgim for a chat. To my feeling it is a bit sad as the authorities want do a lot to promote this Camino.I just returned from hiking sections of the via Tolosana, or chemin d’Arles and would like to offer advice to future hikers. First of all this trail is a GR and not necessarily a camino. Be prepared to do 20 plus kilometres per day with no place to sit except for the ground. Don’t expect any place for water or food once you leave in the morning and don’t expect that once you arrive at your destination that restaurants are open and that grocery stores are opened. The reality is that small villages in France are having difficulties surviving.
Accommodations are sometimes hard to come by and are not always acceptable.
A cell phone is a necessity because a lot of the gites are not manned by people but you must phone to obtain a code to enter. This also means that you don’t get a stamp on your passport.
I would recommend that you carry food to last you at least 2 days. Many places are closed on Sundays and/or Mondays and you might want to opt for a place with a demi pension on those days.
I've been walking Camino routes almost every year since 2001, and the route from Arles is my favorite of all, because of its great variety of scenery, and the beautiful cities encountered. It does require planning several days ahead, and reserving the next nights lodging. The statements about the France GR routes is true. They do frequently avoid interesting villages in order to climb to some out of the way place of significance.Well, it sounds like one Camino to tick off any bucket list I have before even considering or attempting it...I'm a little adventurous, but all the above observations have scared me off and I'm glad! Thank you all for the warnings, seriously!
This is my first time joining a discussion on this forum I hope I’m doing it right. I walked this route a few years ago at the age of 70 and can confirm That it requires more skills than the Camino Francis. I speak no French and carried no phone so I found that the option of sleeping rough was essential and that the French I G in maps were wonderful. These maps can be downloaded electronically for about €25 a year and I used them both for finding the route and for planning alternative routes that were more interesting or efficient. The deserted small villages were a bit spooky and even water was hard to find until I discovered that the cemeteries always had an unlocked tap. Being flexible with the route worked well for me. I started with the Arles switched to the towpath of the canal do midi then dropped south to the Piemonte. Any town that had a visitor center seem to have an English speaker with information on the Camino. The lodging that I manage to find on the in frequently traveled Camino was always a pleasant and unique experience ranging from being the guest of the vocal clergyman to being a celebrity at Lourds where they gave me dinner and a private room and refused to let me pay.Thank you, @backpack45, for some added info. I did walk the Le Puy route last June as far as Auvillar and loved it, but the Arles camino still sounds more intimidating to me. I/we did get lost a couple of times as often the GR stripes are on both sides of the trees since you can walk in either direction...Add in the yellow stripes here and there, and well, that sometimes became a bit of a problem! Lol.
I just returned from hiking sections of the via Tolosana, or chemin d’Arles and would like to offer advice to future hikers. First of all this trail is a GR and not necessarily a camino. Be prepared to do 20 plus kilometres per day with no place to sit except for the ground. Don’t expect any place for water or food once you leave in the morning and don’t expect that once you arrive at your destination that restaurants are open and that grocery stores are opened. The reality is that small villages in France are having difficulties surviving.
Accommodations are sometimes hard to come by and are not always acceptable.
A cell phone is a necessity because a lot of the gites are not manned by people but you must phone to obtain a code to enter. This also means that you don’t get a stamp on your passport.
I would recommend that you carry food to last you at least 2 days. Many places are closed on Sundays and/or Mondays and you might want to opt for a place with a demi pension on those days.
I walked the Chemin d'Arles-Aragones-Frances to SDC September to November 2015, aged 61. The Arles route was lonely, but I always found accommodation, although the food supply was sometimes difficult and I ate at odd times as the opportunity arose. I used Miam Miam Dodo for accommodation and the route map. Some of the waymarking was indeed bizarre and sometimes I took the road, having extricated myself from some obscure path where the signs just ran out. At one gite, two Frenchman shook my hand and congratulated me on finding my way to that night's gite. They too had got lost. Often I was alone in gites/albergues. I needed a cellphone to book ahead and call in daily to friends. Only once did I feel in danger walking alone, but the 'suspect' young man was in fact warning me of a boar hunt up ahead, which I cottoned onto when I came across, at 200m intervals along the road, elderly men in camping chairs, each wearing a fluoro vest and holding a rifle in his lap. One was asleep.
I wouldn't walk it alone again, it was just too lonely.
I just returned from hiking sections of the via Tolosana, or chemin d’Arles and would like to offer advice to future hikers. First of all this trail is a GR and not necessarily a camino. Be prepared to do 20 plus kilometres per day with no place to sit except for the ground. Don’t expect any place for water or food once you leave in the morning and don’t expect that once you arrive at your destination that restaurants are open and that grocery stores are opened. The reality is that small villages in France are having difficulties surviving.
Accommodations are sometimes hard to come by and are not always acceptable.
A cell phone is a necessity because a lot of the gites are not manned by people but you must phone to obtain a code to enter. This also means that you don’t get a stamp on your passport.
I would recommend that you carry food to last you at least 2 days. Many places are closed on Sundays and/or Mondays and you might want to opt for a place with a demi pension on those days.
There is always a fresh water tap in cemeteries
I agree it's a solitary walk, but it is very satisfying to be able to do it on your own too, both from a physical and spiritual/mental/psychic perspective. Yes, you will have to ask yourself how dependent you are on meeting other people, and how comfortable you are being with yourself a good majority of the time - and you will need to be flexible, as the route is not always (but most of the time this is not the case) the best-marked. It is definitely a different experience than some of the other walks; probably the one that's closest to it that I've done was the Via de la Plata, which was perhaps my favorite walk of all!I walked the Chemin d'Arles-Aragones-Frances to SDC September to November 2015, aged 61. The Arles route was lonely, but I always found accommodation, although the food supply was sometimes difficult and I ate at odd times as the opportunity arose. I used Miam Miam Dodo for accommodation and the route map. Some of the waymarking was indeed bizarre and sometimes I took the road, having extricated myself from some obscure path where the signs just ran out. At one gite, two Frenchman shook my hand and congratulated me on finding my way to that night's gite. They too had got lost. Often I was alone in gites/albergues. I needed a cellphone to book ahead and call in daily to friends. Only once did I feel in danger walking alone, but the 'suspect' young man was in fact warning me of a boar hunt up ahead, which I cottoned onto when I came across, at 200m intervals along the road, elderly men in camping chairs, each wearing a fluoro vest and holding a rifle in his lap. One was asleep.
I wouldn't walk it alone again, it was just too lonely.
Well, it sounds like one Camino to tick off any bucket list I have before even considering or attempting it...I'm a little adventurous, but all the above observations have scared me off and I'm glad! Thank you all for the warnings, seriously!
I would say that the Frances was probably like the Arles route in the past. It is only with more people walking it that more accommodation, bars etc will happen.
I have just finished the Arles route. ....
No, that's not right -- it's a very beautiful route, please don't understand these caveats otherwise !!!
You do need a deal more of independence than elsewhere, but the closer you get on your Way to SJPP is the closer you'll be to your own Will.
I agree with all your posts above. Via Tolosana is demanding and incredible. Arles with its Roman arena and Romanesque St Tropheme; Saint-Gilles-du-Gard, in the Middle Ages the third most important pilgrimage centre after Rome and Compostela, Montpellier, Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert - voted one of the most beautiful villages in France, the cathedral in Lodeve and Auch, small towns like Bassoues with Basilique of Saint Fris and donjon, unforgettable Toulouse and Oloron-Sainte-Marie, Canal du Midi overshadowed with trees or moon landscape in Aragon. It is very solitude and demanding route. That’s why local people are so helpful, doesn't matter if you speak French or not. I was really touched by all the kindness I received while I was doing Tolosana. It was extraordinary even for the Camino standards.
I just returned from hiking sections of the via Tolosana, or chemin d’Arles and would like to offer advice to future hikers. First of all this trail is a GR and not necessarily a camino. Be prepared to do 20 plus kilometres per day with no place to sit except for the ground. Don’t expect any place for water or food once you leave in the morning and don’t expect that once you arrive at your destination that restaurants are open and that grocery stores are opened. The reality is that small villages in France are having difficulties surviving.
Accommodations are sometimes hard to come by and are not always acceptable.
A cell phone is a necessity because a lot of the gites are not manned by people but you must phone to obtain a code to enter. This also means that you don’t get a stamp on your passport.
I would recommend that you carry food to last you at least 2 days. Many places are closed on Sundays and/or Mondays and you might want to opt for a place with a demi pension on those days.
Hi Linnea, thank you for this. Could you tell the name of the fb group? cant find.There is a facebook page devoted to the Tolosana, with lots of helpful discussions and recommended information sources.
We walked from Arles to Puenta La Reina starting in late March 2018. We found the tourist info centres very helpful and would book ahead for us. Where food was difficult to source they would get a few supplies in for us waiting as we couldn’t carry much more. We have done many walks and this was our favourite. We are planning to do Toulouse to Puenta la Reina at the end of March next year with our grandson (18 year old) Can’t wait and am enjoying your trip and updates.I hiked the last few stages from Oloron St Marie in May and it was superb. I’m now on day 4 in Grabels having started in Arles and have found this section to be difficult to be enthused about.
The way markings the first day were nearly non-existent. They are really good in some sections after day one but then inexplicably disappear for significant distances. If I didn’t have the Windy Maps app I’d have been hopelessly lost many times. There was even a misplaced way mark that sent me off course. Fortunately I realized that after .5 km went by and the app got me back on track.
Accommodations are expensive if you are not staying at a gite and you really need to book ahead. Lodging has been a bit scarce and time consuming to find so far. The scenery has been a mixed bag but Gronze promises it’ll be better from here. Today I lost over an hour as the route was blocked twice by construction in Montpellier. There were no markings to help find a suitable detour.
Yeah, it’s been a rough beginning, especially with the recent heat wave which has made any hiking after 12:00pm especially brutal. But more lies ahead so I’m hoping it’ll be closer to what I experienced in May.
It was gratifying to be able to start at the official beginning of the route but honestly I’d recommend skipping the first five Gronze stages unless beginning at the beginning is really important to you.
On a more positive note, people have been universally friendly and encouraging.
I’ll post again after I’ve gotten more stages in.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?