Camino del Ebro, starting in Zaragoza

[JillGat]

Hi y'all (that's a term from the Southern US for "Vosotros" (plural "you") which we are sorely lacking in English. We have a variety of regional terms for the plural "you" in the US: in California, it's "you guys," in parts of New York City it's "youze" in parts of Pennsylvania it is "Yinz." In Jamaican patois, they use "Oonu," which is an African Twi word for plural you. I digress)

Anyway, I have relatives in Zaragoza and I thought it would be fun to visit them in April or so and then walk from there up to the CF. Would that be the Camino del Ebro? Who here has walked it and where can I get more info. about the etapas? Thanks!

 

[J Willhaus]

Check Gronze.com for stages on the Ebro.

 

[JillGat]

Check Gronze.com for stages on the Ebro.

Thanks, I did! I'd like to hear some first hand experiences, too.

 

[SabsP]

Thanks, I did! I'd like to hear some first hand experiences, too.

I tried to walk from Zaragoza to Logroño, but had to take public transport at moments due to heavy floodings that season.
It is a lonely Camino so be prepared for that. Alagon,Gallur, Calahorra and Alfaro are gorgeous towns though.
But this is a Camino where I would have preferred company.

 

[mspath]

Before you leave Zaragoza you might visit this nearby archeological site described recently here and mapped by Google earlier here .

Happy planning!

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi y'all (that's a term from the Southern US for "Vosotros" (plural "you") which we are sorely lacking in English. We have a variety of regional terms for the plural "you" in the US: in California, it's "you guys," in parts of New York City it's "youze" in parts of Pennsylvania it is "Yinz." In Jamaican patois, they use "Oonu," which is an African Twi word for plural you. I digress)

Anyway, I have relatives in Zaragoza and I thought it would be fun to visit them in April or so and then walk from there up to the CF. Would that be the Camino del Ebro? Who here has walked it and where can I get more info. about the etapas? Thanks!

I started in Deltebre and took the Ebro through Zaragoza. In Gallur, a few stages from Zaragoza, I turned onto the Castellano-Aragonés based on recommendations from forum members that it was much nicer. Like Sabs, I never met another pilgrim. I was walking with a forum member till Zaragoza, but we saw no one else. There’s a recent video snd post from @bjorgts on the Castellano-Aragones, if it piques your interest. The route will take you to Burgos where it merges with the Lana or the San Olav in Santo Domingo de Silos or Covarrubias.

 

[AlanSykes]

I've walked all the stages from Deltebre to Logroño on the Camino del Ebro, although not in one go - and "backwards" from Logroño to Tudela.

I liked it very much, although my favourite landscape was around Gandesa, several days before Zaragoza. From Zaragoza to Logroño it is mostly very flat, tediously flat. But there are many compensations; for example, shortly after Gallur it was so clear that I caught a glimpse of the Pyrenees, over 100km to the east. The public park, El Bocal, near Tudela, and created when they built the irrigation canal del Ebro, is a delight. You pass the "island" of Barrataria, where Sancho Panza was governor. There are examples of local lad Goya's juvenelia in Alagón and near the Pilar in Zaragoza. A kettle of vultures (and a Roman aqueduct) at Alcanadre.

Along the way you'll be able to enjoy several tasty DOC wines - from Catalonia's punchy Priorat, past Campo de Borja, best known for its reds, but where last year I had a really delicious oaky macabeo - you'll probably get buffetted by the local cierzo wind (gentle breezes tend not to get given names) - through Navarra and ending up with some always reliable Rioja.

There have long been plans to turn the monastery at Veruela, just off the camino, into a parador. If they eventually finish it (originally intended to open for Zaragoza's Expo 2008) it will provide an excellent excuse to get back to the Ebro - it's partly 12th century, possibly the oldest and once the largest Cistercian abbey in Spain. Also where Bécquer wrote his "Cartas desde mi celda" in "mi escondido valle de Veruela".

@SabsP is right about it being lonely - I saw no other pilgrims between the Mediterranean and Logroño.

The pic is of the Ebro near Alcalá de Ebro ("Barrataria"), not far from where Don Quixote first saw the river - "la amenidad de sus riberas, la claridad de sus aguas, el sosiego de su curso y la abundancia de sus líquidos cristales".

 

[Anthony Rocco]

Hi y'all (that's a term from the Southern US for "Vosotros" (plural "you") which we are sorely lacking in English. We have a variety of regional terms for the plural "you" in the US: in California, it's "you guys," in parts of New York City it's "youze" in parts of Pennsylvania it is "Yinz." In Jamaican patois, they use "Oonu," which is an African Twi word for plural you. I digress)

Anyway, I have relatives in Zaragoza and I thought it would be fun to visit them in April or so and then walk from there up to the CF. Would that be the Camino del Ebro? Who here has walked it and where can I get more info. about the etapas? Thanks!

My wife and I walked the other way in September 2016. It's the Camino Ignaziano, starting in Loyola, just south of San Sebastion, going through the mountains and Basque Country to La Guardia and then Logrono, then along the Ebro ending in Montserrat and Manresa. Of our 9 caminos, this remains the most memorable. But...doing it when we did caught all the wine festivals in Rioja. And the pears and almonds were also being harvested. Our most memorable night of any Camino was at Montserrat..

I think we were among the very few Americans who walked this Camino when we did. It's definitely NOT for a first time peregrino. You have to be ready for all kinds of curves. You will need good Spanish.

 

[barmoss77]

Like Anthony Rocco I walked the Ignatian Camino (in October 2017). I met quite a few Camino del Ebro Pilgrims as they were going the other way. I don’t have much Spanish, but when accommodation needed to be booked by phone, I found the local tourist office was willing to oblige.

 

[Anthony Rocco]

Like Anthony Rocco I walked the Ignatian Camino (in October 2017). I met quite a few Camino del Ebro Pilgrims as they were going the other way. I don’t have much Spanish, but when accommodation needed to be booked by phone, I found the local tourist office was willing to oblige.

Alfaro was such a treat with the lady in the ayuntamiento who was so helpful. And her name was Camino!