LIVE from the Camino Counting pilgrims on the Via Augusta (Nov. 2024)

[Umwandert]

I have to admit, the title is probably a little too optimistic. It is highly unlikely to meet any pilgrims at all in Andalusia in December. On my last three winter caminos in Andalusia (Via Serrana, Camino Estrecho, Camino de Fray Leopoldo) I came across a grand total of one (!) pilgrim. I will probably rather count cows, dogs or telegraph poles.

I have two non-contiguous weeks available for Caminos in November/December and am dedicating myself first to the Via Augusta, which I have also had my eye on in previous years. I expect long flat stretches without the slightest incline, a rather monotonous landscape, but interesting places and towns. As far as I know, there are no albergues, so I have booked hotels and private accommodation.

I start on Monday from Seville heading south. I'm walking this route in reverse because I'd like to have the stage along the Atlantic as the highlight at the end. As I'm totally out of shape, I've opted for a particularly lazy option. I will hike three of the six stages with a day pack and take the train to my accommodation in Seville or Jerez in the evening.

I am happy to post my experiences here and look forward to suggestions and information from the forum experts. After all, the Via Augusta has a sub-forum here and appears more frequently in the comments than my first three Andalusian Caminos.

 

[WalkingInGers]

I have to admit, the title is probably a little too optimistic. It is highly unlikely to meet any pilgrims at all in Andalusia in December. On my last three winter caminos in Andalusia (Via Serrana, Camino Estrecho, Camino de Fray Leopoldo) I came across a grand total of one (!) pilgrim. I will probably rather count cows, dogs or telegraph poles.

I have two non-contiguous weeks available for Caminos in November/December and am dedicating myself first to the Via Augusta, which I have also had my eye on in previous years. I expect long flat stretches without the slightest incline, a rather monotonous landscape, but interesting places and towns. As far as I know, there are no albergues, so I have booked hotels and private accommodation.

I start on Monday from Seville heading south. I'm walking this route in reverse because I'd like to have the stage along the Atlantic as the highlight at the end. As I'm totally out of shape, I've opted for a particularly lazy option. I will hike three of the six stages with a day pack and take the train to my accommodation in Seville or Jerez in the evening.

I am happy to post my experiences here and look forward to suggestions and information from the forum experts. After all, the Via Augusta has a sub-forum here and appears more frequently in the comments than my first three Andalusian Caminos.

I look forward to reading your posts as I will be starting the ESTRECHO in March and starting out on the AUGUSTA in April 2025

 

[Blister Bill]

Walked it in early Apr 22. No other pilgrims, not even a boot print ! Not hilly, I found it well marked except in the towns. The loop out of (into) Cadiz was not particularly exciting. The views (for you) coming down into Santa Maria are great. An option could be to grab the boat from there to Cadiz.

 

[Peter Brandon]

I will be following your posts with interest as my wife and I intend to walk from Cadiz to CDS, beginning in September next year, I noted that the first sections as far as Jerez de la Frontera can be accessed by train so we intend to stay in Cadiz and walk these sections for the first few days returning to our hostel each evening. The section that concerns me is from Los Cabezas to Utrera which is about 34 km. I am hoping to break it up using a bus (or taxi) if possible, and treturning to where we fish the following morning. Cheers and Buen Camino, Peter

 

[Paul-CH]

The section that concerns me is from Los Cabezas to Utrera which is about 34 km

In 2025 you have still time enough to get some training as this part has only about 260 m of incline/decline. in 2023 I walked from Cadiz to Sevilla in seven days. 29.0km 29k.6m 29.2km 29.9km 32.5km 25.0km 17.5km

 

[Joseph Carmona]

I have to admit, the title is probably a little too optimistic. It is highly unlikely to meet any pilgrims at all in Andalusia in December. On my last three winter caminos in Andalusia (Via Serrana, Camino Estrecho, Camino de Fray Leopoldo) I came across a grand total of one (!) pilgrim. I will probably rather count cows, dogs or telegraph poles.

I have two non-contiguous weeks available for Caminos in November/December and am dedicating myself first to the Via Augusta, which I have also had my eye on in previous years. I expect long flat stretches without the slightest incline, a rather monotonous landscape, but interesting places and towns. As far as I know, there are no albergues, so I have booked hotels and private accommodation.

I start on Monday from Seville heading south. I'm walking this route in reverse because I'd like to have the stage along the Atlantic as the highlight at the end. As I'm totally out of shape, I've opted for a particularly lazy option. I will hike three of the six stages with a day pack and take the train to my accommodation in Seville or Jerez in the evening.

I am happy to post my experiences here and look forward to suggestions and information from the forum experts. After all, the Via Augusta has a sub-forum here and appears more frequently in the comments than my first three Andalusian Caminos.

Will be happy to hear your experiences, I am planning on walking from Tarifa next year & was thinking the Camino Estrecho then the Camino Augusta to Sevilla or the Estrecho to Algeciras then the Via Serrana to Sevilla, how did you find the Via Serrana?

 

[Joseph Carmona]

I look forward to reading your posts as I will be starting the ESTRECHO in March and starting out on the AUGUSTA in April 2025

I will be starting the Estrecho from Tarifa in March weighing up whether to head west or go north on the Via Serrana from La Linea near Gibraltar

 

[Umwandert]

Thanks for the messages. I am happy to reply.

The loop out of (into) Cadiz was not particularly exciting. The views (for you) coming down into Santa Maria are great. An option could be to grab the boat from there to Cadiz.

@Blister Bill: That's pity. I was really looking forward to that.

I noted that the first sections as far as Jerez de la Frontera can be accessed by train so we intend to stay in Cadiz and walk these sections for the first few days returning to our hostel each evening. The section that concerns me is from Los Cabezas to Utrera which is about 34 km. I am hoping to break it up using a bus (or taxi) if possible, and treturning to where we fish the following morning.

@Peter Brandon: I plan to use the train for this part of the camino (my last two days) as well. I will stay in Jerez and commute back from Puerto Real and Cadiz. I will walk Utrera-Las Cabezas tomorrow and look for possible places where you can take public transport.

Will be happy to hear your experiences, I am planning on walking from Tarifa next year & was thinking the Camino Estrecho then the Camino Augusta to Sevilla or the Estrecho to Algeciras then the Via Serrana to Sevilla, how did you find the Via Serrana?

@Joseph Carmona: I loved the Via Serrana, although it was a very challenging camino, mostly due to bad weather. I wrote about it in great detail here.

 

[Umwandert]

Day 1: Sevilla - Utrera (normally 35 km, shortened to 26 km by me)



Aller Anfang ist schwer (All beginnings are hard), as we say. At around 9am I'm at the cathedral, which is still closed, and get a stamp from the nearby tourist information centre. Then I make my way to the metro. There are two alternatives for this stage, either via Alcala de Guadaira (officially 36 kilometres) or via Dos Hermanas (35 kilometres). Both are too long for me for a first stage, especially as I'm out of shape. This stage is also the final stage of the Via Serrana, which I walked two years ago (via Alcala). At 41 kilometres, it was my longest Camino day ever.

So I shorten the stage by taking the metro and chose the other alternative via Dos Hermanas.

It takes me 30 minutes to get from the centre of Seville to the southern terminus at Olivar de Quintos. From there, it's only 1 km to a large roundabout with a metal statue with two riders on a horse, which the Camino passes. And then I'm on my way!

By the way, I use the tracks of the Asociación Gaditana Jacobea ‘Vía Augusta’. They also have tracks for the Camino Estrecho and the Via Serrana.

Today's first stage is divided into three similar sections:

(1) Urban hiking on pavements (at the beginning there is a bridleway next to it) and through the less than edifying outskirts of Dos Hermanas. The town itself is nothing remarkable. But the square in front of the church, where I stopped for lunch in a café, is quite pretty. This first part is 100 per cent asphalt.

(2) Straight as a die for 8 kilometres next to the railway line heading south. It starts to rain here and I have to put on my rain poncho, but fortunately it soon passes. Nevertheless, there are a lot of large puddles to avoid on the dirt track.

(3) Another 9 kilometres along a natural path, where there are finally a few trees and a bit of a Camino feeling for the first time. The path leads along olive groves and fields. The railway line runs further east and is out of sight. Here I encounter the first animals and have a little scare with a yapping little white dog just before Utrera.

I reach Utrera from a less attractive side, a few neglected-looking farms and ugly industrial buildings. At 16:30, after just over 26 kilometres, I'm at Utrera station, just in time to see a train to Sevilla Santa Justa pull away. Fortunately, the Cercanias run every 20-30 minutes or so.

Number of pilgrims met on the way: zero (nobody else was walking on the way either)
Number of trains passing by: 10
Number of animals on the loose: 14, four dogs (three of them relaxed) and ten rabbits



Best moment: My lunch break in the centre of Dos Hermanas (picture above). Some local senior citizens had gathered in the square in front of the church and the atmosphere was almost like a Sunday afternoon. They must have been magnetised by a loudspeaker playing Julio Iglesias' cuddly ballads from the 70s. What kind of music would work in my city? Marlene Dietrich or Hildegarde Neff perhaps?

Preview: Tomorrow 32km without any services from Utrera to Las Cabezas de San Juan. Then with my full bag pack. Luckily the forecast is for clouds but no rain. I'm excited and looking forward to tomorrow!

To be continued...

 

[WalkingInGers]

No birds and pigs?

 

[Blister Bill]

Preview: Tomorrow 32km without any services from Utrera to Las Cabezas de San Juan. Then with my full bag pack. Luckily the forecast is for clouds but no rain. I'm excited and looking forward to tomorrow!

Well I have good and bad news. The good news is there are services as the way marking (2022) deviates you through the small town of Teejano. The bad news is I had it clocked at just over 34km but depends a little IO suppose of start and finish locations. You can shorten it by not going via Teejano and continuing straight on. Some of the old painted over waymarking is still there. Buen camino!

 

[HeidiL]

My son and I walked from Cadiz to Seville in December some years ago - I posted about it here. No other pilgrims, but a nice walk.

Our stages were MUCH shorter than yours!

 

[Umwandert]

No birds and pigs?

@WalkingInGers: Well, a lot of traces of human pigs:

Well I have good and bad news. The good news is there are services as the way marking (2022) deviates you through the small town of Teejano. The bad news is I had it clocked at just over 34km but depends a little IO suppose of start and finish locations. You can shorten it by not going via Teejano and continuing straight on. Some of the old painted over waymarking is still there. Buen camino!

@Blister Bill: As I walk in reverse I usually don't see any trail markers. But thanks to your post I had noticed Trajano. According to Google Maps there are two bars and a supermarket there. When I got to the crossroads (actually a bridge) I decided not to take the detour as I was already quite late, there were still 2 hours of daylight left and I still had over 10 km to go.

Our stages were MUCH shorter than yours!

@HeidiL: This happens when walking in reverse. Since I don't always check Wikiloc, sometimes I make mistakes and walk in the wrong direction. I usually notice this quickly. But of course it increases the mileage. The mentioned 41 km for Utrera to Seville instead of 36 (for a non-reverse stage) came about because I made an unnecessary detour in Alcala to find a tourist office (which didn't exist) and in Seville, where I foolishly chose a hotel that was almost 3 km from the cathedral on the other side of the river.

 

[Umwandert]

Day 2: Utrera - Las Cabezas de San Juan (32km usually, 34km for me)



I take a suburban train (C-1) from Seville to Utrera, which is 20 minutes late. I buy some provisions in Utrera, as there are no catering facilities on today's stage. Then I look for the town hall. It takes three employees 20 minutes to find the right stamp for pilgrims. So it's 9.45am when I finally set off on a dirt track at the southern end of the village.

During the first hour, I come across joggers and people walking their dogs. The path is flat through fields. After a while, the path suddenly turns yellow and I automatically think of ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’. Unlike Judy Garland in the 1939 hit movie, however, I don't find any funny companions. After 10 kilometres, Utrera is still visible (no wonder, everything is super flat here). The Camino runs in long straight stretches. I take a break every 5 kilometres and drink plenty, I have 3 litres of water with me. It is cloudy and pleasant at 18 degrees.

I reach the canal and wonder about wikiloc, the Asociación Gaditana Jacobea wants me to run over the railway tracks (which is not possible because of a fence). The railway and canal run dead straight parallel here. I take the bridge and then it's monotonous straight ahead for hours. Technically the path is easy, but mentally I find it difficult to walk for so long without the slightest distraction. I think it was here where a forum member was stopped by the police some years ago and gave up the Via Augusta. It is apparently forbidden to walk next to the canal, although there is plenty of space and I can't imagine how you could accidentally fall into the canal. I only realise later that there is a path on the other side of the canal directly alongside the railway tracks, which is now probably official.

After an eternity, I switch to the other side of the canal and then walk along the railway line. Again wikiloc wants me to walk over the tracks, but a fence prevents me from doing so. At 4pm I reach the junction to Trajano, a village 1km off camino that @Blister Bill recommended to me. It's 4pm, I still have 10 kilometres to go and I'm afraid that everything there is closed for siesta. So I walk on.



After another eternity, I leave the railway line and continue through fields. Then the path gets muddy and I have to keep knocking the mud off my shoes. I actually wanted to arrive before dusk, but I either started too late, took too many breaks or simply walked too slowly. The path drags on endlessly, and at 6 p.m. I witness a beautiful dusk. I know from my disastrous first day on the Via Serrana that I have about 30 minutes before it gets really dark. And now I can finally see Las Cabezas again, it's on a hill. I reach the town at 18:30, visit a supermarket and check into my hotel (NOVO Apartahotel, 61 euros). This Camino is not cheap.

Pilgrims Count: 1!!! Actually, it doesn't count because I didn't meet the pilgrim on the route. I saw him from the train window as he left Utrera in the direction of Seville (the train line runs alongside the Camino there)
Free-Roaming animals on the camino: none.
Most scaring moment: At the end of the 'wizard of Oz' route, I suddenly hear a shot (not like a rifle shot, more like a cannon). This is repeated several times, once very close to me. I flinch, but don't see anyone. Possibly a system to scare the birds away from the fields?

Preview: 29 kilometres from Las Cabezas de San Juan to El Cuervo de Sevilla. This route will hopefully be a little more varied, as there is a lake and, with Lebrija, a town on the way.

Stay tuned.



To be continued...

 

[Blister Bill]

Those fields of rape seed are stunning and yes bird (pilgrim) scarers. I had pretty inexpensive accommodation. I think the most I paid was €40 at El Cuervo. You go on a bit of a horse shoe out of town tomorrow. I tracked 31.5km. It was my toughest day of the 6 due to walking all day into a very strong and cold head wind and I think psychologically coming from the south walking past Utrera.

 

[Umwandert]

Day 3: Las Cabezas de San Juan - El Cuervo de Sevilla (usually 29km, 30km for me)



I leave Las Cabezas at 9:30 and quickly realise that yesterday's long stage is still in my legs. I cross the motorway and am quickly back in the fields. The grass on the side of the track is soaking wet from the morning dew. After just a few kilometres, the ground turns to earth. Wet earth. At first I run along the edge, but then the path widens and there is mud everywhere, with water standing on the fields in places. I sink ankle-deep and have to lace my shoes tighter to avoid losing them in the mud. I struggle very slowly for about a kilometre through very deep mud and my shoes become heavy. This is what it's like to hike in oversized clown shoes, I think.

The path and my shoes remain muddy, but now there is more grass at the edges, I walk along them, which means that my non-waterproof trail runners are now soaking through too. I finally reach the canal and continue along the edge of it, studiously ignoring the no trespassing signs. Over the next few kilometres, which drag on endlessly, I only meet one man with a dog and one mountain biker. I occasionally see rubbish and dead fish floating in the canal.

I have excellent conditions, sunshine, no clouds and 20 degrees. But the monotony of the seemingly endless straight path is getting to me, just like yesterday. There is practically no shade all the way, and in summer at 35 degrees (or even higher) it must be unbearable. When I leave the canal at around 12:30, I pass through fields again, this time recognising cotton plants. I'm looking forward to the lake marked on the map, which turns out to be a fenced-in reservoir for irrigation purposes. I take a break every 6 kilometres today. Once again, I force myself to drink a lot.



Now the surface changes to tarmac. At around 14:45 I reach the outskirts of Lebrija, the only village on the stage. The road is blocked by a fence, roadworks. A gate on the side has been trampled down, so I walk through the deserted building site. At the other end, I have to squeeze between two posts like a snake. Then I treat myself to a long break and a stamp in a café in Lebrija. The Camino doesn't go through the town centre.

After the refreshment, I feel ready for the last 11 kilometres. The route no longer takes me through a remote area, but along garden sheds, farms and fields where people are working. From the open gate of Club Deportivo Hipico, a small dog suddenly shoots towards me, fortunately it only wants to be petted, which I am happy to do. A few minutes later, I overlook a second dog lying on the road (it's the same colour as the path), which barks viciously at me but doesn't attack. Things calm down after that. When I take my last break at 17:15, I realise that once again I won't arrive before sunset.

I particularly enjoy the last hour of daylight, but I'm already tired. Instead of staggering sleepily towards my destination, I am woken up by a cacophony of wild dogs barking behind fences. I reach the town sign of El Cuervo de Sevilla at 18:30 in the twilight, 20 minutes after the sun has set. And this time, unlike yesterday, I find my hotel at the first attempt (Hotel Enfasis, 50 euros).

Pilgrim Count: One(!), for real this time. I meet Karen from the Netherlands half an hour before Lebrija. Before I can even say a word, she greets me in fluent German. Has my shirt with the Adidas logo given away my nationality? Then it becomes clear that she thinks I'm a priest called Johannes! We laugh together as we realise the mistake. Just 10 minutes earlier, she had met a German who was also walking the Via Augusta in reverse(!). And he told her that his friend, the priest in question, was walking a little behind him. Mysteriously, I didn't overtake him. We chat for a while, Karen is an experienced pilgrim (she walked for example from Astorga to Almeria, so two long caminos in reverse). I warn her about the mud battle 12 kilometres further on and we take a photo. This encounter was my highlight of the day!

Saddest moment: A large dead dog in the canal, which looked pregnant (or blown up by putrefaction gases).

Preview: 25km to Jerez de la Frontera. The weather is supposed to stay good, I'm looking forward to a city that, unlike Seville or Cadiz, I don't know yet. I will take a rest day there. Let's see if I meet priest Johannes and his friend...

To be continued...

 

[Blister Bill]

I stayed in hotel Enfasis, bumping into the owner at lunch. Must be inflation, I had the distance at just over 30km tomorrow. The only stop available enroute is a motorway petrol station accessed through the fence about 18km from Jerez. Jerez is a great town worthy of time - enjoy!

 

[Paul-CH]

For what I noted at March 2023 in the other direction was:
0km Jerez de la Frontera 🍽 

7km Guadalcacín ️ 🍽 

16km Tankstelle El Cuadrejón 🍽 

29km El Cuervo de Sevilla 🍽 


 

[Umwandert]

Day 4: El Cuervo de Sevilla - Jerez de la Frontera (25km officially, 28km for me)



According to the Wikilocs of the Asociación Gaditana Jacobea, which I use for hiking in reverse, today is the shortest stage. So I take my time and only set off after 10am. I buy water and fruit at the supermarket and soon leave the village. After a slight incline (a rarity on the Via Augusta), I follow a gravel path through fields towards the motorway.

After 4 km, I reach the A-4 motorway (leading to Cadiz) and am delighted to find a picnic area with a table and bench (the first one I see along the way; there are only benches to rest on in the towns, not along the way). I take a break and thanks to @Blister Bill I see that there is a rest area in the middle of the long stretch along the motorway (thanks for the tip!) I continue on and initially overlook the fact that I should cross over to the other side of the motorway, I expect a bridge, but it's a subway. Luckily Wikiloc warns me after 100 metres with a loud noise that I'm going the wrong way (a mild electric shock would also work).

The subway looks as if a bulldozer had driven through it a few days ago, deep grooves of now largely dried mud. On the other side, the route continues southwards on stable ground (small puddles can still be seen here and there). And again the route is monotonously straight ahead. Unlike walking for kilometres along the railway line or the canal, however, it is very loud here. After a while, I can tell the difference between lorries, electric cars and normal cars by their noise without looking. I take my second break in the grass.



Then I reach the service area and see a 14-metre-high black bull silhouette made of sheet metal (a former advertisement for a brandy from the Osborne Group, there are 80 of these 'toros' all over Spain). The service area is fenced in and I find the hole in the fence described by @Blister Bill (in the caravan parking area). I had actually been thinking of a cheeseburger for lunch, but there is no restaurant, just a shop selling bocadillos and sweets alongside the usual petrol station stuff. I take a lunch break, it's already 2pm.

Then I continue stubbornly along the noisy motorway, only after a total of 14km (half the stage!) do I cross the motorway and come to a busy arterial road to Jerez. Now it gets stressful, because there is no shoulder I could run on, Wikiloc stubbornly shows the road, but next to it there is a bridleway with deep hoofprints. I bravely jump over a ditch to get there. But I soon have to get back on the road and make my way to the roundabout, where large letters indicate Guadalcacin, right next to a particularly ugly chemical plant.

Hooray! A pavement! I'm back in civilisation! After a few minutes, however, my feet hurt so much from the paving stones that I switch to the other side, where there is a quiet residential street next to the main road, where there is not much traffic at all. I reach the town centre and, as @Paul-CH had predicted, there are places to eat here. It is now 5pm and I take a break in Bar Ramon, where guests sip their tea on cable drums.

I now realise that I won't make it to the finish by sunset again, but as I'm expecting urban walking (with pavements and streetlights) it's no big deal (I hate walking in the dark). Between Guadalcacin and Jerez, I walk on an unkempt and partly overgrown path, a farmer has simply added a section of the path so that I am walking in a field. This is followed by allotments (or is it a slum? There is a lot of rubbish lying around). After half an hour, I reach the outskirts of Jerez.

The apartment, which I have booked for the next few days, is located between the city centre and the train station. I walk for more than an hour through various neighbourhoods, including a park, as dusk falls and night falls. By the time I arrive at 18:50, I'm exhausted and looking forward to my rest day in the morning.

Pilgrim Count: Zero, I only met four cyclists along the motorway.
Free roaming animals on path: None, apart from a few chicken in Guadalcacin.
The moment when I want to storm into the office of the Asociación Gaditana Jacobea and shake someone in charge: when I leave the motorway and Wikiloc forces me onto the arterial road without a shoulder, I almost get run over and then pass a livestock breeding that emits such a stench that I almost throw up. First I have to endure hours of motorway noise, then I have to dodge lorries and now I need a gas mask? So really... I have to put myself together, after all I usually like challenges. A short time later, I discover that the tracks are not precise (this is not the first time) and the Via Augusta actually runs along the bridleway on the other side of the road.

Preview: First a rest day in Jerez and then 25 km to Puerto Real and more motorway hugging.

 

[Blister Bill]

A short time later, I discover that the tracks are not precise (this is not the first time) and the Via Augusta actually runs along the bridleway on the other side of the road.

Sounds like quite the day. You definitely weren't on the right path. I've never used wikilocs (other than for research) as so many seem to be cyclists tracks that don't always follow the actual path. Hard in reverse. I had a wonderful horse encounter just near the "bull" with a thoroughbred who had thrown his rider and was determined not to be caught. A lot of fun helping. There's another bull before you descend to Santa Maria - I never knew the background story to them.. Hope you have time to see one of the horse shows with a sherry in hand!