route variant/side-trip

I know there are some who don‘t like to deviate from the Camino route while walking, but I have gotten an email question from a friend about what little gems are not too far from the Camino Primitivo. I know I have recently written something about this, but I can’t find the thread. So I...

Hello, I've found some old info in this, but I'm hoping for an updated answer. I'm hoping to make the detour described in Brierly's guide to Canas (between Najera and Santo Domingo dlC) in late May and hopefully find accommodation and food there. I can find no information on Gronze or in the...

Can someone who has walked the shortened version of Day 1 by cutting across on the N-536 just after Santalla Del Bierzo, to go straight to Borrenes so as to avoid the loop to Villavieja, comment on it please?. I see that it saves 3 kms but I have also read somewhere else that it is to be...

Is San Juan de Gatzelugatxe worth visiting on the Camino Norte?

Hi all I'm reading through the virtual VdlP and this is something I didn't see mentioned. One version I can see from this hiking map would be to follow EX-370 from Carcaboso up to the elevated roundabout. A dirt path then branches off, going under the motorway. 8 km of tarmac to get to that...

Hi all - I’m at the Watermill Moinho Garcia and the host has suggested trying the sand trail from Espinho to Porto. 1. Has anybody tried it? 2. Does anybody know the connecting route from Pinhero da Bemposta?

Hi all I came across this route I'd never heard of while reading up on the Roman site of Munigua, north west of Seville. Starting near Olvera (a stop on the Via Serrana) it goes north in 15 stages to end up in Guadalcanal. The stages and directions (including a kml file are on the Seville...

The attached photo shows a view from the alternative route from Irache to Los Arcos via Luquin. You can see the castle of San Esteban de Deyo on top of the hill above Villamayor de Monjardin. Can you tell me what looks like a monolith is on the left of the photo? Any details - when was it...

We got most of this this all straightened out on the great Virtual Planning thread. The Lana comes into Santo Domingo de Silos, and from there goes to Covarrubias and on the Mecerreyes. But I do have a question, so bear with me, sorry. For anyone who wants to take a detour to visit the newly...

I am considering walking the Monasteries route from Azofra. I will arrive probably sometime in May. My starting point is SJPDP on April 24 2023. I will be alone. Has anyone done this and can I have some feed back on their experience. Also, where can I stay because it will take a day to get there...

For the last stage of the Vía Serrana from Utrera to Seville (also the last stage of the Vía Augusta), there are two different routes: one via Dos Hermanas (the western-most one on the map) and the other via Alcalá de Guadaira (the eastern-most one). Does anyone have any insight on either of...

Just heard from Ender that he is about to get to work on preparing the route for the Camino Allerano, and then marking it. Wikipedia has an entry, you can see it intersects with the Salvador in La Robla and the Olvidado in Boñar. After he described the route and his plans for marking it, he...

Some may have noticed that I am down in the Lana rabbit hole. :p I am hopeful that 2023 will be the year I finally get to walk from Alicante. It was planned for 2020, but that was a no-go. In 2021 and 2022, I could only manage a fall camino and I decided to save the Lana for a spring walk...

Note to all — Thanks to a heads up from @C clearly, I realized that for many years I have been writing MeRcerreyes, when the proper spelling is Mecerreyes. I have gone back through all forum posts and edited every occurrence of “Mercerreyes” since it really did mess up with the search function...

Several Spanish news websites have reported on the opening today of a centre dedicated to the history of the Sephardic Jewish communities in Spain. The building is in Castrillo Mota de Judios - about 4km north-west of Castrojeriz. A place settled by Jewish people expelled from Castrojeriz in the...

I've just been watching a fascinating documentary on Netflix about the volunteer rehabilitation of this rather iconic film location, the final scene of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly". I'm curious to know if anyone has visited this place, which is only about 5km from Santo Domingo de Silos...

Hello everyone, I just finished my first Camino last week (the Primitivo), and a pilgrim I met along the way recommended the Portuguese (from Porto) for my next one, since I can't get a lot of time off work at once. He specifically recommended the Coastal, since it can be done in a relatively...

I have just finished part of the Via de la Plata walking from Puebla de Sanabria to Santiago in 10 days. Last year after finishing my Camino del Norte /Muxia I walked the Camino de Madrid to Segovia and I´ve always wondered if it were possible to connect the Madrid to the Via de La Plata to...

People that have encountered me on the Camino have probably at some point got to know about my utter dislike for asphalt. As opposed to some puritans I like to adapt my camino if it means nicer paths in nature and less paved roads. With that mindset I looked ahead towards the stage from either...

Like many others, I skipped the ugly and urban Lucca - Altopascio stage when I walked the Via Francigena last fall from Aosta. This spring, however, Sandy Brown, author of one of the leading guidebooks to the route, posted about a new alternative route on the VF Facebook page. Intrigued, I...