route variant/side-trip

It’s 50km north of Alcaracejos - but Almaden is well worth the inconvenience of a detour from the Camino Mozarabe. My wife and I visited Almaden in 2018 on our way from Merida to Cordoba. A spectacular mercury ore body has attracted serious mining operations since antiquity, and it is...

For those travelling around Portugal one route or another, either en route to the start of your caminho, or returning home afterwards...good deals on the Portuguese railway system: https://www.portugalresident.com/cp-launches-summertime-discounts-lisbon-porto-for-just-e5-lisbon-algarve-e4-50/...

Voie de Rocamadour/GR 652 : Église Saint-Etienne du Maïl, (near Pujols), France. Frescoes Then and Now, a pictorial comparison. A resource by Lovingkindness In1865 L’abbé Gerbeau discovered medieval frescoes in a side chapel of Église Saint-Etienne du Maïl. Further discoveries were made by a...

Would you go out of your way to walk across this bridge? Or run for the hills?! It's the world's longest suspension pedestrian bridge - over 1/2 km long. https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/oddly-enough/high-anxiety-worlds-longest-pedestrian-suspension-bridge-opens-portugal-2021-04-29/

Looking at the GR655 map I see it splits after Paris and joins together at Tours. Has anyone done both the Chartres and Orleans variation and recommends one or the other ? More pleasant walking / scenery is my preference. Or if you have done either and loved it, that is good too.

Église St-Jean-de-Balerme (near Montpezat d'Agenais) is a rather beautiful romanesque church dating from 11th to 15th centuries. Pilgrims sometimes passed by there, long ago, wishing to avoid the twists and turns in the hills above Le Lot (today's GR 654-East: Castelmoron - Clairac - Aiguillon)...

I'm three for three regarding black toes on my right foot and during our last camino, and I earned a black toe on my left foot (so four black toes during three caminos). I'm pretty sure these were developed either during the first day with the descents into Roncesvalles or three days later...

The virtual pilgrims on the virtual Camino Lana have reached the Capilla de San Olav (Hermitage chapel of Saint Olaf) near Covarrubias. It has a Marmite reputation. How do you feel about it? (Poll closes in 7 days). Click here to see images. Click here for a description. Click here for...

El Día de Córdoba recently published an article that may be of interest to people planning to walk the Camino Mozárabe. https://www.eldiadecordoba.es/provincia/Paisajes-Historia-rutas-senderismo-provincia-Cordoba_0_1545447087.html Vídeo-presentación de Paisajes con Historia The provincial...

Just a little reminder about the Camino Aragonés (or French through Aragón) with one of main ancient Christendom hospitals: Santa Cristina. Amazing alternative to the most crowded one. ultreia!

Greetings all, with many happy and encouraging wishes during this season!! I have two questions and hope that someone will have some ideas. Thank you for any responses! I hope to walk the Aragones again sometime, perhaps even this coming year. Rather than connecting to the Frances near...

Early humans likely hibernated to deal with freezing winters (nypost.com) Also: Sima de los Huesos, a Key to Human Evolution (thoughtco.com) Atapuerca Mountains - Wikipedia Enjoy. Mark

How do people feel about the Norte west of Gijon all the way to the Del Mar and even using the Del Mar to go around to SDC? I know the Primitivo is great but never mind that. What about the beauty, path style, and other aspects of going up and over the NW of Spain?

On the theory that I have to have a camino at the ready for whatever season we are in when walking is again possible, I am going back to the spectacular deep dive Viejo thread (thanks, VN) and actually plotting out potential stages. Accommodation is tricky, place names are frustrating (many...

What follows is a summary list from this thread, a crowdsourced compilation of camino connections for Visigothic and other Pre-Romanesque churches on various caminos. (There are some duplications when a place is accessible from 2 caminos): Camino de Madrid — Wamba Side trip from Norte — San...

The current virtual Lana thread is still very far from Sigüenza, but I wanted to plant the seed in everyone’s mind that taking the Sigüenza alternative about a week after Cuenca is the best choice by far...

Hello fellow pilgrims! I am an avid walker and would like to do both Hospitales and Pola de Allande on El Camino Primitivo in 2021. I thought perhaps I can hike from Borres to Pola de Allende and then take a taxi back to Borres. However, if I do that I would miss the Pola to Puerto de Palo...

Here's another 'where is it?' set of photos for the camino veterans. The first shows the camino, with some well aged signage and a distinct pine covered stretch which is arrow straight... something which makes it unique-ish on the Camino Francés. It coincides with another route, the Camino de...

This August I completed sections of the Camino Portugues from Albergaria a Velha to Santiago. I wanted to share the route variation I took on the advice of an hospitalero, as it lets you take an alternative coastal route into Porto over three days, instead of the traditional road-based route...

Leaving Azofra has anyone avoided ciruena and walked along N120? It appears one can bear right about 2-3 km after Azofra, cross over or under A- 12 , take N120 west, to Santo Domingo de la Calzada. There do not appear to be any stops using that alternative, but I am looking for an...