A slow Camino Mixto May 2025

[Donna Sch]

It's been a long time between Caminos with the last effort being the Levante and Invierno in 2019. Barrie and I are older and fatter, and he has had some health issues in-between so if I am going to plan a slightly hilly Camino (Madrid/Salvador/Primitivo) *cough, cough* then short stages are the go.
The current plan is to spend a week in Madrid playing tourist before heading off. All because the old rodeo bull-rider in him is determined to see a bullfight and has bought tickets for Las Ventas. So we officially will start the actual Camino on the 5th May.
But I'm starting a thread to have somewhere to ask questions.
So for our stint in Madrid, has anybody ever been there due the public holidays on May 1/2 and are there any specific events for those days (parades, concerts?) worth seeing? Also do the usual tourist attractions get busier on public holidays or do the locals prefer to stay at home? If the Museums are super busy I'm happy to spend a good chunk of the day in Retiro but not if every local is also going there.
And has anybody been to the Madrid zoo? Barrie is a zoo tragic. Opinions of it?
For anyone going around the same time, the accommodation that is currently available in Madrid is fairly pricey.
I've booked ahead for the first few stops because there is not much available that is cheap ( and the Aussie dollar is only worth about 60 cents so the currency is not in our favour. And I have been emailing directly as well as using booking.com.
El Chiscón in Tres Cantos has a pilgrim rate of €60 for a doble and breakfast with no cancellation fees.

 

[J Willhaus]

I love the three art museums in Madrid which could take at least 5 days!

 

[David Tallan]

It's been a long time between Caminos with the last effort being the Levante and Invierno in 2019. Barrie and I are older and fatter, and he has had some health issues in-between so if I am going to plan a slightly hilly Camino (Madrid/Salvador/Primitivo) *cough, cough* then short stages are the go.
The current plan is to spend a week in Madrid playing tourist before heading off. All because the old rodeo bull-rider in him is determined to see a bullfight and has bought tickets for Las Ventas. So we officially will start the actual Camino on the 5th May.
But I'm starting a thread to have somewhere to ask questions.
So for our stint in Madrid, has anybody ever been there due the public holidays on May 1/2 and are there any specific events for those days (parades, concerts?) worth seeing? Also do the usual tourist attractions get busier on public holidays or do the locals prefer to stay at home? If the Museums are super busy I'm happy to spend a good chunk of the day in Retiro but not if every local is also going there.
And has anybody been to the Madrid zoo? Barrie is a zoo tragic. Opinions of it?
For anyone going around the same time, the accommodation that is currently available in Madrid is fairly pricey.
I've booked ahead for the first few stops because there is not much available that is cheap ( and the Aussie dollar is only worth about 60 cents so the currency is not in our favour. And I have been emailing directly as well as using booking.com.
El Chiscón in Tres Cantos has a pilgrim rate of €60 for a doble and breakfast with no cancellation fees.

There was an albergue in Tres Cantos. They required 48 hours notice, if I remember correctly. Or you could sleep at Mision Emmanuel for €60 less, than what you have booked, but it would be a little more spartan. Food was included in the €0 price, though.

My next stage led me to Manzanares el Real where Ray and Rosa operate a wonderful little albergue/acogida. It is donativo, so not free. But also not more expensive than you want it to be.

From Manzanares, I went to the youth hostel just past Cercedilla. This was less than €20.

So I didnt find my first few stages too expensive. All of this was before the really hilly part started.

 

[Donna Sch]

Our first week will be incredibly slow ie
Centro->Fuencarral ->Tres Cantos -> Colmenar Viejo ->Manzanares--> Navacerrada ->Las Deshesas -> Valsain. But we have the time to do it that way as we have 60 days up our sleeve. Barrie is a snorer so I'm sticking to smaller albergues where possible. And I just want to get a feel for the area and how busy it is likely to be.