Alternate route advice

[Wanieta]

If anyone has taken the alternate route from shortly before Villaval to Orbaneja (as depicted in John Brierley's guide) I would appreciate your comments regarding terrain and ease of following route, along with any other comments you may want to offer.

 

[KiwiJohn]

New item by John Nicholson

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[KiwiJohn]

I stayed on the normal trail staying at a wonderful albergue at Carndenuela Riopico.The albergue has a swimming pool!

 

[jefferyonthecamino]

If anyone has taken the alternate route from shortly before Villaval to Orbaneja (as depicted in John Brierley's guide) I would appreciate your comments regarding terrain and ease of following route, along with any other comments you may want to offer.

not really worth it, if it's the one i walked and you miss a coffee opportunity at orbaneja. much more interesting is to find the trail that takes you from the first homes in villafría to the river route into burgos via castañares.

 

[Kitsambler]

the river route into burgos

Definitely the way to go

 

[jefferyonthecamino]

Definitely the way to go

it is indeed, but extremely hard to find this spring/summer as there is no signage at villafría and works by the tracks...

 

[trecile]

There's a PDF with photos of landmarks to help you find the Burgos river route in the Resources section:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/resources/burgos-river-route.761/

Most Camino apps with GPS tracks show it, but it's still easy to miss the initial turn off. When I was there in June there was a yellow arrow on the ground, but it was partially obscured by a large dumpster.

 

[thewalkingkat]

it is indeed, but extremely hard to find this spring/summer as there is no signage at villafría and works by the tracks...

That is true.

I believe this was the only time on the Frances last year when I actually had to use my GPS to find the turn, even though I knew it had to be there.

On my first Frances in 2016 I missed it as I wasn’t using GPS back then.

 

[Wanieta]

Thanks for all the tips on finding the river route to Castanares. I'll be staying there for the night so it's important that I find the turn. I'll start looking about 1km out of Orbaneja Riopico. Wish me luck!

 

[thewalkingkat]

Thanks for all the tips on finding the river route to Castanares. I'll be staying there for the night so it's important that I find the turn. I'll start looking about 1km out of Orbaneja Riopico. Wish me luck!

It‘s after you cross the highway. You need to turn left into the first street after crossing. Regular camino goes straight ahead.

Edited to add: it’s actually just about half a km after leaving Orbaneja Riopico.

 

[blind fool]

hi - apologies. I couldn't find anywhere more appropriate to post.

I'm on the Buen Camino App - which appears to be really good but its set on the Baztan Route?
how to I change that to the Frances route?

 

[blind fool]

just realised you have to download the 'alternative route'

sorted - thank you.

 

[Wanieta]

It‘s after you cross the highway. You need to turn left into the first street after crossing. Regular camino goes straight ahead.

Edited to add: it’s actually just about half a km after leaving Orbaneja Riopico.

Thanks!

 

[WalkingLester]

These pics may help. Also mapy.cz has gps tracks for both routes into Burgos

 

[Wanieta]

Wow! Thanks so much for the visual! As someone who gets lost in her own backyard I need all the help I can get!

 

[trecile]

Wow! Thanks so much for the visual! As someone who gets lost in her own backyard I need all the help I can get!

Those photos are from the PDF file in the resource that I linked to in post #7.

 

[Lindsay53]

Where were these photos five years ago?

 

[trecile]

Where were these photos five years ago?

They were in Resources then! I used and have shared the PDF with many people since 2017.

 

[GunnarW]

If I may return to the topic: the alternative track before Villavalto to Orbaneja which is actually 700 metres shorter.
I followed this stretch on 18 September 2023.
There is almost no one who will follow this because at the junction there is one of those typical blue-and-yellow ‘Castilla y León’ signs pointing left.
It is the direction also followed by ‘Jesus + Maria’ among others because that may be the first motivation to go straight ahead.



Despite there being no indication to walk straight on, after a few hundred metres you come across such a sign again but it looks like new (well, it can need some cleaning). So it's the chance to admire that sign in its full glory without any writing.


And then I hope ‘Jesus + Mary’ and other pilgrims who feel the need to scribble a message with a permanent marker don't read this. Spoil alert: After Terradillios de los Templarios, another variation: someone crossed out ‘Castilla y’.
Now to answer the question of whether this variation is worthwhile. I thought it was. Because the path is slightly elevated you have a panorama over the villages the camino normally passes through. You walk past fields and because this stretch is rarely travelled I spotted two roe deer.

 

[VNwalking]

it is indeed, but extremely hard to find this spring/summer as there is no signage at villafría and works by the tracks...

That was not my experience at all in 2015. You merely need to pay attention. And I did not have @trecile 's wonderful resource or even a GPS. Simply Brierley.

 

[jefferyonthecamino]

That was not my experience at all in 2015. You merely need to pay attention. And I did not have @trecile 's wonderful resource or even a GPS. Simply Brierley.

Last May (2024), the few arrows and informal signage at villafría after crossing the freeway bridge had disappeared, and there were works (train tracks i think) right where you make a sharp right to find the security perimeter of the airport. in other words, even with a van, gps, and later walking it, i found it difficult to find and follow.

hopefully this changes soon as it is a much nicer route into town.