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Alternatives to Sarria

RemysMimi

Hooked on the Camino!!
Time of past OR future Camino
Frances (2018)
Frances or Portuguese (2020)
When walking the Frances, is there an alternative to another route (Primitivo, Ingles) where I cross over to avoid doing the Sarria route?
 
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RemysMimi said:
When walking the Frances, is there an alternative to another route (Primitivo, Ingles) where I cross over to avoid doing the Sarria route?
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There is a bus that goes from Sarria to Tui (Portugués camino) and you can then walk the last 100klm from Tui

I did this in 2023.
 
You can switch to the Invierno at Ponferrada, there are plenty of albergues, but you will encounter very few other pilgrims.

Camino de Invierno | Camino de Santiago | Gronze.com

El Camino de Invierno es el trazado jacobeo que une Ponferrada con Santiago de Compostela pasando por el valle del río Sil y la Ribeira Sacra. Se trata de una gran variante meridional del Camino Francés que evita las cumbres del Cebreiro, y que por tanto resulta más asequible en invierno, como...
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The Invierno from Ponferrada? The Via Kunig from Ponferrada to Lugo? The Invierno and the Via Sacra?

What’s wrong with the Way from Sarria? If it’s the crowds walk in the off-seasons. If it’s the pavement, you’re in Galicia. Turismo Galicia knows what’s good for you.

Edit: from Ponferrada you can get a bus to Lugo; Ferrol; Tui; Ourense or even Santiago. You can get buses to all sorts of other places too but they aren’t the sacred 100km from himself
 
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RemysMimi said:
When walking the Frances, is there an alternative to another route (Primitivo, Ingles) where I cross over to avoid doing the Sarria route?
Click to expand...
I have walked many CFs. I will never walk from Sarria again. Go to the train station in Sarria and get a train to Zamora/Pueble de Sanabria, then walk the Sanabres into Santiago. Easy and peaceful.

Peace.
 
alexwalker said:
I have walked many CFs. I will never walk from Sarria again. Go to the train station in Sarria and get a train to Zamora/Pueble de Sanabria, then walk the Sanabres into Santiago. Easy and peaceful.

Peace.
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Never Alex? Never. I just walked the Inglés for the umpteenth time. I laughed at myself as I looked at the “crowds” and at the thought “this is just like “Sarria””.

I think I walked my swan song but, and listen for the Dog laughing, I also find myself thinking - well, maybe: I’ve always liked Samos and Portomarin and Furelos and A Rua and all those other places 5km over or under the guide book lists.

And there’s something very beautiful in that tide of humanity walking to shout their heads off or burst into tears in the Obradoiro.

That said there’s a very old (in both senses of that phrase) friend of mine about two days walk from Potes whose still is still giving. Maybe I should go and wince the Lebaniego one more time. At least I won’t have to decide between a wheatgrass and buttermilk smoothie and a decaffeinated, oatmilk, frappachino for desayuno
 
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That's what I am looking for. A quieter route. Done the Frances from SJPdP three times and looking for sometheing quieter at that point.
 
You can take many buses a day from either Santiago or Sarria to Lugo (Monbus busline) and follow the Primitivo to the CF at Melide to skip some of the CF or take one of the Via Verdes (rail trails in the US) to skip more. You will still be qualified for a compostela.

See these posts of mine for introductions to topics and links for more information.


 
I've walked the Frances 3 times from SJPdP. Just looking for something quieter and different from Sarria on. What would you consider "off-seasons"? I have walked April-May, September-October. I'm a bit apprehensive about winter and not a fan of heat.
 
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I would have thought, on past but not recent experience, that hitting Sarria in October would leave you behind the pack. My recent experience on the Inglés is leading me to thoughts such as “you know nothing old man”. But, oh such a but, what’s wrong with walking with a few more, even many more, enthusiasts?

If you’ve thriced the Francés then maybe it’s time for another route entirely and not the Francés until you run out of comfort zone and leap on a bus.

I think you should seriously consider the Invierno or the Kunig. Both from around Ponferrada and well short of Sarria. From Sarria you can walk any road you like and any mapping app will find you one. As regards a route from Sarria: as the little sign on the launch hut on the Cresta Run used to say “its all downhill from here…”
 
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