My iPhone won't let me download the guide from the forum; keep getting error messages. I am on the Vadinienese and plan on doing the Salvador again this year to connect to the Primitivo later. I learned from a fellow pilgrim a few days ago that it's possible to take a "short cut" from Cistierna thru Boñar to La Robla via the Camino Olvidado instead of going to León (I've already been twice, once on the Francés several years ago and the Salvador earlier this year). Can anyone do me a favor and perhaps email the guide if it's a PDF?
Hi, Seth, I am pretty inept when it comes to technology. So I copied the pdf pages from Cistierna to La Robla. Formatting may be off, but I think this is all you need. Let me know. Buen camino, Laurie
12,9 km to Cistierna (all services) This is a rather big town. Services: Día and Árbol supermarkets, much commerce. Farmacia, banks with ATM. Good pastries in town. Arriving in town, you will be on the main street. Continue to the church, turn left and go to the Ayuntamiento where you will get the key to the albergue. If the ayuntamiento is closed, go to the albergue, where you will find telephone numbers on the door. To get to the albergue, head into Calle Parque Infantil next to Tallero, the next plaza with the chapel San Guillermo. Cross it diagonally to the left, go up the Calle San Guillermo, which starts at the corner of the chapel, and the alberge is about 50 m further on on the right. Accommodation: Albergue de Peregrinos San Guillermo, Calle San Guillermo, phone numbers on the door Hostal Moderno:
http://www.hostalmoderno.es / 987 700 170 OR 6197257632 (restaurant on second floor has excellent menú del día). Hotel is also recommended. Pensión Okendo Calle Rivas, tel. 987 700 080 HR Rio Esla, C Esteban Coral 5, tel. 987 702 031 Hostal El Cruce, Av. Constitucion 43, tel. 987 700 041
http://www.hostalelcrucecistierna.com/ (double 40€) Hotel Ibérico Calle Eras 23, tel. 987 700 624 (double 40€) (appeared closed in summer 2014).
http://www.atrapalo.com/hoteles/138972-0_hotel-hostal-iberico Pensión Okendo, Calle Dr. Rivas, 10: 987 700646 Hotel Río Esla: 987 701 025 Stage 12: Cistierna-Boñar 25,3 km From Cistierna, for the first few kms, the Olvidado and the Vadiniense are the same. It's well marked. Walking on the main street in town, turn right onto Calle Eras. Go under railway (lots of grafitti here) turn left at Calle Polideportivo, continue to a gravel road that passes the Molino (mill) de Gaudalio and the Cruz del Molino. Walk along the river. Turn right at a T intersection, right on a tarmac road and cross the famous Puente del Mercadillo across the Esla River. Turn left on the road after crossing the bridge. Leave the Ruta Vadiniense at the signposts BTT1 Yugueros 4.9 km and Camino de la Montaña. These are mountain bike trails, and they are also the Camino at many different places in this area, and the marking is always quite good. For your information, BTT 34 means ”bicicleta todo terreno” - all terrain bicycle – which in the US we call mountain bike. Here we take a dirt road through oak forests towards Yugueros (muddy on rainy days). Go under RR tracks and emerge in Yugueros. 8,1 km to Yugueros There used to be a roman settlement in this town. The church here, Iglesia del Salvador, has some romanesque parts and a magnificent altarpiece. Continue by walking on LE-4606 through the village towards La Ercina. We will pass Ermita (the chapel of) San Roque on the way. The asphalt road is narrow, but not much traffic. 3 km to La Ercina (Albergue, bars, Casa rural, restaurant). The camino doesn't go through town, but passes the station. At the junction after the train station, a big informational board shows a BTT (mountain bike) route that goes to Boñar through a roundabout way. There is a yellow arrow pointing left on that informational board, which would put you on the bike path till about one km before Boñar. But there is also an arrow telling you to keep going straight ahead on the side of the road. Villagers insisted that the turn to the left was not the way to go. I am now certain that the left option would have been fine, but longer, and probably only marked with BTT signs and not camino signs. I stayed to the right, but shortly before entering Boñar, I saw where the BTT track merged with the camino I was on. So you can choose either way here. If you want to enter La Ercina, there is also an ethnographic museum here. Accommodation: Casa Rural La Nogal, tel. 679 312 994 or 987 712 093. 15 beds, about 30€. For albergue turn right up Av. General, under the railroad, past Museo Etnografico, fork right up, turn left down to albergue. Albergue Multiaventura. Calle Ayuntamiento 1, 987 805 314 (office in Trobajo del Camino). Mobile: 648 032 831, Tono, email:
info@tesonserviciosdeportivos.com. Heat, showers, kitchen. Continue on LE-4606, down to La Acisa. This means we start from the station, and walk on the road. 4 km to La Acisa de Las Arrimadas (fountain) Continue on the road, pass the fountain, and leave the village. At the sign that indicates that there is a bumpy road ahead, go left to a grassy track, called the Camino Viejo de la Iglesia. Take right, back in the direction of the road, then more or less parallel the road up and down to Santa Marina church (which has some romanesque remnants). Descend a cement ramp right, turn left on CV130-6 and descend to a fork in Barillo. 2 km to Barillo de las Arrimadas (fountain) (after this town no more LE-3153 walking) Turn left, past the fountain, to the chapel Virgen de los Remedios. Behind the church, follow the 35 Cordel de la Varga, a part of the Transhumancia (ancient paths dedicated to livestock, for travel from summer to winter grazing fields). On this path, leave town, cross the highway and then immediately take right to a gravel track: Camino de los Rocines.(camino signs here say Camino de la Montaña). If you have walked on the lower main road through town, simply go right at the arrow. Cross the new bypass road and the railway, then to Calle Real in La Devesa. 2, 4 km to La Devesa de Boñar (fountain) Turn left to the romanesque church Virgen del Rosario (fountain). Follow the arrows through town, which means you take left and join Calle Real, and then leave after hundred meters or so, by taking right down the road to La Losilla. 2, 1 km to La Losilla y San Adrián. There is an old spa in this town, San Adrián, which reportedly has healing warm waters. Continue on Calle Real to the church at the entrance to town. Inside the church porch, there is a bench where you can sit down (not many of these on this day). Continue right between houses, pass fountain, join Calle Real, and at the last houses, take right on Calle Eras, not across the railway but parallel to it. You join a a dirt road which goes parallell to the railroad tracks all the way to the outskirts of la Vega de Boñar. It later joins the main road into Boñar. 3, 7 km to Boñar (all services). Commerce: Spar and Dia grocery stores, panadería, farmacia, ATM. Boñar is an old town, dating to Roman times. Lots of typical regional products, both sweets (Nicanores) and salty (cecina and all sorts of sausages). Make sure to visit the 7-arch bridge about 1 km out of town, there is also a huge 16th or 17th century monastery abandoned and in ruins nearby. Accommodation: Hostal Inés (20€, recommended), Av. Constitucion 64, tel. 987 735 086. You may have to ask for the special pilgrim price. HS Nisi, Calle Rodriguez 3, tel. 987 735 210 CR El Negrillón, Pl. Negrillón 12, tel. 987 735 164 or 639 104 366 CR Las Caldas de Boñar (25€), Calle San Mateo 6, tel. 696 700 959. TR Pico Cueto (40 €), Calle Corredera 43, tel. 987 735 693 or 689 064 514 Albergue El Soto (90 beds, B&B 20€), calle Soto, tel. 987 735 474 or 671 201 316. Hostería Spa Loft: Tel.987 11 33 10 Casa Rural Antaño: Tel. 987 73 41 41, Calle la Viliella, 42 Casa Rural La Loma: Tel. 987 74 16 17 - 638 045 647. 7 plazas. Price 18,57€ Stage 13: Boñar-La Robla 29,8 km Leave Boñar on Calle El Soto. If you do not stop in Boñar, then follow the main road through town, and take left on this street. Walk towards the river on Polígono Parque Soto. There are yellow arrows on the way. Cross Río Porma, then turn left to a gravel track along the river (small 36 shell mark here). Continue on the path that goes down to the railway bridge. Before the railway, turn right up a path, which takes you back to Calle Soto. Continue up the road into Barrio. 1, 6 km to Barrio de las Ollas, (fountain). 12 C church of San Juan. Pass the church and the fountain, take right, then left up a stony road that zigzags up a slope to a concrete reservoir. This is also a BTT bike trail. Continue left on a dirt track. At next intersectio,n turn left at T intersection. 50 m later turn right (confusing arrows and broken waymarks) and follow a dirt road up and down several times, to the end across the railway. Turn right afterwards to the old paved road (the remains of an old asphalt road, no longer in use) that goes back to the new CL-626. Turn right on it for 25m, then left down a paved bike road that becomes gravel. It leads to a T intersection. Turn right to a dirt road which in a while returns to CL-626. Turn left and follow it to Otero. 6 km to Otero de Curueño, (fountain). To see in this town: a small romanesque church and a Renaissance palace with a tower and seven coats of arms: the 16C Palacio Alvarez Acevedo. Turn left down a dirt/muddy path, pass the fountain and after a while you come back to the CL-626. Turn right and continue on the road , cross Río Curueño and reach the main crossroads with 18C church in La Vecilla. (Distance to next town is to the railway station) 2,4 km to La Vecilla de Curueño (Albergue, bar, hostal and other services) Here is an 18th c church a beautiful baroque altar piece. Panaderia, pharmacy, bar, ATM. Cafe near train station; bread van makes calls in the village. La Vecilla is a long town along CL-626, well more than a kilometer between the ends. The railway station is further on, at the north part. Accommodation: Albergue and camping Santa Catalina (.5 km) (25 beds, 9-22€). Tel. 987 741 212 Fonda Orejas, Calle Estación 6, tel. 987 741 397 Hostal las Hoces, Calle Estación 27, tel. 987 741 233. (Option: that avoids some of the CL626. Go around the church and follow CV 130-3, towards Santa Colomba, past a plaza with fountain. Cross the Arroyo Aviados, and the road then goes left, ascending at the bend. On the left here are the cemetery and the albergue (.5 km behind). Opposite their access road, turn sharp right down a gravel road, signposted Campohermoso. It flanks the edge of a forest. Fork right into the fields, and when you come to a left bend, keep straight/right on a dirt/grassy track along the river. The track goes right across the Arroyo Aviados again and over the RR to ascend to CL626. Turn left through Campohermoso (2.1 km).) If you don´t take the above option, leave town by walking along the CL-626 , then under the railway. (You will see a circular tower from afar. It is a medieval construction, later it served as a jail, and it is now the Ayuntamiento) Continue until emerging onto the road into La Robla. Stay on CL-626, up and through next town. 37 1,3 km to Campohermoso. Nothing here. Continue on the highway, the CL-636. 5 km to La Valcueva (Bar). Pass below church and follow the road (not CL-626) down to next town. 0,6 km to Palazuelo. Nothing here. Pass its church, and then back again to CL-626 where we walk and continue to a turn-off left where a street goes across the bridge into Robles. 1,2 km to Robles de la Valcueva, (lots of services). A bigger town. Árbol supermarket; café/restaurant; post office. Continue walking on CL-626 through Robles de Valcueva and across the Río Torrio, over two railways, and the (name of streeet through town is Carretera la Magdalena/CL626) to a parking lot with an info board and fountain in Robledo. (Off road option from Robles: turn left to take Travesía el Campo over a bridge. Before reaching its end at a wooden info board and benches, turn left then right to Calle Eras, then right to Calle Llana. Cross LE-311 for paved then gravel road, to the right following a sign to Ermita de Boinas (lovely 12 C romanesque church). Turn right before it to follow Torrio River to CL 626 and turn left across the river (2.2 km).) 2,3 km to Robledo de Fenar, (fountain). Here we leave the highway for a short while. At the fountain, take left to a minor tarmac road, cross a stream, pass a picnic stop (fountain). Pass church of San Torcuato and walk on CL-626 to the entrance of next town. 0,8 km to Solana de Fenar . Again, we must go back to the asphalt road: continue on CL-626. 1,4 km to Candanedo de Fenar (Bar, fountain, hostal). When arriving in town the bar Dingo is on the right side (Bar Dingo is famous for patatas con congrío). Hostal 1 km out of town, HR El Valle, Ctra Candanedo-Matallana, tel. 987 578 426 or 427. 11 rooms. Discount for pilgrims:
http://hostalelvallelarobla.com/ Leaving Candanedo: the fountain is on the left side of the road, and just before it we turn left (yellow arrows) on Calle Real. We will follow the bicycle route from there, passing next to the Church of San Miguel, which has an interesting bell tower. Turn lightly to the right to leave the town on the Calle del Gallo, passing by the sports fields on our right. Once we go around the curve, in the next intersections, take the camino on the right. It is impossible to get confused from here to La Robla, because the camino is black, made of bits and pieces of coal left over from the mines. We walk near the FEVE tracks. Cross those tracks after about a km, continue on 38 the black path and after 800 meters, we will arrive at an intersection. The camino on the right goes to Rabanal, but we keep going straight until we arrive at a livestock farm and another intersection. Do not take the turn-off towards Brugos de Fenar unless you want to sleep there or need other services. Another km more and a drinking trough is on the left as our point of reference. A few meters beyond, there is a bifurcation; we take the camino on the left. The one that continues straight ahead also goes to Brugos de Fenar. You can see the town on the right side of the road, you don´t go down to the road and just go by it. (Be careful with the big industrial site – you will see it in front of you, but you must skirt it around on the right, don´t go into the site itself). After about 1,2 kms and after passing a green shed, take the path that begins on the right hand side, and it will take you out to the highway next to the auto showroom Rafa. Turn left and you will be on the pavement. After the traffic roundabout, continue on the pavement then take right towards Barrio Las Eras immediately before an overpass. As soon as you enter that area, you will find a park and an overhead pedestrian pathway that will take you into the center of La Robla. It is well marked. 7,2 km to La Robla (all services) La Robla is a big town on the Camino del Salvador, which links Leon and Oviedo. La Robla is 28 km from Leon. All commerce and services. Buy food and other things you need in La Robla. If you are unlucky, you may not find an open shop again until Ponferrada; same with an ATM. Accommodation: The albergue is located at Calle Mayor 69, which is on the way out of town. Tel. 659 093 647 or call police at 659 093 647. HS Ordonez de Celis, Callel Ramon y Cajal 5. (15 € individual room) Tel. 987 572 342. Pensión Mundo, Calle Ordas 9, bajo. Tel. 987 570 733.
