I am searching for " the less walked" caminos, and currently looking at via de la Plata and Levante
I moved this post to a separate thread, in the hopes it would catch the eyes of other Levante veterans. I’ll start! I look forward to hearing what
@filly has to say, because I think he and I generally have pretty similar “camino tastes.” And he was not a fan of the Levante — but come on,
@filly, I remember that you found a pretty posh place to stay near Almonacid deToledo (which now has an albergue, I think I remember!).
I would walk the Levante again, without a doubt. I walked it ten years ago! But I would only walk it in the springtime. I left Valencia in early May, and the many kms of wide open grain fields in the middle section of this walk were spectacular - emerald green, waving in the wind, occasional bursts of red poppies, it was just beautiful. There are tons of castles. There is a good number of albergues (and at least a handful more since I walked). Many of the towns are interesting places to spend an afternoon — beautiful plazas, old churches, museums (you walk through the town where Dulcinea supposedly lived, but since Dulcinea isn’t even a historically verified person, you have to relax your judgment a bit).
My (very old)
thread details my stages and the many wonderful towns I stayed in. I also had a blog, linked in my signature below.
I would say that the biggest negative is that the first 3-4 days are totally on asphalt. Once the earthen trails begin, soon after Xátiva, home of one of Spain’s most gorgeous castles, there is very little asphalt.
@OzAnnie was on the Levante when covid shutdowns hit, so she has some interesting stories to tell!
Buen camino, Laurie