Food on the Salvador

[alipilgrim]

Hi All,

I’m starting on the Salvador the day after tomorrow and I’d just like to confirm the availability of food on this camino and what I need to be prepared to carry. Background: I’m planning a 5 day camino, so stopping in La Robla, Poladura, Pajares, Pola de Lena, and Oviedo.

So what I gather from Laurie’s/Ender’s guide I’ll need breakfast/lunch on Day 1, and there’s bars/shops for dinner.

Day 2: at 8kms there’s bars/shops so I can buy breakfast/lunch and I’d have called ahead for dinner in Poladura.

Day 3: at 9km is the (in)famous Puerto de Pajares so I can get breakfast/lunch there and I’d have called ahead to arrange dinner at/from the Taberna or hospitalera

Day 4: I’ll need breakfast as there’s nothing till Campomanes at 17k, but then can buy lunch & dinner

Day 5: seems to have bakeries, bars, shops spaced throughout the day

So in reality, I really don’t need to carry much??

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi All,

I’m starting on the Salvador the day after tomorrow and I’d just like to confirm the availability of food on this camino and what I need to be prepared to carry. Background: I’m planning a 5 day camino, so stopping in La Robla, Poladura, Pajares, Pola de Lena, and Oviedo.

So what I gather from Laurie’s/Ender’s guide I’ll need breakfast/lunch on Day 1, and there’s bars/shops for dinner.

Day 2: at 8kms there’s bars/shops so I can buy breakfast/lunch and I’d have called ahead for dinner in Poladura.

Day 3: at 9km is the (in)famous Puerto de Pajares so I can get breakfast/lunch there and I’d have called ahead to arrange dinner at/from the Taberna or hospitalera

Day 4: I’ll need breakfast as there’s nothing till Campomanes at 17k, but then can buy lunch & dinner

Day 5: seems to have bakeries, bars, shops spaced throughout the day

So in reality, I really don’t need to carry much??

Hi, alipilgrim,

Wow, lucky you! Buen camino!

This is a very good summary of what's available. I always carry fruit, nuts, and yoghurt, along with the occasional chocolate bar, and that always works. If you need a hot drink in the morning, this is one of those caminos where my electric coil came in very handy. Would you like me to tell @Ender what night you will be in La Robla? He lives very close to there and enjoys meeting peregrinos. Buen camino, Laurie

 

[Kiwi-family]

I'm with Laurie - it's ALWAYS worth carrying some emergency supplies, especially if you're walking in the mountains or on a Sunday when everything can be shut.

 

[HeidiL]

it's ALWAYS worth carrying some emergency supplies

- especially when you're walking through very small villages and rely on one shop or one bar. The people working there need time off, the stove is broken, the shopkeeper had to go to a funeral or the cook was ill - and then there is nothing available for a very long time. I always carry enough for two-three simple meals - and have frequently needed to use it, a couple of times to feed another pilgrim who didn't know you need to bring supplies on the smaller caminos.

 

[lt56ny]

May I second everyone here. I ALWAYS have food with me when I start the day. I guess it is probably unnecessary now on the CF as it is so well traveled. On other Caminos where Pilgrims are not an integral part of a village's economy you never know what will be open. You never know if the shop owner decides to be late or it is Sunday and nothing is open or even a national, regional or local holiday or festival that closes everything up also.

 

[CdnDreamer]

When we walked last year we arrived at Puerto de Pajares around 11:30 am and one restaurant was closed (I think the owner was on vacation) and the other was open but not serving lunch yet and we didn't want to wait. We were able to get a delicious piece of chocolate cake from the open restaurant but not a meal. We were glad that we had eaten the breakfast that we had carried with us. It's a great camino - really quiet and so beautiful!

 

[alipilgrim]

Thanks All. I always have a little something to eat with me as have often had days on past Caminos (ie last week on the Baztan!) when there’s nothing between the start and the end of the day. I’m pretty much at the limit as to what I can comfortably carry and so really didn’t want to carry 2 complete days of food.

Saying that, I just walked Pamplona-Logroño on the Frances and was astonished at how many bars there now are, and open early, and on Sundays!! Not like the old days...

 

[MikeJS]

I hope to be starting this Camino from Buiza after I leave the Olviado which should be around 30/9 or 1/10. Fortunately it doesn’t bother me if I can’t get a hot drink or food all day as long as I can get a meal in the evening. However, I always carry some supplies and will look carefully at this info once I know my likely stops.

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi All,

I’m starting on the Salvador the day after tomorrow and I’d just like to confirm the availability of food on this camino and what I need to be prepared to carry. Background: I’m planning a 5 day camino, so stopping in La Robla, Poladura, Pajares, Pola de Lena, and Oviedo.

So what I gather from Laurie’s/Ender’s guide I’ll need breakfast/lunch on Day 1, and there’s bars/shops for dinner.

Day 2: at 8kms there’s bars/shops so I can buy breakfast/lunch and I’d have called ahead for dinner in Poladura.

Day 3: at 9km is the (in)famous Puerto de Pajares so I can get breakfast/lunch there and I’d have called ahead to arrange dinner at/from the Taberna or hospitalera

Day 4: I’ll need breakfast as there’s nothing till Campomanes at 17k, but then can buy lunch & dinner

Day 5: seems to have bakeries, bars, shops spaced throughout the day

So in reality, I really don’t need to carry much??

So I am having trouble recalculating the days but I THINK it might have been you whom Ender met last night in La Robla. He feels bad that he didn’t have much time to talk but assured me that you are doing well —not that I’m your guardian or anything. .

Buen camino. Hope your weather continues to be glorious.

 

[jkk]

So I am having trouble recalculating the days but I THINK it might have been you whom Ender met last night in La Robla. He feels bad that he didn’t have much time to talk but assured me that you are doing well —not that I’m your guardian or anything. .

Buen camino. Hope your weather continues to be glorious.

I met Ender last night very briefly in La Robla. I was there with three people from Spain and one from Poland.

 

[david46]

Hi, alipilgrim,

Wow, lucky you! Buen camino!

This is a very good summary of what's available. I always carry fruit, nuts, and yoghurt, along with the occasional chocolate bar, and that always works. If you need a hot drink in the morning, this is one of those caminos where my electric coil came in very handy. Would you like me to tell @Ender what night you will be in La Robla? He lives very close to there and enjoys meeting peregrinos. Buen camino, Laurie

Hi Peregrina2000, Further to my question about phoning ahead, we'll be in La Robla on the evening of the 8th. It would be an honour to meet Ender. David & Debbie

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi Peregrina2000, Further to my question about phoning ahead, we'll be in La Robla on the evening of the 8th. It would be an honour to meet Ender. David & Debbie

I will absolutely let him know some more forum members will be there. But beware, he may try to sell you on walking the Olvidado next!

 

[alipilgrim]

So just a follow up. Food wasn’t a problem at all, I packed too much and am still eating the granola bars I bought. There were just two long mornings without bars/cafes but I don’t like to eat much in the morning anyway so that wasn’t a problem. One might consider an evening snack or two as in Pajares and Pola de Lena we couldn’t find dinner until 8pm.

 

[alipilgrim]

Also, I can’t find the thread now from my phone but there was a question about whether the parador was open at Puerto de Pajares - it is, and looks great. Wished I ate there with it’s wonderful views versus the nondescript cafe across the road. Some pics:

 

[peregrina2000]

Also, I can’t find the thread now from my phone but there was a question about whether the parador was open at Puerto de Pajares - it is, and looks great. Wished I ate there with it’s wonderful views versus the nondescript cafe across the road. Some pics: View attachment 65397View attachment 65398View attachment 65399

It may have nondescript views, but that small place across the road has been through a lot — just rebuilt after a fire not too long ago. Let’s spread the wealth, because I would hate to see that bar go the way of many other small cafes on the camino. Especially when the parador closes on Tuesdays.

BTW, @Ali, did you notice if the hotel part was open?

And do you remember which of the three options you took from the pass? Just for others who may not remember, there are/were three possibilities — one, walk on the path right in front of the parador (which was fine years ago but seems to have eroded and become kind of dicey). Two, go behind the bar on the other side and go up to a high point and then down, missing some road walking but adding meters that some think are unnecessary. Three, just stay on the side of the road. Though it is a busy truck route, the trucks will be coming towards you, going uphill so they will be slow. All three options come together when the official signed camino comes back down and crosses the highway.

Sorry to bombard you with questions! Buen camino, Laurie

 

[alipilgrim]

No, the parador seemed closed. The lobby had some boxes and plastic wrap over things and the staircase was roped off.

I didn’t take a photo of it but the way in front of the parador had big warnings in yellow paint that that way was very dangerous and it looked to be just a series of badly eroded “goat trails” on an extremely steep slope. On no occasion would I attempt that.

The 6 others in my group went behind the bar to take that route and I never asked them how it was (if I see the remaining pilgrim around tomorrow I will ask him) but myself and another took the road route. It was Saturday and the traffic was almost all motorcycles or small cars (actually going at a good clip). As it’s a decent slope down you have a good view of oncoming traffic and the uphill cars have 2 lanes so it’s easy for the oncoming traffic to move to the inside lane to avoid you. It’s not ideal but it’s not too far and I had no worries as I kept a close eye on the cars to make sure they saw me.

 

[czelnick]

Hello, we are starting the Salvador on April 21 this year.

Can anyone update this thread?

I'd particularly like to know if there is a restaurant for an evening meal in Pajares? Or do we need to carry food to cook?

Or should we plan to stop at the Bar al Mirador in Puerto de Pajares? (Is it open since the Pandemic?).

Any other info about food on this route greatly appreciated, including your favorite places to eat in Leon and Oviedo.

 

[peregrina2000]

Can anyone update this thread?

Have you seen the recent thread with the link to Ender’s Salvador guide? It’s the 2022 edition, just finished a few weeks ago. It has plenty of info that you will find helpful.

The albergue in Pajares is still closed, but you can stay in the Pensión el Mirador. That’s the same place as the Bar. But note that it is not in Puerto de Pajares, it is in the village of Pajares.

In the Puerto de Pajares, there is nowhere to sleep, but you can eat or have a drink in one of two places which are right across the street from each other and described earlier in this thread.