Antonius Vaessen
Veteran Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2015-2016 VdlPlata - Sanabres
2016.Primitivo
2017 Salvador
2018 Norte (to Sobrado)
2019 Norte again
Together with my 21 year old daughter I walked the Salvador in 7 days We stayed in Cabanillas, Pola de Gordon, Poladura, Pajares, Benduenos and Mistress.
General remarks.
We used the very nice and good Enders Guide on my smartphone. Except for some stretches after Pola de Lena the marking was good.
The first 2 days and the last one there was rather much asphalt walking.
The landscape was very beautiful, highlights being the stretches between Pola de Gordon and Pajares. (From Poladura to Pajares was very beautiful, but the terrain demanded sometimes so much attention that you only could really enjoy it standing still)
There were very few pilgrims, I saw our first fellow travelers the evening of our third day, in total we met less than 10 pilgrims.
Some specific tips.
Directly after passing the roundabout with the yellow airplane in Leon there are 3 alternatives : follow the arrows along the road; walk on the red bike path or farther to the river still the sandy walking path.
We tried stretches of all three. Without any doubt the walking path was nicest, allthough at most 100 meters from the road, it seemed a totally different world. If you want to take this path, it's probably best to go to the river immediately after crossing the street leading to the bridge. Otherwise you would have to climb down a wall (doable though,it's not that high) You could follow this path all the way to Carbajal for about 7 KMS I think .
Before la Robla my guidebook said that right after the last house in Cascantes you can take an alternative path to avoid some asphaltwalking and the center of La Robla. We took this alternative, but it was not very nice. Indeed it was no asphalt, but it was not much better, the path made a big bend around electricityworks.
We did go to the center and that was nice, no reason to avoid it.
Puerto de Pajares. We followed the yellow arrows to the right of the highway to avoid the dangerous walking along the highway over the pass.(very little room for walkers) We started the ascent at the bar, it was easy to find, the descent started at an electricity wires I must say that in my eyes this was the most annoying descend of all the Salvador : steep, uneasy terrain, much longer than expected. If I had known this beforehand I would have walked beside the road( in an earlier thread there was mentioned a path to the left of the road. I did not look for that one)
If you walk from Pajares to Mistress in two days, you have a choice between staying in the very nice albergue in Benduenos (1,5 I'm off Camino in Herias) or the Albergue in Pola de Lena, where you get free entrance to the swimming pool. (The three pilgrims I met who wanted to do this did not have the energy or the time for it after a walk of 25+ km) We stayed in Benduenos,it was a very nice albergue with a very welcoming hospitalera. You can use all available food and drink on donativobasis When we stayed there the whether was not very fine. The albergue was not so warm and we could not enjoy the views as much as we would have liked. We read that Sandra will pick you up in Herias if you call her,we did walk though.
After Pola the Lena the marking sometimes is confusing, in one place arrows to the left and straight on. The left arrow is probably meant for bikers.
If you want to eat in Poladura, Pajares or Benduenos you have to call a day ahead.
Next year I'll be back on some Camino,probably the norte
General remarks.
We used the very nice and good Enders Guide on my smartphone. Except for some stretches after Pola de Lena the marking was good.
The first 2 days and the last one there was rather much asphalt walking.
The landscape was very beautiful, highlights being the stretches between Pola de Gordon and Pajares. (From Poladura to Pajares was very beautiful, but the terrain demanded sometimes so much attention that you only could really enjoy it standing still)
There were very few pilgrims, I saw our first fellow travelers the evening of our third day, in total we met less than 10 pilgrims.
Some specific tips.
Directly after passing the roundabout with the yellow airplane in Leon there are 3 alternatives : follow the arrows along the road; walk on the red bike path or farther to the river still the sandy walking path.
We tried stretches of all three. Without any doubt the walking path was nicest, allthough at most 100 meters from the road, it seemed a totally different world. If you want to take this path, it's probably best to go to the river immediately after crossing the street leading to the bridge. Otherwise you would have to climb down a wall (doable though,it's not that high) You could follow this path all the way to Carbajal for about 7 KMS I think .
Before la Robla my guidebook said that right after the last house in Cascantes you can take an alternative path to avoid some asphaltwalking and the center of La Robla. We took this alternative, but it was not very nice. Indeed it was no asphalt, but it was not much better, the path made a big bend around electricityworks.
We did go to the center and that was nice, no reason to avoid it.
Puerto de Pajares. We followed the yellow arrows to the right of the highway to avoid the dangerous walking along the highway over the pass.(very little room for walkers) We started the ascent at the bar, it was easy to find, the descent started at an electricity wires I must say that in my eyes this was the most annoying descend of all the Salvador : steep, uneasy terrain, much longer than expected. If I had known this beforehand I would have walked beside the road( in an earlier thread there was mentioned a path to the left of the road. I did not look for that one)
If you walk from Pajares to Mistress in two days, you have a choice between staying in the very nice albergue in Benduenos (1,5 I'm off Camino in Herias) or the Albergue in Pola de Lena, where you get free entrance to the swimming pool. (The three pilgrims I met who wanted to do this did not have the energy or the time for it after a walk of 25+ km) We stayed in Benduenos,it was a very nice albergue with a very welcoming hospitalera. You can use all available food and drink on donativobasis When we stayed there the whether was not very fine. The albergue was not so warm and we could not enjoy the views as much as we would have liked. We read that Sandra will pick you up in Herias if you call her,we did walk though.
After Pola the Lena the marking sometimes is confusing, in one place arrows to the left and straight on. The left arrow is probably meant for bikers.
If you want to eat in Poladura, Pajares or Benduenos you have to call a day ahead.
Next year I'll be back on some Camino,probably the norte
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