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Questions about changing to Ourense for last 100 km vs staying on CF

Zoe7

Member
Time of past OR future Camino
First hopefully this coming fall
My first time on Camino, (aiming for 18-23 km/day, and planning on going late Sept/early Oct).
Thinking of starting at Molinaseca/Ponferrada on the CF and if the Camino is really crowded and to avoid the long industrial approach to SdC, taking the train from Sarria to Ourense and continuing from there to Santiago.
1) In not doing that last stretch of the CF, would one miss out on a lot (ancient villages and historic sites, special trails, medieval shrines and churches etc)? Is that stretch of the CF so special that you’d recommend it despite the crowds and industrial approach?
2) Is the route a lot more arduous from there to Santiago than the CF or comparable? Which one has more highway and asphalt?
3) Lastly, if I start getting stamped in Molinesca, if I do do the train transfer to Ourense, can I continue on with the same pilgrim passport stamping or I should then get a new one that is stamped only along the VdlP continuous route.
Any suggestions, advice, recommendations welcomed. Thank you!
 
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There are things to see and do from Sarria to Santiago are: There's an iron age hill fortress at Castromairor. There is a very nice preserved Pembre Castle reachable by short taxi from either Palas de Rei or Melide. Also a church considered a national treasure Vilar de Donas outside of Palas de Rei. Consider just walking the Invierno route from Ponferrada so you aren't "jumping around"?

I think it's better not to switch around especially your first pilgrimage. Crowds will be thinning by then...
 
I'm not sure which "long industrial approach" you are referring to. Do you mean the final stage to Santiago?
If you really want to walk a Camino with few people you can walk the Camino Invierno starting in Ponferrada.

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...
www.gronze.com

J Willhaus said:
I think it's better not to switch around especially your first pilgrimage. Crowds will be thinning by then...
Click to expand...
I completely agree with this. The "crowding" after Sarria is often overstated, and can be avoided by staying in the towns in between traditional guide book end stages. Last year when I joined the Francés from the Primitivo at Melide there definitely were a lot more pilgrims, but after spending the night in Boente (the next town after Melide) my walking partners from the Primitivo and I walked completely alone for about an hour and a half. This was in late June, which is probably busier on this stretch than October.
 
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I thought I'd include some of my more "industrial" pictures from high traffic season, July 2021 and Sep 23.

I didn't include the multiple "Hobbiton" style paths of the first two days.

Zoe, if you haven't walked the last 114 km from Sarria to Santiago yet, come and see for yourself. Don't rely on the complaints of others.
Buen Camino.
 

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Why not just walk the Sanabres, starting in Zamora? It's a great walk.
 
I too am confused by "industrial approach". Burgos has an industrial approach, as does Léon, but ScC? Not in my opinion. For your first Camino, I would totally recommend sticking to the CF. There are many historical and visual gems in the last 100km. The church/fortress of San Nicholas in Portomarin. The Roman ruins of Castromaior that J Wilhaus mentioned; the divine tortilla espanola at Bar Taberna do Camino 20 minutes further on! All the sweet hamlets between stages. Vilar de Donas (and the lovely food and Accommodations at A Paso de Formigo) Pulpo in Melide. The charm and hospitality of O Abridgaoiro in San Xulian (just after Palas de Rei.) And even the last day's walk into Santiago where you have to circumnavigate the airport has its appeal. Its quite rural even there. Its only the last hour or so where you are walking into the city itself that it is commercialized, but not industrialized. IMO. Good luck - y Buen Camino!!
 
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Having entered SDC on the CF in 2017, I found it rewarding and inspiring. However, this time I’m choosing to walk the Invierno last two weeks of September. I’m intrigued by the prospects and challenge.
I too considered switching to Ourense from Chantal’s, but have decided to stay on the Invierno.
Zoe, perhaps we’ll meet? I’m leaving Ponferrada on 9/19; taking my time in the first couple of days In order to fully capture las Medulas.
 
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Jeff Arnold said:
Why not just walk the Sanabres, starting in Zamora? It's a great walk.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure I'd recommend the Sanabrés as a first Camino. I'm on it right now (started in Zamora on June 26th) and there are very few pilgrims, often only 3 or so in albergues and I rarely see the same pilgrim twice. This is my fourth time on the Sanabrés (last time 9 years ago) and I have been walking solitary Caminos for years so I knew what I was getting into. As a first Camino? Not really.

Services are much fewer apart (yesterday between Oseira and Silleda - a stretch of 40 km - not one bar was open) and the terrain is much more challenging than the Francés.
 
I walked a "combo Camino" this year, which included two sparsely traveled routes. I started on the Aragonés, which didn't have many pilgrims, and most of them were French pilgrims who had started in Arles. Unfortunately, I don't speak French beyond the pleasantries, so I didn't have much social engagement. Then I connected to the Francés, where there were definitely more pilgrims, but not an overwhelming amount - enough to have walking companions on occasion, and dinner companions regularly. Since I've walked the Francés from SJPdP to Fisterra twice, and a large section of it on another combo Camino I wanted to try a different finish, so at Ponferrada I veered off onto the Invierno. A couple of the women that I met on the Francés expressed a desire to walk the Invierno too, but it would have been too tight for their time frame. I thought that it would have probably been a mistake for them on their first Camino to break the continuity that they had and lose the cohort of pilgrims that they had been walking with since SJPdP. When I met up with them in Santiago the day that I arrived, which was the night before they flew home, I could tell that continuing on the Francés was the right choice for them, and really probably best for most first timers, unless you really want to be alone, and don't mind walking long stages without services.
 
Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
I can attest to that.
This year I stayed in between towns. Because I walked from Samos (which I recommend) it meant that I landed half way between Sarria and Portomarin. From Sarria, I saw only 1 person. I had coffee and a catch up with a friend in Sarria, and didn't continue walking until 11.00am, the path was deserted.
The next day I saw none until before Castromaior , where I saw a group of young Koreans.
(The only problem with avoiding people is that you also avoid the cafes being open, and therefore the toilets.)
By the time I reached Galicia it was late May, which is a busy time, especially compared to October.
With regards to concrete, the approach to Santiago city is concrete/paved - but it will be from whatever direction you approach.
 
I’ll probably stay with the CF this time round (would be late Sept), and look more into the Invierno for a later time (assuming I have enough later’s into the rest of my 70s and 80s). Buen Camino, Pilgrimjim!
 
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Zoe7 said:
I’ll probably stay with the CF this time round (would be late Sept), and look more into the Invierno for a later time (assuming I have enough later’s into the rest of my 70s and 80s). Buen Camino, Pilgrimjim!
Click to expand...
May each of your steps bring deep joy!
 
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