Route advice between Merida and Caceres

[dementedskunk]

Hello, I'm walking the camino mozarabe with a friend in May. We completed the via de la plata some years ago but missed out the part from Merida to Caceres so want to complete it this time. How have other pilgrims found this section? We plan to walk it in 2 days but are considering to do it in 3. How have others broken this up and where have stopped?
Any help or advice would be great. Rachel & Paul

 

[Deleted member 73526]

It's doable in 2 days if you're happy with >30km each day. I did it in 3 days. Plenty of options for accommodation, as you can see on Gronze. My itinerary was as follows:

Day 1: Mérida - Aljucén (17km) -
Spectacular Roman ruins (Los Millagros aqueduct and a Roman dam). Comfortable path. Great scenery - some walking by a developed lake (Embalse de Proserpina) and some through ranch land with lots of holm oaks. After the Mozarabe, it's quite a change. In Aljucen, you have a choice of two albergues and a hotel rural. The hotel has a spa with treatments that non-guests can use for a fee. I hear it's nice.

If you want to walk further than Aljucén, you can stay in Alcuescar at the "Casa de Acogida de los Esclavos de María y de los Pobres." which, I believe, is a home for mentally disabled people run by the church. A dutch pilgrim that I met told me that she thought it was nice to be invited to mass and to tour the charity that is run by a religious order. Other people have told me that they didn't like it. I decided to give it a miss.

Day 2: Aljucén - Aldea de Cano (36km)
Good walking on comfortable footpaths. through a natural park with holm and cork oak trees. And more great scenery after Alcuéscar - fincas and another lake (Embalse de Ayuela), which is wilder than the lake of the previous day. Aldea de Cano has a fairly basic but comfortable barn-like albergue with a bar/restaurant nearby

Day 3: Aldea de Cano - Caceres (23km)
The last day is not bad, but the scenery doesn't live up to the first two days. Caceres has a well preserved medieval centre but I wasn't in the mood for it. I didn't like the private albergue in Caceres at all (and I hear that the municipal is no better). Perhaps I should have walked further and stayed in Casar de Caceres. It would have given me a better start for the long stage that follows.

 

[C clearly]

Perhaps I should have walked further and stayed in Casar de Caceres. It would have given me a better start for the long stage that follows.

The stage after Casar de Caceres doesn't have to be so long anymore, now that the excellent alberque on the Embalse de Alcantara is open.

 

[dementedskunk]

It's doable in 2 days if you're happy with >30km each day. I did it in 3 days. Plenty of options for accommodation, as you can see on Gronze. My itinerary was as follows:

Day 1: Mérida - Aljucén (17km) -
Spectacular Roman ruins (Los Millagros aqueduct and a Roman dam). Comfortable path. Great scenery - some walking by a developed lake (Embalse de Proserpina) and some through ranch land with lots of holm oaks. After the Mozarabe, it's quite a change. In Aljucen, you have a choice of two albergues and a hotel rural. The hotel has a spa with treatments that non-guests can use for a fee. I hear it's nice.

If you want to walk further than Aljucén, you can stay in Alcuescar at the "Casa de Acogida de los Esclavos de María y de los Pobres." which, I believe, is a home for mentally disabled people run by the church. A dutch pilgrim that I met told me that she thought it was nice to be invited to mass and to tour the charity that is run by a religious order. Other people have told me that they didn't like it. I decided to give it a miss.

Day 2: Aljucén - Aldea de Cano (36km)
Good walking on comfortable footpaths. through a natural park with holm and cork oak trees. And more great scenery after Alcuéscar - fincas and another lake (Embalse de Ayuela), which is wilder than the lake of the previous day. Aldea de Cano has a fairly basic but comfortable barn-like albergue with a bar/restaurant nearby

Day 3: Aldea de Cano - Caceres (23km)
The last day is not bad, but the scenery doesn't live up to the first two days. Caceres has a well preserved medieval centre but I wasn't in the mood for it. I didn't like the private albergue in Caceres at all (and I hear that the municipal is no better). Perhaps I should have walked further and stayed in Casar de Caceres. It would have given me a better start for the long stage that follows.

 

[dementedskunk]

Thanks so much..that's really helpful. I prefer the 3 day option and great to have the details of the accommodation.

 

[camino07]

Merida to Aljucen-Albergue Rio
Aljucen to Alcuescar-Dorothea's Casa de Peregrinas.
Alcuescar to Aldeo del cano- reserved at Casa Via de la plata.
Bus to Caceres following morning due to weather. stayed in lovely Pension Carretera under the arches in the old Plaza. Loved exploring Caceres.

 

[Deleted member 73526]

The stage after Casar de Caceres doesn't have to be so long anymore, now that the excellent alberque on the Embalse de Alcantara is open.

I was fortunate that it had recently re-opened when I walked this way in November 2017. That gave me a 34km stage from Caceres to Embalse, which is close to the max. that I can walk on a November day. (The albergue at Cañaveral is another 11km along the way).
Since then, I hear that it has been unpredictable - sometimes closed for "technical reasons." I've heard conflicting reports and speculation about the reasons for this, but that's a topic for a different thread. Suffice to say that it's prudent to call ahead to confirm whether the albergue at Embalse de Alcantára will be open when you get there.

 

[peregrina2000]

Hello, I'm walking the camino mozarabe with a friend in May. We completed the via de la plata some years ago but missed out the part from Merida to Caceres so want to complete it this time. How have other pilgrims found this section? We plan to walk it in 2 days but are considering to do it in 3. How have others broken this up and where have stopped?
Any help or advice would be great. Rachel & Paul

If you like ancient churches, I would highly recommend taking a detour (so long as you have a GPS) between Aljucén and Alcuéscar to visit Santa Lucía del Trampal. I stayed in Aljucén this summer, even though it is a very short day from Mérida, just so I could do this. That meant my day to Aldea de Cano was a bit longer than I would have liked, but the church is amazing and well worth a visit. The other way to visit the church is to stop in Alcuéscar, drop off your stuff in the albergue, and then take the very nice 2-3 km walk out to the church and back. It is an easy walk and very pleasant. I have done it both ways, but prefer the detour and continuing on to Aldea del Cano. Nice small albergue there, btw. I know others' experiences at Alcuéscar were very different, but I once got some bad vibes at the albergue there and just prefer to sleep elsewhere.



https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...-from-aljucen-to-alcuéscar.50975/#post-567354

 

[dementedskunk]

Thanks for the suggestion..another person suggested this as a place to stay so we consider as an option.