Ruta Lebaniego - notes and thoughts

[peregrino_tom]

I might have guessed something was afoot when various people lent over their balconies in San Vicente to tell me that the periodista was looking for me... It turned out this gentleman was doing a camino survey for the cantabrian authorities. Word had somehow got round that I was one of those rare souls about to embark on the camino Lebaniego. We found each other eventually and I duly rated, out of ten, my experiences of various caminos and how successful I thought Cantabria, Asturias and the Basque country authorities were at maintaining and promoting their caminos etc etc and lastly, he asked whether I was planning to walk the Lebaniego in 2017 the Jubilee year. It was the first I'd heard of this event.
As you can see I have a tendency to ramble on a bit, so rather than write all my notes into a post I'm attaching a couple of pages. These are aimed at anyone who is thinking of walking the route, as I found it quite hard to understand all the different options before I set out. And it was only by walking the paths and talking to knowledgeable people along the way such as hospitaleros and the staff at the camino centre in Potes that I was able to put all the pieces together. Now it's all so much clearer, I might even return for the Jubilee Year...
And please, those of you that have walked the route recently, feel free to point out any errors or shortcomings in my notes. Cheers, tom

 

[Java]

I might have guessed something was afoot when various people lent over their balconies in San Vicente to tell me that the periodista was looking for me... It turned out this gentleman was doing a camino survey for the cantabrian authorities. Word had somehow got round that I was one of those rare souls about to embark on the camino Lebaniego. We found each other eventually and I duly rated, out of ten, my experiences of various caminos and how successful I thought Cantabria, Asturias and the Basque country authorities were at maintaining and promoting their caminos etc etc and lastly, he asked whether I was planning to walk the Lebaniego in 2017 the Jubilee year. It was the first I'd heard of this event.
As you can see I have a tendency to ramble on a bit, so rather than write all my notes into a post I'm attaching a couple of pages. These are aimed at anyone who is thinking of walking the route, as I found it quite hard to understand all the different options before I set out. And it was only by walking the paths and talking to knowledgeable people along the way such as hospitaleros and the staff at the camino centre in Potes that I was able to put all the pieces together. Now it's all so much clearer, I might even return for the Jubilee Year...
And please, those of you that have walked the route recently, feel free to point out any errors or shortcomings in my notes. Cheers, tom

Thank you for the wonderful photos from your recent walks. They encouraged me to indulge in some further research and found the following info re: the Jubilee Year, starting on April 16, 2017. Website: http://www.caminolebaniego.com/inicio The map on the website gave me an idea of exactly where the walk goes.

 

[peregrino_tom]

Hi Java - thanks. I've included a link to the PDF download of the map in my attached notes, but it is easier for people if they can find it in a post!
Cheers, tom

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi Java - thanks. I've included a link to the PDF download of the map in my attached notes, but it is easier for people if they can find it in a post!
Cheers, tom

Thanks for the notes, Tom. It seems like there is still more work to be done on this route. I remember walking into LaFuente after the long asphalt walk, and saw a farmer descending into town on a path. He told me there were paths the whole way up and along the road, but maybe the new Cades option was just easier since it was already a marked river path.

The Potes albergue had a practice of letting people stay two nights, on the assumption that you walked in from LaFuente and then would walk out to the monastery the next day. Do you know if that's still possible? I had hoped to stay in Cabanes but when I called the albergue from Lebena it was full of kids.

Someone on the Spanish forum suggested to me that if I really wanted to see the beauty of this area, renting a house and doing day hikes was a much more enjoyable way to do it than slogging on the side of the road in a linear fashion.

Great post!

 

[peregrino_tom]

Hi Laurie
My issue with the new Cades river walk option/extension is that you don't walk less road, you just add some off-road. There probably are possible paths. The view I received from people who might know about these things is that the Cantabrian authorities aren't very good at cultivating or working with their local camino amigos associations, unfortunately.
Yes, two pilgs I caught up with in Fuente De had been allowed to stay two nights in the Potes municipal.
Cabanes - there's a municipal and a private albergue. The private one is a fancy place on the way into the village. The municipal is a little house further down by the church. I was lucky to meet Wences the hospitalero for the private albergue (which calls itself 'Albergue de Cabanes') when he was out mountain hiking near La Fuente the previous evening. He's doing the job for a year. He gave me his albergue card which has his number 626 813 080. I rang him the next day and he was brilliant, giving the villagers a heads-up that I was coming to stay at the municipal and sourcing an evening meal for me (I couldn't blame him if he wasn't that amazing for everybody who happened to phone!)

 

[Castilian]

Someone on the Spanish forum suggested to me that if I really wanted to see the beauty of this area, renting a house and doing day hikes was a much more enjoyable way to do it than slogging on the side of the road in a linear fashion.

The area is so nice that to see just the part crossed by the Camino would be a pity. Liébana has really nice places. And not all is hiking and nature. You would love Piasca church...

 

[oursonpolaire]

I was luckier at the monastery; the friar responsible opened up the chapel and unlocked the reliquary, providing pilgrims with an occasion to venerate the portion of the cross. He and another friar spoke to us afterward, and our credentials got the monastery's sello.

 

[david54]

I might have guessed something was afoot when various people lent over their balconies in San Vicente to tell me that the periodista was looking for me... It turned out this gentleman was doing a camino survey for the cantabrian authorities. Word had somehow got round that I was one of those rare souls about to embark on the camino Lebaniego. We found each other eventually and I duly rated, out of ten, my experiences of various caminos and how successful I thought Cantabria, Asturias and the Basque country authorities were at maintaining and promoting their caminos etc etc and lastly, he asked whether I was planning to walk the Lebaniego in 2017 the Jubilee year. It was the first I'd heard of this event.
As you can see I have a tendency to ramble on a bit, so rather than write all my notes into a post I'm attaching a couple of pages. These are aimed at anyone who is thinking of walking the route, as I found it quite hard to understand all the different options before I set out. And it was only by walking the paths and talking to knowledgeable people along the way such as hospitaleros and the staff at the camino centre in Potes that I was able to put all the pieces together. Now it's all so much clearer, I might even return for the Jubilee Year...
And please, those of you that have walked the route recently, feel free to point out any errors or shortcomings in my notes. Cheers, tom

 

[david54]

I might have guessed something was afoot when various people lent over their balconies in San Vicente to tell me that the periodista was looking for me... It turned out this gentleman was doing a camino survey for the cantabrian authorities. Word had somehow got round that I was one of those rare souls about to embark on the camino Lebaniego. We found each other eventually and I duly rated, out of ten, my experiences of various caminos and how successful I thought Cantabria, Asturias and the Basque country authorities were at maintaining and promoting their caminos etc etc and lastly, he asked whether I was planning to walk the Lebaniego in 2017 the Jubilee year. It was the first I'd heard of this event.
As you can see I have a tendency to ramble on a bit, so rather than write all my notes into a post I'm attaching a couple of pages. These are aimed at anyone who is thinking of walking the route, as I found it quite hard to understand all the different options before I set out. And it was only by walking the paths and talking to knowledgeable people along the way such as hospitaleros and the staff at the camino centre in Potes that I was able to put all the pieces together. Now it's all so much clearer, I might even return for the Jubilee Year...
And please, those of you that have walked the route recently, feel free to point out any errors or shortcomings in my notes. Cheers, tom

Hi Tom,

I enjoyed reading your notes. I walked that way last year and found a bar in La Fuente. It was in the plaza about 200m before the albergue. There were no signs to indicate that it was a bar and even when I went inside I was still unsure. Anyway they served beer.

 

[amancio]

haha! indeed, if it servers beer, it must be a bar! lovely place

 

[jsalt]

There were no signs to indicate that it was a bar and even when I went inside I was still unsure. Anyway they served beer.

My sister and I did that once. It went suddenly quiet as we walked in. But it was a bar, so we ordered a beer. Only later did we realise, noticing the girly pictures on the wall, that we had walked into a men’s only bar! But they wished us Buen Camino when we left! Jill