Simancas or Valladolid

[DTCamino]

I’m planning my stages this fall and trying to decide whether to walk from Alcazaren to Simancas (30k) or to Valladolid (35k). Puente Duero (25k) is a little closer but the posts I’ve seen paint the town in an unflattering light. Is Valladolid worth the extra wear and tear on my body?

Any thoughts?

 

[peregrina2000]

I’m planning my stages this fall and trying to decide whether to walk from Alcazaren to Simancas (30k) or to Valladolid (35k). Puente Duero (25k) is a little closer but the posts I’ve seen paint the town in an unflattering light. Is Valladolid worth the extra wear and tear on my body?

Any thoughts?

I’m assuming you know that Valladolid is not on the Camino de Madrid, but I took a detour to spend a day there and it is a very nice, low key city with a fair amount to do if you like old churches, old plazas mayores, and other historical sites. The sculpture museum is in a monastery with a Plateresque facade that’s impressive even if the style is not your cup of tea.

I stayed in Puente Duero and I don’t understand where the unflattering comments would come from. I don’t know the history of the town, and it doesn’t seem to have much in the way of organic development or charm, but it has all the services you need, and the albergue is great. It’s run by the Valladolid Association and is very welcoming.

I slept in Puente Duero, then walked to Simancas where I split off from my two camino buddies. They continued on, but I hopped on a bus to Valladolid where I spent the day and a night in a hotel. The next day, I got back to Simancas and continued on my camino. Simancas has a General Archive that looks like a Disney castle, and it has lots of cafés and other services. No albergue but private places to stay.

Can you elaborate a bit on the negative stuff you heard about Puente Duero?

 

[HeyRobin]

I would walk to Puente Duero and stay at the Albergue there. The person who runs it, Alturo, is the president of the Villadolid association and he embodies the spirit of the Camino. It’s true, there isn’t much to see in town but it’s here you will find the best Albergue on the route. Buen Camino! Robin

 

[timr]

I’m planning my stages this fall and trying to decide whether to walk from Alcazaren to Simancas (30k) or to Valladolid (35k). Puente Duero (25k) is a little closer but the posts I’ve seen paint the town in an unflattering light. Is Valladolid worth the extra wear and tear on my body?

Any thoughts?

Hello @Derek Taylor

I am with Laurie (@peregrina2000) on this.

I have stayed in Valladolid and twice in Puente Duero and passed through Siamancas.

I really liked Valladolid, an interesting town with a refreshingly stark Romanesque Cathedral with much less gold than the norm! And yes a museum of statues. And a fine market on certain days.
Siamancas is a fine town but I just passed through it, I didn't stay.

Puente Duero I stayed in twice. It is a purpose-built timber building cared for by the local association, with plenty of beds, heating, a kitchen and a sitting room full of books and information on the Camino.
It is just to the left before you com into the town. If you continue over the bridge into the town you come to a modest main street with church, a bar next to it and and a supermarket. Nothing really to write home about.

I will hazard a guess that what you may have read about is Arturo, mentioned by @HeyRobin above. He is undoubtedly a 'True Camino Legend'. You will find a few threads with some gentle and affectionate (I think) complaints about him. He is or was the president of the local association and dedicated to the care of the albergue and pilgrims. He is not resident there, though he was resident on the first night I stayed. I got on very well with him, helped I think by having five ladies with me. You will see my account here.

You can read further there and see that he is just a little bit "Marmite", if you know what I mean by that. Some found him slightly OTT. He is jealous of the kitchen and the way the pans sit and the way the cereals are ordered, and he checks the taps. And he makes the breakfast. And he insisted a couple of the ladies got new passports as they had already received the 'closing stamp' in Santiago. "It is a rule" - indeed it is I think!

BUT he has a heart of gold and has the interests of pilgrims close to that heart. 100%.

The second time I went I was alone and picked up the key from a neighbour. It felt, as I said at the time, a little bit like being in school after all the teachers had gone and having the run of the place.

It is such a fine (simple) building with so much interesting Camino materials that I would say you would be sorry to miss it.

And really it would be lovely to meet Arturo if he were there.

Tim

 

[Phil71]

I didn't stay at Puento Duero so can't comment on that. I did stay at Simancas and thought it a lovely little town. The castle is pretty special but I don't think it's possible to get inside, at least without an appointment. I finished this camino in Sahagun and took a train back to Valladolid, and had a really enjoyable day there, stayed the night then jumped on another train to Madrid to fly home. In the park at Valladolid a friendly squirrel ran up my leg to ask for food!

 

[Larry OHeron]

Caminomadrid2022.blogspot.como

 

[lt56ny]

I would walk to Puente Duero and stay at the Albergue there. The person who runs it, Alturo, is the president of the Villadolid association and he embodies the spirit of the Camino. It’s true, there isn’t much to see in town but it’s here you will find the best Albergue on the route. Buen Camino! Robin

Can you elaborate a bit on the negative stuff you heard about Puente Duero?

It is so weird that twice in the last two days I have posted that sometimes we as pilgrims forget to be thankful and not as the saying goes that tourists demand and pilgrims are thankful. All that is needed at the end of a day is a a clean bed and albergue (hopefully) to rest and bathe and some food to eat, whether you have bought it or in a bar or restaurant.

I also wonder Laurie, what the problem is. based on what I read in Gronze the albergue is a wonderful place to spend the night.

Albergue de peregrinos de Puente Duero | Albergue de Peregrinos en Puente Duero | Gronze.com

Información del albergue de peregrinos Albergue de peregrinos de Puente Duero, en Puente Duero: Precio, plazas, características, etc...

www.gronze.com

Thanks Hey Robin for your videos also!

 

[Larry OHeron]

In Valladolid My partner and I visited the modern art museum in a refurbished old Abbey, and we also spent the morning walking around the home of Cervantes, author of Don Quixote

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Puente Duero is a fine place. Arturo is a decent guy, just make sure he sees you put some folding money in the box. (FICS volunteer Paul Garland will be there through May, caring for the roses.)

I think every pilgrim should do the Camino Madrid first, before any other. It is demandingly solitary, it's pure, deep Spain, you meet all kinds, but not too many at once. And you get the hell over any kind of entitlement attitude you brought with you from holidays past.

The castle at Simancas is now a national historical archive. They have tours occasionally, but you can't just rock up and walk in.

 

[peregrino_tom]

Some afternoons you go out and explore the town and sometimes you don't. We just had a look at the main street of PD and bought some groceries then spent the rest of the time in the albergue with Arturo. We shared a meal and then had a free-ranging discussion on comfy chairs in front of the electric fire, surrounded by an astounding amount of pilgrimmage paraphernalia spanning many generations.
Going through Simancas the next morning it struck me that, from a pilgrimage point of view, it was unlucky to be so close to Puente Duero: the wide river, the steep climb up, the views, the handsome town square and the castle - and all in a much more cheerful state than many other poorer towns along the way. If there was an albergue, and if I came this way a second time, this is where I would want to stay.

 

[m108]

Valladolid is a beautiful and pleasant city. However, it does not have the "pilgrimage" atmosphere that, for example, Burgos or Leon has (I have been to Valladolid before). Therefore, my choice was not to interrupt my well-being (for which I also walk the Camino and for which I chose CdM) of inner peace, fullness, connection, devotion... I returned to Valladolid after finishing CdM and explored it for an additional two days. ..."paint the town in an unflattering light": probably depends on the individual. For me, everything is part of the journey, the experience. And as I said - continuity is important to me.
Buen Camino