Starting in Toledo March 2025

[RedBike]

My wife and I have previously done other Camino routes but that was many years ago. Now in our late 70s we want another experience on the Camino, starting from Toledo in mid March 2025.

Things are a bit easier now with gps, mobile phones and the excellent Buen Camino app, but we are not as young as we used to

We are keen to meet other pilgrims so will staying in albergues where possible, but also quite happy to use a hotel if available. I realise this is not a busy Camino route.

The albergue in Toledo looks like a good place to start. Does anyone know if credentials are available at that albergue or the cathedral ?

K&AM

 

[trecile]

Does anyone know if credentials are available at that albergue or the cathedral ?

I don't know if credentials are available in Toledo, but you can order one from the the Australian Friends of the Camino.

Pilgrim Credencial - Australian Friends of the Camino

The Credencial is for pilgrims who are walking, cycling or on horseback to use as proof of their pilgrim status and to provide a record of their Pilgrimage. Using the Credencial / Record Many people like to have their records stamped at their starting point. Local churches, the Spanish Embassy...

www.afotc.org

Or you can buy one from the Camino Forum store.

Official Camino Passport (Credential)

The photo above is of a passport with stamps. This passport comes with no stamps, you collect them when you walk. Also have a look at the Pilgrim Passport Sleeve to protect your passport. The credential has place for 54 stamps. This is the Official Pilgrim Credencial (Pilgrims Passport) issued...

www.santiagodecompostela.me

 

[K_Lynn]

I can't answer your credential question, but if you are going to start in Toledo, please give yourself a couple of days there. The El Greco, Santa Cruz, Alcazar, Synagogue and Sephardic museums and the Cathedral are all worth seeing if you have not been before.

Buen Camino!

 

[Bogong]

My wife and I have previously done other Camino routes but that was many years ago. Now in our late 70s we want another experience on the Camino, starting from Toledo in mid March 2025.

Things are a bit easier now with gps, mobile phones and the excellent Buen Camino app, but we are not as young as we used to

We are keen to meet other pilgrims so will staying in albergues where possible, but also quite happy to use a hotel if available. I realise this is not a busy Camino route.

The albergue in Toledo looks like a good place to start. Does anyone know if credentials are available at that albergue or the cathedral ?

K&AM

Here’s an idea. Check the time of the Easter week and spend it in Toledo. Spanish people told me that these are two magical cities in Spain, Santiago de Compostela and Toledo. Toledo is the seat of the Catholic church in Spain and Semana Santa there is something special. Top bucket list item. We stayed in a boutique hotel about 50 yards from the Cathedral. If you go to Mass ( you don’t have to be Catholic) you can miss the line-up of gawking and paying tourists. And I think they use a mass from around the 5th century or so ( permission from the Pope) which is something really special again.

De colores

Bogong

 

[peregrina2000]

The albergue in Toledo looks like a good place to start. Does anyone know if credentials are available at that albergue or the cathedral ?

The albergues in Toledo are not pilgrim albergues, they are “touristic” albergues or youth hostels, so I would be surprised if they had them. And I doubt that the cathedral would have them either, since the Levante route is so very untraveled. My guess is that there is no one in the Cathedral who has any idea that a camino passes through Toledo, but I could be wrong.

I agree with those who suggest you get your credential before leaving home. And I also agree with the suggestion to take some time to enjoy this beautiful city. Yes it is overrun with day-trippers, but the city has so much to see, and if you can enjoy it at night when the tourists are gone, it is magical.

Two specific suggestions - make sure to get across the river and up to the miradores (lookouts). The Levante comes into Toledo from that direction and it was one of the most spectacular “wow” moments of any of my caminos when I saw that view of the city (it’s the El Greco view, if that is of interest).

The second suggestion is to get the pulsera turística (tourist bracelet), which gives you admission to 7 ancient sites - synagogues, a mosque, some Romanesque, a bell tower with an incredible view. And by going to these places you get a little “off the beaten path” in Toledo and can enjoy the beauty of this place without so many hoards. The bracelet doesn’t include the cathedral or the El Greco Museum, so you would need to add those separately.

There are some really beautiful stages after Toledo, so I think you will enjoy this Camino a lot.

 

[Donna Sch]

Toledo is a gorgeous city and we ended up spending 3 days there mostly because the Museum was closed on a Monday. So check opening times!

 

[LTfit]

Nothing to add concerning Toledo but I will add that you may not meet any pilgrims along the way. I started in Toledo on Easter Sunday several years ago and I met 2 pilgrims in an albergue one evening and no one else till Zamora. This didn't bother me but it is good to know that the Levante is a very quiet route. I personally loved the "mountain" stages after Toledo, even in the pouring rain!

 

[OzAnnie]

Hi @RedBike
I hope your plans are getting sorted.
I have started in Toledo on the Levante about March 5 i think , in that ‘special year 2020!!)
So we were marched off home around 10th.
It was a last minute decision as we were all trying to avoid the busier areas at that time in beginning of Covid. I was just past Ávila when I needed to retreat to Australia.
I stayed a few nights there to enjoy the beautiful city - I also had that good advice above from @peregrina2000 at the time and bought the pulsera turística plus I walked out to the mirador to get the ‘el Greco ‘ view of arriving to Toledo …

The train took around 25 minutes from Madrid and cost was only a few euros. Easy .. Train station there is also worth a few photos. IMO.

walking between Toledo and Ávila is beautiful …. but not difficult.
I have returned to walk to Zamora since then and then several months ago, I spent more time in Valencia and walked several stages from Albacete towards Toledo. ….
I do seem to run into other pilgrims here and there but enjoy the solitude too.

Buen camino … I look forward to hearing how it is for you.

 

[RedBike]

Thanks for you comments OzAnnie. We walked the French route from St John PdP 18 years ago and remember that as the best thing we ever did. We have travelled extensively in Spain over many years and know Avila well and Toledo, but the best part of 2007 for us was the interaction with other pilgrims. So we are not looking for solitude and therefore thinking of going back to the French route. Especially the excitement of crossing the Pyrenees. Just trying to get a plan B if we can't book beds in Valcarlos.