Day 24 León to Astorga
Friday 31st May 2013
17 km - 4 hrs
| At the time that I booked the second night in the Parador Hotel I realised that I would be one day behind all of the people I had been walking with and that I may not be able to catch up. This would have been a shame as I had enjoyed walking with and talking with my fellow perigrinos. I also realised that since I had not particularly enjoyed the walk in to León, I would hate the walk out. You only have to look at the map to realise that you have between 22 km and 33 km of walking along a busy road and through industrial areas. There was to me an obvious solution to this dilemma.... i.e. take the bus to Villadangos del Paramo or to Hospital de Órbigo. The bus station is on the other side of the river about 10 minutes east of the Parador Hotel. A quick perusal of the bus time table revealed the following options:- |
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León |
Villadandos del Parmo |
Hospital de Órbigo |
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06-00 |
06-20 |
06-30 |
|
| |
07-30 |
07-50 |
08-05 |
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| |
08-30 |
08-47 |
09-12 |
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| |
09-30 |
09-50 |
10-00 |
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| I opted for the 7-30 bus which just gave me time for a quick breakfast in the Parador. Now I realise that the purists will howl with disapproval and cry "You are not a true pilgrim!", to which I have two responses (a) it's MY Camino, and if it suits me that's fine and (b) if you really want to be a true pilgrim it would entail walking in straw sandals and starting at the front door of your house! Planes, trains and buses to some chosen start point would be out! For those that have not yet done the Camino I invite you to look at the sequence of photographs below showing the Camino route from León to Hospital de Órbigo before making up your mind! The bus left Bay 2 at 07-30 hours and the cost was Euro 3.05. The journey to Hospital de Órbigo took 35 minutes and saved 33 km of road walking and a night in an albergue. |
León bus station
My transport to Hospital de Órbigo
Leaving Leon
Pilgrims starting the long walk out of town
Not ideal walking conditions - note the Camino sign to the left!
La Virgin Del Camino - at this point you are 7.5 km out of Leon
Sign for the Camino on the left
Camino sign on the right!
Finally we enter Villadangos del Paramo - it has taken me 20 minutes on the bus but will
have taken you 5.5 hrs if you walked!
On towards Hospital de Órbigo - this bit is really straight alongside the N-120
We finally reach San Martin del Camino - 26.5 km out of León
Only about another 6 km of this to go before you reach Hospital de Órbigo!
| After alighting the bus at Hospital de Órbigo I walked northwards away from the N-120 and joined the Camino path. At this point there is an option...... either to continue on the old path which is parallel to the N-120 or take the more scenic alternative via Villares de Órbigo. I opted for the latter, and the walk to Astorga along this path was delightful. |
Turn right for the Villares de Órbigo route
Approaching Villares de Órbigo
Villares de Órbigo
Bar Piris - a good stopping off point in Villares de Órbigo
2.7 km further to Santibanez de Valdeiglesias
A further 11 km to Astorga
Snow-capped mountains visible in the distance
Approaching a drinks station run on a "Donativo" basis
Lena enjoying a break
Looking down on San Justo de la Vega and Astorga
Approaching Astorga
Go to next page for Astorga
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