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The Quiet Way or the Pilgrim Highway : Comparing the Via de la Plata and the Camino Francés

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  The Via de la Plata versus the Camino Francés   “A walk in nature walks the soul back home.”   Mary Davis   Across Spain, the many routes of the Camino de Santiago are often spoken about as though they are variations of the same experience. They all follow waymarking, yellow arrows - they all lead toward the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, and they all share the language and symbols of pilgrimage. Yet once a pilgrim begins to walk these different routes, it quickly becomes clear that each Camino is a path unto itself and carries its own personality. The landscapes, the distances between towns, the length of the stages, and even the nature of the pilgrim community change dramatically from one route to another.   Few contrasts illustrate this difference more clearly than the experience of walking the Via de la Plata and Camino Sanabrés compared with those on the Camino Francés . One route stretches for more than a thousand kilometres, running south to n...
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Reflecting on Pilgrimage along the Vía de la Plata

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“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”   Marcus Aurelius, Meditations   A Camino from Seville to the Crossroads   The Vía de la Plata is frequently described as one of the longest, most isolated, and most challenging routes of the Camino de  Santiago . Beginning in Seville, the historic route travels north through Andalucía, Extremadura, and Castilla y León before reaching Granja de Moreruela. Here, pilgrims must decide whether to continue north toward Astorga or turn west onto the Camino Sanabrés toward Santiago de Compostela.   Our walk along the Vía de la Plata took us approximately 620 kilometres over 25 stages, with rest days in Mérida, Salamanca, and Zamora. Before reaching Seville, we had already spent nine days walking more than 170 kilometres along the Via Augusta from Cádiz. By the time we arrived at the crossroads in Granja de Moreruela, we had travelled farther on foot than the entire length of the Camin...
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