Written by Narelle in January 2023.
The Camino Invierno is a 263km Camino, starting in Ponferrada, a town on the Camino Frances with a Knights Templar castle, and ending in Santiago de Compostela. In late April 2022 I set off walking this route, solo, and it was a wonderful adventure through amazing scenery. I added on some extra days for exploring, and with 4 rest days, I allowed 15 days for my Camino. This is a quiet route in nature and a real contrast to what the Frances would be in late Spring. When I first heard about this Camino I knew that it was the one for me. The Camino Invierno surrounds you with nature, and in April, lots of flowers, as soon as you leave Ponferrada. First stop was the Médulas with jaw dropping scenery of the man made mountains that are the remains of an extraordinary Roman mine. I spent 2 nights here and a whole day just walking around this amazing place. Google Las Medulas for stunning photos.
The route initially follows the valley of the River Sil and most days I’d begin walking in the mist, crossing over the River Sil or walking high above it looking down at the meandering river as the sun was rising. I found this peaceful walk to be so joyful. Despite walking alone about 90% of the Camino I never felt lonely or uncomfortable at any time. Distances between villages or towns can be quite large and mountainous. 20-30kms is not unusual and I had at least one 40km day. This meant that you could not count on a cafe and you needed to bring along some picnic food each day. I think the local people were often a little shocked that someone from a country as far away as Australia was walking while they were still very concerned about Covid, but generally people, predominantly older in the countryside, were friendly and often offered water. Potable water is frequent enough to not be a problem and sign marking was good. Though I was happy to have the Wise Pilgrim app on my phone so I could
check that I had not wandered too far off track. Nearly all the pilgrims I met were Spanish (not really a surprise as I was in Spain!). And the amount of pilgrims I saw was very few. I did however make some lovely Spanish friends and like all Camino friendships shared some very personal and heart felt conversations.
My weather in April was exceptional and not really what I should have had in Spring. On the whole Camino I only had rain one night for about 5 minutes, while returning from a bar. The temperature was constantly perfect being maximums of high teens and early twenties. My accommodation was a mix of small hotels with ensuites, which generally cost 24 Euros and albergues that cost about 13-17 Euros. I walked through so many beautiful areas, villages and towns. Half way through the Camino Invierno is Monforte de Lemos, the biggest town on the route and a good spot to take a rest day. Shortly after Monforte my favourite day was descending down to the Rio Miñho and then walking up the very steep Roman road surrounded by vineyards to the beautiful town of Chantanda. In the last few days of the Camino Invierno you join with the Camino Sanabrés, which is also the final section of the Via de Plata. It was a chance to meet a couple more pilgrims and hear about other caminos.
