"Camino de Santiago (from Madrid)" Comunidad de Madrid by ptitetoile

Coming in Spain, I wanted to try the Camino de Santiago and as I read that there was a way beginning in Madrid too (next to the famous Camino Frances), then I decided to do a part of it!
So I did the section from Manzanares el Real to Cercedilla (one day - 19 km) and then from Cercedilla to Segovia (second day - 31 km). It was fantastic! The lanscape is wonderful all the way and I loved the fact to go from one place to another by foot, discovering a new landscape behind each turn of the way! Seeing the destination village from far away and then being in it is so great! I really recommand it if you are an experienced an trained hiker. It can appear long but the task gets easy with some courage...and as it is a pelgrim way... it gives inner strengh and enable to think a lot about it's own life and the sense of it if we are walking alone as I did... So one thing should be considered: in september there are not a lot of other hikers, pelgrims : I was the only one!

The Camino de Santiago is really well marked with yellow arrows, so no problem for the orientation...On the stategic places, you will find also find a stone with a shell on it, the symbol of Santiago de Compostelle. It gives you also how many kilometers are left until Santiago and thus an idea of how much you still have to walk until the end of your daily journey.

As a pelgrim, it is alway better to ask for more information to an association before leaving : in Madrid it is 'Los amigos del Camino de santiago'. They sell a guide book for the Camino de Madrid or el Camino Frances. They give you also the 'Credential', a document that enables you to sleep in the places that welcome pelgrims and that will be stamped by your hosts.
As I did this time only two days, I did not need a credential and did not buy a book but looked on the internet the most informations I could find to prepare my journey and it worked!

You will find in the tips the differents places I went to during my two days hike. And for more inspiration about the Camino Frances that I will probably try in 2007, there are a lot of books also about the subject. A good inspiration for the French speaking people is also the film : Saint Jacques La Mecque...I really recommand it!

http://www.saintjacqueslamecque-lefilm.com/