Camino Via De La Plata

THIS IS BY FAR, MY FAVOURITE CAMINO!!! but would not recommend it for a first time. As a woman, I would not walk this one alone, as it is VERY isolated and we only saw about 20-25 pilgrims in the whole six and a half weeks. There are a couple of long stretches, one in particular which was 40kms, so we got a taxi for the first 20kms and then walked.  Most of the pilgrims do this. No way I could walk that far in one day, especially in the heat!

It is the longest Camino in Spain and depending on where you start, it stretches 1000 – 1,400 kms or more. The first stage from Seville is tough and it is not advised in the summer.  It is a type of meseta, a desert, with no shade whatsoever. We had heaps of water and used sun reflective umbrellas but we were really spent at the end of the first few days. Having said that, this Camino is steeped in history.  It is the old trade route up from Africa and has a mixed background of mainly Roman and Moorish rule. The Game of Thrones was filmed in many places around this Camino. The ruins that you come across are amazing, and you can see original Roman markers, aqueducts, and roman bridges.  Many of the paths were built by Roman slaves and you do have to watch your footing in some places. Italica, (a well preserve Roman town just outside Seville) is really worth the detour as it has a Roman amphitheatre which is the 3rd largest ever built, almost intact. You can walk through the tunnels where gladiators and lions used to run.Beautiful mosaics are still intact. It is Hadrian’s birthplace. The aqueduct is 37kms long!