About Gronze.com

Which Camino route will you walk?

How will you find information on each?

One of my favorite websites for planning is gronze.com.

Type gronze.com into your computer. On the opening page you will see many of the more popular Camino routes posted. Click on the one you are interested in.

Along the top, next to the web address Gronze.com you will see the word "Roads." Click on that and scroll to the bottom and it will take you to the interactive map shown at the top of this blog post. You can also reach that map by clicking "Other Ways" at the bottom right of this screen.

When you open the route that interests you, it will show you a plethora of information. The first thing you will see is a short description of the route and a map of the route. Here, I clicked on the Primitivo:

Below that, you will see a list of the stages, including any variations. Here, you can see you begin the Primitivo in Oviedo, and once you reach Borres, you have two options for walking. You can walk via Hospitals or you can walk via Pola de Aliande.

Open the link for walking via Hospitals 

and you see the map below.

First, a bit about the route which passes by several old pilgrim hospitals. This variant is 4.5 k shorter than the alternative, but harder and without services. 

(Red dots indicate possible services)

On the other hand, it is one of the stages with the most scenic beauty of all the Caminos!

You can see this stage is 24.1 km.

It will take a person in good shape about 6.5 hours to walk.

It is a 4 star difficulty stage and the scenery is 5 stars

Your other option is to walk the variation that goes through Polo de Allande. You can see this stage is 28.6 k, and will take 7.45 hours to walk if you are in good shape. It also has a 4 star difficulty and great scenery. The red dots show where there may be services available.

If you click on the option "See stage profile" you will get a profile map, complete with heights listed in meters along the right edge:

Beneath these maps, you will find a list of the villages and services. If you have a Mac, you can choose to see information in English. But you may want to switch back to Spanish, as it will translate each village name into English and that can be confusing. For instance, the village Borres translates to "Delete" in English.

On my MacBook Air, 

this option shows up in the right hand corner...

At any rate, below the map, 

you will see a list of villages and services. 

Click on one to find more information about it.

The green/red bar shows reviews. 

Green are positive. 

Red are negative. 

The lowest price is listed to the right.

Here I have clicked on the 

Albergue de peregrinos Santa Maria.

It shows you the address, gives you a telephone number, gives you a little map. The basic data section says this IS exclusively for pilgrims. They will NOT take reservations so you must just show up. It is open all year.

Below that you can see the beds are in a shared dorm and are 5 euros each. There are 20 beds in one big room. There is a photo of the facility. Sometimes, you can click on the photos to see more that pilgrims have posted. Often you can see photos of the inside as well.

There are also feedback comments from people who have stayed.  You will need to create an account and log in to see those. They are worth reading, but just remember,

some people are never pleased, and unless the place is REALLY bad, you may not have other options.

Also remember, many of these lodgings are remote,

and quite inexpensive. In many cases the PILGRIMS are the ones who should be picking up a broom/mop or rag and cleaning up after themselves,

leaving the place nice for the next pilgrims.

That is part of the responsibility of being a pilgrim.

A pilgrim is grateful for a roof over his/her head,

and a place out of the weather.

A tourist demands and in my opinion,

should pay for a hotel instead of taking up space.

I hope this little tutorial has made your planning easier.

Please feel free to ask questions if you have them.

You can find me on Facebook as AnnieSantiago.

I have a Facebook Camino Planning page at this address: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1790533477968666

This blogspot account often fails to notify me of comments so I apologize if I do not respond here in a timely manner..

Good luck planning and

Buen Camino!

Annie