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Stage 11 · Camino Francés
Belorado → San Juan de Ortega
Across the Montes de Oca
A stage of two very different halves: 24.2 kilometres with 560 metres of ascent and 370 of descent, medium difficulty. The first half is flat and easy, on tracks beside the road linking small villages: Tosantos, with its hermitage set into the rock, Villambistia and Espinosa del Camino, where the odd bar opens depending on the season. About 12 kilometres from Belorado comes Villafranca Montes de Oca, at the foot of the mountain, the place to eat and stock up before the climb.
From Villafranca the ascent into the Montes de Oca begins: a stiff pull out of the village on a path through oaks, then a wide, rolling track that crosses pine and oak forest for more than two hours, passing the memorial to those killed in the civil war and a sharp drop and climb halfway along. It is a beautiful, very lonely stretch, muddy in winter and dusty in summer.
The forest opens abruptly at San Juan de Ortega, a hamlet of a handful of houses around the Romanesque monastery of the saint who built bridges and roads. There is little beyond the hostel and somewhere to have dinner, so arrive with a plan.
Tips
Eat well in Villafranca Montes de Oca and buy something for supper: what is on offer in San Juan de Ortega is minimal.
Leave with time in hand: the crossing of the mountain feels long and there are few beds in San Juan de Ortega.
In the rain the forest track turns to mud; gaiters or patience, and footwear that keeps the water out.
Get a stamp on the way in Villafranca and your arrival stamp at the monastery of San Juan de Ortega, which also stamps.
Between Villafranca Montes de Oca and San Juan de Ortega there are about 12 kilometres of mountain with no water and no services: set off with a full bottle.
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Profile and services
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What's there today
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Tips from people who walked it
The things that do not expire: where the fountain actually is, which bar opens at six, where not to go in the rain.
None here yet. If you have just walked this stage, you know something tomorrow’s pilgrim does not.
Emergencies
Call 112112 is the same number in Spain, in Portugal and across the European Union. It works with no credit, with no SIM, and over any operator's network, not just yours.
Say where you are I am walking the Camino Francés, on the stage from Belorado to San Juan de Ortega.
- Licenciada Beatriz Delgado Sainz Pharmacy km 0,0
- Consultorio Médico de Villambistia Health centre km 6,3
- Consultorio Médico de Espinosa del Camino Health centre km 7,9
- Consultorio Médico de Villafranca Montes de Oca Health centre km 11,5
- Consultorio Médico de San Juan de Ortega Health centre km 23,4
The map
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What to see on this stage 9
- Iglesia de San Pedro Church km 0,0
- Iglesia de San Esteban Protomártir Church km 4,5
- Ermita de la Virgen de la Peña Church km 4,6
- Iglesia de San Esteban Protomártir Church km 6,3
- Ermita de San Roque Church km 6,4
- Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción Church km 7,9
- Iglesia de Santiago Apóstol Church km 11,5
- iglesia de San Juan de Ortega Church km 23,4
- capilla del Santo Church km 23,4