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Stage 2 · Enlace con el Camino Francés (Astorga)
Benavente → Alija del Infantado
Before you set off
No water, no food
Between Benavente and Alija del Infantado. — Leave with 1.5 litres of water.
The Órbigo and the León border
A flat stage of low difficulty: 22 kilometres with 150 metres of ascent and 120 of descent. You leave Benavente to the north and the route soon takes to farm tracks among irrigated land, maize fields and poplar stands, with the river Órbigo never far away. It is one of the easiest days of the whole route, with no climbs, and the only tiring thing is the monotony of the straight track.
Villabrázaro lies about seven kilometres out and Maire de Castroponce around halfway, two small villages with a church, a fountain and sometimes an open bar. Shortly after Maire you leave the province of Zamora and enter that of León, with no sign of it other than a road sign. The landscape stays the same: green plain in spring, dry and yellow in summer, with the village towers as landmarks.
Alija del Infantado announces itself with its castle-palace and the church of San Esteban, and you come in on tracks beside the fields. It is a quiet village with a hostel, a bar and a shop, and enough for a night's stay. Out of season it is wise to make sure of a bed before you arrive.
Tips
Fill your bottle in Benavente and at the fountains in Villabrázaro and Maire; the bars are not to be relied on.
Leave in the cool: it is a shadeless stage of straight track in the sun.
Stamp your departure in Benavente, along the way in Villabrázaro and Maire de Castroponce, and your arrival in Alija.
Buy what you need for two days in Benavente: the villages of the plain have little in the way of shops.
Where am I?
Your phone says where you are; the guide tells you how far is left and where the next water is.
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Your position is used to answer you and is not stored anywhere.
Walk with me
It crosses where you are with the time, the daylight left, the water, the beds and the notice board. Three things at most: the ones that actually change your afternoon.
Create the free account It is free and forever. An account is needed for the guide to place you. I already have an account
It checks GPS every 6 min while you keep it open. GPS drains the battery: if yours is low, switch it off.
Your position is used to answer you and is not stored anywhere.
Profile and services
The elevation for this stage has not been loaded yet.
The weather
11°C
Cloudy
- Feels like
- 11 °C
- Wind
- 4 km/h
- Daylight
- 08:32 – 19:44
- Today ⛅ 26° 9°
- Wed 🌫️ 26° 13°
- Thu 🌫️ 27° 11°
- Fri ⛅ 26° 12° 9 %
- Sat ⛅ 19° 9° 23 %
- Sun 🌧️ 15° 2° 16 %
- Mon 🌧️ 15° 10° 28 %
Data from Open-Meteo, refreshed every half hour.
What's there today
Nobody has reported anything on this stage.
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 Vía de la Plata, on the stage from Benavente to Alija del Infantado.
- Pharmacy Pharmacy km 0,3
- Pharmacy Pharmacy km 0,4 +34 980 63 01 20
- Pharmacy Pharmacy km 7,0
The map
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What to see on this stage 4
- Parroquia de San Isidro Church km 0,5
- Iglesia Church km 19,9
- Iglesia de San Esteban Church km 21,4
- Ermita del Cristo de la Vera Cruz Church km 21,4