In this edition, our pilgrimage starts in Seville, and unlike the 2009 edition, we will leave the Silver Route in Granja de Moreruela and we will go towards Astorga in order to walk the French Camino during the last two weeks.

The rhythm of our walk will also be different; we will adapt it to the quiet and constant walking of the donkeys accompanying us.
The Donkeys are this time the main characters!

We will walk 1000 km during 6 weeks, walking 23,6 km per day. Some of the weeks will be shorter and easier, others will be more challenging! Depending on your time and your physical condition, you can choose one or more weeks, all of them are really beautyful and interesting.
Here a short description of the journey:

Week 1 -  Sevilla to Zafra
This week sees the camino de la Plata pass through Northern Andalucia into Extremadura.  After leaving the suburbs of Sevilla and passing the ruins of Italica, the route makes a gentle first day to Guillena.  The camino then passes through peaceful countryside before entering the hills of the Sierra Morena.  Between Almaden and Jara there are  attractive wooded meadows and rolling hills.  A stiffish climb up to Monasterio leads to undulating country with stone walls and pasture land. The walk into the mediaeval town of Zafra completes one of the less demanding  weeks.
Difficulty: medium
Day	Week day	Date	Route	Terrain	km	Height
1	Sa	19-03-2011	Seville - Guillena	flat	22,7	10
2	Su	20-03-2011	Guillena - Castilblanco de los Arroyos	gentle climb	17,5	350
3	Mo	21-03-2011	Castilblanco - Almedén de la Plata	flat, then climb	29,3	100
4	Tu	22-03-2011	Almedén de la Plata - Real de la Jara	undulating	16,1	200
5	We	23-03-2011	Real de la Jara - Monasterio	flat, then climb	20,4	300
6	Th	24-03-2011	Monasterio - Cazadilla de los Barros	flat	27,9	50
7	Fr	25-03-2011	Cazadilla - Zafra	flat	18,6	50
TOTAL per week					153
Week 2 - Zafra to Casar de Cáseres
A relatively gentle week with the shortest total distance for any of the 7 weeks. Starting from the little known historic town of Zafra the first two days pass through flat vine growing and arable land before descending to the Roman city of Merida bursting with fine Roman ruins.  The itinerary allows time to visit.  After Merida the route gently climbs to Alcuescar through woodland and meadow. The camino then passes through more open country before a short  climb into the majestic city of Caceres with its mediaeval centre.  This week is particularly suited to those with an interest in historic towns.
Difficulty: medium
Day	Week day	Date	Route	Terrain	km	Height
8	Sa	26-03-2011	Zafra - Villafranca de los Barros	flat	29,5	50
9	Su	27-03-2011	Villafranca - Torremejía	flat	27,6	50
10	Mo	28-03-2011	Torremejía - Mérida	descent	16,4	10
11	Tu	29-03-2011	Mérida - Aljucén	flat	16,3	100
12	We	30-03-2011	Aljucén - Alcuéscar	gentle climb	20,6	300
13	Th	31-03-2011	Alcuéscar - Valdesalor	flat	26,6	50
14	Fr	01-04-2011	Valdesalor - Casar de Cáceres	gentle climb	22,9	150
TOTAL per week					150,1
Week 3 -  Casar de Cáseres to San Pedro de Rozados
A challenging week of walking , which starts in the mediaeval city of Caceres and has some lengthy stages with the longest weekly total of the seven.  The reward is a walk through some remote and beautiful countryside with distant views of the Gredos mountains.  The first section passes alongside the vast  Alcantara reservoir.  After Cañaveral there is a section of footpath  along beautiful ridges of grassland leading to the walled town of Galisteo. The next part includes the iconic roman arch of Caparra and a 40 Kilometre section without a single village.  A climb up to MonteMayor is followed by a transit through wooded valleys before reaching the highest point of the walk at 1100 metres. The week finishes 25 Kilometres from Salamanca.
Difficulty: hard
Day	Week day	Date	Route	Terrain	km	Height
15	Sa	02-04-2011	Casar de Cáceres - Embalse de Alcántara	flat	22	50
16	Su	03-04-2011	Embalse de Alcántara - Grimaldo	flat then climb	19,6	350
17	Mo	04-04-2011	Grimaldo - Carcaboso	undulating	30,8	100
18	Tu	05-04-2011	Carcaboso - Jarilla	gentle climb	19,5	200
19	We	06-04-2011	Jarilla - Baños de Montemayor	flat, then climb	28,5	350
20	Th	07-04-2011	Baños - Fuenteroble de Salvatierra	undulating	32,9	800
21	Fr	08-04-2011	Fuenteroble - San Pedro de Rozados	flat, climb, descent	28,3	200
TOTAL per week					181,6
Week 4 -  San Pedro de Rozados to Alija del Infantado
A week of fairly flat walking, where the camino passes through the cities of Salamanca and Zamora before heading west to the outer reaches of Zamora province. The first day takes us into Salamanca with its historic centre.  The next two days are spent traversing open land before reaching the diminutive Romanesque city of Zamora an architectural gem.  More open countryside is the feature of the next section.  For the last part of the week the camino diverges from the Via de la Plata and heads towards Astorga to join the Camino Francés.
Difficulty: hard
Day	Week day	Date	Route	Terrain	km	Height
22	Sa	09-04-2011	San Pedro de Rozados - Salamanca	gentle descent	23,6	50
23	Su	10-04-2011	Salamanca - El Cubo de la Tierra del Vino	flat	36,4	100
24	Mo	11-04-2011	El Cubo - Zamora	flat	32	50
25	Tu	12-04-2011	Zamora - Montamarta	flat	19,7	100
26	We	13-04-2011	Montamarta - Granja de Moreruela	flat	23	100
27	Th	14-04-2011	Granja de Moreruela - Benavente	undulating	25	50
28	Fr	15-04-2011	Benavente - Alija del Infantado	flat, gentle climb	24	50
TOTAL per week					183,7
Week 5 - Alija del infantado to Laguna de Castilla
We will start the week by the Jamuz river towards La Bañeza, a commercial city near the Duerna river. In Astorga (our end of the Silver Route and our link to the French Way), we will have walked 705 km from Seville. This journey is full of paths, tracks and remains of paved roads which were once the IX, XXIII, XXIV and XXVI Roman roads. With our eye on the Montes de León, the French Way penetrates the Maragatería. The French Way arrives at the Cruz de Ferro, a cross stuck in a rock mound at a 1500 km altitude. If we follow that mound, we will get the Camino de Santiago. Going to O’Cebreriro church is one of the moments you will remember when coming back from your pilgrimage. In this moment, you will be leaving Castile and León and entering Galicia, through the O’Cebreiro church.
Difficulty: medium
Day	Week day	Date	Route	Terrain	km	Height
29	Sa	16-04-2011	Alija del Infantado - La Bañeza	flat	20,5	50
30	Su	17-04-2011	La Bañeza - Murias de Rechivaldo	flat	29	70
31	Mo	18-04-2011	Murias de Rechivaldo - Rabanal del Camino	gentle climb	15,5	270
32	Tu	19-04-2011	Rabanal del Camino - El Acebo	gentle climb	16,7	300
33	We	20-04-2011	El Acebo - Ponferrada	descent	16	620
34	Th	21-04-2011	Ponferrada - Villafranca del Bierzo	flat	22,4	30
35	Fr	22-04-2011	Villafranca del Bierzo - Laguna de Castilla	flat, climb	26,2	796
TOTAL per week					146,3
Week 6 - Laguna de Castilla to Santiago de Compostela
The higher Galician point in Camino de Santiago is the Area mountain. From Triacastela, there are two routes to get Sarria: the southern (and longest) one pays a visit at the Benedictine monastery of Samos and goes past the lush forest in the Oribio river banks; the northern one arrives at San Xil and also penetrates that beautiful place full of oak and chestnut trees. The itinerary goes past Lugo to get in A Coruña through the O Coto village, stops at Leboreiro and Melide, a village well-known for its octopus cuisine, where it links to the Primitive part in the French Way and continues through magical scenarios, like the Catasol river, Ribadixo da Baixo and Arzu, where you can also link to the Northern Way. The Obradoiro square in Santiago is the end and the beginning of the Camino.
Difficulty: medium
Day	Week day	Date	Route	Terrain	km	Height
36	Sa	23-04-2011	O' Cebreiro - Tricastel	climb, descent	23,1	673
37	So	24-04-2011	Tricastel - Barbadelo	undulating	28,9	200
38	Mo	25-04-2011	Barbadelo - Gonzar	flat	26,2	67
39	Di	26-04-2011	Gonzar - Melide	flat	31,3	150
40	Mi	27-04-2011	Melide - O' Pedrouzo	flat	32,7	66
41	Do	28-04-2011	O' Pedrouzo - Monte do Gozo	flat	15,7	40
42	Fr	29-04-2011	Monte do Gozo - Santiago de Compostela - Monte do Gozo	flat	8,8	40
TOTAL kms per week					166,7
TOTAL kms					981,4