Away from the Crowds

Reviews

This is a 'big' country with views for many miles all round.

This is a fabulous holiday in a fairly remote part of Spain.

Salamanca has to be seen with its cathedrals and many medieval and university buildings.

The walk passes between and through little villages set under the top of hills reminiscent of the villages of Andalusia though here they are not white. This is a 'big' country with views for many miles all round.

The accommodation arranged by Away from the Crowds was excellent.

We used the GPX provided so cannot comment on the notes although they appeared very thorough.

We saw many vultures and several birds of prey on the walks.

Our only reservation would be the distance from the area to Madrid Airport. We rented a car at the airport and drove to Salamanca and then to the start of the walk in La Alberca where we left the car outside the hotel and collected it by taxi (arranged by AFTC) on the night before we left all of which was quite straightforward.

Overall, we were very satisfied with the area, the walks, the organisation and the accommodation.

AFTC's communication and assistance in making the booking and subsequently were first class.

Richard Matthew and friends, Bournmouth, UK

Thanks Richard and friends! Sierra de Francia is such a special place and we're delighted that you thought so too! We hope to see you again soon!

Aftc

the best week's walking we have ever had in Spain

My wife and I had a wonderful holiday, and for that we are very grateful to Away From The Crowds. We are looking forward to our already booked holiday to Segovia in September of this year even more as a consequence. #pTHE WALKING

This aspect of the holiday was our greatest delight. Each walk was very enjoyable with the last day, from Pena de Francia to San Martin especially good, one walk that will live in our memories for a long while. We loved the villages we came across and where we stayed, and we both agreed it was probably the best week's walking we have ever had in Spain.

WALK INSTRUCTIONS

These were almost perfect. It was a little disconcerting that the first instruction tells you to follow the green and white lines when it should say ""yellow and white"". Mostly OK after that.I would add that in a few instances mentioning a distance or time to the next stage would help a little. Reading ""after some while"" or ""eventually"" in the instructions does not always inspire confidence. Lastly, a small note on how cold the start at Pena de Francia can be might help customers prepare a little better than we did. The lady at San Martin did warn us, but we did wish for a pair of gloves each at the start.

HOTELS

These too were more than adequate. All very comfortable, clean and (mostly) welcoming. A little more ""quirky"" than we are used to, but their character added to the overall enjoyment of the holiday as well. El Balcon in Mogarraz was our favourite hotel. The people in Antiguas Eras in La Alberca the most friendly and accommodating, and I would also like to thank the lady in San Martin for her hospitality, her cooking and her weather warning.

Keith Weymouth, UK.

My parents used to say 'Las Batuecas' whenever they meant they wanted to express the 'back of beyond'

Yes, we are big fans of Aftc!

We really enjoyed walking in the Sierra de Francia Natural Park. My parents used to say 'Las Batuecas' whenever they meant they wanted to express the 'back of beyond' and so this was a specific fascination for me as well as an area we were not familiar with!

We enjoyed excellent weather, the walks were excellent with our favourite being the last day from Peña de Francia to San Martin de Castañar.

The flowers on the walks were a striking feature demonstrating the unspoiled countryside.

It was good to spend a full day in Salamanca.

We hope to do further trips with aftc and hope you are able to expand the trips you offer.

Esperamos que os vaya todo bien. Saludos

James y Sylvia Langtry, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

Thanks James and Sylvia, how funny that your parents used 'Las Batuecas' in that way! Thanks for sharing that anecdote! We hope to see you again soon, thanks for being such Aftc fans in both walking and cycling!

All the hotels were excellent and we felt we had been given the best room

My sister and I go on a self guided walking holiday every year and have done so since 2010.

This is a fascinating area of Spain and the train journey landscape from Madrid towards Salamanca is very flat in places and doesn't compare with the beauty of the Sierra de Francia. Food and drink was very reasonable in the villages and we enjoyed the beer and wine too!

In our first hotel we had a lovely room overlooking Plaza Mayor, where there was a children's concert on so we enjoyed this . We joined the walking tour of Salamanca the next day -learning about the city and its history which was excellent.

All the hotels were excellent and we felt we had been given the best room with an outlook on two sides in La Alberca. We could not fault the hotels - they were clean , well appointed and friendly staff - even though we sadly do not speak Spanish very well.

We liked the routes - they were varied each day. The first day was a lot of downhill walking and we felt the need to use our walking poles every day. Once down in the valley (Day 1) we enjoyed the views of the monastery and the water/woodland. Day 3 was a nice day walking through woodland, The villages were deserted but we had taken provisions to eat and there was always a village water fountain to refill your bottle.

We managed to download the app Ride with GPS which works well for walkers. Initially we were unsure which route to go on - so sought advice from yourselves and it was very helpful. Generally we thought the routes were good and easy to follow though we did benefit from the app. We still like written instructions though!

The taxi was prompt at collecting us to take us to the monastery on Pena de Francia . It was cold at the top It cleared as we descended the path though.

There was very little English spoken throughout the week - and we still managed to understand though. We did struggle sometimes trying to find restaurants and cafes open at night - we are not used to only eating after 20.30 but that's just us! In La Alberca some of the restaurants stayed closed in the evening.

Thank you again we would definitely recommend 'Away from the crowds 'to friends and family.

Margaret Purchase and Ann Cragg, West Sussex, UK

Thank you to you both for choosing Aftc for this year's walking trip, we hope you'll come back again! Sometimes being 'Away from the Crowds' does mean that the offer of restaurants is limited...but we believe that the advantages of having time to disconnect, far from the daily hustle and bustle of modern life are worth the compromise!

Aftc

el viaje por la Sierra de Francia fue una vez más una experiencia inolvidable.

Tengo que decir que el viaje por la Sierra de Francia fue una vez más una experiencia inolvidable. Todo nos gustó: los pueblos bonitos e interesantes, los senderos a través de una naturaleza hermosa (varios árboles, arbustos, flores, plantas, los ríos y arroyos, fuentes, los huertos de los habitantes,…). Una fiesta para los sentidos (ojos y oídos) – una locución alemana.

Tuvimos mucha suerte con el tiempo. Ni ola de calor ni fuertes lluvias. Una naturaleza muy verde y colorida.

No me imaginaba que la región fuera tan verde. Tuvimos la oportunidad de parar en los pueblos, de beber algo, de comer algo, de hablar un poquito con los habitantes. Cada pueblo era una sorpresa, y cada pueblo intenta hacerse interesante.

Por suerte, pasamos al menos dos noches en La Alberca, Mogarraz y San Martín del Castañar, y mereció la pena. Casi todos los días podíamos ver a lo lejos la Sierra de Béjar con sus picos nevados – estupendo. El primer y el último recorrido (Las Batuecas y Peña de Francia) fueron los más impresionantes. Al final, regresamos a La Alberca para relajarnos y pasear por el pueblo y sus alrededores.

¡Muchas gracias por todo! Saludos cordiales,

Ulf Heyden, Regina Bruder Kehl, Germany

¡Gracias amigos!A nosotros nos encanta la Sierra de Francia también.¡Hasta la próxima!

wonderful mountainous route

Last 5 straight days we have been on daily long hikes in the lovely Sierra Francia in western Spain not all that far from Portugal, following a self-guided wonderful mountainous route, staying each night in medieval type villages, almost always deserted, feeling like time has stood still here for centuries.

Larry Rice, USA

each day’s walk was interesting and different.

This is to let you know that we all had a great time on the walk.

The accommodation was good and all the people we met were friendly and cooperative, even though our Spanish was negligible.

We liked the fact that each day’s walk was interesting and different. The final day was the highlight and provided a fitting end to a great holiday.

The detailed instructions for each walk were comprehensive and easy to follow.

Finally, thanks for organising such a wonderful experience for all of us.

Gerald Sherry, Australia.

The villages we stayed at were so different to anything we have seen before and Salamanca was beautiful.

We loved our holiday with Away from the Crowds. The hotels were all so different but just what we needed at the end of long, hot days. Everyone we met was so helpful but Carlos, our driver, went above and beyond every time we called him for help or he transferred us from place to place. He was a mine of information, dealt very well with our attempts at conversation in spanish and was a very important part of our journey.

It was hot, but we survived. We were grateful for the packed breakfast provided by the hotel due to our very early departure to Salamanca, again, Carlos was amazing, got us there with time to spare to pick up our coach to Madrid.

The owner in La Alberca was so friendly and offered us a place to stop on the last day’s walk from Peña de Francia if we needed a drink or just somewhere to rest. We only did the last part of that walk because of the heat but Carlos took us up to Peña de Francia for the view before dropping us back at La Alberca for the last part of the walk.

The villages we stayed at were so different to anything we have seen before and Salamanca was beautiful.

The hotelier at Mogarraz wasn’t the friendliest, just quiet and reserved, but the hotel was so unusual and the breakfast was very good. All of the breakfasts were good!

As you can probably tell we had such a good time! Our memories of that week, like those of our last holiday with you are very special.

Thank you for the response to our first initial panic that our flight was so delayed that we may not reach Salamanca on our first night away, we were grateful for your help, everything worked out ok and with the chaos at airports here now, we were very lucky with only one hour delay.

We found that the moderate walk was hard at times but that was due to the heat and, dare I say it, our age, although we don’t often admit to that! We are already planning next year to do the easier Segovia seven day trip next year, we did the short break before the world closed down and we would like to do the longer trip in that area next time.

So we will be in touch, thanks again for your help in Spain and the UK when we needed it, for your timely responses by e-mail and text, for your amazing detailed instructions for each walk and for giving us another wonderful adventure!

Regards

Sue, Lesley and Sue, UK

wonderful programme

I can say that our holiday was wonderful. All the hotels were lovely, in different ways. In fact, it was a real pleasure to arrive at our next hotel and discover the delights each had to offer. We were fascinated by the character of the buildings in the villages that we passed through (and stayed at). The building styles were quite unlike anything we had seen before and it was great to see that each village had managed to prosper in recent decades while keeping their individual characters. The old photographs on display in La Aberca and Mogarraz were striking. We were also very lucky to be in St Martin during one of their festivals.

We enjoyed the walking which gave us a great introduction to the delights of the Sierra. The directions were clear and easy to follow and we had no difficulties except, perhaps, that we were accompanied by hundreds of flies as we walked through the forests. Unfortunately our walk from La Pena was in the mist so we didn't get the views but we have vowed to return there one day.

We find that walking with "Away from the Crowds" allows us to explore regions of Spain that we would otherwise not even think about and on both occasions we feel that we have experienced the "real Spain" and can't wait to return. I would also add that the Inclusion of a fascinating city like Salamanca or Segovia really adds something to the experience.

Many thanks for putting together such a wonderful programme and ensuring that it went without a hitch. We will continue to monitor your website for further adventures.

John & Liz Knowles, UK

CO₂ footprint offsetting