Le Puy en Velay

Le Puy en Velay or Via Podensis to St Jean Pied de Port is the most popular of the routes through France. It generally follows the GR65 and is very beautiful, green, hilly and wet. It is  736 km  from Le Puy to St Jean Pied de Port

My research here

Arles ?

The Arles route (chemin d'Arles, voie d'Arles or Via Tolosana) goes from Arles, crosses part of the Camargue, through Montpellier and Toulouse and becomes the Camino Aragonese, joining up with the Camino Frances at Puenta la Reina. Here is my research.

Pro

• Some interesting cities (Arles, Toulouse etc)
• Camping may be possible
• CSJ recommends "Consider it seriously - discover it early"
• Good waymarking
• Plenty of Gites, hotels etc
• More pilgrims than Vezelay
• More spectacular scenery

Con

• More varied terrain, hillier than other routes , higher level of fitness needed
• May be colder and wetter in the shadow of the Pyranees
• Heavy rainfall common in September
• Average stages longer than le Puy route

Vezelay?

It is about 900 k from Vezelay to St Jean Pied de Port. Forum discussions here I have made a Google Doc out of my findings on the Vezelay route that I will keep adding to as I find relevant sites. So far the pros in favour of this route are

• It is relatively inexpensive, with some pilgrim accomodation
• Beautiful countryside
• Not too crowded.. locals less likely to be jaded by a constant stream of pilgrims
• Reasonably flat and not too hard

Against

• Can be lonely
• Mostly rural.. few cities
• Not as much variety in the terrain?

Which route?

My first camino began in Roncesvalles in 2001. My second in St Jean Pied de Port in 2003. This time I am looking at going further back into France. There seem to be be 4 main routes. I have read very little about the route from Paris. The CSJ site says that it has largely disappeared under tarmac and doesn't recommend it. The other routes are Vezelay (La Voie de Vezelay or Via Lemovicensis), the route from Le Puy and the route from Arles