Camino de Santiago de Compostela

[Meredith1]

I've scheduled my Camino from Sept. 3 - Oct. 3 (includes the flight days). I would have liked to schedule another 5 - 10 days so that I could walk the whole way taking plenty of time, but I couldn't.

I'm starting in SJdPP, and I figured on taking transportation somewhere along the way in order to complete my Camino and meet my departure date. I won't be among the slowest on the walk because I'm in good overall shape - but being well to the north of 60, I won't mind giving up some strenuous / less rewarding stages (except that starting from SJdPP) and taking a bus a time or two. I do know that I must walk from Sarria onward.

Could I get some suggestions for places where it'd be advantageous to do this? Thanks for replies, and thanks for the tremendous help I've gotten from this forum on so many topics!

[falcon269]

Easy to skip on a bus or train:

Los Arcos to Santo Domingo or Najera
Burgos to Leon
Sahagun to Leon
Leon to Astorga
Ponferrada to Villafranca del Bierzo

In a taxi, you can skip a day or two almost anywhere.

[KiwiNomad06]

I only had three weeks for walking in Spain this time and found it easy enough to take buses to skip across one day from Santo Domingo as far as Hospital de Orbigo. I needed to take three different buses, and changed at the bus stations in Burgos and Leon quite easily. The Camino Frances is quite well served in many places- but not all- by local buses, except on Sundays. I guess that once you realise you are going to need to skip ahead a bit, you could ask for local info where you are. One thing I discovered on my bus trip was that in smaller places the buses often don't enter the actual villages, but instead stop at a bus stop on the outskirts.
Margaret

[Meredith1]

Thanks, y'all. It sure helps to have these concrete suggestions from your experience.

[vagabondette]

What about not starting in SJPdP? There is no concrete reason to do so except that that's where most guide books start. By hopping a bus in the middle, you'll likely be leaving a group of friends behind which might be hard whereas if you just start from further down the road you can stay with the same group the whole time. Personally I'd rather do that because I know that leaving people you've connected with before you've really finished your journey together is hard.

[JohnnieWalker]

Hola Meredith

As others have said jumping ahead is straightforward. But you may not need or want to. Your stamina will build as you go along and you may very well find yourself covering more ground faster than you thought. But I'd advise against making that happen deliberately as that's when injuries occur which can ruin a whole camino. My advice is to wait and see - you may be in group and not want to leave them or you may be walking with people you want to leave behind by skipping a stage! Or you may just choose to. Let us know how you get on please.

John

[Meredith1]

Thanks, Vagabondette & John. I've mulled this over and over, and I guess I won't know whether I've chosen well until I'm there. My reason for starting in SJdPP is the intrigue of it and the beauty of it, and the enormous challenge as well. And maybe this is the only time I'll have the opportunity, so .... I've also thought about the fact that skipping some sections means leaving people behind--I'll have to deal with that as it comes. I'm also open to the possibility of changing my mind along the way.

Can't say enough about the generous help on this forum - hope I can be as helpful to other future pilgrims after I get back.

[tyrrek]

I think it depends on the kind of person you are. If you're someone who loves the exhileration of the mountains you might want to miss the Meseta (approximately Burgos-Leon). If you're a melancholic type like myself you'll love the Meseta and wouldn't miss it for anything. What to do, eh?

Buen Camino!

[Merryecho]

We are doing the same dates, same ages, with same idea of skipping over some of the less scenic parts of the camino. staying at Orisson first day out of sjpdp to make that first leg a little easier and accomodate jet lag We will keep an eye out for the pilgrim from s Carolina

[fraluchi]

I've scheduled my Camino from Sept. 3 - Oct. 3 [...] I figured on taking transportation somewhere along the way in order to complete my Camino and meet my departure date.

You will find that there are easy bus connections between the main cities (Pamplona, Logroño, Burgos, León, Astorga, Ponferrada) but less possibilities once you have entered Galicia.
Which is as well, since in any case you intend to walk from Sarria to Santiago. (5 days)
You may want to check http://www.alsa.es (which is the main company along the stretch), as well as Autobusesjimenez.com and Laestellesa.es connecting towns around Logroño.

[Meredith1]

We are doing the same dates, same ages, with same idea of skipping over some of the less scenic parts of the camino. staying at Orisson first day out of sjpdp to make that first leg a little easier and accomodate jet lag We will keep an eye out for the pilgrim from s Carolina

Great - hope to see you.

[Mmc_56]

Hi Meredith,

We start walking from SJPdP on Aug.19th, and will do the same as you. We are not sure yet which areas we will skip over, but for sure we will not be walking the Meseta. We live on the wide open flat Prairies in Canada, and live and walk our own Meseta here We have the big sky, can see forever, so are looking to walk on something else for a change ! We know that we want to cover the mountain ranges and forests too. We will take our time because we are not used to walking mountains.

We are aware that we may lose people we have been walking with, but plan on spending an extra day or two in the cities to sightsee as well, so may actually get back together with some that don't stop. Getting excited and nervous !

Buen Camino to you !

[Meredith1]

Hi Meredith,

We start walking from SJPdP on Aug.19th, and will do the same as you. We are not sure yet which areas we will skip over, but for sure we will not be walking the Meseta. We live on the wide open flat Prairies in Canada, and live and walk our own Meseta here We have the big sky, can see forever, so are looking to walk on something else for a change ! We know that we want to cover the mountain ranges and forests too. We will take our time because we are not used to walking mountains.

We are aware that we may lose people we have been walking with, but plan on spending an extra day or two in the cities to sightsee as well, so may actually get back together with some that don't stop. Getting excited and nervous !

Buen Camino to you !

It's oddly comforting to know that others are doing the same thing, even if at different times. I love this forum!

For me now, it's exactly a month today that I will land in Madrid, set out for Pamplona, taxi to SJdPP with others, and then... . On my newsfeed in facebook this evening was a post from Amtrak, under which was an apt quote: “All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” — Martin Buber

[ausmarko]

I will probably be in the same situation.
Starting September 11th i want to cross the Pyrenees as i think it will be a highlight (as long as the weather is good) but i am prepared to wait a day or so in SJP if the weather is bad.
I have been told that Burgos to Leon is the flat featureless stage so my plan was to take a train from Burgos up to Bilbao to check out the museum for a couple of days, then from there, start again at Leon. Like all plans though, that can change once i am on the Camino and seeing how my pace is.
I want a day or so in Santiago, then i have to get to Madrid for my flight to England to connect with my plane back to Australia.
(I hope to get a day or so in Barcelona as well, but that is also negotiable). It is a long way from Aus, so i really want to see as many different things as possible and 10 days of flat plains is easy for me to miss in order to fit all the other stuff in.

[rickster]

For me, it would have been a big mistake not to have started in SJPdP. It was more than just some arbitrary starting point on a map. That first challenging climb through the beautiful Pyranees was one of the most memorable, filled with a lot of history. Secondly, it is very unlikely that you will stay with the group you started with for the whole Camino. Each person will have their own needs and if you're trying to just stay together, there is a chance you will fall in to the trap of walking someone else's Camino and miss out on your own. That happened to me a couple of times and it made me mad at myself. Also, for anyone flying out of Madrid, I found a full day there in the historical city, was well worth it.
Buen Camino!
Rick

[rickster]

I think the Meseta sometimes gets a bad rap. For me, it was not just some old "plains". I've lived in Texas years ago and am very familiar with flat terrain, but this was different, with a lot of beauty and many interesting small towns. Also, I felt it was an interesting part of the process, just as you were getting a little tired of the mountains of the first region, you came upon the Meseta, and then just when you felt that you had enough of the plains, up pops the rolling hills of Galicia to finish things off.
The way the Camino has these regions set up was perfect. But then again, everyone has their own needs and ideas to fit their Camino.

[annakappa]

I have been told that Burgos to Leon is the flat featureless stage

I love most of the Meseta, and it's far from flat and featureless - unless perhaps the last couple of days before reaching Leon. One of the worst climbs on the whole Camino in my opinion, is that steep climb up to Alto de Mosterales and the even steeper descent! Admittedly there is hardly any vegetation, but some of the views are spectacular. Personally, if I didn't walk part of the Meseta, I would feel that I hadn't really experienced my Camino. Anne

[ncali12]

The Meseta was one of my favorite parts of the whole Camino--and I'm not even melancholic by nature. When I walked in May, it was the only part of the Camino where I had long solitary stretches. I couldn't understand what happened to all of the people who had been on the Camino before the Meseta. Where do they disappear to?
I live in the mountains and I don't particularly feel drawn to the plains but I found the Meseta to be so beautiful. The three sections on the Camino that stand out for me that I wouldn't have wanted to miss are the walk through the Napoleon Pass from SJPP to Roncesvalles (the high winds and snow at the top made it quite memorable), the Meseta and that lovely pre-dawn walk along the canal between Boadilla and Fromista.
...Anne, I agree with you re: Alto de Mosterales. The descent seemed steeper to me than the steep descent into Roncesvalles. Perhaps the pavement excentuates....
Ali