Camino Frances in three sections

[jg316]

I know that many folks do the Camino Frances in sections and return to walk a different part each year. I would like to split the entire Camino Frances to Finisterre route into roughly three equal sections to be walked in three consecutive years, starting April 2018. Suggestions for each year's starting/ending towns? I've seen the Frances split up into thirds before on this thread, but usually ending in Santiago and I'm heading to the ocean.

Any help would be appreciated and if someone can point me to another thread with this information, that would be great too. Thanks!

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Take a look at any guidebook or sites like Gronze and Eroski and see where you think you might like to start and end.

I did SJPP-Burgos
Leon-Santiago, and then, because Burgos -Leon is too short,
Pamplona-Leon

Santiago to Fisterra is another 4 days.

 

[Scottlovelace87]

I did Ponferrada to Santiago in 2015 (you can add another 4 days and reach Finisterre), then SJPP to Burgos in 2016 and doing Burgos to Ponferrada this fall.

 

[AlwynWellington]

@Scottlovelace87 , if I have understood your sections correctly:

about 12 days for Saint-Jean to Burgos
about 12 days for Burgos to Ponferrada
about 12 days for Ponferrada to the coast via SdC

And Ponferrada is a major city with the usual ground travel links.

 

[Scottlovelace87]

Ponferrada to Santiago - I walked for 14 days, with a day off in Sarria. That is about 12 miles a day. I was gone for 20 days. I took a couple of days off in Santiago and had to allow for transport to and from Madrid.

Last year I walked SJPP to Burgos and it took me 16 days. This is about 11.5 miles a day, some days I walked more and some less. I was gone for 24 days, I spent some extra time in SJPP, Burgos and Madrid.

This year I am going to be gone for 25 days and I am walking Burgos to Ponferrada. I'll probably be walking for 15-17 days depending.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[dougfitz]

I know that many folks do the Camino Frances in sections and return to walk a different part each year. I would like to split the entire Camino Frances to Finisterre route into roughly three equal sections to be walked in three consecutive years, starting April 2018. Suggestions for each year's starting/ending towns? I've seen the Frances split up into thirds before on this thread, but usually ending in Santiago and I'm heading to the ocean.

Any help would be appreciated and if someone can point me to another thread with this information, that would be great too. Thanks!

It might be helpful to clarify some points:

1. where did you think you wanted to start? Colloquially, forum members think of the CF extending generally from St Jean Pied de Port (SJPP), but Roncesvalles and Pamplona are commonly used start points.
2. when you do the Camino Finisterre, do you plan to include both Muxia and Finisterre? It is possible to do this in four long days, but it is more comfortable in five or six.
3. are you intending that each part be equal?

Assuming you want to start in SJPP and walk to Finisterre via Muxia in three roughly equal parts, then:

• you would be doing about 900 km of walking, or about 300 km for each part
• in which case roughly equal parts would be created by breaking at Burgos and Ponferrada

Both Burgos and Ponferrada are well served by train and bus services, and Burgos by air, and make fairly logical stopping and re-starting points, as @Scottlovelace87 and presumably many others have already found.

 

[Karl Oz]

My own:

SJPP - Fromista
Fromista - Ponferrada
Ponferrada - SdC (then bus to Finisterre).

Not in that order, as a matter of fact.

From a personal perspective I would offer two things:
1. I wished I had done the whole walk in one attempt; and
2. If you walk in stages your choice of termination/restart location each year should ideally be a rail terminus, in order to facilitate departure/return. That gives you a lot of choices.

 

[Deleted member 56069]

I actually did the Camino Frances sections in reverse order, not walking in the opposite direction..., but the sections out of sequence. Why you ask?

Well other than local walking and being an avid cyclist, hiking and long distance walking was something we had never done before. So as the saying goes, 'You don't know what you don't know.' In case we found Camino life not to be our 'thing', my wife and I decided that in Year 1, we wanted to get to Santiago for sure, so we started in Ponferrada. 9 days later we were in Santiago and had thoroughly loved the experience.
Year 2 saw us start in Burgos and end up in Ponferrada. (13 walking days) The decision to do the 'middle section' was more about easier logistics getting to Burgos, versus SJPP as a starting point. Even at this point, we were not entirely sure, there would be a year 3 Camino.
But there was, so in Year 3, we started in SJPP, walked to Burgos, spent a few days there, jumped on a bus to Sarria and walked the final 4 days into Santiago again, but with different overnight stops versus Year 1.(17 walking days, including the last 4 into Santiago from Sarria)
Totally worked great.
Would we like to walk it all in one shot at some point? Maybe, but likely other routes will be first.

 

[Felipe]

Good and experienced advices, indeed.
My take on this: Make a rough estimation of the days you will need to complete your Camino.
Walk from your starting point to wherever you can/like.
Make some adjustments for your second and third walks.
Our daily life is full of schedules, routines and preset goals. They are frequently necessary and convenient. But sometimes, it is good and pleasant to have a free, unstructured plan, with only a very general purpose.
This has worked for me...but every person is different.
Buen camino!

 

[jg316]

Thanks everyone for the helpful feedback!

 

[jg316]

It might be helpful to clarify some points:

1. where did you think you wanted to start? Colloquially, forum members think of the CF extending generally from St Jean Pied de Port (SJPP), but Roncesvalles and Pamplona are commonly used start points.
2. when you do the Camino Finisterre, do you plan to include both Muxia and Finisterre? It is possible to do this in four long days, but it is more comfortable in five or six.
3. are you intending that each part be equal?

Assuming you want to start in SJPP and walk to Finisterre via Muxia in three roughly equal parts, then:

• you would be doing about 900 km of walking, or about 300 km for each part
• in which case roughly equal parts would be created by breaking at Burgos and Ponferrada

Both Burgos and Ponferrada are well served by train and bus services, and Burgos by air, and make fairly logical stopping and re-starting points, as @Scottlovelace87 and presumably many others have already found.

Dougfitz,

1. I did my first Camino in 2014, from St. Jean PdP to Santiago, 350 miles, skipping several stages. My goal is to return to walk from St. Jean to the coast in 3 sections, trying not to skip any stages this time unless absolutely necessary.
2. Not sure on your second question - I know I want to see the ocean, but if recommended, I would probably take in both Muxia and Finisterre - most likely doing a one-way trip from SDC to the coast and busing back.
3. I'd like the parts to be roughly equal to balance out being away from work.

Thanks for your help!

 

[dougfitz]

Dougfitz,

1. I did my first Camino in 2014, from St. Jean PdP to Santiago, 350 miles, skipping several stages. My goal is to return to walk from St. Jean to the coast in 3 sections, trying not to skip any stages this time unless absolutely necessary.
2. Not sure on your second question - I know I want to see the ocean, but if recommended, I would probably take in both Muxia and Finisterre - most likely doing a one-way trip from SDC to the coast and busing back.
3. I'd like the parts to be roughly equal to balance out being away from work.

Thanks for your help!

Having walked from SDC through Muxia to Finisterre, I would recommend including Muxia, either along the way or walking there from Finisterre. I took four days to walk to Muxia, and then another day to Finisterre. If I did it again, I would reverse the direction and finish in Muxia just for the variation. And I would seriously consider doing the Muxia to Finisterre leg over two days. Its clearly quite achievable in one day, but it was a long day.

 

[jg316]

Having walked from SDC through Muxia to Finisterre, I would recommend including Muxia, either along the way or walking there from Finisterre. I took four days to walk to Muxia, and then another day to Finisterre. If I did it again, I would reverse the direction and finish in Muxia just for the variation. And I would seriously consider doing the Muxia to Finisterre leg over two days. Its clearly quite achievable in one day, but it was a long day.

Thanks Doug - makes sense and that's what I'll probably do. Can't wait to get back. Hardly a day goes by where I don't think about my first Camino and I now way 40 pounds less than I did on that trip.