Can you walk Camino Primitivo doing 7-10 miles a day?

[nichollsb]

Hi, there. My friend and I are looking to walk Camino Primitivo in October 2013. Are there enough albergues and towns along the way to walk it doing about 7-10 miles a day? It seems like most averages for El Camino in general are 15-17 miles a day, and I'm guessing that has to do with distances between the towns, time limitations, or physical fitness, or all of those. We have a month to do the walk, and we're interested in taking more time to see some things in the towns.

 

[amancio]

interesting matter....

you can see a list of all hostels here

http://www.gronze.com/camino-de-santiag ... ergues.htm

There is indeed quite a lot of hostels, the only relatively long parts where you will not find any hostels are between La Mesa and Grandas de Salime (11 miles maybe), between Castro and Fonsagrada, between Fonsagrada and Cádavo, and between Cádavo and Lugo, and by taht time you might be used to walking and be able to take longer stretches.

Beware, though, that Primitivo is non stop ups and downs, there are very few flat, straight stretches.

Such a beautiful landscape... ¡Buen camino!

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

You will get a good idea of what the shortest distances are by looking at mundicamino.com. They have pretty reliable info and tell you where there are albergues and private accommodation. Just a quick scroll through their stages came up with these:

Oviedo
Escamplero
Grado
Cornellana
Salas
Tineo (18 km)
Campiello or Borres
Pola de Allande
Berducedo
Hotel on the reservoir soon after crossing the dam
Castro
Fonsagrada (20 km)
Cadavo (29 km)
Casroverde
Lugo
San Roman (20)
Ponte Ferreira
Melide (20)
Then you hit the Camino FRances and there are tons of options. So it looks like you will have at least 5 days more than the 11-16 kms. I agree with Amancio that by the time you hit those stages you'll probably be perfectly able to walk more, but I sense from your post that it's more a question of preference than ability. A lot of these little places really have very little to see, though, so you may find that walking further is just fine.

 

[nichollsb]

Thank you, both of you, for your help. I appreciate it. I too, believe that with time, it's easier to walk the miles the more you've put time on the trail. And yes, it is mostly due to preference. But if there's not much to see, then so be it. We'll tough it out.

 

[Tia Valeria]

Hola and welcome.
We managed short days most of the time from Salas onwards -
Salas to Bodenaya (or El Espin) then to Tineo;
For Tineo to Santiago see our blog for distances and where we stayed :arrow:
Buen Camino

 

[nichollsb]

Excellent. Thank you!

 

[Tahitidom]

Yes we can !
I think i's possible to walk such a distance from 8AM to 15 or 16PM even in the mountains!
Buen camino to everyone !
Dominique

 

[Tia Valeria]

Most days we walked between about 8.30 am and 14.00pm. This gave us time for breakfast before we set off, time for a coffee stop if there was a bar and a hot meal at lunch time (served from between 13.00 and 15.00 in most places) either before or just after we checked into our accomodation. Then we had a simple snack at night and early to bed (by Spanish standards). If you are walking to arrive about 16.00 you will probably need to have a snack lunch and then eat late, 20.30 or 21.00 is often the time of a hot evening meal. However times and availability do vary depending on where you are.
Yes you can do it
Buen Camino

 

[nichollsb]

Thanks, everyone. This is so helpful.