Leon to Santiago

[carolh]

Hello my name is Carol from Liverpool England. I am considering walking this stretch of the Camino.
I am thinking of going in May ( the begining) How long would this take? and is it ok to go on own?

I have been looking at transport - flying to Madrid and then getting train to Leon appears to be the easiest not sure coming back. The flights from Liverpool is mainly Madrid? Any advice would be welcome.

Carol H

 

[Deleted member 3000]

It takes about two weeks to walk from Leon to Santiago. Leon has an airport with a couple of flights from Madrid. There are buses from the Madrid airport (T-4 terminal) to Leon. For the train, you need to get downtown from the airport, a fairly easy task with the new train service.

You will be fine on your own.

 

[tyrrek]

Hi Carol!

Yes, I think you're right that Madrid would probably be the best option from Liverpool each way. As far as I know there are no direct flights back from Galicia to anywhere outside London. You might be able to get a cheap flight from Santiago to Madrid, or just get the bus/train. Either way it's likely to be cheaper than the train from London to Liverpool.

It's very safe to walk the Camino on your own, and you'll meet many other people in the same situation. You'll be part of a 'Camino family' in no time. From Leon, think in terms of about 2 weeks, but allow time for the travel to and from the Camino and some time in Santiago.

Buen Camino!

 

[KiwiNomad06]

I am thinking of going in May ( the begining) How long would this take? and is it ok to go on own? Carol H

Hi Carol,
It's fine to go by yourself- there will be many others walking in May. You mention the beginning of May though- that is a particularly busy time as many seem to start walking around the May 1st holiday. You might want to leave it a few days for the surge to pass on through. It took me two weeks to get from Leon to Santiago. The first two days out of Leon involves some walking near busy highways- but don' t let that put you off. Once you get nearer to Astorga there is some lovely walking- especially if you take the back-country route from Hospital de Orbigo rather than follow the highway for that section. (It only makes the route about 1km longer.)
Margaret

 

[Abbeydore]

Hi Carol,

We have 2 weeks too(April 1st), going from Astorga, we didn't think we could do the miles from Leon, not sure whether the others are basing their logic on having done the rest already. Maybe the pace gets quicker after 3weeks?

We are traveling back from Santiago by Ryanair, you'll need to book pretty soon; we are going by overnight bus from the airport @ madrid, seems convenient & economical.

Good Luck
David

 

[tyrrek]

We have 2 weeks too(April 1st), going from Astorga, we didn't think we could do the miles from Leon, not sure whether the others are basing their logic on having done the rest already. Maybe the pace gets quicker after 3weeks?

Hi David

I was using John Brierley's book as a rough guide to my stages. It has the Leon-Santiago route in 13 days, but I know I didn't stick to it completely along that part of the route. For example Brierley has you climbing up to O Cebreiro at the end of a 30 km stretch, which I didn't think would suit me well!

Buen Camino!