(New member!) How long would it take to walk from Paris to Santiago?

[kemcmahon3]

Hi! I'm a new member, so sorry if this is a common question (though I couldn't find it through the search bar). About how long would it take to walk el Camino if I started in Paris? Thanks!

 

[MTtoCamino]

That is a very difficult thing to answer. Everyone walks a different pace & distance per day. That is a very ambitious walk @ a minimum I would schedule 12 weeks. A large number of pilgrims get injured within the first 2 weeks. Also if you push it without days off your body will simply need a few days of rest. If I were to seriously plan it I would take a rest day every 7-14 days. I have no doubt someone on this forum has walked it.

 

[domigee]

Hi and welcome!
I'd say double the time it'll take you to walk from Saint Jean pde Port to Santiago.... It's roughly double the mileage. Add one week to make sure....(or longer if you walk slower).

It all depends on your walking speed and how many kilometres a day you can walk and only you know this.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I used Google's maps and directions with walking mode to come up with:
Paris, France to Cape Finisterre walking is shown as 1,539 km and 31d 9h (321 hours.)
St. Jean to Cape Finisterre walking is shown as 809 km and 7d 3h (171 hours.)

Brierley has the camino being done in 33 stages and 3 stages to Finisterre. Doing some math expect about 68 stages from Paris (x/321 = 36/171, x = 68). Figuring a week to do 6 stages (rest/recovery/touring) the 68 stages would take (7 * 11) + 2 = 79 days.

This is just an estimate and the way you take through France may be longer than what Google stated.

[Edit: Subtract a few days. Somehow I thought the destination wanted was Finisterre.]

 

[SYates]

It really depends on how much you want/can walk every day and how many rest days you want/need. I personally calculate 20km/day to allow for rest/injury days. Assuming 1600km distance that would make 80 walking days for me. Buen Camino, SY

 

[AJ]

I would allow 60 days walking plus rest days plus a week for bad luck and expect to take a little less..

 

[Marion-SantiagoInLove]

Hi kemcmahon3, welcome!
Paris-Santiago is estimated to be ~1840km by the French pilgrim's associations: ~ 40 days in France + ~ 33 days in Spain = ~73 days.
Like it's been said above, it will actually depend on a lot of things...
I invite you to check this page: in French but with many intel that don't require French skills
I often use their time-table to estimate my Ways, just to have a global idea of when and where I'll be. So far, I've always end up ahead of their schedule, but I still find it a good base to my preps.
Hope it helps
Buen Camino

 

[naplesdon]

I have seen section of it from my car in Landes/Bordeaux and while it is well marked in areas other place you would be sharing the road with cars and trucks. I think the challenge would be lodging. It is not the same as the CF, CP or CI.

 

[kgilliam]

Hi! I'm a new member, so sorry if this is a common question (though I couldn't find it through the search bar). About how long would it take to walk el Camino if I started in Paris? Thanks!

Hello, I'm a new member also.
I am reading Paris to Pyrenees by David Downie and really enjoying it. You might find it interesting too. It is not a guide book but his experience on the camino. There are several trails and options that can be made. He includes a lot of history of the regions.

 

[Kitsambler]

From Le Puy to SJPP is about 6 weeks, and from SJPP to Santiago is also about 6 weeks, maybe a bit more. Paris being a couple weeks north of Le Puy, that would be added on. So much depends on your personal situation and physical condition: daily averages can run as low as 12 km to as high as 35-40 km. (Mine is about 16 km)

 

[pudgypilgrim]

You also need to factor in the fact that on much of the route from Paris you will be following the GR routes, which are anything but straightforward. They wind around a lot. Of course, you can make up your own route, too, but accommodations/food can be a problem.

Also, you don't have much of any choice in great swathes of the route in France about how long your stages are, because there is just no place to stay in many of the little villages you pass through, and often no shopping, either. My edition of the LePere guide lists 42 days from Paris to SJPdP, and he's totally cool with averaging 34 km or more a day in places like Les Landes.

If you are from North America, you need to take the Schengen limits on how long you can stay in the Schengen group countries into account. I could not have comfortably completed the total distance in 90 days, and had planned to split it into two years. Had I not broken my foot I hoped to get as far as Roncesvalles the first year.

 

[pudgypilgrim]

In France, most of this is on fairly flat terrain.

This is kind of true, but it depends. The French say this route is "plat, plat, plat," but as a Floridian I can tell you the French don't know plat. It was a good week before we were not sore as the dickens by the end of the day from the constant long ups and downs, even if they are very gentle, and I was walking with younger very fit folks. If you come from a hillier part of the world, you'll probably agree with the French.

 

[domigee]

This is kind of true, but it depends. The French say this route is "plat, plat, plat," but as a Floridian I can tell you the French don't know plat. It was a good week before we were not sore as the dickens by the end of the day from the constant long ups and downs, even if they are very gentle, and I was walking with younger very fit folks. If you come from a hillier part of the world, you'll probably agree with the French.

So true! I - foolishly - thought that walking through Northern France would be flat! (Well, it LOOKS flat when you're in a car )
Ha! The guidebook talked of undulating countryside, hmm... Felt more like the Pyrénées to me at the time. Struggling up a long hill, I saw its name at the end: route de la montagne!

 

[kemcmahon3]

This is kind of true, but it depends. The French say this route is "plat, plat, plat," but as a Floridian I can tell you the French don't know plat. It was a good week before we were not sore as the dickens by the end of the day from the constant long ups and downs, even if they are very gentle, and I was walking with younger very fit folks. If you come from a hillier part of the world, you'll probably agree with the French.

I'm a Floridian as well, so this is very good to know, thanks!

 

[kemcmahon3]

You also need to factor in the fact that on much of the route from Paris you will be following the GR routes, which are anything but straightforward. They wind around a lot. Of course, you can make up your own route, too, but accommodations/food can be a problem.

Also, you don't have much of any choice in great swathes of the route in France about how long your stages are, because there is just no place to stay in many of the little villages you pass through, and often no shopping, either. My edition of the LePere guide lists 42 days from Paris to SJPdP, and he's totally cool with averaging 34 km or more a day in places like Les Landes.

If you are from North America, you need to take the Schengen limits on how long you can stay in the Schengen group countries into account. I could not have comfortably completed the total distance in 90 days, and had planned to split it into two years. Had I not broken my foot I hoped to get as far as Roncesvalles the first year.

I'm very new to this, so apologies if this is a silly question, but is the LePere guide the one you would suggest for this walk?
Thanks for the reply, I'll have to look into the specifics of the Schengen limits!

 

[pudgypilgrim]

The Schengen rules give us 90 days total in the Schengen area, then you have to leave for 180 days before you can return to any country in the group. There really isn't any easy visa extension available for people from the US, and if you get caught overstaying you may be banned from returning.

LePere is probably the most popular French guide for this route, and it's also pretty much the only guide for the entire Paris>St. Jean route, but it's completely crazy and almost impossible to follow. I thought it was my rocky French, but even French folks who tried to help us said it was insane. It is somewhat helpful for places to stay and the general route, but I found some of the info was outdated even though my copy was only a year old, and that matters when there was only ever one hotel in a village and now that's just a restaurant.

Your best bet is to look at the websites for the different departements you will be passing through. Most of them have lists of accommodations and some have maps and guides you can download or print out. The individual associations will help you out a lot.

This is a very unpopular route--the French think the scenery is boring so they don't go there much, and there are very few English speakers who walk the route, mostly people from the Netherlands and Belgium, but I loved every step of it and found the people are kind, generous, and helpful beyond belief.

ETA I didn't get that far because of my foot, but I believe that the cathedral in Tours has a great deal of info on the route/accommodations/etc. from that point.

 

[pudgypilgrim]

BTW, there is a whole subforum about walking from Paris here:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/forums/the-tours-route.47/

 

[domigee]

LePere is probably the most popular French guide, and it's pretty much the only guide for the entire Paris>St. Jean route, but it's completely crazy and almost impossible to follow. I thought it was my rocky French, but even French folks who tried to help us said it was insane. It is somewhat helpful for places to stay and the general route, but I found some of the info was outdated even though my copy was only a year old, and that matters when there was only ever one hotel in a village and now that's just restaurant.

Your best bet is to look at the websites for the different departements you will be passing through. Most of them have lists of accommodations and some have maps and guides you can download or print out. The individual associations will help you out a lot.

I too found that my information was outdated and - sadly - that can be explained because sooooo many places are closing down in the French countryside. We even have a name for it : la désertification of rural France
I had to experience it to believe it....

 

[pudgypilgrim]

Yes, domigee, I found it so sad to see the bread van coming around instead of having a local bakery anymore. And those were not small villages, either, for the most part.