SJPDP - Napoleon Route

[SianiH]

Hi - just wondering whether we need an OS map or equivalent to go from SJPDP to Roncesvalles? Is an OS map needed for the rest of the Camino Frances too?
Thank you - Sian

 

[trecile]

Hi - just wondering whether we need an OS map or equivalent to go from SJPDP to Roncesvalles? Is an OS map needed for the rest of the Camino Frances too?
Thank you - Sian

The Camino Francés is so well marked that you can walk it without a map.
If you want a map there are many Camino apps that include offline mapping in addition to information about the route, cultural info, and lists of accommodations.

These include, but aren't limited to the Wise Pilgrim, Buen Camino, and Camino Ninja apps.

 

[wayfarer]

No maps required for any of it, just follow the yellow arrows.
Buen Camino.

 

[Corned Beef]

Hi - just wondering whether we need an OS map or equivalent to go from SJPDP to Roncesvalles? Is an OS map needed for the rest of the Camino Frances too?
Thank you - Sian

Just follow the arrows and the crowds.

However if you do decide to take an IGN map, take a compass too. You can get a bit of low cloud which sort of makes the map less useful.

 

[Grousedoctor]

With an iPhone, it’s quite easy to have any number of Camino apps available to you. Let me recommend one particular mapping app that I’ve found useful on a number of my Caminos. I like Mapy.cz (formerly Windy Maps). Although the CF is generally well marked, there can be spots, particularly in cities, when some confusion could arise. I like a couple of things about Mapy.cz. One, the Camino route(s) are marked in blue. Easy to identify. Two, the maps for Spain are by region and are downloadable. So, even without wifi, they’re very usable. And three, with gps, even on the downloaded maps, you always know where you are. You know how far you’ve gone; you know how far you have left or the distance to the next town. You might get off course from time to time, but reorienting is usually quite easy with or without a map. People have always been my best resource for directions. In any case, as this mapping app is free, and if you have a phone with you, you’ll have just one more resource available to you on your Camino.

 

[trecile]

With an iPhone

Or any smartphone.

I'm also a big fan of mapy.cz. It's great because the routes are already on it without having to download extra files.

 

[malingerer]

Or any smartphone.

I'm also a big fan of mapy.cz. It's great because the routes are already on it without having to download extra files.

I have always carried a paper map and compass since 2003/2004 for St. JPDP to RONCESVALLES. Why? because I was not a pilgrim day one but became on day two thanks to a special and personal revelation day two! This was my first camino and I had walked to VALCARLOS DAY ONE. I got lost day two ! I think where I was meant to turn off had markings etc and path obliterated by storm the previous night. Very few people had mobile phones in those days or apps to go with them. It was BRIERLY like him or lump him and he had a bad habit of leaving things out one edition and putting them in the next! After a bad struggle I did make it to Roncesvalles altho to this day I am not sure how or by what path! I keep that map no matter where I go! GPS? Forget it! I don't think pilgrims like me knew what that meant or how to use it either. As for yellow arrows they caused confusion in a few places with groups of pilgrims hotly debating which one was the right one! I even on a later stage missed the giant arrows coming out of Monte Gozo! There was of course the final arbiter, TALK to people, especially locals.
Most of them didn't have to say a word, they just pointed As plenty of replies to you cover all you need to know this is just a memory lane for me but high tech can fail, a paper map and compass doesn't, providing you know how to use them! Have fun, buen camino, and stay safe.

Samarkand.

 

[Pafayac]

As others have said, you need not a map, but application mapy.cz will tell you if you are on the way or not, and where you can reach the camino.
Buen Camino !

 

[DoughnutANZ]

No and no.

 

[Mahonsk]

Hi - just wondering whether we need an OS map or equivalent to go from SJPDP to Roncesvalles? Is an OS map needed for the rest of the Camino Frances too?
Thank you - Sian

No OS maps needed. But signage can be in a number of places. On walls, on the sides of houses, on lampposts and pylons. Even flower beds arranged in the shape of a large yellow arrow. So look all around and up and down. On the Napoleon route, on the road section, after a few miles there is a large signpost point off of the road. It’s a route but it can be quite dangerous. Especially on the descent and more so in rain and fog. So make a decision to continue along the roads or across country. You will LOVE the experience. I promise. Day one is very tiring but the views more than make up for it. Buen Camino.

 

[Plato]

Although some here have suggested mapy.cz, I personally find it quite unhelpful and impossible to find any of the camino itineraries in their totality (although I may be overlooking something).

If you have more success than myself all the better, if not I have always found the www.gronze.com site most helpful.

 

[TrvlDad1]

Hi - just wondering whether we need an OS map or equivalent to go from SJPDP to Roncesvalles? Is an OS map needed for the rest of the Camino Frances too?
Thank you - Sian

I walk with a guide book, but frankly, getting lost is rare and an adventure along the Camino. Several times, as I have veered astray, locals have come out or stopped to correct me. Once when I was a mile or two off the Camino heading for an old ruin, a local stopped and offered to take me back.
I rarely rely on the guide for other than sites and accommodations. Buen Camino

 

[lt56ny]

I have always carried a paper map and compass since 2003/2004 for St. JPDP to RONCESVALLES. Why? because I was not a pilgrim day one but became on day two thanks to a special and personal revelation day two! This was my first camino and I had walked to VALCARLOS DAY ONE. I got lost day two ! I think where I was meant to turn off had markings etc and path obliterated by storm the previous night. Very few people had mobile phones in those days or apps to go with them. It was BRIERLY like him or lump him and he had a bad habit of leaving things out one edition and putting them in the next! After a bad struggle I did make it to Roncesvalles altho to this day I am not sure how or by what path! I keep that map no matter where I go! GPS? Forget it! I don't think pilgrims like me knew what that meant or how to use it either. As for yellow arrows they caused confusion in a few places with groups of pilgrims hotly debating which one was the right one! I even on a later stage missed the giant arrows coming out of Monte Gozo! There was of course the final arbiter, TALK to people, especially locals.
Most of them didn't have to say a word, they just pointed As plenty of replies to you cover all you need to know this is just a memory lane for me but high tech can fail, a paper map and compass doesn't, providing you know how to use them! Have fun, buen camino, and stay safe.

Samarkand.

I am so sure in so many ways walking when you first walked is almost unrecognizable today. Some people walk around with so much high tech equipment and gear it probably costs more then the GDP of a few small countries . I first walked 10 years ago and didn't have a phone, but did have Brierley. When I wanted to communicate home I sent emails from cyber cafes or the computer in the albergue. I can't imagine how much different is was when you started out the first time. Love to hear stories from people like you who walked so far back as you did, some even much earlier than you.

 

[TrvlDad1]

If I might digress with a non-Camino example of how communication has “improved” over the years… in 1994 I walked the Annapurna Circuit in the Fall. Deep in the Himalayas I wanted to send a Thanksgiving note to my wife so I went to the village Post Office. First they had to call some one who could translate my note into Nepali (and they chuckled at the affectionate phrases), then they sent it to Kathmandu where it made it’s way into an English telegram at Western Union, then was mailed to my home. It arrived a day or two before I got home in December. My wife put the “unimportant” mail aside for me to deal with when I got back. So when I went through it, there was my Thanksgiving note unopened. Nowadays, I’m expected to call home everyday. Such is “progress,” I guess.

 

[Len Dacombe]

No maps required for any of it, just follow the yellow arrows.
Buen Camino.

And when you’ve been walking for a while, and suddenly realize you haven’t seen a yellow arrow for a bit, just stop and carefully look around. A yellow arrow will appear in your view!

 

[wayfarer]

And when you’ve been walking for a while, and suddenly realize you haven’t seen a yellow arrow for a bit, just stop and carefully look around. A yellow arrow will appear in your view!

It's not a wilderness hike, it's on rural tracks, its busy, keep your wits about you and follow the arrows and the other pilgrims. I walked it in 2012 without maps or apps and only went off track once for a few hundred metres.

 

[wynrich]

And when you’ve been walking for a while, and suddenly realize you haven’t seen a yellow arrow for a bit, just stop and carefully look around. A yellow arrow will appear in your view!

Ha ha. This reminded me of a blog post my funny husband wrote when we were walking our first camino in 2013:

Camino Signage – Camino 2013

And this one:

More Excellent Camino Signage – Camino 2013

 

[mspath]

Ditto re those lost arrows!

 

[SianiH]

No maps required for any of it, just follow the yellow arrows.
Buen Camino.

Great - thanks v much

 

[SianiH]

With an iPhone, it’s quite easy to have any number of Camino apps available to you. Let me recommend one particular mapping app that I’ve found useful on a number of my Caminos. I like Mapy.cz (formerly Windy Maps). Although the CF is generally well marked, there can be spots, particularly in cities, when some confusion could arise. I like a couple of things about Mapy.cz. One, the Camino route(s) are marked in blue. Easy to identify. Two, the maps for Spain are by region and are downloadable. So, even without wifi, they’re very usable. And three, with gps, even on the downloaded maps, you always know where you are. You know how far you’ve gone; you know how far you have left or the distance to the next town. You might get off course from time to time, but reorienting is usually quite easy with or without a map. People have always been my best resource for directions. In any case, as this mapping app is free, and if you have a phone with you, you’ll have just one more resource available to you on your Camino.

Thanks v much for your detailed reply

 

[SianiH]

I have always carried a paper map and compass since 2003/2004 for St. JPDP to RONCESVALLES. Why? because I was not a pilgrim day one but became on day two thanks to a special and personal revelation day two! This was my first camino and I had walked to VALCARLOS DAY ONE. I got lost day two ! I think where I was meant to turn off had markings etc and path obliterated by storm the previous night. Very few people had mobile phones in those days or apps to go with them. It was BRIERLY like him or lump him and he had a bad habit of leaving things out one edition and putting them in the next! After a bad struggle I did make it to Roncesvalles altho to this day I am not sure how or by what path! I keep that map no matter where I go! GPS? Forget it! I don't think pilgrims like me knew what that meant or how to use it either. As for yellow arrows they caused confusion in a few places with groups of pilgrims hotly debating which one was the right one! I even on a later stage missed the giant arrows coming out of Monte Gozo! There was of course the final arbiter, TALK to people, especially locals.
Most of them didn't have to say a word, they just pointed As plenty of replies to you cover all you need to know this is just a memory lane for me but high tech can fail, a paper map and compass doesn't, providing you know how to use them! Have fun, buen camino, and stay safe.

Samarkand.

Great thanks - your post made me smile!

 

[Orujo]

I have always carried a paper map and compass since 2003/2004 for St. JPDP to RONCESVALLES. Why? because I was not a pilgrim day one but became on day two thanks to a special and personal revelation day two! This was my first camino and I had walked to VALCARLOS DAY ONE. I got lost day two ! I think where I was meant to turn off had markings etc and path obliterated by storm the previous night. Very few people had mobile phones in those days or apps to go with them. It was BRIERLY like him or lump him and he had a bad habit of leaving things out one edition and putting them in the next! After a bad struggle I did make it to Roncesvalles altho to this day I am not sure how or by what path! I keep that map no matter where I go! GPS? Forget it! I don't think pilgrims like me knew what that meant or how to use it either. As for yellow arrows they caused confusion in a few places with groups of pilgrims hotly debating which one was the right one! I even on a later stage missed the giant arrows coming out of Monte Gozo! There was of course the final arbiter, TALK to people, especially locals.
Most of them didn't have to say a word, they just pointed As plenty of replies to you cover all you need to know this is just a memory lane for me but high tech can fail, a paper map and compass doesn't, providing you know how to use them! Have fun, buen camino, and stay safe.

Samarkand.

Coming out on the Burgos river route not really knowing where I was going I had a local lady run up to me, stop me in my tracks, turn me around and push me in the correct direction. We had a good laugh and a hug, a “Buen camino!” and was on my way.

 

[USMC-Pilgrim]

The Camino Francés is so well marked that you can walk it without a map.
If you want a map there are many Camino apps that include offline mapping in addition to information about the route, cultural info, and lists of accommodations.

These include, but aren't limited to the Wise Pilgrim, Buen Camino, and Camino Ninja apps.

There are those that will say/see the arrows are well marked (they are). And then there is me who likes total confirmation when starting in the morning. Camino Ninja and Wise Pilgrim for the win!

 

[trecile]

There are those that will say/see the arrows are well marked (they are). And then there is me who likes total confirmation when starting in the morning. Camino Ninja and Wise Pilgrim for the win!

I can be assured of seeing an arrow right after I pull out my phone to look at my app.

 

[wanderingsilvia]

Hi - just wondering whether we need an OS map or equivalent to go from SJPDP to Roncesvalles? Is an OS map needed for the rest of the Camino Frances too?
Thank you - Sian

Visit the pilgrim office in sjpdp. They give you a sheet of paper with photos of key places where you may get confused. There aren't many places to get confused and the photos help