Looking for pro/cons of the travel agencies I know about ... Macs, SantiagoWays, Orbis, GaliWonders, TuBienCamino. And any others I haven't found. The prices vary quite a bit for, on paper, similar services.
We are planning our St. Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage starting April 2025 and want to book soon. I tried forum search but didn't have much luck. If there are some good threads on this topic, please post the links.
Thanks.
First, I hope that you will find what you think is waiting for you!
Next, here is what I have to say:
I was very fortunate to have a friend from Pamplona who did all the planning in 2006. We used a Spanish website, Consumer.es to plan the stages.
We used what were known as refugios, albergues...the cheapest possible way of traversing the almost 800 km from Roncesvalles to Santiago in a form of pilgrimage. At that time, many Spanish people began from Roncesvalles.
We banked two days as free days, and two stops in hotels or whatever, but they are still in the bank!
I do realise, as you might, that since 2006, things have changed somewhat.
What are you actually looking for?
A pilgrimage?
A kind of Sheen trek?
Decide that first.
If you think you want to experience the walking, and without the communal aspect, and prefer private accommodation, go ahead, look at Consumer.es or Gronze and select options stage by stage, and book ahead. Or the commercial companies. Over to you.
If you can cope with playing it by ear, arrive at your starting point. Be prepared with contact details in case you find you are bedless!
Spain, and particularly the
Camino Frances, is no wilderness.
Proper planning will offer you guidance re access to communications so if you need a taxi, you have a number to call. If you need to book, you have a number to call. There are many online resources, but also, paper resources.
I will bravely mention
Brierley,
Some people do not say they appreciate him.
I do.
He did the Camino a wonderful service, and his daughter continues the tradition. I have no doubt at all that his eyebrows are still arching, and his face still smiling!
I can add: I was no expert, nor am I yet.
However, there are people here on this forum who are awake in every section of the 24 hour clock who will be there for you if you experience a problem. Save your money for the splurge at the end, or give it away to others at home.. and set off to Ithaka... metaphorically speaking.
Ithaka
BY
C. P. CAVAFY
TRANSLATED BY EDMUND KEELEY
As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbours you’re seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind—
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvellous journey.
Without her you wouldn't have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.
And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean
...
