Where to start?

[november_moon]

My husband and I will be walking the Camino next year in June and are starting to consider logistics. We will be reserving our flights soon - using miles to buy the tickets, so we need to plan way ahead in order to get good flights. We will most likely fly from San Francisco to Madrid and then take a train or bus to our starting point. We will only have about 2.5 weeks for our Camino - I wish we could take more, but that is what we have to work with. I think that with about 17 or so days, we can reasonably walk around 300 km at a decent pace, but not be completely rushed - average of about 18 km per day. I think most days we would walk more, so this allows some time for contingencies - sore bodies wanting a day off or whatever. Does this seem reasonable? Leon would seem to be the most logical starting point at just over 300 km from Santiago - it also seems to have good connections from Madrid. What do you guys think? I have read that the walk out of Leon isn't the most inspired though, so maybe this isn't the best starting point?

 

[Tincatinker]

The walk out of Leon may not be the most inspiring stretch of the Camino but it is no worse than other urban stretches and maybe better than some. There are those that find the meseta tedious or the senda boring. It is all Camino.

Leon seems a good starting point for you given your time constraints. It is readily accessible from Madrid. You can collect a Credencial from the beautiful cathedral, admire the Hostal San Marcos and stride out for all of the rest that the Camino will bring you.

Buen Camino to you both

 

[Deleted member 3000]

The urban walk from old León to La Virgen will give you a sample of the Camino leaving any large city. You can take a city bus to avoid it, and also make the first day a bit easier. From the bus stop before the airport you are at the decision point for Villadangas or Mazarife. Both have mostly road walking, but the Mazarife option is more tranquil.

 

[whariwharangi]

Sarria is 115 km from Santiago. Then Finisterra is another 80km. Muxia is another 20 and from there its 80 km back to Santiago. Advantage is you won't be up against the clock because there are lots of logical pull out points.

Other alternative is to start at SJPdP and walk as far as you can. Then return some other time to walk more of it.

 

[JabbaPapa]

Madrid itself is probably over 500 KM distance as the pilgrim walks to Santiago, otherwise I'd have suggested walking from the airport !!!

I'd agree with the others about starting from Leon as probably the best idea -- the first few days from Leon to Astorga are relatively easy, and that will help get your hiking legs in better shape for the walk uphill onwards from Astorga.

Starting in an urban environment is actually a good idea, IMO, because if you have some sudden last-minute purchases to make or some other pressing need, or you decide in your first hour of walking that you'd better carry a bit more food or whatever else, then you can usually fix it very easily if you're still in the city.

And walking out of an urban environment into the country and into the trails of the Camino can itself be very pleasant, and it has the symbolic virtue of physically leaving the urban familiarity behind you, it's walking into any other urban environment than Santiago itself that can sometimes be a little more wearisome.

 

[piogaw]

Good idea to fly from sf to madrid. From madrid, there is good connection on renfe train. There are as of now, 11 train a day from madrid to leon. You can buy train ticket at the renfe office in madrid barajas airport. This will save you some time. You can take the cercanias (suburban commuter train) from the airport to chamartin station for connection to leon. Travel time approximately 5 1/2 hours.

If you are over 60, you can buy a pensioner card called tarjeta dorada that cost €5.15 and valid for a year. This will give you a 40% discount of the ticket from monday to thursday, and a 25% discount on friday, saturday, sunday and other holiday.

Hope this will help in your planning.

God bless.

 

[november_moon]

Thanks for the advice. So it does sound like Leon would be a good choice afterall And I do like the idea of walking out of an urban environment and into the countryside - I live in a city and with the air travel from SFO to MAD, it will be rather urban all the way. Walking away from a city sounds like a good way to start. With the good connections from Madrid to Leon, we should be able to get a train to Leon the day we arrive in Madrid rather than having to spend a night in Madrid and then travel to the Camino the next day.

If we had more time, walking from Madrid would be an option - but we just don't have it. I also thought about starting in SJPdP and either walking as far as we can and then coming back another time to finish or taking the bus across some sections to be able to traverse the whole route in the 2.5 weeks. We are dong this to celebrate my 40th birthday, so I don't want to do part of the Camino and leave it "unfinished", if that makes sense. I want to get to Santiago and have that accomplishment. Any thoughts on starting in SJPdP and then using the bus to bridge part of the route? That method does feel somewhat like cheating, but is it really? I know this is our own journey and we each do it differently. Just curious about that option and what people think about it, what are their experiences, etc.

 

[Tincatinker]

I was privileged to walk the Camino without time constraint and to a degree without financial restraint. My employer retired me early but with compensations that made a long trip viable. That made starting from StJdP without a fixed end-date easy. But the Camino doesn't start in St Jean, it's just a way-mark, a border crossing /convergence of many paths. Most of the published guides start their descriptions in St Jean so it has become the "target" starting point for many. The classic Camino Frances starts from there but the reality is that your Camino starts where you start. You have already started your Camino. Look on your journey to the airport, your flight, your experience of RENFE train or Ailsa bus as part of your pilgrimage for that is what they are. And if you find yourself in Santiago with time to spare before your journey home - walk to Muxia and Fisterra and watch the sunset at the end of the world.

And if you choose to take a bus or a taxi or a hot air balloon for part of your journey then that too is your Camino.

 

[november_moon]

And if you choose to take a bus or a taxi or a hot air balloon for part of your journey then that too is your Camino.

I absolutely love this line

 

[Loretta Jane]

Absolutely, "your camino" !

 

[Jochen-Schmidtke]

Re: Where begins the Camino?

But the Camino doesn't start in St Jean, it's just a way-mark, a border crossing /convergence of many paths. Most of the published guides start their descriptions in St Jean so it has become the "target" starting point for many. The classic Camino Frances starts from there but the reality is that your Camino starts where you start.

The answer of the spaniards when asked where the Camino begins: "On the threshold of your home!"
Buen Camino
Jochen

 

[piogaw]

to all future peregrinos,

please note this is your camino. whatever place you choose to start, it is the start of your camino. some peregrinos are lucky to be able to walk the entire route, and others are limited to how far they can walked due to either time constraint or financial constraint. you may choose anyway to travel whether on foot, take buses, take taxi whenever you like. nobody has the right to pass judgement on your action. you are only bounded by the rules of the last 100 kilometres to santiago. you must in your own honesty walk the last 100 kilometres in order to obtain a compostela.

buen camino to everyone. and god bless.