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Search 69,459 Camino Questions

How much time to allow?

trecile

Moderator
Staff member
Time of past OR future Camino
Francés, Norte, Salvador, Primitivo, Portuguese
I'm looking at buying tickets with frequent flyer miles, and I'm wondering how much time I should allow to:

1. Walk the entire Camino Frances with possibly going on to Finesterre
2. Spend two nights in Madrid upon arrival in Spain (recover from jet lag, see the city, etc.)
3. Travel from Madrid to St. Jean
4. Travel back to Madrid and spend another night or two there, or somewhere else along the way

I'm not working, so I don't have to take a work schedule into account
I think that I would spend the first night at Orisson, and think that about 15 miles (25km) a day sounds like a good pace
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
Set aside some rest days too, you will be glad you did. 25k a day is quite a lot without any stops or shorter stages. Even strong walkers get tired, stub toes, fall in love with a town or catch bugs. I was in no hurry and I took 42 days from St Jean to Santiago with a few rest days due to sightseeing and illness, plus some short ones because I wanted to see a place or meet up with someone. Finisterre would add four days, and also take a few days in Santiago to chill, enjoy the city, meet up one more time with people etc. Better to have a day more than be one short.
 
Shalom trecile and greetings from Jerusalem!
I am an unrepresetative walker, I walk slowly, I take many pictures, I stop to talk with people, I go even slower to admire the scenery and the wildflowers in Spring, I stop to visit every church, every monastery, every museum, cafe/bars are especially attractive for coffee/beer and meeting new found pilgrim friends, I stop earlier than the guidebook recommends should I come across an interesting village or hamlet, in short anything and everything, all things intriguing I should meet along the Camino. A good day I might just might do 18 kilometers maybe 20. That works out...40-44 days just from SJPP to Santiago not counting restdays when tired nor planned stopovers say in Pamplona, Burgos, or Leon as well as two-three days in Santiago. There are stages where geography interferes and I must mush on a bit more but as I like slow-food, I enjoy slow-pilgrimage. It's not everyman's pace for sure and the Camino can be down much quicker - it is my opinion that arriving in Santiago is a truly uplifting experience, but for me it is an experience purchased by walking the Camino in a manner which allows myself spiritual introspection, inspirational and personal epiphany, as well as interaction and bonding with other pilgrims. You will be surprised at what you discover within yourself - if you allow it to happen. Now I realize that this is not much help for your planning but it's the Camino done my way.
PS Check well bus and train timetables to arrive in SJPP, the village is not exactly on the international transportation grid for frequent travelers, so depending on the day and hour it may take two days to arrive there from Madrid!
 
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I'm looking at buying tickets with frequent flyer miles, and I'm wondering how much time I should allow to:

1. Walk the entire Camino Frances with possibly going on to Finesterre
2. Spend two nights in Madrid upon arrival in Spain (recover from jet lag, see the city, etc.)
3. Travel from Madrid to St. Jean
4. Travel back to Madrid and spend another night or two there, or somewhere else along the way

I'm not working, so I don't have to take a work schedule into account
I think that I would spend the first night at Orisson, and think that about 15 miles (25km) a day sounds like a good pace
Hi trecile :)

today I have completed 25 version of my plan ;)

Seriously, I started working my plan to meet Camino, to meet a Way. I used four links:
http://www.gronze.com/
http://www.urcamino.com/
http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/los-caminos-de-santiago/frances/
http://www.mundicamino.com/en/index.cfm

By working plan, I introduced almost every place on Camino, upgrade on the Pyrenees, Manjarin and Alto do Polo. Also I met and albergues, church and monument. All of that gave me a picture of my Way. This is affluence of plan, not plan as such. I know that the plan will endure first few days and that there will be changes but it does not worry me because while I working plan I acquaint Camino. If you want I'll send you my plan to PM.

From Madrid I think the best option is train to Pamplona and then bus to SJPP. You have time to find what suits to you.
I'll stay two days in Santiago and in Finisterra what I recommend to you.
Return from Santiago is better because they have airport so it can be used to return to Madrid.

Bota :)
 
I'm looking at buying tickets with frequent flyer miles, and I'm wondering how much time I should allow to:

1. Walk the entire Camino Frances with possibly going on to Finesterre
2. Spend two nights in Madrid upon arrival in Spain (recover from jet lag, see the city, etc.)
3. Travel from Madrid to St. Jean
4. Travel back to Madrid and spend another night or two there, or somewhere else along the way

I'm not working, so I don't have to take a work schedule into account
I think that I would spend the first night at Orisson, and think that about 15 miles (25km) a day sounds like a good pace

It takes a full day to travel from Madrid to SJPdP. The last bus leaves Pamplona at 1730. The last train leaves Bayonne at 1806. (except Sunday when it leaves at 2110) If you don't leave Madrid early enough ... you won't make it.

It takes about 5 hours by train from Santiago to Madrid.
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
Hi @trecile - For this April my wife and I have a guesstimated schedule that has us leaving SJPDP on the 12th and arriving at Muxia 42 days later (we are taking days off in Pamplona, Logrono, Burgos, Leon and SDC). We are flying a similar distance as you (from Vancouver) and will be in Madrid the following day with an over night there.

We were able to book a 7:35am train from Madrid to Pamplona that arrives at 10:30am. From either the train station (not sure as I haven't done it from there yet) or the bus station (a 2km walk away) we are taking a 1-hour taxi to SJPDP (96 euro so expensive but convenient and fast!) so will arrive comfortably around lunch time of same day we leave Madrid. SJPDP is a beautiful town to walk around too so maybe something to consider in your planning of days. After Muxia a bus to SDC and then train to Madrid for a couple of nights before flying back to, ugh, work!

We all have different walking speeds but our trip, including air, train and bus transit, will be from Apr 9th - May 28th or 50 days. Good luck with the planning and I hope it's a great experience for you!
Buen Camino.
 
2 days, 2 days out, 20km a day plus a buffer of 5 days for rest, health, etc. Then 3-5 for Fisterra and what ever you want in Madrid, but only with bedding that is large enough to cover more than your lap. :oops:
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
Hi trecile :)

today I have completed 25 version of my plan ;)

Seriously, I started working my plan to meet Camino, to meet a Way. I used four links:
http://www.gronze.com/
http://www.urcamino.com/
http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/los-caminos-de-santiago/frances/
http://www.mundicamino.com/en/index.cfm

By working plan, I introduced almost every place on Camino, upgrade on the Pyrenees, Manjarin and Alto do Polo. Also I met and albergues, church and monument. All of that gave me a picture of my Way. This is affluence of plan, not plan as such. I know that the plan will endure first few days and that there will be changes but it does not worry me because while I working plan I acquaint Camino. If you want I'll send you my plan to PM.

From Madrid I think the best option is train to Pamplona and then bus to SJPP. You have time to find what suits to you.
I'll stay two days in Santiago and in Finisterra what I recommend to you.
Return from Santiago is better because they have airport so it can be used to return to Madrid.

Bota :)

Please send me your plan. Thank you. BabsF444
 
I don't know where you are coming from but non-Europeans are allowed 90 days on a Schengen Area (a group of EU countries) visa upon entry. My last trip was on a one way ticket, I've heard different things about that lately. However, I had no problem filling in all 90 days of my visa, most of it in Spain. In fact, I was over my visa by one day but thanfully im igration didn't notice. I travel super cheap so was able to stretch my money. I walked for about 50-53 days. Went slow, took in the sites walked to Muxia AND Finisterre in that order. Ended up in Valencia and Barcelona. Take as much time as you can. It's once in a lifetime for some.
 
35-42 probably. I did 26 days of walking from SJPdP to Santiago, plus 4 rest days... (mainly around my Birthday) then 3 days to Muxia, then 1 to Finesterre (36 total with travel days book-ending from Paris to SJPdP and Madrid at the other end). You might want 1 day to get acclimatized when you get to Saint Jean or Madrid... but man it's tough sitting around when you want to get out on your Camino.
 
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Now I'm trying to decide between starting the Camino around August 27th and finishing up at the end of September or beginning of October, or September 4th, which put put me finishing up mid October.
I'd like to avoid bringing a full sleeping bag, and of course avoid rain as much as possible.
 
Before you buy you're plane tickets, check out the "multi-city" or "open jaw" alternative. For the last five or six years I have been flying into Madrid and then on to a closer city for the start of my camino (Valencia, Bilbao, and Barcelona are the most recent) and then home from Santiago (transfer in Madrid). It usually doesn't add much at all to the cost of the basic round trip ticket to Madrid and it saves a lot of time. Of course you may want to spend time in Madrid before flying home but if not you can leave Santiago early in the morning, transfer to the international flight in Madrid and be home that night. And if you miss a connection, if it's all on one ticket, the airline will take care of rebooking you.
 
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Before you buy you're plane tickets, check out the "multi-city" or "open jaw" alternative. For the last five or six years I have been flying into Madrid and then on to a closer city for the start of my camino (Valencia, Bilbao, and Barcelona are the most recent) and then home from Santiago (transfer in Madrid). It usually doesn't add much at all to the cost of the basic round trip ticket to Madrid and it saves a lot of time. Of course you may want to spend time in Madrid before flying home but if not you can leave Santiago early in the morning, transfer to the international flight in Madrid and be home that night. And if you miss a connection, if it's all on one ticket, the airline will take care of rebooking you.
Thanks, but as I'm using frequent flyer miles I didn't have that many options.
I'm flying into and out of Madrid. I also want to bring more with me to Spain than just my backpack, so I'm going to find a hotel that will hold my luggage while I'm walking.
 
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If time is not an issue, I would calculate how long it will take you to walk the minimal amount you think will suit you, add in those travel days and rest days, a few more days for Finisterre, get your total number...and then add a week.

You'll be very glad you did.
 
I ab
I like the idea of booking a room at Pensión Corazón Puro near Pamplona.
The owners pick you up in Pamplona, take you to their pensión, feed you dinner and breakfast in the morning, then drive you to Saint Jean Pied de Port.
http://www.corazonpuro.es/Enghome.html
I absolutely loved my stay at pension corazon puro. I even stayed there again after leaving Roncesvalles. reserve early...they fill up fast.
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
The first edition came out in 2003 and has become the go-to-guide for many pilgrims over the years. It is shipping with a Pilgrim Passport (Credential) from the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.

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