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Plenty of English speakers as others have said on the Frances. In addition to having simple greetings, knowing what your favourite drink / breakfast words are and a big cheerful smile with hand gestures go a long way! Making effort no, matter how bad is respectful. You will be fine. I would...
I see a 2022 review of it on WisePilgrim, but I don't see that name listed on the current WisePilgrim app, nor on Gronze. My FindPenguins entry from Sep 2023 says I stayed at the Albergue Camino Primitivo, a private albergue that is listed on both. Last year, base price was the usual 15€...
There's one very interesting stage that seems to be sacrificed in the enthusiasm to embrace @peregrina2000 's start to the Invierno. You would miss the dramatic approach to Las Medulas - from Villavieja to Orellan and the Galerías, approaching the town of Las Medulas from that direction. (The...
I found an amazing walk going up to the Mirador de Orellan over the roman mines of Las Medulas from Villavieja. The path is almost good but not marked. I talk with a Canadian pilgrim some days before starting the Invierno and he showed me a camino app with this route. I think it was wise...
Firstly, I have used John Brierley guides since my first Camino in circa 2010, and have always had the height of respect and appreciation for the guides and their contribution to making Camino’s possible for a wider community. As an aside, I am also proud that was is a fellow Irishman. I put my...
Thanks to everyone for their feedback on the San Juan de Ortega parroquial -- the good, the bad and the ugly. I think I have a pretty good sense of what to expect -- much better than what I was getting from the Gronze and WisePilgrim reviews. As for the surrounding villages -- last October...
The wisepilgrim app - when you download maps shows you where you are. There is a few places where it could be tricky but the signage is good the regular way. You will also see some pilgrims! I met a few folks walking “back” to Porto on the coastal Portuguese. The pinch point of Armenteira...
What about shortening the previous day to even out the stages a bit?
Instead of the Gronze stages:
Médulas - O Barco de Valdeorras (27.2km)
O Barco - A Rúa de Valdeorras (12km)
How about:
Médulas - Sobradelo (19km)
Sobradelo - A Rúa de Valdeorras (20.2km)
Gronze lists two accommodation...
@4848, welcome to the forum
The Primitivo is easily doable in 20 - 25km stages, although do remember that it's 320km long, which is an average of 22.5km per day assuming you walk every one of your 14 days. It's well worth considering making your first day or two slightly shorter (20 km) and...
Whilst in Samos I met a few pilgrims who had started in SJDPP who all said it had rained almost every day and they had trouble finding beds.
Yesterday morning I left about 8 to find a heavy drizzle that soon turned to rain and I needed my poncho.
I wanted to take the turn to avoid the road to...
ah yes, you are right about the GPS on the phone, I was somehow thinking of the professional GPS they use for trekking in the mountains and yes I will download all of the content, thanks for the reminder!
Yes, it's totally possible. I walked this same combo Camino in 2016, using only Dave Whitson's Cicerone guide as I knew nothing about any apps at that time. I did not really like his maps as well as the easy to read, juvenile looking Brierley maps, but Dave's content was excellent.
Yes, that's how I did it last year. And it's not true that you have no gps. Gronze maps, WisePilgrim, and Buen Camino all use your phone's gps. Make sure that you download all of the content on the apps.
Hello!
I will start my first Camino at the beginning of June 2024 and plan to start my month-long journey from Bilbao walking roughly 2 weeks on Camino Del Norte and then switching to Camino Del Primitivo later on.
My question is this:
Is it good enough for navigation (I'm taking no paper...
April 17, 2024 Via de Plata, day 2
Around mid-morning we passed an enormous ruined wall in the distance, which went down to the river and would have enclosed a sizeable fortress. It must have been the Castillo de Castrotorafe mentioned in the WisePilgrim guide.
Yes it is colder but as I am sure you know once you begin to walk within minutes you warm up. I would say when there is alot of snow on the ground if you are on paths that are really rocky try to find a parallel road that is nearby. For example the walk down from Cruz de Faro. Definitely have...
In general, one of the nice things about a Camino is that it doesn’t absolutely require a lot of preparation. Once you've read the threads that others are pointing you to above, you'll see that some have had magical experiences just showing up. All you really need is a passport and bank/credit...
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