Despite who's more spontaneous, in the past you did not have to reserve beds, even on busy caminos. Today you better be prepared to book ahead. In order to have the option of no reservations you have to choose the appropriate route and season and hope for the best with a Plan B of booking
I never made a reservation pre-covid and always found a place to stay - six caminos. Post-covid - two caminos - I often felt like a travel agent attached to my phone.
I leave soon for another camino and I have chosen routes which required some planning beforehand and presumably little to no...
The "new normal" is not necessarily bad but is was better when you could just walk until you found a place you liked. Somedays you'd walk 20km and other 35km, you did know which distance until you were underway. That was really nice, no phone required.
I have also seen the changes in the camino over the years, especially close to Santiago de Compostela. Unfortunately, I see SdC and Finisterre have become equivalent to a Disneyland without rides. I simply adjust my routes and avoid all the OP observations.
Riding from Lisbon to Porto in October will be really nice. I went in Sept of 2016 and we encountered very few people and no one else on bicycles until we got to Porto. There were no particularly tough sections. There are climbs but nothing that bothered me a bit and I was carrying about 25...
I've had two neuromas surgically removed. On bad days, it felt like broken glass inside my foot, good days just rocks in my shoe. Try wider shoes first and the fine tuned metatarsal pad placement.
Go Hawkeye go! I'm excited for you and slightly jealous I don't have an imminent accomplishment just days ahead. A few days after SdC you'll wish you were back in SJJP again
My daughter walked the CP with me when she was 16. She was eager to go and four years later wishes she had the free time to walk another camino. After she graduates, her future will include caminos as well as other adventures.
She has an iPhone, tiktok, instagram, and she dealt with covid...
If prefer flats when travelling because I carry less and I am not in a hurry. If you want to ride Porto to SdC in a couple of days then cleats and clipless pedals would be preferred.
Pre-covid: I never booked ahead and always found a bed. I walked as long or short as the day provided - dependent upon weather, terrain, legs, and/or mood. Finding a bed in the next village never entered my mind until I got there. I always end up in a nice groups of people and none of us...
I have a few things in common with you: I was a sw engineer for 25 years, I was raised by my German father but in the US, I have many relatives in Lower Saxony whom I spend time with, and I have walked the French route among some other routes.
I had four SW jobs but spent most of my 25 years at...
I use Sea to Summit brand liquid laundry soap for hand washing clothes. A 89 ML bottle of this lasts an entire Camino. For body and hair I use whatever bar soap I find in the store along the route.
My wife on the other hand, packs about 5 kilos of clothes and sleeping bag and another 5 kilos...
Our ride was mostly on the road alongside cars, especially south of Porto. We rode dirt roads and cobbles as well, rode a very short section original roman cobbles too. Best estimate of 90% may have been 70% but by and large we were rolling fast and smooth on black top.
Wide gravel or...
My experience with cycling safety in Portugal is that the drivers are really aggressive towards pedestrians but kind to cyclists. I felt that the Portuguese people in general were supportive of our cycling journey and efforts.
When approaching Porto we got lost and a local cyclist put us on...
The boardwalks are on the first day out of Porto and are not long from a cycling perspective. I recall the time on the boardwalks to be less than an hour and very sandy. It was a rainy day in September so there were not many people out.
Riding from Lisbon, this is the first day on the beach...
This site is run by Ivar at in Santiago de Compostela.
This site participates in the Amazon Affiliate program, designed to provide a means for Ivar to earn fees by linking to Amazon