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  1. billmclaughlin

    Best route for French Camino

    No question but you should focus on the route that starts in Le Puy en Velay and leads to the Spanish border at Saint Jean Pied de Port. You’ll find lots of discussions by searching on this site about places to start and stop where there are train stations, difficulty of terrain, weather to...
  2. billmclaughlin

    St jean pied

    If you’d like to break your trip in London or get a good fare there, you can also use Ryan Air to reach Biarritz/Bayonne, though that service doesn’t exist all year round.
  3. billmclaughlin

    Camino French first two night & baggage weight

    Or spend your free day in Bayonne!
  4. billmclaughlin

    Suggestions for 10 days

    I can’t find that Malta-Madrid flight (what airline?) but once you fly Malta-Rome you have lots of options.
  5. billmclaughlin

    Suggestions for 10 days

    If ease of getting to and from the end points is important, where you are spending the rest of your trip makes a big difference. Do you have a plan for that yet? (I’m thinking why not the Le Puy route in France?)
  6. billmclaughlin

    Accomodation St Jean Pied de Port

    A half day, even if tired from travel or jet-lagged, is more than enough time to explore every nook and cranny of SJPP. To relax before starting your camino, Biarritz/Bayonne is far more entertaining and equally stress-free.
  7. billmclaughlin

    Newbie

    Starting your camino where?
  8. billmclaughlin

    Bayonne hotel booking

    If you’re in Bayonne at lunchtime, the scene at the restaurants around the university is a delightful madhouse. I’ve yet to explore Biarritz but have found Bayonne just right for decompression. Riverside walks and quite a variety of streetscapes. I did a daytrip to the resort town of St Jean de...
  9. billmclaughlin

    Looking for the Cheapest budget, tips

    Or you needn’t start at SJPP. If you have a commitment to starting there, then by all means do so. (I did, so I understand that sort of personal commitment.) But if you’re just starting from SJPP because that’s the done thing or how your guide works, then why not reconsider?
  10. billmclaughlin

    Starting the Camino in Nice

    I spent a few days on the Arles route a few years ago (started from Montpellier at the end of April) and I had it pretty much all to myself. I quickly abandoned it for the wonderful and far more social Le Puy route.
  11. billmclaughlin

    Thinking of doing Frances - Salvador - Primitvo

    I like these answers! My next hike will I hope be the Salvador- Primitivo combination, starting in Léon and ending in Santiago. I've yet to look closely but felt that I should allow 3 weeks. I too enjoy the social aspects, but generally find new friends day by day so that after a week or so...
  12. billmclaughlin

    Places to start a Camino Pilgrimage

    Try telling people climbing up out of Cahors or Conques that they're strolling! The Le Puy route has plenty of challenging terrain that interrupts the strolling.
  13. billmclaughlin

    Places to start a Camino Pilgrimage

    Yes, Le Puy. Then about four weeks to the Spanish border and another five to Santiago. Add a few rest days and a few on either end to prepare and recover.
  14. billmclaughlin

    Post Camino Question- Route from Cacabelos to Villefranca

    I skipped the vineyards because it was cool and early morning on the highway and my priority that day was the variant after Villafranca, which I expected to be quite challenging. (Not the Dragonte, the comparatively easy variant that descends into Trabadelo.) In the end that variant proved...
  15. billmclaughlin

    Mass time in Santiago?

    I found the evening Mass at 7:30 the better experience on October 12. It was a feast day so we had a bishop and the botafumeiro, but even without those details I preferred it to the midday crowd scene with streams of people prowling the aisles. In the evening every seat was taken and there were...
  16. billmclaughlin

    Cruz de Ferro photographs please

    Different atmosphere.
  17. billmclaughlin

    (Too) busy in October? Or quietly (again)?

    I did not attack older guy. Nor did I bully him. I used his post to underscore my original point. He's found a wonderful way to combine his Camino with the Holy Year of Mercy. I've been addressing an issue of fact relative to the relationship between the Holy Year of Mercy and the Camino. No...
  18. billmclaughlin

    (Too) busy in October? Or quietly (again)?

    Not only am I right technically (as you put it), I am right. One could as easily earn multiple indulgences while touring Bavaria by car or making efficient use of your time ashore on a Mediterranean cruise. The Holy Year of Mercy is neither Camino-centric nor Camino-specific.
  19. billmclaughlin

    (Too) busy in October? Or quietly (again)?

    For the thousandth time, it is not a Santiago Holy Year any more than it's a Holy Year worldwide. Any "benefit" sought in Santiago can be found in many a cathedral closer to your home. The Holy Year of Mercy is not pilgrimage-centric.
  20. billmclaughlin

    Those Dreary Urban Settings....

    Everyone makes one's own camino. Except, apparently, when someone feels like preaching. Maybe I'm tired of reading someone else complain about someone else's complaint about.... [Live from the Camino, Carrión de los Condes]

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