5 days in Navarre, 5 days in Galicia Apr 2014?

[Food Baby]

Hi everyone,
We have about 10 days only unfortunately, and so I was thinking of the following itinerary to experience the start and end of the Camino.. is this doable, and a recommended way of spending around 10 days on the Camino Frances?

Day 1 Pamplona
Day 2 Puente La Reina
Day 3 Estella
Day 4 Los Arcos
Day 5 Logrono
catch overnight train to sarria
Day 6 rest day
Day 7 Portomarin
Day 8 Palas De Rei
Day 9 Ribadiso
Day 10 Pedrouzo
Day 11 Santiago

Also, if you were going to stop anywhere for a day, where would you recommend?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I don't think any of your day-end points is better than any other for stopping for a day. Stop when you are tired!

If you stopped in Sarria, you could take a taxi to Samos. There is a spectacular monastery there with afternoon tours, sometimes in English if you are lucky.

 

[Felipe]

You may consider doing instead Pamplona-Burgos (9 days, with an additional one to enjoy this lovely city). This alternative avoids the complication of a train, and gives you a day more for walking. Besides, after Pamplona you are going to meet people who become your friends, and the "social part" is specially likable in the Camino. You may come back other year to walk the Meseta or arrive to Compostela.

 

[oursonpolaire]

I frequently encounter people who only have a limited time and do not think that they will be doing the Camino more than once. I suggest to them that they will be coming back, and so they should do stage I (to Burgos) now, and complete it another time. However, if they really don't think that this is what they want to do (and they're wrong, or so I think), I suggest a division much as Food Baby has laid out. For a rest day, I usually suggest Estella, which is not overwhelming and does have things to look at, and gives people a breather after the first few adrenalin-charged days. But nothing beats stopping when you feel like it.

 

[qpqp]

Just my opinion, and I'm sure others would disagree, but I think the section from Sarria to Santiago is the least interesting part of the walk, and I'd opt for Pamplona to Burgos if I were you. Another alternative is to bus or take the train from Logrono to Leon and walk to Ponferrada. If you really want to do the last section then starting in Ponferrada is another alternative. Ponferrada is a large city and you should be able to get there easily by bus or train.