Andaspain

[Chocoluvr]

First time in the Camino & traveling alone so I want to join an organized group doing the last 100km of the Camino Frances. Am considering booking with Andaspain Walking Adventures. Has anyone used this company? Any feedback about it? Thanks!

 

[SYates]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Most people here on this forum 'do their own Camino' even and especially the first timers. Before spending a lot of money with any organizer, I would encourage you to read a bit through the forum here and then asking any remaining questions you might still have. Walking a Camino organized by others means giving up a lot of your freedom, you are basically told where to sleep and eat in exchange for somebody organizing everything for you, including your backpack transport. Plus the cost and also, if you don't get along with the other members of your group, you are still stuck with them.

The last 100km on the CF are very busy, so not much chance that you will be alone anyway ;-) Think about it.

Buen Camino, SY

 

[Antonius Vaessen]

I agree totally with SYates. I would like to add that travelling in organised groups not only will influence your own Camino in a negative way but also can be a disturbance for other walkers for instance by claiming room in albergues, campsites and so on. Sometimes an organised group has a big influence on the atmosphere in communal rooms ( most of the times I don't like that)
Whatever you choose I wish you a Buen Camino that will offer you everything that you hope and expect to find.

 

[jsalt]

I don’t know Andaspain, so cannot answer your question, but I just looked at their website, and the price appears to be 1,400 euros for 6 nights. Plus another 400 euros single supplement. Is this correct? If so, it is ridiculously high and I would suggest you shop around some more.
Jill

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Please hang around the Forum for a while, read through threads, buy a guide book or two and see how very easy it is to walk without giving your hard earned money to a company that really ads very little valued, in fact can greatly reduce your experience by tying you to a schedule, and putting you up in hotels and lensiones where you will be isolated from other walkers.

And while at it, perhaps you can be convinced to walk something else than the last 100km from Sarria which have become a bit of a circus?

My first question would be: how important is earning a Compostela?

 

[Antonius Vaessen]

If the prices jsaltmentionsmentions are correct this really is ridiculous. In another forum someone said about expensive organised groupcaminos that these organisations "exploit (abuse) the uncertainties of people"
I think that that is very well said.

 

[C clearly]

We've had threads on this topic in the past that have gone downhill very quickly. When someone asks a fair question like this, we should give fair answers with useful information, which is how this thread started. Respectful opinions are fine, but it isn't necessary or fair to accuse such services of abusing people, or accuse those people of being a disturbance to others!

 

[Former member 60103]

One thing is for sure however you walk your Camino you will not be alone in that final 100 klm's. That last section is about 4 days walking with the final night in Santiago. There is plenty of places to stay although I left it late one time and added klm's to the day to the next hostel.
Being honest with yourself about what brings you to the Camino and what you expect from it including what you can give back to it , will be your guide. The only thing I would say about the guided/assisted trips is that I believe pilgrims walking this way lose out on the experience. Being a solitary pilgrim does not mean you are an anti-social one. It means you have time to think, time to choose your own pace, the freedom to walk with others and share their experience and the freedom to decide where you stop the night and who you share a meal with. For me travelling in this way carrying my own pack and having the freedom to interact with people as and when is what the experience is about. I don't doubt that some people do not or are not able to carry their packs, plan their own camino or simply prefer to walk in a group organised or otherwise. If that is for them then fair enough, each to his/her own.
Good Luck, opening yourself out to your Camino however you choose to do it will be reward and challenge enough - until you decide to do another one !
Buen Camino.
Don.

 

[jsalt]

First time in the Camino & traveling alone so I want to join an organized group doing the last 100km of the Camino Frances.

Hi forum members, I think it would be more helpful to the OP to answer the actual query. @Chocoluvr says she wants to join an organized group doing the last 100 kms, and would like recommendations on a particular outfit.

I think the one she is looking at is too expensive – maybe because they stay at really upmarket establishments.

I, myself, will be leading an organized group from my local rambling club later this year. Most of them have never been out of the country before, most of them are devout Christians, they want so much to experience the camino, but there is no way they can go it alone . . .

. . . so I have offered to take them. The OP probably doesn’t have that option. The difference between my group and the OP is that I can organize it all at cost price . . . and we are already good friends . I am hoping that, for the 3 weeks they are with me, they will see how easy it is, and one day go back alone . . . . and do their own camino.
Jill

 

[Chocoluvr]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. I waited for a while to post again as I wasn't sure what to say. Thanks to jsalt and C clearly for understanding that I asked for help on a tour company, not on how to do my Camino de Santiago. I respect that everyone has his/her own reasons to do it in one way or another, so I hope others also respect my reasons. I also believe, and wish that I won't be proven wrong, that however one does the Camino de Santiago is a personal choice and does not diminish the experience that one wants or expects.

In any case, I still believe that a forum like this is very helpful and am grateful for all the posters who've shared their experience and information. I hope to give back here after I've done my Camino de Santiago.