Brindisi to Santiago

[David Edmond]

I am currently planning a camino from Brindisi in Southern Italy to Santiago de Compostela. I am preferring the adriatic route and wondered if this route is way marked and if anyone has experience of this route.

I also want to find out more about the accommodation.

I look forward to hearing your replies.

Many Thanks,
David

 

[JabbaPapa]

I'd suggest not following the Adriatic route, as it will be too lonely, and although it is perhaps more beautiful, you would divorce yourself for too long from most pilgrims.

I'd suggest first the pilgrimage to Rome, then Rome to Santiago -- via Assisi, Saint Maximin, Arles, Lourdes, SJPP, &c.

From Brindisi to Rome you'll be very alone most likely, but from there on after you'll encounter the occasional other Pilgrim, as well as having a lot more organised support for your journey.

The loneliness will be hard, but its end will be as shocking as it will be rewarding.

I'd suggest from Brindisi asking the parish priest to give you the Pilgrim's Blessing at the Holy Mass, immediately prior to departure, and start walking from the Altar, rather than from your hotel or wherever.

Altar to home is a good first stage !!!

 

[David Edmond]

Thank you jabbaPapa for your reply and advice
I will look into the possibilities of your suggestions
david

 

[AJ]

The Via Appia is the historical route. There is a guidebook in Italian and a website:
http://www.viefrancigenedelsud.it/en/

 

[David Edmond]

Thanks AJ
This info looks like it could be a big help
especially the map

 

[JabbaPapa]

From Brindisi to Rome you'll be very alone most likely

Oh --- actually, if you do it in 2016, that statement may not be true at all, because 2016 is a Roman Jubilee Year (similar to the Holy Years on the Camino), so you'd have a far better chance than usual of bumping into other foot Pilgrims on the Way to Rome.

 

[David Edmond]

Hi jabbapapa
Can not do 2016, have other commitments, has this is a once in a life time camino gives me plenty of time to plan

 

[lovingkindness]

Hello, David. You might consider following the beach and coastal roads between Bari and Monte Santangelo then picking up Il Camino de San Francesco (Rieti to Mont Santangelo = 500 kms) as far as some place close to Rieti, eg Pogio Bustone, before turning left along the Camino to Rome (Rome via Francigena/ San Francesco Rieti-Rome). It would require following a signed trail in reverse. There were no other pilgrims. I followed this route in the other direction on my way to Jerusalem, 2013-14. Here is a link to places where I slept or found help with accommodation:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/resources/italy-shelter-2013.320/

Cheers

 

[Kitsambler]

... it will be too lonely...

I'm not sure why one shies away from solitary walking. Time alone can be very good, as time for prayer and meditation is much easier to come by. Traveling alone is an entirely different experience from travel with a group or even with one other companion; local people will interact with you much more readily.

 

[mspath]

Kit is so right!

“The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.” – Henry David Thoreau

 

[JabbaPapa]

I'm not sure why one shies away from solitary walking. Time alone can be very good, as time for prayer and meditation is much easier to come by. Traveling alone is an entirely different experience from travel with a group or even with one other companion; local people will interact with you much more readily.

Been there and done that, but the fact remains that most hate it.

I view it as being something to accept if necessary, rather than to seek deliberately.

 

[lovingkindness]

...one is never entirely alone even when setting out solo. Every day there is someone to greet along the way. Sometimes I meet so many people in a day that by the end of a week I am drained. Silence and extended periods for contemplation are what I crave...

 

[mspath]

Although I usually walk alone I hardly ever feel lonely. Much of each day is spent in a chaotic mental mix of personal thanksgiving, worry over the weather or my gut, projected renovation/restoration of a multitude of wayside structures and, the far more social act of simply waving to those that pass by. These include other pilgrims, of course, but also dog walkers, police, bikers, farmers and especially lorry drivers. Such waves exchanged are silent gestures of our shared humanity.