Buying guides on my way to Santiago

[Progresso]

For my preparation of my tour I have bought several guides. I will start in the South of Germany (Lindau) and then through Switzerland, France and Spain were I most likely will take the Camino Primitivo.

I have bought the German version from the Outdoor series, the Via Podiensis and Camino Primitivo and a French booklet. I have made copies of all the pages and stored in on my smartphone. I want to leave the booklets at home, because all together their weight is almost 500gr, fat too heavy too take it all my way.

However, I was just wondering whether in the larger cities like St. Jean-Pied-de-Port, Leon, Le-Puy-en-Velay it is possible to find these guides in a bookstore.

Just carrying one booklet per route seems to be more comfortable than using a smartphone and a batterypack.

Looking forward to your ideas and suggestions

 

[nycwalking]

No suggestions. Just walk enjoy. Looks like you will be out for a long lovely pilgrimage.

 

[Felipe]

I did not see a bookshop in SJPP (which is more a larger village than a city), but there are many places selling trinkets, cell cards, snacks and booklets in Avenue Charles de Gaulle (that is the main commercial street, just outside the old city, you can't miss it).
As for Leon, it is a big city, and there are shops selling pilgrim stuff near the cathedral.
On the other side, I can't speak of Podiensis, but you don't really need a guide in the Camino Frances. It is almost excessively signposted. And (apart from winter), you will be in a long line of walkers most of the time.
Buen camino!

 

[mspath]

In SJPdP on the rue de La Citadelle which is the camino the shop La Boutique du Pelerin has a good selection of the basic guide books. You can always email them with a particular request. Here is their web.

Buen camino!

 

[SYates]

When I walked in 2014 from Prague to Santiago, I bought only the first guide beforehand and the following ones 'en route' and it worked well that way. Buen Camino, SY

 

[Progresso]

@SYates, this was exactly the answer I was looking for. For the camino Frances I haven't prepared anything. To be very honest, I am worried this will the most dissapointing part of my Camino. Already cut a part of it by taking the primitivo which to me looks like a very beautyful track. I already moved my date to start with a month, just to avoid this cluttered camino Frances.