camino advice

[epop]

Hi,

I am debating walking the camino from burgos - santiago in the next few weeks and have a few questions before I make a final decision:
1) is this too late notice, does walking the camino require more than a few weeks planning time?
2) what is the infrastructure like on the camino in March / April - is everything open?
3) can walk from burgos to santiago in three weeks? I know it depends on pace but how long did it take people to complete that stretch?
4) finally, I am a young female travelling alone so safety is a concern - any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

 

[Deleted member 43985]

Welcome to the forum, epop!

Sure, if you are in moderately good physical condition (or better) you should have little trouble walking from Burgos to SDC in three weeks. I wouldn't call myself a poster boy for physical health and managed in 34 days from SJPDP. You have one rather large hill to climb but other than that, it's a very pleasant walk but could be pretty wet so good to plan accordingly for that! While not all Albergues will be open there will be more than enough open to find a bed as there will be less Pilgrims there too. Bars, restaurants and tiendas will be there to provide food, coffee and vine. As for your last question of safety, I think yes but I am the opposite demographic so think answers that will follow from other women may be more meaningful. You can use the search bar in the top right corner as there have been several others who have asked this questions in recent months.
Buen Camino!
Jordon

 

[Bradypus]

If you have no ties at home or work which need time to sort out then you do not need to plan far in advance. For my last Camino Frances I made my decision to walk on a Sunday, booked my travel that day, and started walking on the Wednesday. So early in the year you should have little problem in finding accommodation along the way.

Some of the albergues may not be open until the beginning of April but many will be. Certainly enough to make walking possible. You should be able to take advice from hospitaleros about which albergues are open further along the camino.

It is about 500km from Burgos to Santiago. That makes an average of about 23km per day. I think that if you are reasonably fit that should not be a problem in three weeks. I have walked it twice myself in less time than that. Just remember that the 23 km per day is an average - you may have to walk some longer days in the flat easy stages to make up for shorter and more difficult days elsewhere due to terrain, weather, injury or illness.

 

[Reija]

Hi,

I am debating walking the camino from burgos - santiago in the next few weeks and have a few questions before I make a final decision:
1) is this too late notice, does walking the camino require more than a few weeks planning time?
4) finally, I am a young female travelling alone so safety is a concern - any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

I'll go ahead and answer numbers one and four. 1) I walked my first camino basically without any preparations. And it was totally OK. From Burgos to Santiago you'll find as many people you only want to walk with you and the route is so terribly well marked you won't need any information, maps or guidebooks. I did have a basic guidebook with me and when the initial physical shock was over I actually quite enjoyed reading some extra information on the route and each village, church etc.

2) Early mornings I'd walk with someone! I walked with my daughter last summer and somewhere after Burgos we realized we were very lonely if we left early. We had no problems but it wasn't a comfortable feeling when you saw or heard no other pilgrims anywhere.

 

[Stivandrer]

Can be done in 21 days, yes,
safety - always an issue for female travellers, but some places it will be thick w people, so stick to sb and you will be fine..

 

[nycwalking]

As stated earlier, if you are fairly fit you do not need much preparation. Do make certain your footwear is comfortable and in good condition and pack is okay. As a female, who walked alone March 2014, I felt safe. Even spent a lone night in an albergue, and another with only one male pilgrim: no problems. Infrastructure is nearly up and running at 100 per cent late March early April.
Buen camino.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I am a young female travelling alone so safety is a concern - any thoughts on this?

Six dozen threads on safety can be accessed through this forum page:
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/forums/personal-safety.162/

 

[piggyhinton]

Hi,

I am debating walking the camino from burgos - santiago in the next few weeks and have a few questions before I make a final decision:
1) is this too late notice, does walking the camino require more than a few weeks planning time?
2) what is the infrastructure like on the camino in March / April - is everything open?
3) can walk from burgos to santiago in three weeks? I know it depends on pace but how long did it take people to complete that stretch?
4) finally, I am a young female travelling alone so safety is a concern - any thoughts on this?

Thanks!

Have no safety fears, if you want you can go tomorrow, planning is easy, you are in Spain not outer Mongolia! Buen Camino

 

[Bradypus]

Have no safety fears, if you want you can go tomorrow, planning is easy, you are in Spain not outer Mongolia! Buen Camino

My wife is on a train from Moscow to Ulaanbaatar at this very moment. Should reach there on Tuesday. That took a LOT of organization and a pretty steep amount of money to arrange. I can say for sure that it is much cheaper and simpler to walk the Camino instead