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Camino de Santiago from my home (Italy + France + Spain)

MatteJa

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
09/2015: Camino Francés (from Ponferrada to Finisterre)

06/2016: planning to finish the Camino Francés (from SJPDP to Ponferrada)
Hello beautiful people. I am writing here to ask you an advice: Next summer I would like to walk from my home (Turin - ITALY) to Santiago, I am already planning the route so if anyone of you did something similar, any info about walking/camping in France is worth its weight in gold to me.

I walked the camino francés twice from SJ to Finisterre, and la Via de la Plata one time. I quickly became addicted to this "lifestyle", o sea, working during the year to save money to use during 2 months in summer and walk. The camino frances doesnt really attract me too much, was a good starting point, but now I feel it is a bit too well known for what I need, so I dont think I will ever walk it again.

La Via de la Plata offered me what I wanted: peace , but also many etapas were quite boring after a while, it doesn't offer so much to see compared to Frances in my opinion.

Now I was thinking to either walk la Via Francigena (from Gran San Bernardo to Rome) or from my home and then France and then Camino del Norte to Santiago.

Francigena is self explanatory, while my improvised route would be something like:
1) from Turin (Italy) to Montgenévre (France) ç 110km
2) in France get the GR 653D from Montgenévre to Arles ç 403km
3) from Arles to Carcassonne via "Canal du Midi" ç 288km
4) then from Carcassonne get the GR 78 till Biarritz ç 535km
5) from there just get to Irun (Spain) and start the Camino del Norte.

I there any place in France I have to visit?
Is it possible to camp in France? If not, how strict are the rangers there?
Should I change the route? Are there better routes in France?
ANy other consideration?


Thank you very much.

-Jack
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
Alternative you could use the Arles Route backwards and cross the Pyrenees at the Somport Pass and then the Camino Aragones to Puente la Reina. If you can time your arrival in Spain late fall/autumn/winter walking the CF isn't stressful. Buen Camino, SY
 
Thank you SYates for your reply! I was actually thinking about following the GR78 till Lourdes, then heading south to the Parc national des Pyrènèes and crossing the border doing the Somport Pass to Jaca and then Aragones. I may end up doing it if I have time because I got told the part Lourdes -to- Biarritz is not so charming, excluding some churches and monasteries, but I am more interested in landscape and nature.

In Spain I have already decided to walk the camino del norte, because is the only part of Spain I haven0t been to and it looks amazing :)
 
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For the section Montgenevre -Arles you can find all details on path and accomodations on the FFRP Guide (in french) for GR 653D
 
Grazie Giorgio!! :)
 
Hello, Jack

Spring is almost here! Yesterday I heard a flock of cranes calling each other as they migrated overhead. How are your plans coming along?

Hello beautiful people.....
...my improvised route would be something like:
1) from Turin (Italy) to Montgenévre (France) ç 110km
2) in France get the GR 653D from Montgenévre to Arles ç 403km
3) from Arles to Carcassonne via "Canal du Midi" ç 288km
4) then from Carcassonne get the GR 78 till Biarritz ç 535km
5) from there just get to Irun (Spain) and start the Camino del Norte.

I there any place in France I have to visit?
Is it possible to camp in France? If not, how strict are the rangers there?
Should I change the route? Are there better routes in France?
ANy other consideration?

Thank you very much.

-Jack
What a grand hike you have planned. Your improvised route passes through many places of beauty and historical significance. There will be much to see! Aside from the flat sections from before Arles to Carcassonne, each of these trails has its physical challenges. You will have a great deal of solitude.

*I have followed some of the trails you mention in the opposite direction, from Carcassonne via Montgenévre and Turin to Bari. From Arles I chose the GR 653D rather than the Via Francigena because I had heard that the VF had a great deal of road walking. I prefer paths and trails.

My trail notes: GR 653D (Updated, 2018)
Resource: GR 653D Arles - Montgenévre I have included a few sites to see.

*The GR 78: I hiked this route one May from Carcassonne to Oloron Ste Marie then via the Somport Pass to Puente la Reina. The scenery was splendid and the trails strenuous. There were wild orchids and butterflies along the trail and an abundance of poppies, herbs and flowering grasses. The meadows were verdant and the hillsides noisy with bird song. There were few pilgrims along the trail.

*Biarritz to Hendaye: it is possible to follow the river l'Adour from Bayonne to the coast then on to Biarritz. From there one can follow Le Sentier Littoral, a coastal trail all the way to Hendaye. It is beautiful. There are camping grounds along the coast -wild camping is forbidden.

Le Sentier Littoral: Bidart to Saint-Jean-de-Luz: and Saint-Jean-de-Luz to Hendaye

Happy planning!
Lovingkindness
 
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