Camino from Dublin in September

[Mos90]

Hello, I'm embarking on my very first Camino from Dublin, and will be due to arrive in Santiago airport on 24th September. I hope to walk for 7-9 days for my first Camino and am looking for recommendations on where to start from. Outside of booking flights (which was done very spontaneously 'Just bite the bullet'), I have very little research or preparation done and am looking for insights! Thanks in advance

 

[John Finn]

https://carrigmanblog.wordpress.com/2013/09/28/camino-de-santiago-sarria-to-santiago/

 

[Fletchonides]

Hi and welcome from a fellow Dubliner. The answer is 'It Depends'.
Biggest question is is this the first of several trips, or do you want to finish something in this trip?
If you want to finish in that time, then you should fly into Santiago, get some transportation out to where you can walk from and head back in. O Cebreiro might be a good starting point; its a little further out than the required 100km.

What we did was to treat our first week two years ago as the start of our Camino, so we started the French way in St. Jean Pied de Port, and we walked to Pamplona. You would probably get further than we did as we only did 4 days walking.

From Dublin, we flew Ryanair to Biarritz, then got Express Bourricot shuttle to St. Jean ( there is also a train, but others will know the timing of that better.
From Pamplona we got 2 buses back to Biarritz. Transport timings somewhat determine how long you need at the start and end to get there and back, and how many walking days you will have.

 

[whariwharangi]

Start from the end of the runway where the camino goes around. Go to Fisterra and Muxia then back to Santiago.

 

[Fletchonides]

Hello, I'm embarking on my very first Camino from Dublin, and will be due to arrive in Santiago airport on 24th September.

So I read your post properly after I replied. If you're flying into Santiago, then starting the French Way is not a good option. O Cebreiro is 154k out, Ponferrada is about 207k, so it depends on your level of fitness and how much you might want to walk each day.

 

[Mos90]

I'm spending 12 days on my Camino, and would be hoping to do part of the final portion of Camino, ending in Santiago. Ideally, I would love to s Finnesterre if time allowed for this. This may be ambitious and something I'd have to leave until another time, or catch a bus to Finnistere instead of walking to save time and spend more days on Camino pre-Santiago. I've been advised not to 'over-plan', as there's no predicting how far I'll walk each day etc, especially as it's my first time embarking on anything like this. I suppose my main query is how likely is it that, as a female solo traveller, I'll be able to just 'wing it' when I land. What's public transport like to start points once I land in Santiago and how much planning to experienced pilgrims feel is necessary??