Camino is calling

[MAD4Life]

What a wonderful community and I haven't even begun Hi wonderful pilgrims. I am doing my first (longed for) mini-Camino, starting 1 May. I have to be back in the UK by 12 May and am really struggling to decide where to walk... where to begin and end... I need easy or do-able connections to London both sides and I am not keen on a busy route. I love the sound of San Salvadore - Leon to Oviedo - but it seems I would fly into Oviedo, take a bus to Leon only to pick up my pack and walk back the way I have just come - that doesn't feel right. I would so welcome any advice... and may the right Camino find me Thank you all for this amazing community. It is as welcoming as the journey itself.

 

[Davey Boyd]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Firstly, do you feel the need to end in Santiago? Or just happy walking a stretch of camino? Depending on this we can give better advice. (No need to end in Santiago unless you feel strongly about it).

However, for a first time I do recommend somewhere along the camino Frances. The Salvador while wonderful may not be best for your first taste. It is remote in places, harder than a lot of others, but more importantly can be lonely due to less pilgrims and even then they may not speak any English. Also the infrastructure is much less than the Frances (accommodation, cafe's etc).

Let us know, we are all happy to help in any way.

Happy planning!

Davey

 

[Jan_D]

Hi Mad4life and welcome to the forum! What a wonderful opening message

The Salvador is totally doable in the opposite direction (have done it myself), but it's only a 5-day walk, so maybe a bit short for your 11-day break... The Primitivo from Oviedo is similar terrain to the Salvador, although it would take around 13 days to reach Santiago. You could stop in Lugo, which is a wonderful town - this would be a 10-day walk from Oviedo, and then you could catch a bus to Santiago de Compostela (regular buses every hour, although it might be frustrating to get so close and not walk all the way!) However as you probably know Vueling does direct flights London-Oviedo, and Easyjet does flights Santiago-Gatwick, so this might work transport-wise.

If you're not too fussed about reaching Santiago, there are many wonderful 10-day stretches to recommend, and bus/train connections between cities are really good in Spain. As long as you're able to walk between "hubs", it shouldn't be too difficult getting to/from London as long as you set aside a day for travel on both ends. Anyway I'm sure loads of people will reply to this thread, so hope we don't leave you more confused than before you started!

 

[MAD4Life]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Firstly, do you feel the need to end in Santiago? Or just happy walking a stretch of camino? Depending on this we can give better advice. (No need to end in Santiago unless you feel strongly about it).

However, for a first time I do recommend somewhere along the camino Frances. The Salvador while wonderful may not be best for your first taste. It is remote in places, harder than a lot of others, but more importantly can be lonely due to less pilgrims and even then they may not speak any English. Also the infrastructure is much less than the Frances (accommodation, cafe's etc).

Let us know, we are all happy to help in any way.

Happy planning!

Davey

Thank you Davey... no I have no need to end in in Santiago. I am a wilderness guide used to walking in remote areas alone, in fact, my ideal would be to camp wild (under the stars) along the way (but I hear that, that is frowned upon and don't wish to offend any local customs and cultures). However, I am also very keen to be guided by those who know - I have no Spanish or Portugese and really struggle with languages so that is definitely a consideration for routes less traveled.

 

[MAD4Life]

Hi Mad4life and welcome to the forum! What a wonderful opening message

The Salvador is totally doable in the opposite direction (have done it myself), but it's only a 5-day walk, so maybe a bit short for your 11-day break... The Primitivo from Oviedo is similar terrain to the Salvador, although it would take around 13 days to reach Santiago. You could stop in Lugo, which is a wonderful town - this would be a 10-day walk from Oviedo, and then you could catch a bus to Santiago de Compostela (regular buses every hour, although it might be frustrating to get so close and not walk all the way!) However as you probably know Vueling does direct flights London-Oviedo, and Easyjet does flights Santiago-Gatwick, so this might work transport-wise.

If you're not too fussed about reaching Santiago, there are many wonderful 10-day stretches to recommend, and bus/train connections between cities are really good in Spain. As long as you're able to walk between "hubs", it shouldn't be too difficult getting to/from London as long as you set aside a day for travel on both ends. Anyway I'm sure loads of people will reply to this thread, so hope we don't leave you more confused than before you started!

Thank you so much! I have been eyeing out the Primitivo as an option and, if as you say, buses are frequent then that may just be the answer... it seems easiest in terms of the links to London.

 

[Davey Boyd]

I think the Primitivo is a good suggestion, it is certainly beautiful. Infrastructure is good too. Both Oviedo and Lugo are lovely towns too!

 

[Jan_D]

Thank you so much! I have been eyeing out the Primitivo as an option and, if as you say, buses are frequent then that may just be the answer... it seems easiest in terms of the links to London.

I just checked Easyjet (yes I have nothing better to do on a Friday night) and they have a flight on 11 May for €78 - they only fly on Wednesdays and Saturdays, how lucky! - so this might work. Seems Vueling have daily flights from London-Oviedo, so you could get there 31 April/ 1 May and start walking the next day.

Here's one of the bus companies that does the Lugo-Santiago route (I thought another company did the route - Monbus - but for some reason it's not coming up). There are also trains - but they go via A Coruna or Ourense, so take around 3 hours. Anyway here's some info to get you started on your Primitivo research - it's in Spanish but will give you an idea of the stages, maps, profile, accommodation, etc.

 

[walker_wisdom]

We had the same dilemma, around 2 weeks available from England. We looked at the Ingles (too short!), the Norte (Northern) and Primitivo, and seriously considered the Primitivo, but discounted it for three reasons: rain, less coastline and too much freeway walking.

We spent some time exploring different paths, blogs, maps and even used Google street view to follow some of paths. Importantly, we needed to pick where we were flying to and book, quickly. Porto was a direct flight from London, just under two weeks walk from Santiago and we could be near the ocean.

We picked the Camino Portuguese, but here we were faced with three more choices, the Camino Portuguese is simple until Porto (Portugal’s second largest city), where the Camino splits into three ways: the central, the coastal (the da Costa) and the literal coastal path (the Senda Litoral). We chose the Senda Litoral but all the Portuguese options looked great.

 

[MAD4Life]

We had the same dilemma, around 2 weeks available from England. We looked at the Ingles (too short!), the Norte (Northern) and Primitivo, and seriously considered the Primitivo, but discounted it for three reasons: rain, less coastline and too much freeway walking.

We spent some time exploring different paths, blogs, maps and even used Google street view to follow some of paths. Importantly, we needed to pick where we were flying to and book, quickly. Porto was a direct flight from London, just under two weeks walk from Santiago and we could be near the ocean.

We picked the Camino Portuguese, but here we were faced with three more choices, the Camino Portuguese is simple until Porto (Portugal’s second largest city), where the Camino splits into three ways: the central, the coastal (the da Costa) and the literal coastal path (the Senda Litoral). We chose the Senda Litoral but all the Portuguese options looked great.

Thank

 

[MAD4Life]

Thank you for your consideration.....very seful. I am definitely nervous for the reason and the temperature.... and I love the v ocean but have decided that it is time to meet my mountain self so am going to stick with the Primitivo.

I just checked Easyjet (yes I have nothing better to do on a Friday night) and they have a flight on 11 May for €78 - they only fly on Wednesdays and Saturdays, how lucky! - so this might work. Seems Vueling have daily flights from London-Oviedo, so you could get there 31 April/ 1 May and start walking the next day.

Here's one of the bus companies that does the Lugo-Santiago route (I thought another company did the route - Monbus - but for some reason it's not coming up). There are also trains - but they go via A Coruna or Ourense, so take around 3 hours. Anyway here's some info to get you started on your Primitivo research - it's in Spanish but will give you an idea of the stages, maps, profile, accommodation, etc.

Thank you!! if you have more time you could actually join me