Camino Primitivo guide

[cnris]

I'm planning walking the Camino Primitivo in Spring 2017. Can anyone advise the best guide book for me?
I hope you can help.
Christopher

 

[Smallest_Sparrow]

I'm planning walking the Camino Primitivo in Spring 2017. Can anyone advise the best guide book for me?
I hope you can help.
Christopher

This is very subjective but I used and liked the one from the Confraternity of St. James
Buen Camino
(and be sure to tell everyone how terrible it was: Primitivo....keep the secret)
http://www.csj.org.uk/

 

[Anemone del Camino]

I like the one by Editorial Buen Camino, in Spanish. In English there's the one published by Cicerone. The German guide edited by Rother is super convienient because of its size and has fabulous maps.

 

[NualaOC]

I'm on the Primitivo at the moment and using the Editorial Buen Camino guide. It's in Spanish, but you don't need to be fluent to understand it.

My husband has the TrekRight Camino Primitivo app on his phone. We don't use it all the time, but it has been really helpful any time we were a little unsure of where to go.

Happy planning and Buen Camino!

 

[Stephen Nicholls]

I'm planning walking the Camino Primitivo in Spring 2017. Can anyone advise the best guide book for me?
I hope you can help. Christopher

Let the forum know if you find a good one, Christopher.
My plan is to walk the Primitivo next April/May.
Buen camino, amigo!

 

[timr]

I used Cicerone. It's a wee bit heavy because it covers several routes. I didn't especially like the layout of maps, but it's quite good on background info. The author is on this forum. Dave? Someone will supply that info for me. I used CSJ too. The layout a tad confusing, but lots of info.

Edit: I have added another below.

 

[handzondeck2]

I'm planning walking the Camino Primitivo in Spring 2017. Can anyone advise the best guide book for me?
I hope you can help.
Christopher

Hi Chris I'm walking the Camino Primitivo in May next year. I have been relying on forum posts, checking out the http://www.gronze.com/ and http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/los-caminos-de-santiago/primitivo/ (13 etapas in total from Oviedo to Santiago) for information. The websites give you a rough profile and distance of each etapa along with albergues (contact numbers, etc) so you should be able to make up some sort of guide and download to your iPod or phone. The eroski.com webiste is in spanish though. Be sure to check them out.

 

[alaskadiver]

Liz Brandt's Combined Guide here in the Resources section is what I'm using to plan for next May. Along with Gronze and Eroski. Liz's guide has 13 stages but we're doing it in 14 so we can take our time.

I've also downloaded the app from Editorial Buen Camino and have been reading through that website today. I'm so glad I'm Hispanic and can read Spanish my husband is glad too since he doesn't.

 

[Tia Valeria]

We used the CSJ guide to the Primitivo and wrote in extra notes from the Cicerone guide and the online Gronze. Also a few notes (eg updates) as we walked to pass on to CSJ, forum etc.

 

[timr]

I answered above on my phone, while in Spain, and completely forget to say that I also used Liz Brandt's guide, available here. I found it very useful, and you can bring it along on your phone, or print it out.

 

[Michael Caleigh]

First I would like to mention that the Primitivo is horrible ( I am a terrible liar!!!!!!!!!!) Don´t go there and don´t tell anyone about it. (plans next trip already). You don´t really need a guide and if you download the eroski one on your phone then this should be sufficient. Just enjoy it and go with the flow.......but don´t tell anyone about it.....As I said before...it is a horrible camino

 

[Smallest_Sparrow]

We really must get a secret, hidden forum for discussing the Primitivo
....keep the secret

 

[petro]

Liz Bryant's Combined Guide here in the Resources section is what I'm using to plan for next May. Along with Gronze and Eroski. Liz's guide has 13 stages but we're doing it in 14 so we can take our time.

I've also downloaded the app from Editorial Buen Camino and have been reading through that website today. I'm so glad I'm Hispanic and can read Spanish my husband is glad too since he doesn't.

Hi, that is the guide I used and it worked for me. After Lugo I walked the Friol/Sobrado route which was wonderful

 

[witsendwv]

I'm planning walking the Camino Primitivo in Spring 2017. Can anyone advise the best guide book for me?
I hope you can help.
Christopher

I'm planning walking the Camino Primitivo in Spring 2017. Can anyone advise the best guide book for me?
I hope you can help.
Christopher

My husband and I walked the Primitivo from Oviedo to Finisterre for the first three weeks of September. Use Liz Brandt's guide- no need for more weight, threw away my guide book after a few days. No need. Extraordinarily well way-marked, even the Hospitales. Just a note: I think Liz's accommodations for O Padron are actually in the town of Padron (of the pepper fame) which is southwest of Santiago.

 

[Whistling]

Did anyone use the German guide from Conrad Stein Verlag? I'm thinking of going next year and speak German too. I like knowing how far it is to the next albergue so during the day I can decide whether I like to walk on, or do a shorter walk.

 

[Michael Caleigh]

I believe that the guide from Eroski is sufficient and you can download it on your phone. All you need to read is the km distances and the words albergue and bar....Hope this helps.

 

[Michael Caleigh]

Or download the pdf file here in the forum on your phone as it is in english.

 

[Tia Valeria]

We used the CSJ guide, and were then able to write notes in it - re photos etc, places of special interest or even new bars (or closures) Added some notes from 'Northern Caminos' and Gronze, phone numbers for museums etc.
Use all available resources from the forum, web and paper versions and then decide which to carry. For us the CSJ guide was good and we don't use a smartphone so no apps etc.

 

[JohnMcM]

Did anyone use the German guide from Conrad Stein Verlag? I'm thinking of going next year and speak German too. I like knowing how far it is to the next albergue so during the day I can decide whether I like to walk on, or do a shorter walk.

Hello Whistling,

I didn't use the German guide. I used the info from this forum, and made notes from the Cicerone guide, it worked out well for me.

I remember that you like to keep your days below 30km. That's possible on the Primitivo, with planning. If you can it keeps you a nice person

You might like get to the point of training and the mindset of 20-25 km days, including hills if you want to enjoy this truly beautiful walk, and not feel under pressure.

Buen Camino

 

[Smallest_Sparrow]

I did almost exactly what Tia Valeria did. I liked the CSJ guide. I wouldn't just use the guide from this forum personally, it leaves out some really nice to know things about the religious and historical places you pass(although it includes some) If your goal is to walk from point A to point B and know where the beds are it's fine--but there's so much more that was important to me, found in the CSJ and other resources. What each person thinks is important differs, and i think you would do best going through several resources to figure out the things you want

If you don't want to carry paper, you can download the CSJ guides or make your own or perhaps modify the one from this forumand put it on your phone...but consider the weather when you will be walking, and your battery life. I didn't mind pulling out my guide in the rain and snow when I had to, but would have been less happy to do so with my phone.

Edit: for what it's worth, Padron (just past fonsagrada) is not the Padron of pepper fame. That Padron is located south of SdC on a different Camino.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Did anyone use the German guide from Conrad Stein Verlag? I'm thinking of going next year and speak German too. I like knowing how far it is to the next albergue so during the day I can decide whether I like to walk on, or do a shorter walk.

On the Primitivo you don't get many options unless you want to walk an extra 10-15 or even 20km between albergues. Not so great for deciding on the spot if you want a longer walk.

 

[Smallest_Sparrow]

On the Primitivo you don't get many options unless you want to walk an extra 10-15 or even 20km between albergues. Not so great for deciding on the spot if you want a longer walk.

sometimes an extra 10-20 is OK, it's the extra 30-40 that kills you

 

[Tia Valeria]

I don't think that the CSJ guide to the Primitivo is a download yet, just the paper version. We carried ours in a double fold map case so that we kept it dry and had 2 pages visible by turning the case over. You cn buy them in most places that sell hiking gear and on Amazon. We lengthened the shoulder strap on ours so that it went over one shoulder 'cross over to the other side and went on first (ie under our packs).

 

[Whistling]

Thanks everybody for all your advices, that's really helpful And of course I will keep watching this forum

 

[SafariGirl]

Hi Whistling, I'm also planning to walk the Primitivo in Spring next year and I'll be using the 'WisePilgrim' app on my phone. I used this when I walked the Via de la Plata this Spring and found it really helpful (particularly the information about albergues and the 'location finder', for the few occasions I wandered off course, intentionally and unintentionally!). It has elevation profiles and details of all villages, facilities and distances, so you can plan and choose your own stages as you walk, if that's your preference. Have a great time and maybe we'll see each other on the way. Buen Camino

 

[alaskadiver]

Hi Whistling, I'm also planning to walk the Primitivo in Spring next year and I'll be using the 'WisePilgrim' app on my phone. I used this when I walked the Via de la Plata this Spring and found it really helpful (particularly the information about albergues and the 'location finder', for the few occasions I wandered off course, intentionally and unintentionally!). It has elevation profiles and details of all villages, facilities and distances, so you can plan and choose your own stages as you walk, if that's your preference. Have a great time and maybe we'll see each other on the way. Buen Camino

We're walking the Primitivo in May, too. I have this app on my phone and I was wondering if it gives information on water fountains.

 

[SafariGirl]

Hi Alaskadiver, Yes it does. It's the symbol that looks like a dripping tap with a bucket underneath, shown alongside the other available facilities in each pueblo/city (e.g.: ATM's, banks, pharmacies, shops etc). Buen Camino!

 

[alaskadiver]

Is the CSJ guide to the Primitivo worth getting? I don't need info on places to stay or elevation gain. But I do want information on historical sites along the way. That seems to be the thing that I'm missing. Liz's guide has a few references to historical stuff but I'm wondering if the CSJ guide has more.

 

[timr]

Is the CSJ guide to the Primitivo worth getting? I don't need info on places to stay or elevation gain. But I do want information on historical sites along the way. That seems to be the thing that I'm missing. Liz's guide has a few references to historical stuff but I'm wondering if the CSJ guide has more.

I am a long way from home right now, in Mato Grosso in Brazil, and a long way therefore from my copy of the CSJ guide. I would say, from memory, that it is not any kind of 'specialist' resource on historical sites along the way, but overall I was very glad to have it along. I had the Cicerone guide too, which is heavy, partly because it covers the Norte and Ingles and Fisterra as well. I am inclined to be 'sympathetic' to having more guides rather than less, and allow a little bit of weight for them.
I haven't yet tried using the Wise Pilgrim app as a main guide, partly because of an anxiety, which may not be completely rational, that my phone battery might give up at a crucial moment. But I did have it on my phone for the CP this year and used it. A happy medium is maybe to photograph the pages of a book you want but don't want the weight of, and I did that a bit this year too.
A minor gripe about the CSJ guides - the cost of postage (I live in Ireland) always seems to me very high. That of course is beyond the control of CSJ. But for the small cost of the guide itself, and the light weight, I found it a useful complement to other resources.
I printed out Liz Brandt's guide, and threw it away a page at a time!
I walked in May and found it a wonderful experience. I hope you will enjoy it as much.
My feeling was that I didn't need to use any guide much for route finding, more for planning. I thought the route was was very well marked indeed. I have said before it is a bit like Goldilocks and the Three Bears: on the CF there are far too many marks, on the Norte I thought far too few but on the Primitivo I thought just right. Whenever I felt I needed information, there was an arrow there. When things were going smoothly there were not so many, and if I felt I needed information and there was no arrow, it was usually because I had made a wrong turn.
Buen camino. Tim

 

[KinkyOne]

I am a long way from home right now, in Mato Grosso in Brazil, and a long way therefore from my copy of the CSJ guide. I would say, from memory, that it is not any kind of 'specialist' resource on historical sites along the way, but overall I was very glad to have it along. I had the Cicerone guide too, which is heavy, partly because it covers the Norte and Ingles and Fisterra as well. I am inclined to be 'sympathetic' to having more guides rather than less, and allow a little bit of weight for them.
I haven't yet tried using the Wise Pilgrim app as a main guide, partly because of an anxiety, which may not be completely rational, that my phone battery might give up at a crucial moment. But I did have it on my phone for the CP this year and used it. A happy medium is maybe to photograph the pages of a book you want but don't want the weight of, and I did that a bit this year too.
A minor gripe about the CSJ guides - the cost of postage (I live in Ireland) always seems to me very high. That of course is beyond the control of CSJ. But for the small cost of the guide itself, and the light weight, I found it a useful complement to other resources.
I printed out Liz Brandt's guide, and threw it away a page at a time!
I walked in May and found it a wonderful experience. I hope you will enjoy it as much.
My feeling was that I didn't need to use any guide much for route finding, more for planning. I thought the route was was very well marked indeed. I have said before it is a bit like Goldilocks and the Three Bears: on the CF there are far too many marks, on the Norte I thought far too few but on the Primitivo I thought just right. Whenever I felt I needed information, there was an arrow there. When things were going smoothly there were not so many, and if I felt I needed information and there was no arrow, it was usually because I had made a wrong turn.
Buen camino. Tim

Whaaat, Tim? Mato Grosso, Brasil??? You're kidding me... OMG, you really are a globetrotter this year and especially this autumn. Fifth country, second continent, at least one Camino and one full marathon. Did I forgot anything???
Keep on!!!

SORRY for off topic to other members

 

[Kanga]

I just like the fact that even though he is far from home, @timr is still joining in on the forum. Wonderful.

 

[backpack45]

I used Cicerone. It's a wee bit heavy because it covers several routes. I didn't especially like the layout of maps, but it's quite good on background info. The author is on this forum. Dave? Someone will supply that info for me. I used CSJ too. The layout a tad confusing, but lots of info.

Edit: I have added another below.

The Cicerone guide's authors are Laura Perazzoli and Dave Whitson

 

[AldenPyle52]

This is very subjective but I used and liked the one from the Confraternity of St. James
Buen Camino
(and be sure to tell everyone how terrible it was: Primitivo....keep the secret)
http://www.csj.org.uk/

Liz Brandts guide was great - and I do discarded each page as I went. I also downloaded a guide - Wise Pilgrim Guide. Both were helpful. I just completed the Primitivo - and posted it on the Camino Primitivo forum in terms of my days, reviews, etc.
Surprises: Harder than I thought (and I walk a lot) because of ups and downs; the number of stretches without food or water or even vending machines; how depopulated this part of Spain is. Joyful surprises: fellow pilgrims, kindness of strangers, views. Buen camino

 

[alaskadiver]

Liz Brandts guide was great - and I do discarded each page as I went. I also downloaded a guide - Wise Pilgrim Guide. Both were helpful. I just completed the Primitivo - and posted it on the Camino Primitivo forum in terms of my days, reviews, etc.
Surprises: Harder than I thought (and I walk a lot) because of ups and downs; the number of stretches without food or water or even vending machines; how depopulated this part of Spain is. Joyful surprises: fellow pilgrims, kindness of strangers, views. Buen camino

The first half of the Primitivo has virtually no fountains. There's one on the first day to Escamplero but after that they are very far apart if at all. We carried 3 liters of water and were glad we did consider how hot it got (into the high 70s and 80s) We carried food almost every day after Grado in order to have lunch. You have to be prepared for easily 10 km or more without water or food. Some days all 25 km were without services. Especially on a Sunday or a Monday when bars are closed.
The hardest part of this Camino in my opinion is the road walking. There is a huge amount of what there is goes on for many kilometers at a time. Very hard on the feet.
If you've read my blog you know how this caused my plantar fasciitis that I never had in 20 years of long distance hiking.
We used Laurie's guide but it was lacking information. We also used the Wise pilgrim app and Wikiloc to tell us where we were.