Camping, Cash and other questions!

[elzi]

Hello,

Hopefully walking from Porto leaving around the 17th of May.
Does anyone know whether its possible to camp along the route? The accomodation looks a bit sparse and pricey for me. Also are there regular places to get cash/food along the route or should I be carrying a lot of both?

Can't wait am really excited!

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Hi - have a look at the CSJ guide to this route. You should be able to work out stages using the albergues available or sleep in the fire stations. I wouldn´t carry a tent myself.

http://www.csj.org.uk/guides-online.htm

There are plenty of places for cash and food - the guide has details.

Buen Camino

John

 

[elzi]

Hi, Thanks.

I've pretty much given up the idea of camping now. Although I think I will maybe take a tent as I am hoping to walk some of the Norte afterward and plan to camp a bit there. (Maybe I'll post the tent ahead to Santiago). I'll have to think very carefully about accomodation/stages etc. Thanks for the advice and link!

 

[johnie99]

Camping is fabulous. We did the VDLP during winter and had an amazing time. We stayed in albergues a few times (to check them out) and they really are awful places. Camping gives total freedom and independence to do what you want, when you want to do it. Exercise discretion and I don't think you should encounter any problems. Also, don't worry about carrying extra weight as your body will adjust over time. I carried between 30% and 40% of my body weight for a whole 1000km without any problems. (I weigh 58.5 kg and carried minimum of 20kg, with a max of probably 25kg. At the end of journey, I weighed 56kg and had a sixpack to die for!!).

I hope this gives you a slightly different perspective from the norm!!

Its a wonderful adventure, and with the right attitude anything can be achieved. We had NO miserable days, just days that presented different opportunities.

Enjoy,
John.

 

[elzi]

Hi thanks, you sound like a very positive thinking pilgrim!!

I'm afraid I'm more of a 9-10kg backpack person but well done that's really quite impressive!

 

[windeatt]

hmm . . . 7 k was too much for me in 2007 and I'm not getting any younger. 6K is just about do-able . . . again, just shows how different we all are . . .

 

[elzi]

for anyone else wondering this:
we haven´t camped but we met a guy today who told us camped successfully beside the river at Barcelos and Ponte De Lima locations reccommended by the locals apparently!