City Names & Tracking Miles

[Meredyth]

Hello! Two questions: (1) How will I know the names of the cities/towns that I'm walking into? Will there be signs posted on the outskirts with their names? Or do I ask someone that's already in the city - where am I? (2) What methods/apps do you use to track your walking miles? Thank you!

 

[C clearly]

Most cities/towns have road signs announcing that you are entering them. Often, the camino route enters the town on the same road. If not, there may be different signs on the path advertising facilities in the town. Usually, I would know what town I'm entering because I would look at a map in my guide or phone. If you don't carry a map or phone, maybe it doesn't matter what the town is called!

I sometimes use MapMyWalk to track my actual day, although that can use a lot of battery. On the Camino Frances, following any guide book will tell you how many miles/km you have walked.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Gosh, that's a first. It never occured to me I might not know what town or village I'm in. Perhaps because there are not many of them in a day and of you just left one the next one must be the one in the guidebook?

As for measuring distance, I never have except once for fun, to see how many steps I walked on an average day. Again, guide books give you distance between villages, towns.

 

[notion900]

Everything is km in Spain by the way. I have met some people who make a thing of tracking their distance covered, but you are more likely to be thinking of the distances coming up, and planning your next couple of day's stops.

The Spanish road signs with the name crossed out that indicate you are leaving a place always strike me as slightly mad: we don't have those in the UK. We can tell when we are leaving a town!

 

[MinaKamina]

Everything is km in Spain by the way. I have met some people who make a thing of tracking their distance covered, but you are more likely to be thinking of the distances coming up, and planning your next couple of day's stops.

The Spanish road signs with the name crossed out that indicate you are leaving a place always strike me as slightly mad: we don't have those in the UK. We can tell when we are leaving a town!

Crossing the name is a legal thing. Think speed limits, think council taxes. Inside the boundaries speed limit is restricted and taxes are higher. Outside it is the opposite.

 

[whariwharangi]

Hello! Two questions: (1) How will I know the names of the cities/towns that I'm walking into? Will there be signs posted on the outskirts with their names? Or do I ask someone that's already in the city - where am I? (2) What methods/apps do you use to track your walking miles? Thank you!

Brierley's guide has maps that show names of villages. The maps indicate kilometers between landmarks and other points of interest, and, keep track of distance to Santiago.

 

[C clearly]

The Spanish road signs with the name crossed out that indicate you are leaving a place always strike me as slightly mad: we don't have those in the UK. We can tell when we are leaving a town!

I thought it was quite reasonable to have the signs indicating that you are leaving town, just as when you are entering.

 

[Mike Savage]

Welcome Meredyth!

I don't recall any towns that did not have signs stating the names and limits of the town.

Buen Camino!

 

[biloute]

I used MapMyFitness when I did my Camino, but C clearly is right that it uses a lot of battery over the course of a full day. I've since gotten a smart watch/fitness tracker and have been using that for all my activities, then just sync it to my phone when I'm done.

 

[Deleted member 43985]

I track my daily distances with an iPhone app called Motion-X. Great options for recording and sharing your day with others who can use Google Earth to see where you walked. It also allows you to download free maps for offline use and they conveniently show what town you are coming into or leaving! Win-Win!

 

[Deleted member 12253]

Hello! Two questions: (1) How will I know the names of the cities/towns that I'm walking into? Will there be signs posted on the outskirts with their names? Or do I ask someone that's already in the city - where am I? (2) What methods/apps do you use to track your walking miles? Thank you!

No miles on camino or spain. Kilometers. All guide books maps will tell you where you are. Practice mindfullness. You are where you are. You cant be anywhere else

 

[Robo]

Hello! Two questions: (1) How will I know the names of the cities/towns that I'm walking into? Will there be signs posted on the outskirts with their names? Or do I ask someone that's already in the city - where am I? (2) What methods/apps do you use to track your walking miles? Thank you!

The sign with the town or village name as you enter is a bit of a 'give away'.

 

[John Sikora]

Yep, most any size town (except the very small villages) have adequate signage so that you know where you are. Another app that I didn't see mentioned was Walkmeter. I've used it for several years and it doesn't burn the battery in my experience. It also produces an email that you can get that has the distance and many other stats as well as the elevation profile. You can also edit the file and transfer the coordinates to google maps for a tour if you want to.

 

[Robo]

The Spanish road signs with the name crossed out that indicate you are leaving a place always strike me as slightly mad: we don't have those in the UK. We can tell when we are leaving a town!

Yes it can appear odd. But in many countries that 'crossed out' village name indicates a change in speed limit... from the slower limit in the built up area to the higher limit outside town...

 

[C clearly]

Another app that I didn't see mentioned was Walkmeter

Would that be Pedometer Walkmeter by SimplifiedApp? Thanks.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

What methods/apps do you use to track your walking miles?

As said above GPS apps really slurp up the juice. Maybe an old fashion mechanical pedometer will serve your needs. Not as accurate but probably good enough to tell you that you have 5 to 6 kilometers to go. You could calibrate it over a couple of hikes by comparing its measurements with one a more accurate app gives.

 

[Priscilla NC]

I wear a fitbit in my daily life, as I'm kind of a numbers geek. I decided not to bring it on the Camino. But I do have an iphone, and I found that their health app (automatically installed, at least it was on my iphone 6) registers both km and miles, your preference. Although it makes a difference as to where on your body you carry your phone (hint, not in your backpack).

I had my iphone on airplane mode the whole way, so this app did not require either wifi or data. I didn't seem to have battery issues with it.

I'm sure there are other apps too, if you have another kind of smartphone. But I was totally prepared to only go by the guide book. And someone will have a way to convert kms into miles.

Buen Camino!

 

[Anemone del Camino]

I wear a fitbit in my daily life, as I'm kind of a numbers geek. I decided not to bring it on the Camino!

Excellent idea to leave it home if you had wanted it to tell you the number of steps ypu took or any other data linked to how your hands move because, if you use walking sticks, the number will be much, much, lower that reality.

I kept wondering why a stroll through town gave me the same number of steps as half a day's walk: I don't use my poles well and therefor take a few steps for each swing of the arm.

I need a fitbit ankle bracelet!

 

[biloute]

I kept wondering why a stroll through town gave me the same number of steps as half a day's walk: I don't use my poles well and therefor take a few steps for each swing of the arm.

I need a fitbit ankle bracelet!

I don't know about the Fitbit but my Garmin vivoactive uses GPS. That might be why you're getting the same readings.

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

O.K. fellow Pilgrims here is the village name plate entering the village

 

[biloute]

O.K. fellow Pilgrims here is the village name plate entering the village

That would be Germany, Austria, or Switzerland though. What about in France and Spain? I remember some distance signposts in France, but I don't recall what might have been in Spain.

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

And here is the one leaving the village .

Wish you well,Peter.

p.s. these plates are in Holland

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Examples of Spain's entering and leaving signs:
(by the way, take lots of pictures of these and similar placename signs. They will help you identify pictures of the places in between these locations.)

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

That would be Germany, Austria, or Switzerland though. What about in France and Spain? I remember some distance signposts in France, but I don't recall what might have been in Spain.

This is in Holland and you will find them
in Italy also .

 

[Jeff Crawley]

As regards to distance - for a low tech solution check out "Ranger Beads" they have the extra advantage of keeping your mind and hands busy over the boring stages like the Mesata (did he just say boring?) and stop people talking to you because they think you are doing the rosary.

Here's a town sign for your collection - it's in Norway and apparently freezes over every winter!

 

[vettesquared]

Hello! Two questions: (1) How will I know the names of the cities/towns that I'm walking into? Will there be signs posted on the outskirts with their names? Or do I ask someone that's already in the city - where am I? (2) What methods/apps do you use to track your walking miles? Thank you!

As to your 2nd question, I have been using SportsTracker app for over 7 years now. It is free and can track nearly any activity - walking, running, hiking, cycling, golfing, etc. It uses the GPS on your smart phone to keep track of your route and distance. When you have data/wifi available, it will show your route on a map. (Conversely, if data is not available, it will still track but no map will be shown. Once you have data the map will appear.) It is also easy on battery life.
I can highly recommend SportsTracker! I will definitely be using it when I start my Camino Frances in September.
Buen camino!

 

[Coleen Clark]

As regards to distance - for a low tech solution check out "Ranger Beads" they have the extra advantage of keeping your mind and hands busy over the boring stages like the Mesata (did he just say boring?) and stop people talking to you because they think you are doing the rosary.

Here's a town sign for your collection - it's in Norway and apparently freezes over every winter!
View attachment 33994

 

[JLWV]

I use the app ORUX, downloaded with maps and tracks through the IGN (Instituto Geografico Nacional).
The GPS of the telephon is very energy consuming, but the app can be setted to switch it on only every "x" seconds (x to be elected), which reduce drastically the consuption.