First Time Walker

Chax,

Start from the farthest point. You won't be able to reach Santiago this year but you can finish it later.

If you intend to reach Santiago in 2 to 3 weeks, start from Leon -- you'll have enough time to stay longer in Santiago and take a day trip to Fisterra. Burgos may be a bit too far given your time constraint, but it can be done with long stages.

Mark

20 days camino

Hi Chax,
If I only had 20 days, I would walk the first two weeks from St Jean or Roncesvalles as they are the MOST beautiful - and then I would walk the last 6 days from Sarria so that I could walk into Santiago (and earn the Compostela of course!).
Whatever you decide have a wonderful walk.

hmmm.... that is a difficult amount of time. It depends on your motivations- are you in it for the compostella or the experience? If it is the experience of walking, I say start in Saint Jean and go from there, not skipping anything. Get as far as however you do, and then you can finish it up later if you want. I know if I had taken a bus in the middle, or not started in St Jean, I would personally have felt like I cheated myself. But, that is just me. The walk itself, and the people I got to know in the process were MUCH more valuable to me than the Compostella, but then again, I wasn't doing it for spiritual reasons.

If you want the compostella, either start in st jean and then take a bus in the middle, or start in Leon or a little before.