First two weeks of December- which route to go?

[beiramar]

Hey peregrinos and peregrinas,

My fiancé and me will have the first two weeks of December off and are thinking about getting a slightly different Camino experience.

As a bit of background information: walked the caminho Português three times, also did Fisterra. We live in Porto and hiked quite a bit in Portugal and Spain but a real winter experience sounds like a great challenge.

Coming to Santiago is not necessary, we would rather be interested in doing something with stunning nature; such as the Camino Vasco del Interior for instance.
We just traversed the Picos de Europa, which would be a cross country skiing tour in winter (Ruta Vadiniense)?

We don't mind lack of albergues as long as there's any private accommodation.
Snow is not a problem, I would even consider bringing crampons. There's a limit to bad weather of course and I would rather take a bus or a rest day than falling down an icy slope.

Any suggestions are welcome

 

[Deleted member 3000]

This site has some of the best information on accommodations and distances on a variety of routes:

http://www.gronze.com/

This one shows good profile data, something of a guide on what you will see:

http://www.rutasasantiago.com/BDCaminos/camino-de-santiago.php?cam=Camino-Primitivo

 

[Katia Taam]

You can go to Facebook and seach Marcia Lippe/ She walks on the winter every year and she wil be able to give you lots of informations. She will be walking again this december/ january...

Katia

 

[Katia Taam]

You can also send me your emaisl and I´ll send it to her...
Katia

 

[whariwharangi]

If you are looking for stunning nature in December I would suggest you look further afield. The 10 day circuit around Torres del Paine would be my recommendation.

There is nothing on the camino that would justify crampons. They are intended for use on steep ice such as is found on glaciers. Almost the entire camino can be driven upon and so does not qualify as steep.

I walked from SJPdP to Finisterre and finished 12 December 2012. I encountered one day of snow at O Cebreiro. It amounted to three or four inches. I walked the road that was being plowed every few minutes. Rain was much more of an issue.

Snow in Spain is headline news.

 

[beiramar]

There is nothing on the camino that would justify crampons. They are intended for use on steep ice such as is found on glaciers. Almost the entire camino can be driven upon and so does not qualify as steep.


Snow in Spain is headline news.

I live in Porto, Portugal so I have seen my fair share of winter weather around here.
When I talked about snow and crampons I was referring to higher altitudes. Just think about a route over the Pyrenees or the Picos.

 

[beiramar]

This site has some of the best information on accommodations and distances on a variety of routes:

http://www.gronze.com/

This one shows good profile data, something of a guide on what you will see:

http://www.rutasasantiago.com/BDCaminos/camino-de-santiago.php?cam=Camino-Primitivo

Thanks so much for all the infos!
Will research everything!
I'm so excited for a winter trip

 

[lettinggo]

Hola

If you want to walk close by, on a camino, in winter, I'd suggest starting from Roncesvalle and get to Burgos?
I walked during winter and there were snow, sometimes knee deep, but over all it was not the snow but the low temperatures and wind that was refreshing as well as challenging.
There were always an albergue open within a day march so lodging was never a problem.

If you want to travel to other countries to walk during winter, many questions will arise.
To walk in full winter in nature requires plenty of equipment, but there are possibilities.
One walk, I have never tried myself but have heard good thing about is in norther Sweden, Kungsleden.
It is a 450 km walk but one can shorten it. You can search for it online.

Torres del Paine, in Patagonia in the southern of South America is indeed an incredible nature park.
There are shelters/lodging around the circuit, but one can also tent out.
There are two ways to walk it; either around or the W; walking one side going up and in and out...
Imagine a group of mountains you either walk around or every other day walk up and into and back again.
Of course you have to get yourself to one of the remotes places on earth and it is not cheap.

Hope this helps.
Buen Camino
Lettinggo

 

[beiramar]

Thanks for all the ideas so far!

Doing a hike instead of the Camino is definitely something I would consider.

The Torres del Paine I had never heard about before and it seems really beautiful!
Would just hope it's not too many tourists there. I really like it a bit solitary.

The Kungsleden I have actually done already. It is also a pilgrims way called Dag Hammarsklöjd Led.
It's absolutely stunning to not see a street, a car or have electricity in such a long time.

 

[whariwharangi]

The Torres del Paine I had never heard about before and it seems really beautiful!
Would just hope it's not too many tourists there. I really like it a bit solitary.

Sorry ... can't help you there. Torres del Paine, particularly in the 'W', is so busy as to risk getting trampled if you stop to tie your boot laces. There are however lots of solitary hikes in Patagonia.

 

[beiramar]

Oh, wow. That's something a European wouldn't expect when thinking about Patagonia...