Flights home after Camino

[Patpetrell]

Just curious, how do most people allow for Camino Frances including day of arrival, adjusting to time Zone and other unplanned extra days. Just wondering as far as booking return flight?

 

[Anamiri]

Just curious, how do most people allow for Camino Frances including day of arrival, adjusting to time Zone and other unplanned extra days. Just wondering as far as booking return flight?

Work out roughly how many kms a day you like to walk, divide that into 800, add in a couple of spares and go from there.

 

[irishrock]

an idea I'll throw out there...it might be worth looking into a flight from Sanitago to Madrid...quick, and not expensive. I took the train and it was a LONG day and I'm not sure the flight wouldn't have been less cheaper. Additionally, I tried to book a train the day before and had to scramble with a train ride to Leon, and then a separate ticket from Leon to Madrid. I agree with the previous response from Anamiri around how to figure it out. If you have too many days, you can always continue on to Fisterra or Muxia

 

[Bradypus]

I live in the UK and usually walk in quiet seasons. I do not normally book my return flight from Santiago more than 3 or 4 days in advance. Sometimes from A Coruña rather than Santiago.

 

[trecile]

Work out roughly how many kms a day you like to walk, divide that into 800, add in a couple of spares and go from there.

I would add in at least 5 extras days in case you get sick or injured. Always lots of interesting places to explore in Spain if you have extra time.

 

[Former member 92300]

Some people just book one way tickets. I used to be able to find cheap one way tickets both directions, but lately it seems that buying round trip (or multi-stop tickets) is much cheaper - so that is what I have been doing since COVID.

I basically look at how long it take the average person to do the route according to the "prescribed stages"... then I add a few more days on top of that. This way, if I need a rest day I can take one. If I don't use all of the extra days during the hike, then I use them at the end as a tourist. I also take into consideration whether or not I might want to walk to Finisterre/Muxia and add those days as well. I am more likely to hike faster than the "prescribed stages" - so I am more likely to have extra days at the end. I wouldn't want to go straight home right after finishing my walk anyway. I enjoy the extra days.

 

[Robo]

I just estimate the number of days I'll walk.
Add 10% for rest days.
Add 2-3 days as a buffer.
And make sure my return ticket is 'flexible' so allowing change of date.

 

[roamingpaddy]

I set a date that I fly to the camino, then I know the date I have to return home and I book that flight too. Then I figure out how many days I have between the 2 flights and pick a route to suit, for example if say 15 days I factor in about 2 or 3 rest days and 12 or 13 days walking.

 

[maryloufrommadison]

I had a one-way ticket, so I could be flexible about my return. BUT, when I got to the Iberian Airlines ticket counter in Chicago, they said their policy was that they would not let me on the plane without either a visa or a return flight. That's not the law, as I understand it, but it's their policy. I had to make a return flight standing at the counter. Not ideal!

 

[VeronicaF1]

I live in the UK and usually walk in quiet seasons. I do not normally book my return flight from Santiago more than 3 or 4 days in advance. Sometimes from A Coruña rather than Santiago.

In theory there is now a requirement to have a return flight booked.

 

[Vince Rollason]

Just curious, how do most people allow for Camino Frances including day of arrival, adjusting to time Zone and other unplanned extra days. Just wondering as far as booking return flight?

Hi
I am not sure if this will help but in five trips I have never booked a return flight. I am lucky because I am retired and live in the UK. I usually take a couple of days at my starting point and then set off. I also like to spend three or four days in Santiago at the end and book my flight home at this time. I work on the assumption that it will take as long as it takes and if for any reason I can't make it I have to get back from where I am. This happened to me on my second Camino when I took very sick in Pamplona and need to come home from there. After two weeks of antibiotics and another week of recovery I was able to return and carry on. I walked one time with an American guy who needed to hole up for a week in a hotel due to injury and another time with a Finnish couple who had to fly home just after half way due to an injury. As I say i appreciate I am in a unique position but you need to be prepared to deal with whatever happens.
Buen Camino
Vince

 

[Albertagirl]

I didn't pay enough attention to my return ticket. I guess that I was too excited about going, and paid all my attention to the journey there. I also picked the cheapest ticket on the most convenient date. BUT.. it turned out that I had bought a ticket which takes me to Vancouver, a long distance past my home in Calgary, with a significant wait in the airport there before the plane backward on my route leaves for Calgary. Given that I shall be arriving late and tired in Calgary, I shall probably spend my saved cash on a taxi home, instead of taking the bus as I usually do.

 

[mattythedog]

Just curious, how do most people allow for Camino Frances including day of arrival, adjusting to time Zone and other unplanned extra days. Just wondering as far as booking return flight?

I'm not most people, so this is a different perspective that still might be of interest to some:

I book a return flight on separate ticket/s a week or two beyond what I think the walk might take to allow for injury (luckily never had anything serious), unplanned adventures and potential travel delays. It is just because of unplanned adventures that I did change return dates and/or departure cities at end of a few Caminos, and it did not cost much extra, if any, over my supersaver nonrefundable tickets. I don't factor any days for time zones or jet lag stuff, just go on a nonstop flight from US to Madrid and on to SJPP day of arrival by any expedient combinations of bus, train, plane, taxi. If I can get to SJPP before 1300, I walk up the hill to Roncessvalles, weather permitting. If by 1600, I go to Orisson, Borda or Valcarlos. If after 1600 or weather is really nasty, I will find a place in SJPP.

 

[Derek Booth]

I added 5 days to my planned C. Frances.

Further to that I did the Walk without a break and travelled down to Porto by bus on the day I arrived in SdC.
I then spent the five days in Porto 'walking down,' walking less and less as the days went by.,

 

[lt56ny]

If you have the luxury of time I figure it in the following way. I divide my total kilometers by 23 as that is about the average number of kilometers I want and will walk a day unless there is extenuating circumstances. Since I walk about 900-1000K I add about 10 days for rest days and days I will walk shorter distances. I am 69. Then I usually add 4-5 buffer days. Just in case. I always have extra days at the end. I will stay 2-3 days in Santiago and then if I am up to it I will walk to Muxia. If I still have a few days I will stay in Muxia and chill and readjust to the life others refer to as real life. I am anxious to get home to see my wife and stop in New York for a while to see my daughters, but I am not anxious to get back to that "real life". If you do not have the luxury of time than disregard all of my suggestions!

 

[JimG59]

I book my return flight 7-10 days from my expected return departure date.

 

[Rick M]

Are You tight on time? If you are, that is unfortunate, and you will need to guess your pace in walking. Then you have to keep to that guess. 35 days will be about right as a first guess, unless you are young and fit, where 32 is a better number. Add three days to these numbers for minimum transfer times. Injury and bad weather can change these numbers of course. If you are not tight on time, book yourself for six weeks or more. Consider booking your return flight home from Porto as well, rather than Madrid or Paris where you flew in. Many pilgrims like to power down and prepare for re-entry to home life there. It's a three hour bus ride from Santiago (several busses a day that also stop at Porto airport), a great town to be a tourist for a day or a week, and has good international air links. Don't press yourself into a tight I'm-counting-the-days schedule unless you have to. Nobody knows how long the walk will take, and being in a hurry to catch a plane can degrade the experience. On the other hand, if everything goes better than expected and you find yourself in Santiago a week before your flight home, your newly minted pilgrim self will have no trouble finding a way to spend that week.

 

[Robo]

I had a one-way ticket, so I could be flexible about my return. BUT, when I got to the Iberian Airlines ticket counter in Chicago, they said their policy was that they would not let me on the plane without either a visa or a return flight. That's not the law, as I understand it, but it's their policy. I had to make a return flight standing at the counter. Not ideal!

Same for many if not most countries I think.
At least for long haul flights.
They want to know you'll return home.

 

[Bradypus]

In theory there is now a requirement to have a return flight booked.

Since Brexit it is theoretically possible for Spanish immigration officials to demand evidence of booked return or onward travel from we Brits before allowing us entry to the country. We can also be asked to provide documentary evidence that we possess at least 100 euros for every day of our intended stay and asked to provide proof of reserved accommodation for the entire journey. The latter would be a huge disincentive for those intending to walk the Caminos. In practice I have made several journeys to Spain in recent years without being asked for any of those things either by the airlines involved or government officials. There is some risk involved in travelling without a return flight booked but I think in reality for UK citizens being denied entry for not having return travel booked is very unlikely.

 

[Marbe2]

Another consideration is to save up enough mileage to purchase a ticket one way home if you don’t have enough for the whole trip. . Many airlines allow you to change the date for award ticket without penalty. Check with your loyaltyprogram.

 

[dougfitz]

I suppose if you wanted to know what 'most people' do, you could now run a survey seeded with the range of responses that you have so far. I expect that you will find some basic themes here.

My pattern has always been to plan for a week or two in the UK and Europe after I have finished walking because I have family and friends that I want to visit. This gives me a buffer at the end of my camino that I can vary a little should I need to. I then book the return flights to Europe before I leave, and fill in the leg from Santiago (or wherever I plan to finish) a week or so out from when I need to travel.

In terms of how many days I plan to be walking, I first do a simple estimate based on distance and how far I want to walk each day. I then check that there is somewhere to stay so that I have a list of prospective accommodation options. If I have set a maximum I wish to walk, some days will necessarily be shorter than my target distance, which will result in the number of estimated days increasing. I then add a rest day about every 10 days, and add a 'sick day' should I need it. At the end I plan to stay at least for the day after my arrival, leaving at the earliest two days later.

Note that this just establishes the feasibility of the plan. I normally only book accommodation for the night that I arrive at a start point, although sometimes I have booked things like rest days and accommodation in SDC well ahead if I can change these bookings easily. Once I start walking, any alignment between what I planned and what I do is largely a matter of coincidence.

That said, I always take care to ensure that I have enough time to walk the final 100 km. When I walked with my wife a few years ago, we needed to catch the bus from Fonfria to Sarria to get us there with enough time to walk the shorter distances we were achieving each day. I don't ever want to be in the position where I need to skip any part of that final 100 km.

 

[irishrock]

In theory there is now a requirement to have a return flight booked.

good to know...thanks

 

[hikentravel1234]

Just curious, how do most people allow for Camino Frances including day of arrival, adjusting to time Zone and other unplanned extra days. Just wondering as far as booking return flight?

It depends on many factors and you did not say what country you are from (travel time) or how fit you are for hiking. In addition, you might want to see if there is any charge for changing an airline date. This is how I did it (I am from the US):
2 days travel
33 days hiking if going by the John Brierley book (I add 2 extra days and adjust the stages a little)-- you would need to be of average or slightly above average hiking strength.
4 days off (including 1 extra day in Burgos, Leon, and Santiago)
1/2 day to get to the departing airport
1 day travel back home
----------------------------------------------------------
Minus 1 1/2 to 2 days if you start in Roncesvalles
Add extra days or 1/2 days if you think you need more rest days
Add more days if you go beyond Santiago

 

[Marbe2]

All sound plans for the pilgrims writing the responses. Yet, your planning should factor in how many kms you can reasonably walk day after day and under different conditions. If you are staying in a dorm room with many others, you may experience sleep deprivation, possible virus,etc. You will experience at least 3 steady climbs and a few significant downhills, a couple of which could slow you down because of loose rocks? Another factor is the weather? Who knows what conditions you will experience? All of this is to say, if this is your first camino, to build in enough extra days to cover your walk comfortably.

 

[Molly Cassidy]

I su

In theory there is now a requirement to have a return flight booked.

Suppose you could just book any cheap flight from Spain to the UK and not use it.

 

[trecile]

I su

Suppose you could just book any cheap flight from Spain to the UK and not use it.

Or a fully refundable flight and cancel it.