Google street view is a great way to see what it would be like to
walk the Camino. I did the
Camino Frances last spring and spent hours
exploring locations along the route in Google street view before my
trip.
I even created a Google map of locations on the Camino and included
interesting images from 'street view', like people walking, or the
door of an albergue, or a yellow arrow pointing the way.
Here is a link to the map, in case anyone is interested in having a look.
https://www.google.com/maps/ms?msa=...9442942bb22f347&hl=en&ie=UTF8&t=m&z=7&vpsrc=1
Google has modified the street view user interface since I created the
map, so you may need to select "show original map" to see it as it was
intended to be seen; that is, as a set of place markers where each
marker, if clicked on, reveals a google street view image of that
location. To view the location in street view, click on the marker and
then click on the picture that comes up.
Some of the locations I highlighted on the map are useful as well as
entertaining. For example, the location marker entitled "On the upper
road to Roncesvalles" shows people leaving the road (the D428) near
the top of the climb and heading across the fields on their way to the
final descent into Roncesvalles. This is a critical location, although
well signed and not easy to miss.
There are also some mistakes that I only discovered after the fact.
For example, the placemarker for "Palas de Rei" shows people sitting
on the steps of what appears to be a hostel, but, having been there, I
now know that that they are sitting on the steps of a municipal office
building across the street from the hostel. Not a very good hostel, by
the way, and one to be avoided if possible; the washrooms were poor
and the bunk beds rickety. There is, however, a private hostel just
down the side street, past the red Do Not Enter sign, which is
excellent from what I have heard from people who stayed there.
If anyone finds this map useful, or has suggestions for improvement
please let me know, and I'll endeavour to make changes.
If you have problems viewing the map, it may be the browser you are using.
I've only used Safari and Firefox and as of late the user interface is quite different depending on which one I use.