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Have You Heard of This Company?

jfc731

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
September 2024
Does anyone know of the company FOLLOW THE CAMINO? Still considering companies to book with as I have posted before but in doing research I have become a bit more confident in doing it myself, until someone mentioned this company and said they are the best. Just thought I would ask.
 
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Does anyone know of the company FOLLOW THE CAMINO? Still considering companies to book with as I have posted before but in doing research I have become a bit more confident in doing it myself, until someone mentioned this company and said they are the best. Just thought I would ask.
No, because I would never be able (or try) to afford using a company. You seem to be straddling one side or another.
If you can afford it, keep researching and then make your decision.
Do not look back.
Once you are on a camino of course, look back as often as you can!
Then, see what is on the horizon. Head there.
Buen camino.
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
I have no idea how good or bad but I agree with the sentiment that it is better to do it yourself. I would bet after a few days your fears would melt away. But if you to choose to use a tour company it might give you the confidence to do it yourself the next time you go.
 
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I will be using them in September. They have been very responsive to date. I understand many participants on this forum frown on assistance. I appreciate the trade off of flexibility/spontaneity for preplanned. However, for me preplanning will take away the daily angst I would experience worrying about where to stay each night. I will have a more fulfilling trip knowing it is preplanned. Perhaps I will feel more comfortable with free form once I have one Camino completed. We all need to do what makes us comfortable to achieve the goal we desire.
 
Sort it out for yourself; it’s really not difficult.

If you can book a nights bed and breakfast and post a letter unaided; you can do what many assisted tours provide.
 
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I got quotes from them and they were fair and very responsive. I ended up doing the arrangements for both trips myself.

I would just do what you're comfortable with. If you think you'll have a better time having someone else figure out the logistics and having them do the bookings, go that route.
 
I have been one of those who hasn't seen the need for tour companies, and to some extent, still don't. But here is what I said about this recently:

I'm pretty sure that as someone who hasn't used a tour company, I have no idea whether or not it would take away anything from my pilgrimage were I to use one. More, having had friends who have been walking the camino longer than I have recently use a tour company for a group, it actually allowed her to get more from the camino experience not being distracted by the day to day organisational arrangements for her friends.
So while I don't intend to engage one anytime soon, I have to admit that discussing her experience with my friend has muted my opposition somewhat.

Whether any one company is 'best' would really be a matter for the OP to determine once he has developed a better understanding of what factors might be important to him. I know he has asked, but in the absence of any criteria about what he thinks he values most in going down this route, none of us will really be able to help him beyond discussing our own experiences.
 
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I will be using them in September. They have been very responsive to date. I understand many participants on this forum frown on assistance. I appreciate the trade off of flexibility/spontaneity for preplanned. However, for me preplanning will take away the daily angst I would experience worrying about where to stay each night. I will have a more fulfilling trip knowing it is preplanned. Perhaps I will feel more comfortable with free form once I have one Camino completed. We all need to do what makes us comfortable to achieve the goal we desire.
There's a middle ground - book your own accommodations, then you have more control over your Camino and may learn more about the Camino during the planning process. If you have made the bookings yourself you control them, not the booking company. So if you find that you need to take a day or two off because of illness or injury you can change your bookings yourself rather than miss out in any stages.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Here is a price comparison between booking yourself and using a company, based on 2 people sharing private rooms. Through a company, the average cost looks to be between 80 and 100€ per night including accommodation, breakfast and luggage transfer. Booking our own, accommodation averages 33€ per night, luggage transfer is less than 8€. (The first time I walked it was through a company, having to wait for breakfast, usually coffee and pastry, was a big pain, we preferred to get on our way). Once you have been there you realize how easy it actually is.
 
I have used FTC twice, as I have a back problem so I can only carry a day bag. I like the later start as it means a quieter walk so having breakfast, which is usually toast with butter and jam and an excellent coffee is wonderful. I still get to my destination in time for a walk around the town after a shower. Generally speaking the accommodations are very good and near the Albergues but occasionally you are placed in a Casa rural and they provide a return taxi which is reimbursed as long as you keep a receipt. On the popular walks, I would say you could book it yourself as there’s plenty of accommodation if you book ahead and there’s a courier service on some routes but as I’m doing the VDLP, I feel safer knowing there’s a bed at the end of the walk as it’s fairly isolated. As far as I know FTC are the only company doing this route as most have stopped doing it since the Pandemic as places have closed or stopped offering meals at all. Other companies are Camino Ways, Macs Adventure and Santiago Ways. I did meet 8 other pilgrims on the VDLP to my amazement but that might have been due to booking in May. It’s generally isolated so I like the fact that if I don’t turn up at the hostel the alarm would be raised, in theory at least. You get guided notes, a neck warmer, shell, pilgrim passport and accommodation information is on a portal but also printable. I wish I could do the Way without booking at all and envy those who can but it’s still been very different to taking a holiday and such an adventure.
 
I have used both Follow the Camino and Camino Ways in the past. There is a strong bias on this forum towards staying in albergues and if using private accommodation, doing all the booking yourself. I disagree with this bias and agree completely with the comment from @Mamarich:
...for me preplanning will take away the daily angst I would experience worrying about where to stay each night. I will have a more fulfilling trip knowing it is preplanned.

I just returned from the Via de la Plata where I had to stop after walking from Seville to Granja de Moreruela because of worsening tendonitis in my left leg. I was with a friend, and we did no advanced booking, and mostly stayed in albergues. Because there are 5% or less of the pilgrims on the VdlP than the Camino Frances, there is much less infrastructure. Many of the towns had only one albergue, and often it was very sub-par. And, after Salamanca, we were in a Camino bubble where there were more than 30 pilgrims and the albergues often had 30 or fewer beds, so a bed race emerged. The bed race dramatically reduces, no, the bed race kills the positive experience of the pilgrimage.

So I'll return next spring to walk from Zamora to Santiago de Compostela, and will not stay in one albergue, I'm using Follow the Camino to pre-book. Therefore I'll be able to walk at my own pace, enjoy the vistas, the diversions, the churches, really enjoy a more fulfilling pilgrimage.

Buen Camino!
--james--
 
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I have used both Follow the Camino and Camino Ways in the past. There is a strong bias on this forum towards staying in albergues and if using private accommodation, doing all the booking yourself. I disagree with this bias and agree completely with the comment from @Mamarich:


I just returned from the Via de la Plata where I had to stop after walking from Seville to Granja de Moreruela because of worsening tendonitis in my left leg. I was with a friend, and we did no advanced booking, and mostly stayed in albergues. Because there are 5% or less of the pilgrims on the VdlP than the Camino Frances, there is much less infrastructure. Many of the towns had only one albergue, and often it was very sub-par. And, after Salamanca, we were in a Camino bubble where there were more than 30 pilgrims and the albergues often had 30 or fewer beds, so a bed race emerged. The bed race dramatically reduces, no, the bed race kills the positive experience of the pilgrimage.

So I'll return next spring to walk from Zamora to Santiago de Compostela, and will not stay in one albergue, I'm using Follow the Camino to pre-book. Therefore I'll be able to walk at my own pace, enjoy the vistas, the diversions, the churches, really enjoy a more fulfilling pilgrimage.

Buen Camino!
--james--
Hi James, I will be returning to Zamora probably at the end of May next year but I’ll be doing the Sanabres. As Santiago is a rather damp place, it’s nice to get there in June and hope by then it’s dry at least! Buen Camino :)
 
There is a strong bias on this forum towards staying in albergues and if using private accommodation, doing all the booking yourself.
I don't think this is quite accurate.
There is not so much a bias toward staying in albergues, as there is a wish to inform people about their availability and unique advantages/disadvantages. This information is not, for obvious reasons, always offered by for-profit tour agencies.

Many of us die-hard forum members do not regularly choose albergues, for various reasons.

But we try to give a balance of information, and we try to help others plan a camino without thinking there are only 2 options - barebones albergue, versus fixed tour company plans. Many newcomers to the Camino concept do not understand how to go about organizing their own Camino, so we try to inform them of the options. That is what the forum provides that the tour companies might not.

If a person is certain that they want to organize their camino through an agency that will book everything for them, that is fine. They do not need the additional advice that this forum offers.
 
I used FtC last year for a Camino del Norte/Camino Primitivo/Camino Fisterra trip. There are many different ways of undertaking a pilgrimage, and this was mine. I knew if I worried about where I would be staying I would not enjoy and immerse myself in the pilgrimage in the way I wanted to, and as a vulnerable person in Covid terms I wanted to avoid shared accommodation. I found FtC friendly and flexible, and they were very helpful when the pre-booked accommodation wasn't available because of a flood, and got me sorted elsewhere. I'm using them again for a Camino Ingles/Camino Fisterra in September, which I guess is the best form of recommendation.
 
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Does anyone know of the company FOLLOW THE CAMINO? Still considering companies to book with as I have posted before but in doing research I have become a bit more confident in doing it myself, until someone mentioned this company and said they are the best. Just thought I would ask.

As somewhat expected, you got a bit of a mixed reaction.

It's generally because those who have walked a Camino, recognise that a tour company is not really required for 'most' people, and that it can place limitations on your Camino. They are just trying to be helpful, but might not be being helpful if you know what I mean. :rolleyes:

But until you have walked a Camino, you don't know that.

So don't be disheartened.
No one knows your circumstances or why you might need the services of a tour company.
Some people just want a degree of 'security' knowing that they have a bed reserved and someone to call if things go wrong.

As well as asking here, I would try to do some independent research.
Maybe there are reviews online for example.
I think the only useful information you might get from members here, is from those that have used 'Follow the Camino' and whether they were happy with the service or not. Any useful comparison with other similar companies might be harder to get or determine.

I have to confess that for part of my first Camino, I did seek assistance in booking my accommodation, due to perceived language difficulties. But I know how to do all that myself now. As most also quickly learn. It's very easy.

But there seem to be some very positive feedback so far on this thread for FOLOW THE CAMINO. So maybe try them. Whatever you do, have a great Camino ;)
 
Since it is no one's concern why I use this service, in spite of the fact that I am good at organizing things and am fluent in Spanish, I will not go into that.

I will be using FTC for the 5th time, in a few weeks. That will be 4 times in Spain and one time time when I walked the Canal du Midi in southern France. They have always been quite efficient and everything has been exactly as promised. The hotel/casa rural/b & b operators also seem to respect the firm.

During my Canal walk one of their extra services (available to all of their clients) was a godsend. When I was leaving my hotel one morning the manager kind of sprang out at me waving a bill in my face for my room and breakfast. In French, I explained that FTC had already paid him and I showed him a copy of the receipt. He shouted back, in French, that he hadn't received any money from them and I couldn't leave until I paid. Knowing that this discussion was going nowhere, I took out my phone. clicked the FTC Emergency number (which I leave in my phone) and explained the situation. FTC immediately called him back, and also emailed him the receipt for their payment to him. He quietly hung up the phone and quietly told me that everything was fine. Happily I left on my day's walk. What a relief.
 

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