Hello!

[PilatesGal]

Planning to do the Primitivo in 2024, and was planning to fly in late April, to hike into early May. I'm deciding how many days I'll need to plan for. Most of what I've read says 12-14 days. And then accounting for travel time, it seems like I should book a flight over the course of about 3 weeks. Anyone out there with input, would be appreciated

Thanks in advance!

 

[Pafayac]

12 days from Oviedo to Santiago mean that you are a quick hiker: I have planned 14 days.
Some advices from my experience:
- Prefer a stop in the donativo of Samblismo than in Borres.
- If the weather is not too bad, the "Hospitales" variant is better than the Pola de Allande way.
- Some Gronze stops are not very nice: Grandas de Salime, Fonsagrada, O Cádavo... are villages without great interest. It is better to stop in Castroverde than in O Cádavo.

 

[dbier]

I'm on it now, but I definitely didn't have anywhere near enough hiking with pack uphill experience before starting. (I found walking from Sarria to Santiago with a daypack to be no problem)

Assuming I make it (TBD), and with extensive help from Buen Camino, Booking, WhatsApp, and TaXicamino luggage transport after day 1 (15 Sep), I hope to make it to Santiago on the 29th. That's 15 days, because I broke Salas-Tineo into 2 days. I had no confidence in myself after day 2 (yesterday)- no unexpected pain, but severe fatigue. I'm probably the slowest Americana on the Camino Primitivo right now.

YMMV .

 

[dbier]

BTW...Salas has a very interesting layout. Here's some bad pictures.

 

[peregrino_tom]

Planning to do the Primitivo in 2024, and was planning to fly in late April, to hike into early May. I'm deciding how many days I'll need to plan for. Most of what I've read says 12-14 days. And then accounting for travel time, it seems like I should book a flight over the course of about 3 weeks. Anyone out there with input, would be appreciated

Hi PilatesGal, 3 weeks sounds about right for a good Primitivo. And if you do it in 2 weeks (as most people do) and you get tired of kicking around the Cathedral and bars of Santiago, you can walk on to Finisterre and/or Muxia for a further 3 or 4 days.
The amount of time spent on the Primitivo is going to depend quite a lot on your fitness/walking capabilities, as well as your inclination to either push on, or meander about in a leisurely fashion.
I would guess that the majority of people do something similar to the Gronze stages which, with 3 added on the Camino Frances makes 14 days. But as dbier notes above, some folks do get surprised by the hilliness of this route..

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

Hi, @PilatesGal . The above responses are absolutely spot on. As @dbier response indicates, it's to be enjoyed at your own pace - it's not a race!!
I'm a moderately fit 59 year old, and I completed it in 13 days, including a rest day in Lugo - which I didn't need, but thoroughly enjoyed!. I actually started off injured, but fortunately my injury recovered quite quickly rather than deteriorating as I had feared. I simply took it VERY slowly at the start as I had my first two days booked. It allowed me peace of mind and the entire day to walk.

It depends somewhat as to to where you fly into. I flew into Oviedo (OVD) and out from Santiago so it made life a lot easier. I flew in late Friday and out on the Saturday so I had 16 days including travel time. It was actually a bit annoying because I've already explored Santiago fairly thoroughly earlier this year and didn't really want another couple of days in the city - but I didn't have enough time to walk on to Finisterre. I curbed my impatience ( one of my Camino lessons, a work in progress.. ) and waited for friends to walk in a day & two days later which was well worthwhile. One of them told me off, and said I should have taken a day trip to A Corona. She was of course right, I could easily have just seen her in the evening !
So, long story short three weeks is probably pretty much perfect allowing for travel time etc and if you end up with sufficient time, then Finisterre; if not, exploring Santiago, A Corona etc.
Buen Camino!

 

[David Tallan]

I did it in 14 days but I could easily have done it in 13. If you can afford the extra week, I would highly advise starting in Leon and walking to Oviedo on the San Salvador before starting your Primitivo. It is a wonderful little Camino in its own right and makes a great intro to the Primitivo.