Help me decide, please!

[Chacharm]

Walked the Camino Frances in 2012. This year I am going to visit friends in the French Pyrennees for one month, from April 10 - May 10. So, starting May 10 I can do any Camino I like for 5 weeks. I was sort of planning to do Le Puy - but the more I think about it the more I think I would miss Spain! I could do as much of the VDP as I could fit into 5 weeks. Or I could do the Ingles.
I have been reading about the difficulty in getting a bed on Le Puy (and the increased expense). I have also read of the great beauty of Le Puy. But does it beat the pants off of VDP? I speak Spanish - but I do not speak French thugh I have been studying and am staying with French friends for a month before hand. I hear one needs to speak French on the Le Puy Route.

I know there is a route from Barcelona, but I don't know what it is called and have never met someone who walked it - so imagine the albuergues would be few and far between and the route not as well marked. It would be nice to start close to where I will be staying in April though (near Pau) if anyone can think of a route. Are the Via del Norte and the Via Ingles the same route?

Also:
I learned my lesson on the Camino Frances. No more big pack with too much useless stuff. Streamlined and lightweight, this time! 2 of everything except socks, all fast drying, lightweight tech stuff.
What do you think is the ideal sized mochila?
Thank you!

 

[giorgio]

I would start walking right from Pau . Go west to Biarritz , then go on to Irun and walk the camino del Norte. half way to SDC you will have the option to turn left to Camino Primitivo or continue along the coast . In both cases you'll end up in Arzua ,then SDC.

 

[naplesdon]

I am starting from Oloron-Sainte-Marie (near Pau) late in May, it involves walking the GR 653 into the Pyrenees and then connecting to the Camino Aragones to Puenta la Reina and connecting to the CF. After crossing the mountains the path follow a faily level path along the Aragones River.

 

[DLJ]

Walked the Camino Frances in 2012. This year I am going to visit friends in the French Pyrennees for one month, from April 10 - May 10. So, starting May 10 I can do any Camino I like for 5 weeks. I was sort of planning to do Le Puy - but the more I think about it the more I think I would miss Spain! I could do as much of the VDP as I could fit into 5 weeks. Or I could do the Ingles.
I have been reading about the difficulty in getting a bed on Le Puy (and the increased expense). I have also read of the great beauty of Le Puy. But does it beat the pants off of VDP? I speak Spanish - but I do not speak French thugh I have been studying and am staying with French friends for a month before hand. I hear one needs to speak French on the Le Puy Route.

I know there is a route from Barcelona, but I don't know what it is called and have never met someone who walked it - so imagine the albuergues would be few and far between and the route not as well marked. It would be nice to start close to where I will be staying in April though (near Pau) if anyone can think of a route. Are the Via del Norte and the Via Ingles the same route?

Also:
I learned my lesson on the Camino Frances. No more big pack with too much useless stuff. Streamlined and lightweight, this time! 2 of everything except socks, all fast drying, lightweight tech stuff.
What do you think is the ideal sized mochila?
Thank you!

My wife and I have walked from Geneva to St. Jean Pied de Port, and neither one of us speak French. We have also spent a lot of time in Portugal, and again neither of us speak Portuguese. The only words you need to know in either of those languages, or I suspect any other is, hello, please, thank you, and may I use the bathroom. I do speak an East Los Angeles Trini Lopez Latino Spanish, which has served me well in Spain. We met a number of French hikers, who would not cross into Spain, because of the language barrier. Language shouldn't be a barrier, it is all part of the experience.
The Le Puy route has a number of historic medieval towns along the way, which offers a big attraction to French hikers as well as Pilgrims, so it can be busy, but in Spring and Fall, I doubt it is much different than the Camino Frances. France in general is much more expensive than Spain.

 

[KinkyOne]

Walked the Camino Frances in 2012. This year I am going to visit friends in the French Pyrennees for one month, from April 10 - May 10. So, starting May 10 I can do any Camino I like for 5 weeks. I was sort of planning to do Le Puy - but the more I think about it the more I think I would miss Spain! I could do as much of the VDP as I could fit into 5 weeks. Or I could do the Ingles.
I have been reading about the difficulty in getting a bed on Le Puy (and the increased expense). I have also read of the great beauty of Le Puy. But does it beat the pants off of VDP? I speak Spanish - but I do not speak French thugh I have been studying and am staying with French friends for a month before hand. I hear one needs to speak French on the Le Puy Route.

I know there is a route from Barcelona, but I don't know what it is called and have never met someone who walked it - so imagine the albuergues would be few and far between and the route not as well marked. It would be nice to start close to where I will be staying in April though (near Pau) if anyone can think of a route. Are the Via del Norte and the Via Ingles the same route?

Also:
I learned my lesson on the Camino Frances. No more big pack with too much useless stuff. Streamlined and lightweight, this time! 2 of everything except socks, all fast drying, lightweight tech stuff.
What do you think is the ideal sized mochila?
Thank you!

Hola!

For easier understanding of the Spanish routes take a peek in here:
http://www.gronze.com/
http://mundicamino.com/loscaminos.cfm
http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/

The route from Barcelona (Montserrat) is Cami Catala(n) with two different options in later stages. You can find info on that at attached links also.
If you have 5 weeks of your time Camino Ingles wouldn't be sufficient because it is about 5-7 days Camino. Therefore I would suggest combination of Camino Vasco del Interior/CF/Del Salvador/Primitivo/CF especially if you liked diversity of CF. Otherwise VDlP would be very nice, but do take a look at profile sketches also if the flatness of it would suits you.

Anyway, Ultreia!

 

[Kanga]

We absolutely loved the Le Puy and are walking the Norte and Primitivo this year. I'm sure you would enjoy either. I'd throw a coin in the air and once decided be committed to that route. The expanding variety of Camino routes is starting to get stressful - too many choices!

 

[dougfitz]

What do you think is the ideal sized mochila?

One that fits all you decide to carry inside, but isn't packed so tight that it is problematic to pack each day.

As a rule of thumb, take your ideal walking weight in kg, half it, call it litres, and that should be around the size that would be required for a typical summer pack that would not be too difficult to pack. So if you are around 75kg, a pack around 38 li would be the start point. A bit smaller and it will be more difficult to pack, bigger and you will be tempted to carry more.

A better approach is to pack your gear, and take it with you when you are shopping for your pack, and see if it fits.

 

[peregrina2000]

Walked the Camino Frances in 2012. This year I am going to visit friends in the French Pyrennees for one month, from April 10 - May 10. So, starting May 10 I can do any Camino I like for 5 weeks. I was sort of planning to do Le Puy - but the more I think about it the more I think I would miss Spain! I could do as much of the VDP as I could fit into 5 weeks. Or I could do the Ingles.
I have been reading about the difficulty in getting a bed on Le Puy (and the increased expense). I have also read of the great beauty of Le Puy. But does it beat the pants off of VDP? I speak Spanish - but I do not speak French thugh I have been studying and am staying with French friends for a month before hand. I hear one needs to speak French on the Le Puy Route.

I know there is a route from Barcelona, but I don't know what it is called and have never met someone who walked it - so imagine the albuergues would be few and far between and the route not as well marked. It would be nice to start close to where I will be staying in April though (near Pau) if anyone can think of a route. Are the Via del Norte and the Via Ingles the same route?

Hi,
The Vdlp and the LePuy are very different, just depends on what you are looking for. I love them both, but if you're leaning towards Spain, you get an amazing look at so many different parts of Spain by walking south to north. The Vdlp cities are amazing -- Merida, Caceres, Salamanca, Zamora, Ourense. And you go from Andalucía and Extremadura through Castilla and then Galicia, it's just wonderful. In spring, the terrain in the south is green, loaded with wildflowers, and filled with babbling brooks. The LePuy route is also beautiful, and it's hard to beat some of those amazingly well preserved small towns along the route. More ups and downs on the Le Puy that's for sure. The Vdlp does a lot of undulating but no mountains till you get pretty far north, and then there's nothing too strenuous.

Since you mention the Catalan, I'll just throw it into the mix. I'm going to leave from Port de la Selva north of Barcelona on the coast near the French border. Then down to Montserrat (monastery near Barcelona), then loop up on the Camino Catalan to the Aragones. I don't think that five weeks will give you enough time to make it all the way to Santiago unless you are super-walker, I figure that with a little more than five weeks I can walk from start to Puente la Reina (that's where the Aragones joins with the Frances), then hop to Ponferrada and get on the Camino de Invierno into Santiago. If you have any interest in this, I'll send you some links. The way is apparently well marked (several forum members have walked it) and at least from Montserrat to Puente la Reina, you can stay in albergues the whole way. Before Montserrat, there are a few youth hostels and the rest will be pensiones or an occasional monastery that takes in pilgrims.

The Ingles and the Norte are very different routes -- take a look at this map: http://www.mundicamino.com/loscaminos.cfm

Lots of fun planning to do and way too many choices. Buen camino, Laurie

 

[Chacharm]

Wow - thank you all so much! Lots to think about.

 

[Kanga]

All sounds too gorgeous. For some reason I'm hesitant about the Vdlp. I planned it several years ago but life interfered and it did not happen. Your posts always fill me with enthusiasm and it's back on the bucket list (along with other routes you've walked) @peregrina2000

 

[SYates]

... It would be nice to start close to where I will be staying in April though (near Pau) if anyone can think of a route. ...

The Chemin d'Arles passes directly through Pau, see http://chemindarles.free.fr/carte_EN.php Buen Camino! SY

 

[JabbaPapa]

Hard to say -- as we don't know your hiking speed.

If you're healthy and fit and a good regular hiker, then 5 weeks would be ideal for Lourdes > SJPP > Compostela (the route via the Somport is significantly lengthier)

Or, possibly, Bordeaux airport to Compostela

At ordinary hiking speeds, the 5 weeks essentially gives you an extra week before the Francès from SJPP -- though at the slow version of the hiking speeds 5 weeks sounds good from SJPP or Roncesvalles.

The Barcelona route is very tough (though you'd likely walk past our old house Yay !!), but it's also one of the ways to walk as a "proper pilgrim" inside Spain, as much of that route will be likely very solitary (finally had my fill of the whole "lone pilgrim" thingamajig last year, but it's still essential to the pilgrimage as such).

 

[peregrina2000]

The Barcelona route is very tough (though you'd likely walk past our old house Yay !!).

JabbaPapa can you elaborate a little on that comment? Are you talking about the difficulty of the solitude or something else? I'm planning to walk from Port de la Selva through Montserrat and then to the Aragonés and nothing I´ve seen so far shouts "difficult" to me. Thanks!

 

[JabbaPapa]

JabbaPapa can you elaborate a little on that comment? Are you talking about the difficulty of the solitude or something else? I'm planning to walk from Port de la Selva through Montserrat and then to the Aragonés and nothing I´ve seen so far shouts "difficult" to me. Thanks!

Sure -- the "official" route cuts through some very lengthy stretches of wilderness, with no pueblos no water and no nothing for sometimes up to 40 K stretches -- yes, there's an alternative route along the roads rather than the trail which will take you through more villages ; but yes, you touch upon the other potential problem which will be the solitude/loneliness.

Of course, it's the best way to learn how to be a pilgrim, to start your Camino solo and then join up with a more inhabited pilgrim route ; but that's not everyone's cup of tea, especially for those who have already completed their learning phase(s).

The tough bit of the "official" route is the stretch between Lleida and Zaragoza -- ah but yes I see what route you're planning, and you'd avoid that anyway. There's a couple of up-and-down stages on the route via Huesca, including one I'm told that's quite significant, but yes in that case it's solitude/loneliness that could potentially be the worst of it.

Sorry for any unintended confusion !!!