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Don't know your age or your walking speed or your interest in the culture you will be walking through. I do know that there are taxis available for very reasonable prices if you think you are falling a bit behind. I could spend a week in Astorga and not bat an eye. Galacia is beautiful. And you might want a couple of days in Santiago. You have to make it your own is my point.Hello everyone I am very excited about my plans to do part of the Camino in May 2017. If anyone can offer some advice I would love it. I only have 14 days unfortunately. Any ideas of where I should start?
Lots of public transportation is available. We used taxis to add a few kilometers on certain days to our total towards the end to stay on schedule. They were quite reasonable and often there were other people to even split the cost with. If you have a guide you can figure out before you go about how far is good enough. I struggled on very steep downhills, they can be hard on your knees. So we would walk up and if the decent was too steep we would take a taxi down. You are walking through villages and along or near roads mostly so don't fret finding a ride.Hi, if we are taking the sarria way, how do we get there? We are coming from Asia so we can fly to any part of Europe that will take us to Sarria. By the way we are not professional hikers, the realistic maximum that we can go is around 15kms per day. In case we get super tired, are there buses or trains that we can take just in case we are falling behind schedule?
Would appreciate any suggestions pls. Thanks in advance.
Hello everyone I am very excited about my plans to do part of the Camino in May 2017. If anyone can offer some advice I would love it. I only have 14 days unfortunately. Any ideas of where I should start?
@Joy A welcome to the forum. You will find the search facility - top-right-corner of the screen helpful. Answers to your travel questions can be found here: https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/forums/traveling-to-from-the-camino.19/ A flight to Madrid, and then flight / Train / Bus to Santiago - buses to Sarria would be your simplest route. Do you have other destinations in Europe?Hi, if we are taking the sarria way, how do we get there?
Thanks for the reply. Have you done the Camino Portugues? I am thinking of this but I read from others that for one's first camino the route through Spain should be done first? Any thoughtsI agree with Astorga, it is a beautiful city to start if you choose Camino Frances!
Another option could be Porto, in Camino Portugues. 14 days you can make an awesome trip!
Thanks I will start to calculate my distance and figure out how many km I can cover in a day. Is 15 to 30 km the norm?Welcome to the forum. You will find lots of discussion if you browse through the threads and use the search feature.
Start anywhere! However, if you want to arrive in Santiago, you should find a convenient place on the map that is no more than your expected daily distance (likely to be 15-30 km) multiplied by 13.
Astorga is a convenient place to start, at about 260 km from Santiago.
Hi wow have you cycled the camino before? How many days is it to cycle from Porto to Santiago?you probably would get the whole of the porteguese from Porto in that time. I might be cycling it at the same time....
Well, "most" people would probably fit somewhere in that range, but it is a big range! Many people like to dawdle and do less, and others prefer to power on to their destination. I find that 3 km/hour is a good number for planning, excluding long breaks but including short photo and snack breaks. If I start at 8:30 and finish at 3:30, having taken an hour for lunch, that is 6 hours of walking so 18 km would be the distance to plan for. In practice, I typically do a bit more.Is 15 to 30 km the norm?
I'm hoping to cycle and I'm thinking it will be about 5 days from Porto. My preference is walking but my son wants to do it on a bike. You would get a good taste of Spain and Portugal. And walk from one time zone to another.Hi wow have you cycled the camino before? How many days is it to cycle from Porto to Santiago?
Is 15 to 30 km the norm?
I only have 14 days unfortunately. Any ideas of where I should start?
, hi
You could do what many Europeans do. That is to start at a long distance starting point and walk for the allotted time. Then come back the next year and continue from where you finished last year. In this case you might care to start at St-Jean-pied-de-port of one of the other long distance starting places. It depends on what your motivations are.
As well as your specific question about where to start, you also asked more generally for advice.
The first thing I suggest is get camino fit. Do walks in your local area that extend you.
Start with only a simple day pack.
Work up to the type of pack, and what will be inside it ,as you progress. Look out for pack lists on this site. But keep it as simple as possible. Three tops max, for example: two short sleeve, one long, of which you will be wearing one!!!
Ensure you have some hills in your later trips. I suggest you work up to doing 700 m (2,000 ft) of elevation before you have breakfast. This implies starting at, or just before, daybreak so you walk, and cover the most distance before it gets too hot.
Ensure you do some multi day trips with all your gear. Helps "bed it down" and helps you get used to it, especially packing, unpacking at the end of the day, washing etc and packing it again before you go to bed. Think about wearing to bed what you will wear tomorrow. One writer, with a 10 commandment bias, has said: "1) travel light, 2) travel lighter".
Another writer says Spain is a civilized country: If you didn't bring it, but you need it, local, shops will most probably stock it.
Kia kaha (take care, move forward)
@Joy A welcome to the forum. You will find the search facility - top-right-corner of the screen helpful. Answers to your travel questions can be found here: https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/forums/traveling-to-from-the-camino.19/ A flight to Madrid, and then flight / Train / Bus to Santiago - buses to Sarria would be your simplest route. Do you have other destinations in Europe?
It is walk of some 110km from Sarria to Santiago on easy paths, liberally provided with accommodation and other resources. You do not need to be an experienced hiker to walk the camino from Sarria just able to walk 25km a day for 4-5days. A little practice and well-fitting walking shoes will help. Baggage transport services abound as do taxi and bus services. However, if you wish to obtain a Compostella you must walk every step from Sarria. Sites such a Godalesco, as suggested, or www.Gronze.com will help with your planning and understanding of the camino. The guides sold via this link: https://www.santiagodecompostela.me/collections/guide-books should meet all your needs.