Help needed for my first Camino

[CATER]

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?

 

[C clearly]

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.

 

[Anamya]

I 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!

 

[trecile]

If you want to go to Finesterre you might want to start in Ponferrada.
The website urcamino.com is good for planning.

 

[simeon]

you probably would get the whole of the porteguese from Porto in that time. I might be cycling it at the same time....

 

[JabbaPapa]

For the Francès I'd recommend Leon or Astorga, depending on how fast you walk daily. Both are good places to start.

 

[HeidiL]

http://www.godesalco.com/plan is a good resource for planning.

 

[Joy A]

Hi, my friends & I are planning to go in Oct 2017, but we only have a maximum of 5 days. Any suggestions on where we can start? Thanks in advance

 

[jimabfalter]

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?

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.

 

[Joy A]

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.

 

[jimabfalter]

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.

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.
The bus system is very good in Spain so between the buses and trains you could land just about anywhere. We liked Balboa a lot and I would probably fly into there again, or maybe pick another place to explore. It is all pretty easy if you just go with the flow.

 

[jpflavin1]

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?

Leon, it is easy to get to and a gentle start to the Camino.

 

[anna klara klintegaard]

If you love love mountains: Try Camino Primotivo, start in Oviedo

 

[Tincatinker]

Hi, if we are taking the sarria way, how do we get there?

@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.

 

[CATER]

I 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 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 thoughts

 

[CATER]

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.

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?

 

[CATER]

you probably would get the whole of the porteguese from Porto in that time. I might be cycling it at the same time....

Hi wow have you cycled the camino before? How many days is it to cycle from Porto to Santiago?

 

[C clearly]

Is 15 to 30 km the norm?

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.

So, it depends on your fitness and preferences. You'll have to judge that, based on your own experience walking that sort of distance.

 

[simeon]

Hi wow have you cycled the camino before? How many days is it to cycle from Porto to Santiago?

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.

 

[JabbaPapa]

Is 15 to 30 km the norm?

It's a range -- people tend to walk about the same distance every day, +/-5 Km, with punctual greater variations.

For most it's about 20-25 ---- the slower do 15-20 ; the slightly faster 25-30. The genuinely fast do 30+ to 40+ etc, even up to 60ish daily.

 

[AlwynWellington]

I only have 14 days unfortunately. Any ideas of where I should start?

@CATER , 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)

 

[HeidiL]

It seems that there are two ways of thinking about one's first Camino.

For many people, getting to Santiago is the important thing, so they plan accordingly. I believe this is what most first-time walkers do, and for them, the possibility of crowds after Sarria really isn't important. Everything is new, and walking in a crowd can be quite amazing!

Other people, perhaps especially experienced hikers, are more interested in the walking in and of itself (my academic background nods approvingly in the background...), and choose any stretch they think they will like, often with interesting scenery.

We walked the last half (counting from Roncesvalles) of the Camino Frances the first time, and really enjoyed arriving in Santiago and getting our Compostelas, but since then, we've thinking been much more about where we'd like to walk. We're not competing in the "most Compostelas when you die" contest...

 

[JabbaPapa]

, 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.

I'm not sure that this is good advice, even though I have nothing but respect for those who provide and follow it.

Doing so does "break" your Camino, and compared to some Europeans who can decide upon that compromise but start from Le Puy or from their homes or wherever, and for whom the compromise may not be with the time available in a unique experience but with a more general impossibility to coordinate the Camino with their responsibilities, two full weeks is a luxury.

The important thing is NOT to "do the whole Camino", except for us crazy people who have walked from home.

The important thing is to walk to Compostela.

14 days is just about the minimum time to do that significantly, whereas those who do it in stages typically have only 5-10 days yearly ; and even though the very short pilgrimages are still pilgrimages, two weeks on the Way ending in Compostela is better than any unnecessary compromise.

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)

Ultreia e sus eia -- all of this is excellent advice.

 

[CathyJ]

@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.

Can Gronze.com be viewed in English? I couldn't see anywhere to change language

 

[Kanga]

I use a translator widget (e.g. Google translate) that is an extension to my web browser. Then when a page comes up in a foreign language I press the widget button on the toolbar and it translates the page. Pretty inaccurately, but usually good enough to get the general gist.

 

[CathyJ]

Wow, that was quick, thanks Kanga