How do you choose your first Camino route?

[dick bird]

Well, @VNwalking it's been a long time since you replied to this post about how to choose a first Camino. I have scrolled through all of the replies on this thread, but your answer spoke to me: "Someone with 6 weeks who's comfortable with solitude, who wants a contemplative walk with an abundance of history, architecture, and natural history? I'd say Viejo-Olvidado-Invierno." This is me. I'm a solo backpacker with a lot experience hiking mountains at high elevations, I'm recently retired, and I have long wanted to do a Camino. I am discouraged by what I read about the crowds of the CF, yet I am interested in a spiritual Camino. I speak passable (not fluent) Spanish. I want vistas, nature, small towns, churches, albergues with available beds, and a way into Santiago that is not on the crowded CF. I guess my question to you is about "Viejo" because I am having trouble finding that route. Is it part of another longer one? Thanks!

'Viejo' is sometimes used to refer to the Olvidado, in particular the alternative first section starting from Pamplona. Most walkers start from Bilbao (as we did), and this is referred to unambiguously as the Olvidado. So my suggestion is to research 'Olvidado'. I have an incredibly detailed 1:1250000 map issued by the Ministerio de Fomento and Instituto Geografico which shows routes most of us have never heard of, but the Viejo is not on it. Excellent choice of routes, by the way: Bilbao - Ponferrada - Monforte de Lemos - Santiago. Buen camino.

 

[VNwalking]

I guess my question to you is about "Viejo" because I am having trouble finding that route. Is it part of another longer one? Thanks!

The Viejo is used to indicate a route from Pamplona to Aguilar de Campoo to link with the Olvidado proper.
Have a look here, @HoosierOldLady.

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/questions-about-the-viejo-olvidado.72434/#post-978901

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/detailed-planning-for-viejo-olvidado-from-pamplona.67492/

Sorry - once you click on the second link, you'll have to wade through no small amount of banter, since this was a virtual (planning) camino during the height of covid.

 

[HoosierOldLady]

The Viejo is used to indicate a route from Pamplona to Aguilar de Campoo to link with the Olvidado proper.
Have a look here, @HoosierOldLady.

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/questions-about-the-viejo-olvidado.72434/#post-978901

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/detailed-planning-for-viejo-olvidado-from-pamplona.67492/

Sorry - once you click on the second link, you'll have to wade through no small amount of banter, since this was a virtual (planning) camino during the height of covid.

Thank you so much, @VNwalking! I have searched that thread and found Enders Guide, and then a side link to the English translation posted by @peregrina2000 (side rabbit hole down her blog... another Midwesterner)! This guide is fantastic! I understand that it is incomplete and incorrect in places, but what a great resource for me to begin my planning! I was beginning to get a bit discouraged. This forum is fantastic. I joined a few days ago and I'm going now to become a donating member. The responses are so quick, even to posts on old threads, and the resources are amazing. Buen Camino, y'all.

 

[Puerto Peregrino]

My father went back 10 years. I read a book about the journey, I saw a film about it, I heard my father's story, and thanks to all this, I came to the conclusion that this journey is unique for everyone, and even if you share it, no one will pass it the same. Since my father completed the pilgrimage, there was not a single year that I would not even think about it, at best I planned it .. but it never worked out .. At first I wanted to cross the route from Leon like my father, but last year I was very determined to cross the pilgrimage Portuguese route. Coincidentally, I felt most prepared last year. But it didn't work out. Today I find myself in Valencia, the priority was due to a business trip. My team of people is leaving home tomorrow. I decided to go on a pilgrimage. I don't have a normal jacket or a normal backpack, I don't know the details I should know. I don't want to know them so that I don't give anything to try to discourage me .. I have no idea what I'm doing, I don't even have a sleeping bag .. but I still feel ready for the trip ..

HI EVERYONE AND GUESS WHAT!!!

Last year I wrote these few sentences. Today it is almost a year to the day since I completed this journey. Although I did not write my knowledge here, I stored everything in my heart and today I would like to share it with you.

As I wrote above, the day before I set foot on the Camino de Levante, in 2021 I was determined to go to Compostela via the Portuguese route, but I did not succeed.

However, something absolutely amazing happened on the way from Valencia. I walked alone for three days. Due to the covid situation, almost all the albergues were closed. On the third day in the town of Moixent, I did not find Albergue. A nice policeman came to my aid and while he was making a list of hotels for me, I remembered that my father had told me that my cousins lived near Valencia in Gandia. At first I didn't see any reason to visit them during the camino.

But then I thought that I could contact them. I wrote to my cousin and asked her if they could pick me up so that I could rest at their house for a while and move away from them by train for an easier route from Leon (Spain) from where my father also walked to Compostela.

She wrote me that her mother will call me. My aunt called me within ten minutes that she didn't have a car at the moment, but that a gentleman had come to them and would ask him if they could come pick me up for the gas money.

When they came for me, I had no idea who is he. In a few seconds they told me that he is just a random transporter who brought puppies to my aunt from Slovakia and I texted my cousin just at the same moment when he arrived to hand them over. If I had written ten minutes later, none of the following would have ever happened.

During a short debate on the way from Moixent to my aunt, I learned that this man brought the puppies only based on my aunt's ad that he found on the Internet and which he wanted to earn extra on his business trip.

So he said that even if it was a bit of a detour, he would take them. Because he has to stop in Madrid anyway. When I asked where his last stop would be, he answered - Portugal.

I felt adventure like never before. We arrived at my aunt's house where I showered and ate, not even an hour had passed and I was sitting in the car with Mr. Transporter on the way to Porto.

On the very first day I met three miraculous beings named Pierre, Elena, Angelica. Of course, I draw from the journey to this day and I would like to share with you the art that the way gifted me with and inspired me to do. My stage name is Puerto, I am a Slovak lyricist and singer. I took the liberty of writing a song about the pilgrimage - which I didn't plan to do and making a video for it from the materials I collected along the way - I didn't plan to do that either.

Here is video and I wish you a pleasant viewing and Buen Camino!

PS: THERE ARE SUBTITTLES in many languages

 

[Camino Chrissy]

What an amazing story and video, Puerto. Thanks for sharing it!

 

[Marbe2]

Thank you for sharing your journey in word and song!

 

[KariannNor]

To see many of these routes on a map, go to the Mundicamino website. You can link to information about suggested daily stages.

An excellent tool for planning a day-to-day itinerary for some routes is the Camino Planner at https://godesalco.com/plan. Another tool that provides route information and accommodation options is gronze.com.

It is useful to think of the Camino as a network of walking paths leading to Santiago de Compostela, based on the routes that pilgrims have used over more than 1000 years as a pilgrimage to the tomb of Santiago (St. James). In olden times, people would start at their home or parish church wherever it was (in Europe), walk to Santiago and home again.

A common misunderstanding is that there is a single governing body that manages the Camino. There isn't. There are many local governments along the routes, and local associations that maintain paths and promote the Camino in their region, but each operates according to their own laws and objectives. Many of those associations are members of the Federación Española de Asociaciones de Amigos del Camino de Santiago, but there are other organizations and websites to help pilgrims.

Is the Compostela important?
People can start at any point they choose. However, if they want to receive a Compostela from the Cathedral in Santiago, they must have walked the last 100 km or cycled 200 km of one of the approved routes. That's why many people who don't have much time will start walking at Sarria on the Camino Frances, or at Tui on the Camino Portuguese, or they walk the Camino Ingles. Those are shortest routes that qualify for the Compostela. For official information about the Cathedral and compostela, and statistics about pilgrim arrivals, see the website of the Cathedral Pilgrim Office.

Is it important to have many companions and reliable infrastructure?
By far the most popular route with the best developed infrastructure is the Camino Frances. The route by this name starts in St. Jean Pied de Port in France, crosses the Pyrenees to Roncesvalles in Spain, and continues over 800 km across Spain to Santiago. It's important to understand that it is not the be-all and end-all of Caminos, the "official" route, the "whole Camino" or anything of the sort. See this thread if you still need convincing about that.

Do you speak Spanish?
You can get away with speaking almost no Spanish on the Camino Frances. In fact, if you WANT to practice your Spanish, you might be disappointed! On less popular routes, you will have more challenges to communicate, but here's where your personal comfort level matters.

Are you comfortable with day-to-day coping challenges?
These are generally not major issues, and most people do fine, but on less popular routes, you need to be a little more flexible and self reliant. On the Camino Frances, everybody around you knows exactly what you are looking forward and there is usually someone nearby who speaks English. On less popular routes, people are still extremely helpful but it can be more of a challenge. Distances between lodgings may be longer and you need to be able to develop a plan B from time to time. You might be walking alone most of the time.

Have fun! Some people just like to show up, but others really enjoy detailed planning.

thanks for many useful links and thoughts.