How necessary is a full-fledged guidebook?

[casterapple]

Hello! I'm walking the Primitivo in July, and I'm trying to determine what kind of guide I should take. I found Liz's guide, and I'm happily going through it and reworking it for my route. Do you think this is enough? I'd like to take as little paper as possible.

Thank you in advance!

 

[jirit]

Do you mean guidebook or human guide ?

 

[casterapple]

Sorry for the confusion! I mean a guidebook.

 

[jirit]

I have not walked the primitivo but unlike the frances route which one could do without a guidebook, I would suggest taking a guidebook or at least an electronic version would be helpful, given that this route is less travelled

Others that have walked the primitivo will have more to offer in terms of which guidebook is best

 

[Anemone del Camino]

If weight is the issue, just take photos of the pages of your guidebook with your Iphone, which I assume you will be taking and using for photos.

 

[annakappa]

A guide book is not necessary, however I suggest you start to search the various sites offering the route of the Primitivo and go for the description you like best. There are many out there! You can then download and print the pages that interest you best.

 

[Bradypus]

I walked the Primitivo last year. Liz's guide was excellent and all the practical information you might need - though of course some may inevitably now be outdated. I like to have a little cultural and historical background when I walk too. Before I set off I came across this free PDF guide to the northern caminos, including the Primitivo. A government tourist brochure with some fascinating information. You might find it interesting:
http://tourism.euskadi.eus/contenid...os/2011/santiago/Caminos del Norte INGLES.pdf

 

[Nick MJ]

I did the Primitivo last month and used photocopies of a guidebook - the Cicerone Guide. This approach has the advantage of being able to throw away pages after you've done that bit of the route so your pack gets ever so slightly lighter each day! The route is very well way marked so I wouldn't worry about carrying a guidebook for directions.

 

[Bradypus]

This approach has the advantage of being able to throw away pages after you've done that bit of the route so your pack gets ever so slightly lighter each day! T
.

The first time I walked the Camino Frances the standard guide was one by Fr. Elias Valiña. Printed in a very distinctive layout and page size (long and narrow). A few times along the way I came across pages which had been used as toilet paper. I assume that they were being torn off in sequence too...

 

[ebrandt]

You can take a .pdf on your phone. -- just save your re-worked version of the guide as a .pdf and then download it to ibooks or send it to yourself as an email attachment and then open the attachment on your phone.

I guess I would say that having a guide is a good thing if only so you know where the next place to stop is. There are a couple places on the Primitivo where the distance between albergues is significant and you wouldn't want to walk past your last option without knowing it. The same is true to a lesser extent with places to eat or buy food.

Liz

 

[timr]

@ebrandt A good chance Liz to say how useful I found your guide a few weeks ago, and to thank you for all the work. I would recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone else. I had the Cicerone guide with me, but really didn't use it.....and it is just a bit too heavy to carry with no reason!! I had all the information I needed from it before I left.
This was the first time I have used phone for guidebooks/pdfs/photocopies etc and must say I found it very useful. And I photographed a few pages from a German guide of a fellow walker at one stage. I actually brought printouts of Liz's booklet, and shed a page each evening!!
I agree with @Bradypus I like having a bit of background information. And as you say a euskadi website has nice booklet which worked fine on the phone.
I think for finding the route from Oviedo to Lugo (where I diverted) the waymarking was very good indeed. I don't recall ever missing a turn. But the booklet has much other useful information.

 

[lovingkindness]

Hello Casterapple. How much of a challenge do you want? It's up to you. The trail is there. The signs are there, some official, others left by pilgrims. Every 15-30 kilometres there will be some kind of accommodation. Find the first arrow out of Oviedo then follow...

I managed with a list of profiles and distances between villages with albergues. The Oficina de Tourismo or the hospitalero at the Albergue Peregrinos, Oviedo helped me with this.

Buen camino.

 

[OzAnnie]

I walked the Primitivo last year. Liz's guide was excellent and all the practical information you might need - though of course some may inevitably now be outdated. I like to have a little cultural and historical background when I walk too. Before I set off I came across this free PDF guide to the northern caminos, including the Primitivo. A government tourist brochure with some fascinating information. You might find it interesting:
http://tourism.euskadi.eus/contenidos/recurso_tecnico/aa30_folletos/en_def/folletos/2011/santiago/Caminos del Norte INGLES.pdf

Very interesting Bradypus. Thanks for that link.
Annie

 

[Tia Valeria]

We used the CSJ guide. Helpful hints as well as directions and we could make notes in it too. Feedback is always appreciated by publishers of any guide to help keep it up to date with accommodation/bars etc
We added notes from other sites (our favourite is Gronze) and from the Cicerone guide. It is now used to help us remember the places we walked through and people we met.

 

[casterapple]

Whoops, I just noticed all the replies to this. Thanks to everyone who gave advice! I think taking a PDF on my phone is a great idea. And I'm glad to hear the route is well marked.

(And Liz, thanks so much for your guide--it's been so helpful!)

 

[SafariGirl]

Hello! I'm walking the Primitivo in July, and I'm trying to determine what kind of guide I should take. I found Liz's guide, and I'm happily going through it and reworking it for my route. Do you think this is enough? I'd like to take as little paper as possible.

Thank you in advance!

Hi casterapple,
I've just finished walking the Via de la Plata and (while walking) downloaded the 'Wise Pilgrim' app to my phone. If you're not familiar with it, there are separate ones for most of the established caminos (including the Primitivo) and it comes in both iPhone and android versions. It provides brief region information, distances, elevation profiles, accommodation info (bed numbers, prices, facilities), maps and an active location-finder.
It was invaluable to me both in occasionally finding accommodation (when demand surprisingly exceeded albergue supply) and in finding the Camino again (when I absentmindedly wandered off it or diversions/directions were a little sparse...It has a bulit-in location finder that shows your location as a blue dot compared to where the Camino is on each stage).
I was so impressed wth it that I downloaded/bought the entire set...and hope to use the Primitivo one at some point in the future.
Good luck, buen Camino and please tell us how it goes for you.
Best wishes
Michele

 

[t2andreo]

If you are walking a new (for you) route, and are walking solo, a good guide is important. It helps you to know what to anticipate to plan the next day's walk, to know what is located slightly off route, and to plan for alternatives, for times when life happens.

If you are in a group, at least one member should have the guide book, accessible to all. All of the above reasons apply IMHO to each member of the group.

If you have walked the route before, then I recommend one of the Wise Pilgrim Guides for your smart phone. They are available in the Apple iTunes store, and I believe are also available through Google for Android devices. They are the best electronic Camino Guides I have yet seen. I believe they are available for most all Camino routes in Spain and Portugal EXCEPT for the Madrid Route.

If you are carrying the phone or tablet anyway for other reasons, these apps add ZERO weight. They also link to your on-board mapping apps. So, they are fully featured. Finally, the fellow who developed these apps pushes regular updates, both off and in-season.

With regards the Camino Frances, the most popular route, there is even a Wise Pilgrim app for "The Last 151" (km), incase you do not care about the previous 324 km...

I hope this helps.

 

[SafariGirl]

If you are walking a new (for you) route, and are walking solo, a good guide is important. It helps you to know what to anticipate to plan the next day's walk, to know what is located slightly off route, and to plan for alternatives, for times when life happens.

If you are in a group, at least one member should have the guide book, accessible to all. All of the above reasons apply IMHO to each member of the group.

If you have walked the route before, then I recommend one of the Wise Pilgrim Guides for your smart phone. They are available in the Apple iTunes store, and I believe are also available through Google for Android devices. They are the best electronic Camino Guides I have yet seen. I believe they are available for most all Camino routes in Spain and Portugal EXCEPT for the Madrid Route.

If you are carrying the phone or tablet anyway for other reasons, these apps add ZERO weight. They also link to your on-board mapping apps. So, they are fully featured. Finally, the fellow who developed these apps pushes regular updates, both off and in-season.

With regards the Camino Frances, the most popular route, there is even a Wise Pilgrim app for "The Last 151" (km), incase you do not care about the previous 324 km...

I hope this helps.

Completely agree. I'd just add that I walked alone and it was the first time on the Via for me and I found the guide invaluable.

 

[Redvespablur]

We walked last month on Notte and Primitivo. Had kindle copy of Ciccerone guide as well as the Buen Camino app on my iPhone. App was great with bar and accommodation listings enroute. I also like the offline maps that gave me a great positional awareness in relation to the trail.

Guide used in advance and app used on trail.

 

[casterapple]

Thank you to those of you who suggested the Wise Pilgrim app! I downloaded the Primitivo version and it looks so helpful.

 

[SafariGirl]

Thank you to those of you who suggested the Wise Pilgrim app! I downloaded the Primitivo version and it looks so helpful.

De nada...Buen camino

 

[Markva79]

Hello! I'm walking the Primitivo in July, and I'm trying to determine what kind of guide I should take. I found Liz's guide, and I'm happily going through it and reworking it for my route. Do you think this is enough? I'd like to take as little paper as possible.

Thank you in advance!

My family and I are here now - we are using a guide we downloaded from the internet. It has been very helpful, and accurate - there are areas it doesn't cover, and I think it would be very difficult to have one person develope a comprehensive guide without having done the Primitivo multiple times. Liz Brandt compiled our guide. Whatever you do, you must stay at the Bodenaya -Albergue this place is beautiful - David welcomes you with soft music, incense, and cold beer. This is a donativo only albergue. He cooks dinner, washes your clothes, and fixes breakfast w/coffee - all for a donation. Fantastic find after a 13 mile, mostly uphill & rocky hike.

 

[Bad Pilgrim]

Do you mean guidebook or human guide ?

Ha ha, that would be the least heavy option. If he/she isn't demanding to be carried around! :O)

 

[Bad Pilgrim]

Hello! I'm walking the Primitivo in July, and I'm trying to determine what kind of guide I should take. I found Liz's guide, and I'm happily going through it and reworking it for my route. Do you think this is enough? I'd like to take as little paper as possible.

Thank you in advance!

Hi,

Am I the only one using the Eroski guide...? (In paper, not human...) It's in Spanish, but you don't speak Spanish?

Last time I checked, the second stage of the Primitivo was MISSING from the pdf version of Eroski. But it's there if you choose the other version.

I will be on the Primitivo in July as well, although I don't know exactly when since I'm starting in Madrid! Do you know when you will be starting?

/BP

 

[casterapple]

Hi,

Am I the only one using the Eroski guide...? (In paper, not human...) It's in Spanish, but you don't speak Spanish?

Last time I checked, the second stage of the Primitivo was MISSING from the pdf version of Eroski. But it's there if you choose the other version.

I will be on the Primitivo in July as well, although I don't know exactly when since I'm starting in Madrid! Do you know when you will be starting?

/BP

I speak some Spanish, but I'm definitely more comfortable with an English guidebook.

I'm starting in Oviedo July 1! I can't believe it's this close. I bought my plane tickets back in February.

 

[Teresita16]

Hi, I'll be starting from Oviedo in July too, I arrive on 8th and will start on 9th. I'm planning to use the Wise Pilgrim app and Liz's pdf. I was also told about gronze.com on this forum which looks really useful and I've bookmarked it on my mobile too.