How to walk to Santiago from Astorga to Santiago in 9~10 days ?

[Maria Man]

Hi friends of the camino,

I was walking the primitive way the last two days and my blisters are growing very bad. Foreseeing a lot of walking steep roads for the next few days a friend i met in the camino suggest me to switch to more flat route. So today I am travelling to Astorga and try to start again from there. The problem is I have done no research on this route because this is my first time on the camino and I thought I can stick to primitivo. Anyway I have 9~10days left for my camino and I would like to walk to Santiago, can anyone advise me which stages i can go ? I'm ok to take buses inbetween some stages. also i may pay to transport my backpack to next stage so I can walk further. any other advice is much appreciated !

buen camino
maria

 

[nidarosa]

Hi Maria, so sorry to hear your blisters are too bad to continue! Have you got decent second shoes to walk in for a bit until they get better? If you go to Astorga you can get to Santiago in 10 days if you walk 25 km a day - is that possible with those blisters?

One option as you say is transporting your pack, but that means booking in advance, so you'll need to pick up a guidebook. Once you have that, you can figure out your own stages depending on what you want to avoid. I try to avoid the tarmac, but if you want to avoid up or downhill stages, avoid the stage from Rabanal/Cruz de Ferro to Molinaseca! Or follow the road instead of the path - the path is gravelly, shaley, narrow and steep more or less all the way. Also avoid the Pradela route from Villafranca (a shame, it is much more beautiful than the road below), and the walk up to O Cebreiro.

Or if you are not ready to walk 25km a day or more, if that will make your blisters worse, consider getting a bus closer to Sarria, just over 100 km outside Santiago. Yes, a lot of pilgrims start from there so it will be a totally different camino, but you will be able to find lots of accommodation and adjust your stages to your feet/mood, and you won't have to skip parts. There are hills - it is Galicia, after all - but you skip two of the steepest stages and a lot of tarmac walking. And you can take a day or two to rest in Santiago!

I'm sure you'll figure it out. Get a guidebook for the Frances or ask to have a look in someone else's before you decide! Buen Camino and hope your blisters heal.

 

[William Marques]

As nidarosa has said you will not avoid the hills by starting from Astorga there are two proper climbs between there and Tricastella. I cannot say how you should continue but maybe bus a day and give your feet a rest before making a big decision.

 

[annakappa]

Yup! It's not much of a more flatter route.!
Try and jump a bit further forward by bus, maybe Ponferrada, or better still try to get to O'Cebreiro, which means taking the bus to Piedrafita, which is the nearest place to get off the bus for O'Cebreiro. You then walk 4 Kms to the village. After that, you will still have a lot of ups and downs to do, but will have avoided the tricky part from Rabanal and you will gave more time to walk at your own pace, without doing 25kms a day, due to your circumstances!

 

[Maria Man]

Thank you guys for your advice and i will take bus in between some route. i just bought a book to study where I am going tomorrow.
As for my blisters it was so amazing that in my albergue in astorga there are volunteers of student doctors and they help me with my blisters and even gave me massage on the leg and shoulders , i feel so much better now. i will try to walk 25km slowly as without the backpack, it should be ok to start walking again.

you guys are great !

maria