I have just completed Camino Ingles

[carolh]

It is a beautiful route very understated It is a same more piligrims do not choose this route.
There are not as many cafes /bar on route but the scenery is wonderful.

I used Johny Walkers guide and it was great- thank you.

My friend and I went to Madrid and got overnight night train to Ferrol on the 4 Setember 2013 and commenced walk on the 5 Sept.

Thank you Johnny for your guide - if any one wants help let me know?

Carol h - Liverpool England

 

[MendiWalker]

Hi Carolh

I have had to postpone the Camino Ingles for the last 2 years. Hopefully it looks like next summer I will finally be able to "walk" it.

I don´t have Johnnie Walker´s guide but I will get it by then. I have read a lot of posts here that it has been very useful to many a peregrino.

Can you post the number of stages with starting & ending points please?

Many thanks beforehand.

Buen Camino!

 

[Tia Valeria]

If you have Johnnie's guide it gives 2 variants of a 5 day walk, plus suggested accomodation for both. We combined them to make a 9 day Camino so our stages were:-
Ferrol - Naron (or Neda albergue)
Naron to Pontedeume
Pontedeume to Miño
Miño to Betanzos
Betanzos to Casa Julia (car to Meson Novo - Meson do Vento)
(return by car to stopping point) Casa Julia to Meson do Vento (or Bruma albergue)
Meson do Vento/Bruma to Calle de Poulo (car to accomodation and return next day)
Calle de Poulo to Sigueiro
Sigueiro to Santiago
[next time we would walk Meson do Vento to Ordes and Ordes to Sigueiro]
This involves a mix of albergues and hostals
Buen Camino

 

[sillydoll]

I will walk the Camino Ingles next year with a view to offering a Slow Camino on the route the following year. That means no more than 8 km - 10km per day. I accept that there will be a fair amount of taxis taking people from and to the trail but I'm sure we can overcome that.

 

[pilgrim b]

It is a beautiful route very understated It is a same more piligrims do not choose this route.
There are not as many cafes /bar on route but the scenery is wonderful.

I used Johny Walkers guide and it was great- thank you.

My friend and I went to Madrid and got overnight night train to Ferrol on the 4 Setember 2013 and commenced walk on the 5 Sept.

Thank you Johnny for your guide - if any one wants help let me know?

Carol h - Liverpool England

Holla Carol , How did you find the route markings on the Ingles, I have heard some say it is a little short on markings on some parts of the route. Did you find Johny Walkers Guide in the forum resources ?
I am considering doing the Ingles in May or june next year all being well.

 

[carolh]

Holla Carol , How did you find the route markings on the Ingles, I have heard some say it is a little short on markings on some parts of the route. Did you find Johny Walkers Guide in the forum resources ?
I am considering doing the Ingles in May or june next year all being well.

The route is fairly well marked. I had difficulities at the the end of the ferrol to Neda Stage. When you get to the a section there is a a turn left to get you to Narron, but if you wish to carry on to Neda Albergue the directions get a bit limited. The section from Betanzos to Bruma I found difficult , it was a beautiful part , going across country but it sems to go on forever! I got to the village of Leiro and onto country path where the directions went a bit. There was a section where you go along side a stream on your left , the path goes straight or what you should do is go to right path to take you to the top where the path meets a road - an arrow should of been on a tree but had gone. I went back and a kind person had pinned a sign to a bush.

I followed Johnny Walker guide to Camino Ingles very good

I wonder if any one else found the same problem.

Carol H ps I will but my route on forum

 

[pilgrim b]

Thank you Carol your reply is much appreciated I will check your route on the forum.

 

[Tia Valeria]

Hola Carol, Did you actually go right into the village of Leiro, we felt that we pretty well skirted round the edge. We ask as we heard later that there is a cafe-bar there, which could be good news for next year.

 

[carolh]

Hola Carol, Did you actually go right into the village of Leiro, we felt that we pretty well skirted round the edge. We ask as we heard later that there is a cafe-bar there, which could be good news for next year.

Hola Tia Valeria

We skirted around the outskirts of village of Leiro. came past church - walked on and pasted a builders, found a vending machine which was working, and came at a great time, it was very hot day - Sun 8 Sept.

Carol H

 

[Tia Valeria]

Thanks Carol. We will look out for the vending machine next year.

 

[Terry Horsman]

Hi Carol,
Just in from doing the Ingles and I agree that Jonny Walker is a hero.
The Naron bit can be confusing but if you just take Jonnys option 1 it becomes fairly clear and the Albergue is reached without going out o your way. I would say however that there is no way that the true route from Ferrol to Pontedeume is only 25k. It must be further.

 

[dougfitz]

I would say however that there is no way that the true route from Ferrol to Pontedeume is only 25k. It must be further.

I recall this section being shown as 29km in one of the Cicerone guides I have looked at recently, not 25km. I know that I was contemplating walking a shorter day than that and targeting 20km for my first day, not 30km. Any thoughts?

 

[MendiWalker]

Hi Carol,
Just in from doing the Ingles and I agree that Jonny Walker is a hero.
The Naron bit can be confusing but if you just take Jonnys option 1 it becomes fairly clear and the Albergue is reached without going out o your way. I would say however that there is no way that the true route from Ferrol to Pontedeume is only 25k. It must be further.

According to this it´s 28kms. http://www.rutasasantiago.com

Buen Camino!

 

[Terry Horsman]

There were groups that went straight across the motorway bridge on day 1 . This must have clipped off 10k but is not the true route.

 

[MendiWalker]

There were groups that went straight across the motorway bridge on day 1 . This must have clipped off 10k but is not the true route.

It´s not the true route? The true route is the route you choose to walk. Over the centuries the routes have changed.

Buen Camino!

 

[madrid12]

I have walked this route a few times but last time on the first day we walked from Ferrol to Naron and stayed at hotel Kensington so it made the next day to Pontedueme much shorter. Before i have always stayed in Ferrol overnight and then started from there straight to Pontedueme the next day. This time we caught the bus to Ferrol and started on the same day. I quite liked Naron it was also Santa Rita's day so the chucrh was very busy.
Liz

 

[Terry Horsman]

That is exactly what we decided to do . I am so pleased that we did

 

[Tia Valeria]

It´s not the true route? The true route is the route you choose to walk. Over the centuries the routes have changed.

Buen Camino!

True in some ways, but centuries ago if there was no ferry then the route would have gone via Narón/Neda as the bridge is modern. In one sense the Neda route is the 'true' one from Ferrol. The shortcut over the bridge, with others, can enable pilgrims to walk the Inglés in 3 days, and we heard of some pilgrims who were refused a Compostela as the Pilgrims Office didn't believe that they had walked 100kms. If just the bridge cuts off 10kms then it seems that would have been a fair assessment. I wouldn't be sure of the safety of walking a motorway bridge either, but that is a different issue maybe.
We were happy to follow the given route and like others stopped at the Hotel Kensington and then enjoy the walk next day through Neda, Fene etc to Pontedeume.

 

[MendiWalker]

As I have said above the Camino has changed over the centuries . This is a fact. Just an example on the Camino del Norte on the stage Deba - Markina the Camino has been changed 3 times that I know and that the yellow arrows are still to be seen.
Another thing is as you cut 10 mms. off by using that bridge perhaps you are under the 100 mms. needed to get a Compostela. But that´s another thing.

Buen Camino!

 

[daesdaemar]

I have done the Ingles twice. It is a very beautiful and quiet route for those that require a few days of contemplation.

 

[Tia Valeria]

I have done the Ingles twice. It is a very beautiful and quiet route for those that require a few days of contemplation.

Shh - don't tell everyone................

 

[lynnejohn]

I have also walked the Ingles and my lips are zzzzzzipppppped.

 

[Murph10]

Hi Carolh

I have had to postpone the Camino Ingles for the last 2 years. Hopefully it looks like next summer I will finally be able to "walk" it.

I don´t have Johnnie Walker´s guide but I will get it by then. I have read a lot of posts here that it has been very useful to many a peregrino.

Can you post the number of stages with starting & ending points please?

Many thanks beforehand.

Buen Camino!

 

[Murph10]

 

[dougfitz]

I have also walked the Ingles and my lips are zzzzzzipppppped.

you and @Tia Valeria are just being so mean. I am planning to walk the Ingles next Apr, and won't be deterred by your determination to keep it secret

 

[NoQ]

I have done the Ingles twice. It is a very beautiful and quiet route for those that require a few days of contemplation.

Just the right length for the Easter holidays too. Will walk it in April and I'm sure it will be rather different from the Frances this past July and August.

 

[lynnejohn]

you and @Tia Valeria are just being so mean. I am planning to walk the Ingles next Apr, and won't be deterred by your determination to keep it secret

 

[Tia Valeria]

'Please don't tell' is often the quickest way to get information round.

 

[Biccy]

Agree that this is a great little walk, eminently doable without taking loads of time of work (those of us that need to!) and still worthy of a credencial at the end. Johnnie Walker's guide is invaluable and although some stretches may be on the long side for some, I found the peace and solitude fantastic.

 

[peregrino_tom]

This is how I see the bridge situation at Ferrol:
There are three bridges over the bay,
- one for the national road 651, which has walkways/pavements and I reckon would cut out about 18k.
- the Feve railway bridge that has a small but proper path beside it, used by the locals, cutting out about 8km; and
- the Autopista 9F bridge which is next to it, which would cut out about the same but I'm pretty sure has no path alongside it. It is a motorway and hazardous - as well as being difficult to enter and exit.
If you want to take a shortcut and still do 100km then I think the Feve bridge is the only option. People I met in August who crossed by it weren't challenged at the Pilgrim's Office about not having a stamp at Neda. They successfully claimed their compostelas.
What is the 'true' route is something I contemplated much as I walked around the smelly end of the bay. I figured that if I was an English pilgrim arriving at Ferrol (and it seems that A Coruna was far more typical anyway), and I could face getting in another boat, I'd look across at Pontedueme and think - why walk all that way when it's probably an hour across the bay and even save another day of walking by boating it up the river for another hour to Betanzos...?
But I figured some poor souls must have walked all the way round and I was happy and curious to follow in their steps.
Dougfitz - I started from Ferrol at about midday and, walking all the way round, reached the Neda albergue about 3pm. Then got to Pontedueme by about 6.

PS just been reading a bit in Jusserand's 'English Wayfaring Life in the middle ages' which talks about the voyage then:
'[The ships] resembled the pilgrim ships of the present day, who carry every year on the Red Sea, crowds of Arabs on their way to Mecca. The pilgrims were huddled together in the most uncomfortable fashion and had opportunities in plenty to do penance and offer their sufferings to the saint.' One account said 'You must not think of laughing when you go by sea to St James'; there is sea-sickness; you are pushed about by the sailors under pretext of hindering the work of the ship; the smell is most unpleasant;.. the mocking remarks of the seaman are very painful' 'and when [conditions] are at their worst then comes a facetious sailor to bawl out in their ears; cheer up, in a moment we shall be in a storm!'

 

[dougfitz]

Thx. I have been looking at staying in the albergue at Covas and starting from there. That would put the distance beyond doubt even with a shortcut.

 

[peregrino_tom]

Doug, I just found something about the Covas albergue on Gronze - looks brilliant. Seems to have its own path pretty much around the wild coast and into Ferrol - about 26km. So surely you'd do that as a first day and start from the old dock in Ferrol on day 2?
By the way thanks for the heads-up http://www.gronze.com/documents/pdf/tramo-covas-ferrol.pdf

 

[MendiWalker]

Yep I´ve seen it as well . It adds another 26 kms. to the walk.
Looks very interesting too.

Buen Camino!

 

[dougfitz]

Yep I´ve seen it as well . It adds another 26 kms. to the walk.
Looks very interesting too.

Buen Camino!

Yes. There appears to be a brilliant walk leg around the headland north west of Ferrol. I expect that to take a day, but I might be able to walk on a bit further, say to Neda and stay there, but that would be a much longer day than I might want at the start. One way or another, I am inclined to take the extra day that this entails.

Regards,

 

[Deleted member 29041]

Doug, what kind of clothes are you planning on bringing for an April walk? As far as I recall, this spring was quite cold in Spain - on the other hand, it is Gallicia, which is a bit warmer.

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Doug, I just found something about the Covas albergue on Gronze - looks brilliant. Seems to have its own path pretty much around the wild coast and into Ferrol - about 26km. So surely you'd do that as a first day and start from the old dock in Ferrol on day 2?
By the way thanks for the heads-up http://www.gronze.com/documents/pdf/tramo-covas-ferrol.pdf

Although the Covas albergue is not on the route pilgrims have been using it and I understand that the hospitalero will pick pilgrims up in Ferrol and return them next day. Any further information would be appreciated.

 

[dougfitz]

@JohnnieWalker - I was more inclined to start from Covas and walk around the headland into Ferrol. A sort of Day Zero approach to start the Ingles. Although getting collected in Ferrol might be an option, I have found a local bus service (MONBUS #40) from Ferrol that appears to get pretty close to the albergue. I guess this will depend a bit on how the linkages work getting from the airport into SDC, and then onto Ferrol.

Doug, what kind of clothes are you planning on bringing for an April walk? As far as I recall, this spring was quite cold in Spain - on the other hand, it is Gallicia, which is a bit warmer.

I will be using much the same approach as I did on CF in Apr/May 2010 and St Olav's Way in 2012.

• Base layer (torso only) - wool blend tee shirt (OR) and quick dry underpants (Snowgum).
  
• Middle layer - trekking trousers (Mont) and either SS or LS trekking shirt (Ex-Officio).
• Outer layer - light fleece (Snowgum or Macpac) on top, gaiters (Sea to Summit). I am thinking of carrying a light Helly Hensen wind/rain resistant jacket (~180gm) as well. This worked well for me in Norway.
  
• Raingear - jacket (North Face or Macpac), rain pants (Macpac). I am considering using a poncho instead (Wapo Cristallo) but the jacket/trousers combination has worked well for me before. I remain open on this.
  
• Extremities - wide or medium brim hat (OR or Tilley), beanie, pole mitts (GoSo) or gloves (Auclair perhaps, I seem to have a few), liner socks (Horizon), trekking socks (not sure - I wore asymmetric Mont trekking socks in Norway, and they might have sufficient mileage left), boots - Scarpa Trek Pro or Asolo TP535, evening shoes Salomon Techamphibian.

@peregrino_tom Thx for the link. I found it a couple of days ago, and have translated most of it (isn't Google Translate wonderful).

 

[JohnnieWalker]

This is how I see the bridge situation at Ferrol:
If you want to take a shortcut and still do 100km then I think the Feve bridge is the only option. People I met in August who crossed by it weren't challenged at the Pilgrim's Office about not having a stamp at Neda. They successfully claimed their compostelas.
What is the 'true' route is something I contemplated much as I walked around the smelly end of the bay. I figured that if I was an English pilgrim arriving at Ferrol (and it seems that A Coruna was far more typical anyway), and I could face getting in another boat, I'd look across at Pontedueme and think - why walk all that way when it's probably an hour across the bay and even save another day of walking by boating it up the river for another hour to Betanzos...?
But I figured some poor souls must have walked all the way round and I was happy and curious to follow in their steps.
Dougfitz - I started from Ferrol at about midday and, walking all the way round, reached the Neda albergue about 3pm. Then got to Pontedueme by about 6.

PS just been reading a bit in Jusserand's 'English Wayfaring Life in the middle ages' which talks about the voyage then:
'[The ships] resembled the pilgrim ships of the present day, who carry every year on the Red Sea, crowds of Arabs on their way to Mecca. The pilgrims were huddled together in the most uncomfortable fashion and had opportunities in plenty to do penance and offer their sufferings to the saint.' One account said 'You must not think of laughing when you go by sea to St James'; there is sea-sickness; you are pushed about by the sailors under pretext of hindering the work of the ship; the smell is most unpleasant;.. the mocking remarks of the seaman are very painful' 'and when [conditions] are at their worst then comes a facetious sailor to bawl out in their ears; cheer up, in a moment we shall be in a storm!'

Tom - I entirely agree about A Coruna being the much more authentic route and there are considerable historic records of pilgrims arriving there. The route from Coruna past the Pilgrims' Hospital at Sigras to the medieval pilgrim Hospital at Bruma is also accurately charted. As far as I can tell the route from Ferrol is a modern invention to comply with the 100 kms rule and therefore I have no difficulty incorporating in the CSJ guide a route which saves 10 kms for those who do not wish to go to Neda. I'll walk this etapa in the next few weeks to explore!

Thanks

John

 

[peregrino_tom]

John - it's a tricky one. It's great that there is a proper albergue at Neda, but it's in a precarious position for business. It's only a few hours walk from Ferrol; if you stay there then it's another short stage to Pontedueme which is well worth a stay; and, there's the option of short-cutting across the Feve bridge to miss out Neda altogether.
I think it is right to encourage people to walk the whole way round the bay if they can, as that is part of the official route that local folk maintain on our behalf, regardless of how 'authentic' it is. But it's also useful for others with time constraints to know all the options. I'll be very interested to hear your report.
BTW re the authenticity argument: I was very interested to read the tourist board in Betanzos which gives claim to being an important pilgrim staging post for pilgrims coming from Oviedo-Ribadeo-Mondonedo-Vilalba.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/peregrino_tom/9710762170/in/set-72157635446868325/lightbox/
That seems to make it an 'authentic' old times pilgrim town. The question is, where did they go next? did they follow the current route to Bruma or keep going west?
cheers, tom

 

[alexwalker]

Shh - don't tell everyone................

Too late: Now I know, and it is on my todo-list...

I'll walk this etapa in the next few weeks to explore!

You are very kind, Johnnie!

 

[Stephen Nicholls]

Hope I may meet a few more pilgrims on the Ingles - I'm planning on late May, trying to avoid the rains of April!

 

[MendiWalker]

Hope I may meet a few more pilgrims on the Ingles - I'm planning on late May, trying to avoid the rains of April!

I have had to postpone this Camino for the last 2 years (family matters). Hopefully this summer it will be.

P.S. - Another awesome Camino is the Portugues de la Costa, shhhhhhh…………………….

Buen Camino!

 

[Stephen Nicholls]

I have had to postpone this Camino for the last 2 years (family matters). Hopefully this summer it will be.
P.S. - Another awesome Camino is the Portugues de la Costa, shhhhhhh……………………. Buen Camino!

Oh!
Yes!
I see!
Well, the Ingles and the Portuguese Costa, and the inland route from Porto to SdC are just awful - boring, by the side of main roads all the time, with packs of wild dogs and no accommodation anywhere. No-one in their right mins would walk any of them, would they, MendiWalker?!

 

[MendiWalker]

Yep, simply horrible ( crosses fingers when typing it.)

Buen Camino!