is this crazy?

[midge]

Hi, this is my first post. I joined the forum because I've booked with travel company to walk Burgos to Santiago in September. Started reading more about the Camino and I can't wait. I have a week holiday starting Sunday 15 July and no plans. Suddenly thought maybe I could use it and walk another part of the route. Is it too late to get organised? Any suggestions which would be a good bit to walk for a week - I guess not overlapping the Burgos - Santiago bit that I'll be doing later in the year? Which are the nearest airports - travelling from UK.

I realise I need to do a lot of research myself but would be really grateful for any pointers anyone can offer to get me started. Not been so excited about an idea in a long time.

 

[William Marques]

What about starting in Logrono and walking to Burgos, that way it will flow on later in the year when you restart.

Logrono - Najera
Najera - Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo - Belorado
Belorado - St Juan de Ortega
St Juan de Ortega - Burgos

It is not the most scenic section but not the most boring either and there is something to see in all the towns and villages.

That is 5 days walking with a day at either end to get from and to home.

The easiest airport may be Bilbao as there should be good coach conections to both towns. Madrid would be an allternative.

Buen Camino
William

 

[sillydoll]

Camino Ingles

You could do the Camino Ingles in a week.

Do a Forum Only search and type in Camino Ingles and check out Rolf's post : Camino Ingles Update May 2007.

His possible schedule was:

Fly to La Coruna or Santiago and Bus to Ferrol
Ferrol to Pontedeume
Pontedeume to Betanzos
Betanzos to Hospital de Bruma
Hospital de Bruma to Sigueiro
Sigueiro to Santiago de Compostela
Whole day in Santiago or bus to Fisterra
Bus from Fisterra to La Coruna or Santiago airport

Good luck!

 

[Minkey]

Personally I'd start at SJPdP for the simple reason that it's beautiful.

8)

 

[midge]

Wow! this actually starts to look possible. Can find flights to bilbao or to biarritz.

Looked at the Camino Ingles sillydoll - and whimped out - i'm a newbie to this, and a bit anxious travelling on my own.

I can work out the trains and buses for doing the logrono burgos stretch, though Minkey makes starting at SJPdP sound very attractive. How far do you reckon I'd get? I guess would start walking on the Monday and have while Saturday to walk.

 

[sillydoll]

Logrono to Nurgos

If you fly to Madrid you can take the bus to Logrono.

Coach: http://www.continental-auto.es/index.do
8 busses between 8am and 9.30pm (± 4 ½ hours and 29 €)
You could take the10h30 and arrive at 15h00.

 

[William Marques]

Minkey makes starting at SJPdP sound very attractive. How far do you reckon I'd get? I guess would start walking on the Monday and have while Saturday to walk.

Somewhere between Pamplona and Logrono maybe Estella or Los Arcos.

 

[midge]

thanks william ......... your logrono - burgos suggestion seems most practical at the minute. getting confused about accomodation though - i've seen some things that say got to book, and others that say you can't book. what happens then if there's no room left when you arrive?

 

[summer2005]

Midge -

You don't need to book ahead for albergues (and with very, very few exceptions, you can't). You probably could book ahead for hotels and pensiones, but it's hard to predict where you'll decide to stop on any given night.

If the albergue is full, you'll probably still have a roof over your head -- but you might wind up sleeping on the floor. Somehow or other, it all works out.

Buen camino!

 

[WolverineDG]

Not to rain on the parade, but the Festival of San Fermin starts this week & if you start from SJPdP, you'll hit Pamplona while it's going on. Pity, because that way is pretty. The convent albergue closes during this time & every other place is probably already booked & charging 3X normal rates. Maybe you could take a bus to Puente la Reina once you hit Pamplona?

Logrono to Burgos doesn't sound bad, though. Buen Camino!

Kelly

 

[midge]

hey, you're brilliant - thank you all so much for your info and encouragement. i don't quite believe this but i just booked my flight for next sunday morning. thanks for the idea to fly to madrid sillydoll - it's a longer trip once i get to spain than it would be flying to bilbao - but i can go from east midlands instead of trekking all the way down to stansted (every time i do that journey i swear never to do it again!)

now all i have to worry about is what i'm taking with me

 

[sillydoll]

Midge's camino

An action girl - well done!
So, tell us where will you be walking from and to?
You cannot book ahead to stay in the refuges.
You can, however, book ahead to stay in small inns, hostals or hotels.
Have a good one Midge!

 

[midge]

Hi, I'm going to do with William's suggestion to walk logrono to burgos. Thanks Kelly for warning me about the festival in pamplona - one to avoid i think.

Didn't sleep last night. Hard to know if it's excitement or anxiety ........ a fair bit of both I guess. I think once I get to Logrono, and see some other people and see where I get credencial etc I'll start to feel better.

 

[WolverineDG]

Hi Midge! Have a great time & please let us know about your trip! I'm hoping to pick up where I left off this past May in Logrono, so I'm really interested in hearing about the route from Logrono to Burgos. If you need a place to stay, there is a pensione in the building next to the Cafe Moderno (mentioned in the CSJ & Brierley guides) that cost us 15Euro/person & was quite nice. I can't recall the name; it was on the 4th floor of the building with the red wood-work on it that contained designs of the Star of David.

Kelly

 

[midge]

gracias y hasta luego

well, crazy or not, i'm sitting here with my bags packed ready to set off to airport in a few hours. there's no way i could have got this together (not with only a week to plan) without all the help i've got here. thanks all of you ...

 

[NB Kevin]

Buen Camino!
Have a great time, relish every moment and tell us all about it, from the Way or when you return.

 

[midge]

I'm back!

Got home yesterday morning, exhausted, but I think that's more the result of a night in Madrid airport than the Camino. Walked from Logrono almost to Burgos, but on the outskirts of Burgos along with a lot of other peregrinos, I got the bus and was very glad I had.

My fears about vicious dogs and there being no beds available in the albergues weren't realised. I think my biggest mistake was to not take a book to read - I felt the weight of my rucksack before I left and took my book out. I regretted that in the (sometimes seemingly endless) period between arriving at the albergue and bed. Perhaps I should have been using the time to think higher thoughts ..... but a lot of the time I just laid on my bunk trying to not think about how much my feet hurt.

On the whole though I loved it. It'll take quite a while to process all of it but I'm hugely proud of myself (is that allowed?!) for managing to do it - I already feel like it's changed the way I look at myself and the world.

So now starting to think about the next stage .... either Burgos to Leon or SJPdP?

 

[WolverineDG]

Hi Midge! When you're rested, I'd be interested in hearing how you broke up your walk, where you stopped, which albergues you stayed at, etc. I think I'll be back on the Camino mid-September, walking Logrono-Leon. How long did it take you to (almost) get to Burgos?

It sounds like you had a great time!

Kelly