Length of time for walking El Camino

[Nancy Edith]

Hello,

This will be my first time walking the Camino and I am very nervous. I am on a time constraint, so I was wondering how long on average does it take to walk the whole camino from SJPP. I am in my 20's and very fit. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[C clearly]

SJPP to Santiago is almost 800 km. At 20 km/day, it would take 40 days; at 25 km/day, it would be 32 days. Many people do it in 33-34 days if they are reasonably fit, don't get injured, and don't take days off.

 

[Icacos]

Early in our Camino, my companion declared she could only manage about 20k a day, which was fine with me (we were both 60 yrs.) It took us 42 days to get to Santiago; I think with just one rest day. Most everyone else walked faster than we did, and probably covered more ground each day.

 

[jstorybook]

It took me 34 days and I turned 62 yo while walking the Camino

 

[Icacos]

It took me 34 days and I turned 62 yo while walking the Camino

I remember now ..... you were one of those fast-walkers that passed us!

 

[SYates]

Try it the other way round: 20km x available walking days = distance to start from Santiago.
I have met far too many pilgrims that put themselves under "time stress" and regretted it soon.
Buen Camino, SY

 

[jefferyonthecamino]

Hello,

This will be my first time walking the Camino and I am very nervous. I am on a time constraint, so I was wondering how long on average does it take to walk the whole camino from SJPP. I am in my 20's and very fit. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have met pilgrims doing close to 40 km a day and who were happy, and other doing 15 km a day and were happy too. In any case, everybody's Camino is different, I personally think it's funner to go slower, start closer to Santiago if under time constraints, and do shorter stages, as this allows to better experience the Camino.

 

[Icacos]

Perhaps you will find this link useful in your planning: http://www.godesalco.com/plan/frances

 

[Felipe]

You can follow another approach. How many hours do you want/are able to walk (with backpack)? For example, I am in my 6os, quite used to walk. My personal average is 6-7 hrs. I do 4 km/h in late winter or early spring (this means some rain and mud). So, I make around 25 km daily.
Get your own averages, add the probable season weather, consider (or not) some days for resting or visiting cities, and do your own estimation.
Buen camino!

 

[supersullivan]

Nancy, I'm going to offer a slightly contrarian view here, 2 years ago I comfortably walked St. Jean to Santiago in 21 days, I'm a 50+ year old type 2 diabetic who chain smokers cigarillos BUT my regular leisure pursuit in Ireland is hill walking so I find the terrain on the camino very comfortable compared to what I'm used to in the Irish mountains and would equate a 40 km day on the camino to being the same as a regular days hill walking at home.

If you want a contemplative Camino without constant chatter from others breaking into your thoughts and reflections then consider walking 30+ km days as you'll be in a small minority walking those distances and you'll not get caught up in a camino family and feel the compulsion to stop whenever someone else in the group might wish but you'll still have all the interaction with other peregrinos each evening in the albergues and over dinner.

If however you want a more sociable camino then walk 20 to 25 km days and you'll keep seeing and meeting a familiar group of peregrinos daily.

Regardless of your choice, the best preparation for a camino is to walk regularly and often, gradually increase your distances until you are comfortable covering the distances you expect to cover on your camino, not forgetting of course to wear your backpack on these walks also gradually increasing the weight until you reach that which you expect to be carrying on the camino.

Regardless of your final choices, have a great camino, don't forget to regularly take a few minutes each day to turn around and look at the ground you've covered and enjoy a cerveza from time to time.

Regards

Seamus

 

[Stellaluna]

Did it at 53 years of age with good physical fitness in 32 days.

 

[Anamiri]

I did it in 33 days. With two rest days in Burgos and Leon. There were time constraints, around time off from work.
But I missed so much, I cant wait until I can go back, take an extra two weeks, and see more, do more, experience more.
Its do-able in that time, but when I finished I realised how much I had missed out on.

 

[David Tallan]

I did it with my teenage son (a teenager) in 37 days, Roncesvalles to Santiago including 2 rest days, and then 4 more days to Finisterre. We had no training, so took a number of short (15km) days at the beginning as "on the Camino" training. We gradually built up to longer and longer, but after several days of 25km+ length in a row, his blisters got really bad about 2/3 of the way through, so we tried to keep it under 25km/day after that. I didn't want any time constraints, so I purposely booked our stay in Spain for longer than I thought the Caminoi could possibly take, and figured we would use any extra time to see some other parts of Spain after the Camino. That was great for not worrying at all how long it was taking us, but we found that after the Camino we weren't in that much of a touristy frame of mind.

 

[mousehog]

I am 59 years old, below average fitness female, weigh 61 kg. I carry an 8 kg backpack. I can manage 22-24 km every day. I have dropped inches but not weight so hip bones are getting sore. I am on Day 20 tomorrow and will finish Stage 18. I expect to take 37-40 days to complete. A younger person would do it in less time. I like looking at churches and other buildings so taking 4-5 hours to hike and another hour to drink coffee and eat tortillas usually puts me in the village at 1:00-2:00 pm which gives good time to shower, laundry and have a look around. I also like to warm down then rest my bones in preparation for the next day. I am not planning on any rest days but will see how I go.