looking for help of deciding our starting point at the camino

[hadas and regev]

hii there,
we are planning the Camino in mid-September to mid-October. 3 weeks by walking and the last week by traveling around to find some quiet beaches bordering the eastern Mediterranean. we want to see landscapes and experience the culture, and less emphasis the big cities and tourism and churches.
We have a number of questions:
1. people recommended to start from st.Jean and walk for a week, then take a bus to astroga and proceed from there to the end. The emphasis here is the beautiful Basque and Galician regions.
another option is to start from leo'n to finestra by walk only.
Where best to start?
2. Do I need any guide book and if so what is recommended?

3. do you recommend any beaches near Barcelona to spend 2-3 days?

thank you very much in advance,
hadas and regev

 

[whariwharangi]

I would recommend starting in Le Puy or SJPdP and walking until you want to go to the beach. Then, you can return from where you left off some other time and finish the camino. That will allow you to start the camino properly.

Alternatively, figure out how far you can walk in a day and find a start point that far away from Santiago. That will allow you to finish the camino properly.

Taking the bus in the middle will rob the camino experience of any continuity.

Brierley's guide is recommended.

I've been to the beaches in Alicante ... its on the Costa del Sol well to the south of Barcelona. Beaches from one end of the city to the other with the exception of the Port facility in center. If beaches are what you want then Alicante is as good a place as any.

 

[Carol06]

hii there,
we are planning the Camino in mid-September to mid-October. 3 weeks by walking and the last week by traveling around to find some quiet beaches bordering the eastern Mediterranean. we want to see landscapes and experience the culture, and less emphasis the big cities and tourism and churches.
We have a number of questions:
1. people recommended to start from st.Jean and walk for a week, then take a bus to astroga and proceed from there to the end. The emphasis here is the beautiful Basque and Galician regions.
another option is to start from leo'n to finestra by walk only.
Where best to start?
2. Do I need any guide book and if so what is recommended?

3. do you recommend any beaches near Barcelona to spend 2-3 days?

thank you very much in advance,
hadas and regev

I spent time in Tossa Del Mar, a short bus ride from Barcelona. It is absolutely delightful and was a great place to get my head together after finishing the Camino. I stayed at Hotel Cap d'Or - small and intimate with delightful hosts and situated right under the castle walls. I would go back there like a shot.

 

[julie]

I would recommend starting in Le Puy or SJPdP and walking until you want to go to the beach. Then, you can return from where you left off some other time and finish the camino. That will allow you to start the camino properly.

Alternatively, figure out how far you can walk in a day and find a start point that far away from Santiago. That will allow you to finish the camino properly.

Taking the bus in the middle will rob the camino experience of any continuity.

I wholeheartedly agree. For a myriad of reasons, many do end up taking a bus at some stage but it seems a shame to set off with that intention. How do you decide which section to miss? They are all special in some way, sometimes unexpectedly. There is a great deal of liberation in taking things as they come and just accepting whatever each day brings. Sure, some stages will appeal more than others but you don't always know beforehand which will turn out to be your favourites.

The Camino is very well marked and any guide is going to be adequate. Though I bought it some years after walking the Camino, I quite like the Michelin guide because it's lightweight and gives distances between villages and what services are available including whether there is an albergue. The guide can be purchased from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/2067148052/?tag=casaivar02-20

 

[Olivares]

Do what whariwharangi told you and this is why: very frequently, people who go on the Camino de Santiago get hooked and cannot stop thinking on going back. I read again and again about people who could not commit to the whole trail and have to chose between getting to Santiago as a goal versus walking the whole trail, even if in sections. It appears to me that people find their way back anyways and cannot let go of walking the whole trail. Start from Le Puy or SJPDP and walk till you need to be somepleace else. I cannot think of one single day on the Camino that I would had skipped.

As far as beaches, Barcelona has beautiful beaches and it also has the most skilfull pickpocketers in the world. They adore beachgoers! So, my strong advice to skip Barcelona (sorry Gaudi!). I liked Tarragona. It has the added incentive of fantastic Roman Ruins, including an ancient Roman amphitheater. That said, my favorite beach in Spain is La Barrosa in Costa de la Luz (Seville, Cadiz). Soooo beautiful!!