Mixed ability - 100km first Camino

[JillyP]

Hi. I’m Jill, and I am planning a first venture into Camino for myself and four friends next May or end of September.
We are all late 50s, with varying levels of fitness/physical ability.
I thought we should try a 100km Camino to test the water .. sorry long-walkers, who scoff at such light-weights, but I think it’s the more responsible approach .. at least we’ll be carrying our own kit!
I was considering either the Coastal Portuguese Way, from Tui or the English Way, from Ferrol.
Can someone give me some advice and comparisons please regarding: Difficulty level (particularly steep climbs), availability of accommodation, and anything else useful in helping me choose.
Many thanks

 

[Deleted member 3000]

There is a lot of appeal in doing a camino, but do not take it lightly. It is hard work even just 100 km. If you really want to do it, improve your conditioning at home. Don't let the camino be the first place you discover that your boots do not fit, your joints cannot handle downhills, or that a backpack hurts! Show enough respect for the physical aspects of a camino that you do not feel overmatched after five miles the first day!

That said, the Camino Frances is your best choice for a first effort. It has infrastructure so that you can stop almost every 5 km. The Portugues and Ingles do not, and they are becoming as crowded as the Frances. All the routes have hills and mountains. Galicia is very hilly, and those hills cannot be avoided. Many a pilgrim has been stunned by the climbs required the last day into Santiago. It is not the Pyrenees, but it is not flat either.

There are many websites that will show you distances, elevation changes, and photos the the various routes. Check them out. You can do a virtual walk on Google Street View for most of the routes. It will let you see the terrain.

Have fun!

 

[peb]

Ingles is a good first Camino, as you can walk the whole way (120km), obtain a compostela and it hopefully sets you up to walk other, longer Caminos later on. Plus the first two or three days, depending upon your stages are round the coast so it is very picturesque. Depending on your timescale, the Ingles can be walked between 4 and 8 days.

@falcon269 rightly says that the Frances has more infrastructure, but this means that the Ingles is much much quieter than the last 100km of the Frances. You can walk for an hour in the countryside without seeing anyone, any village, shop or bar. It gives you a sense of quiet and pilgrimage. For the Ingles being crowded, this translates as 100 people per day walking on the route, which is nothing like the numbers walking the 100 km of the Frances.

The Ingles is about 40% on quiet country roads, the rest on trails. There are two punchy 30 minute climbs out of Pontedeume and Betanzos, but these are at the start of the day when you are hopefully fresher. Other than that, there are hills, but nothing major. Some of the stages of the Ingles though are long (up to 30km), but that somewhat frightening distance on paper only equates to 8 hours walking at not a fast pace. I am in my 50's, do no sport, did no training, and made the Ingles in 5 days, so if I can do it, anyone can. You just put one foot in front of you, take enough water and provisions along the way, and realise you actually have all day to reach your destination for the evening.

In May, there are a number of European public holidays, so if you were not staying in albergues, you are advised to book your accommodation in advance.

Final point, when I turned up at the Pilgrims Office to collect my compostela, I did not feel like a lightweight amongst the others who had walked much further. I had walked a whole Camino from start to finish, and nobody could take that away from me. The only constraint was, I only had 1 week of holiday to spend on it. I am not sure I would have had the same feeling if I had jumped on and completed just the last 100km of a longer Camino.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

this means that the Ingles is much much quieter than the last 100km of the Frances

Last month there were 100 pilgrims per day on the Ingles, far fewer than on the Frances, but the infrastructure is small. There are so few albergue beds that most pilgrims stay in hotels.

Albergue beds:
Neda - 28
Pontedueme - 20
Mino - 22
Betanzos - 32
Presedo - 16
Hospital de Bruma - 22
Sigueiro - 42 in four albergues

If you compare that to the beds along the Camino Frances with thousands of beds along each stage, you can see that it has become overburdened, and May and September are very busy months. I love the Camino Ingles, having walked it three times, but you will not find it "quiet." The bed race is alive and well on the Ingles.

 

[jmcarp]

All the above responses pertain to the Inglés, so I'll add some info on the Portugués. While there is at least one alternative between Tui and Santiago (the Spiritual Variant), that portion is essentially the Central Route. The Coastal Route is between Porto and Tui. It is hilly, but nothing really difficult -- the hardest climb is south of Tui. The CP is the second most popular route, so you will encounter more people, but nothing on the scale of Sarria to Santiago. That said, there was a bit of a bed race in that segment when we walked in May of 2017, so an early start and an early finish each day are advised. There are ample alternatives to albergues, especially in the larger towns, if you're willing to pay a bit more for lodging. Just call ahead and make a reservation in the morning when you determine your day's destination if you're staying in private accommodations -- the municipal or xunta (Galician government) albergues do not take reservations. You'll see lots of signs posted along the trail for private accommodations.

 

[Tuaruin]

I walked the Ingles last year over three days from June 20th and found it pretty quiet with only a few other people at the alburgues where I stayed. My pace was good as I had completed the Sanabres earlier that month but I was not racing by any means, so taking five days should be pretty straightforward for your group. There are a few steep climbs but they are not terribly long and one can take time and rest if needed, they are not mountains and don’t take too long to get over.

It’s possible that my longer stages put me out of sync with the majority of pilgrims which could account for so few people at the alburgues I used but that was not my general sense of things. I found the route generally quiet with relatively few people walking, enough though that it did not feel lonely by any means.

I may have lucked out and, this being my only experience of the route, I must bow to others more familiar with it, however it would have had to be considerably busier before alburgues would have been a concern and there would also be other accommodation options, I’m sure, even if alburgues were busy.

Assuming, as has been said previously, that you’re prepared with comfortable (lightweight) shoes, a comfy backpack that’s not overloaded and have done at least a little walking to confirm comfort and basic fitness, then I think the Ingles would be a fine choice. The Ingles is also a full Camino in its own right which, to me anyway, and perhaps for you given it’s your first, has an added sense of achievement and satisfaction in completing it.

Whichever route you choose, I’m sure it will be right for you. I hope very much that you enjoy your Camino!

 

[JillyP]

There is a lot of appeal in doing a camino, but do not take it lightly. It is hard work even just 100 km. If you really want to do it, improve your conditioning at home. Don't let the camino be the first place you discover that your boots do not fit, your joints cannot handle downhills, or that a backpack hurts! Show enough respect for the physical aspects of a camino that you do not feel overmatched after five miles the first day!

That said, the Camino Frances is your best choice for a first effort. It has infrastructure so that you can stop almost every 5 km. The Portugues and Ingles do not, and they are becoming as crowded as the Frances. All the routes have hills and mountains. Galicia is very hilly, and those hills cannot be avoided. Many a pilgrim has been stunned by the climbs required the last day into Santiago. It is not the Pyrenees, but it is not flat either.

There are many websites that will show you distances, elevation changes, and photos the the various routes. Check them out. You can do a virtual walk on Google Street View for most of the routes. It will let you see the terrain.

Have fun!

Thank you. Most helpful. Definitely take heed of your advice.

 

[JillyP]

Ingles is a good first Camino, as you can walk the whole way (120km), obtain a compostela and it hopefully sets you up to walk other, longer Caminos later on. Plus the first two or three days, depending upon your stages are round the coast so it is very picturesque. Depending on your timescale, the Ingles can be walked between 4 and 8 days.

@falcon269 rightly says that the Frances has more infrastructure, but this means that the Ingles is much much quieter than the last 100km of the Frances. You can walk for an hour in the countryside without seeing anyone, any village, shop or bar. It gives you a sense of quiet and pilgrimage. For the Ingles being crowded, this translates as 100 people per day walking on the route, which is nothing like the numbers walking the 100 km of the Frances.

The Ingles is about 40% on quiet country roads, the rest on trails. There are two punchy 30 minute climbs out of Pontedeume and Betanzos, but these are at the start of the day when you are hopefully fresher. Other than that, there are hills, but nothing major. Some of the stages of the Ingles though are long (up to 30km), but that somewhat frightening distance on paper only equates to 8 hours walking at not a fast pace. I am in my 50's, do no sport, did no training, and made the Ingles in 5 days, so if I can do it, anyone can. You just put one foot in front of you, take enough water and provisions along the way, and realise you actually have all day to reach your destination for the evening.

In May, there are a number of European public holidays, so if you were not staying in albergues, you are advised to book your accommodation in advance.

Final point, when I turned up at the Pilgrims Office to collect my compostela, I did not feel like a lightweight amongst the others who had walked much further. I had walked a whole Camino from start to finish, and nobody could take that away from me. The only constraint was, I only had 1 week of holiday to spend on it. I am not sure I would have had the same feeling if I had jumped on and completed just the last 100km of a longer Camino.