Nuremberg - Santiago - Finisterra -Starting the end of April 2024

[clarkandkaren]

On March 7th 2020 my plans to hike the Camino came to an abrupt end. On that day Spain closed its border with France and, with the decision, sent my life in a very nice, but eventual dead-end path with my now..ex-wife. Now, 4 years later, without a companion and...with a REAL need to assess what the rest of my life will look like, I am going to undertake this 2000km+ route with the intention of TRYING to determine what the remainder of my life will look like. If anyone has hiked this trail the trails I'm going to encounter in Germany or France, I would like to ask you to share any.."unique" challenges or experiences. I have no specific time frame to get from Germany to Santiago..and on to Finisterra. I would offer that anyone interested might reply, however, as I have no time-table in mind and will do that at a consistent and, hopefully, steady pace of 20-30 km a day, it's going to take a few...days to complete this trek.

 

[J Willhaus]

@good_old_shoes has also hiked a long Camino and I think from Germany so maybe he can give you some feedback. In the meantime, best wishes.

 

[rojasa]

Do you speak German? I highly recommend this podcast of a young woman who walked from her front door in Leipzig to Finisterre last year, "Einfach los." I believe she passes through Nuremberg and continues on the Jakobsweg into France, and then Spain. She was at "that place" in her own life: end of a longterm relationship, end of a career with a particular company, and undertook this pilgrimage for similar reasons as you describe. She walked for nine months. You can find the podcast on spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/show/2M0He7KA7wAI57tLXuOGPV or anywhere you access podcasts. She gives locations as she walks, and describes the path.

(I met Theresa last November in Santiago, and spent a few days with her, rambling around the city, talking, reflecting, and laughing, before she continued on to Finisterre. She is thoughtful, authentic, and incredibly kind; a rather special human being. I am using her podcasts to re-learn German, and to learn about the pilgrim paths through that country!)

I hope you find what you are looking for. Buen camino, guten Weg!

 

[good_old_shoes]

What a project! Fantastic!

I'm afraid I can't give much useful information for you, since I walked from western Germany (via Cologne, Trier, Metz, Dijon, Cluny, Le Puy), much further north than you.

Since you start walking in the south, you'll probably take an entirely different route.

But, buen Camino, guten Weg, bon chemin!

I hope you find what you're looking for!

(and if you have any questions, feel free to ask).

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

Do you speak German? I highly recommend this podcast of a young woman who walked from her front door in Leipzig to Finisterre last year, "Einfach los." I believe she passes through Nuremberg and continues on the Jakobsweg into France, and then Spain. She was at "that place" in her own life: end of a longterm relationship, end of a career with a particular company, and undertook this pilgrimage for similar reasons as you describe. She walked for nine months. You can find the podcast on spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/show/2M0He7KA7wAI57tLXuOGPV or anywhere you access podcasts. She gives locations as she walks, and describes the path.

(I met Theresa last November in Santiago, and spent a few days with her, rambling around the city, talking, reflecting, and laughing, before she continued on to Finisterre. She is thoughtful, authentic, and incredibly kind; a rather special human being. I am using her podcasts to re-learn German, and to learn about the pilgrim paths through that country!)

I hope you find what you are looking for. Buen camino, guten Weg!

Many thanks for this, I'll have to look out for it. I am undertaking a very similar Project, although rather piece-meal at the moment. So far I have walked from home to Potsdam, and Potsdam to Leipzig. Except I intend to walk down into Switzerland before heading across into France. Nonetheless I will have to try and listen to this ( my German is pretty average, despite living here).

@clarkandkaren , I would love to hear more about your journey. Perhaps you would be so kind as to post on here as you go along? Start a thread, and just add to it as and when the inclination strikes. There is a 'from home to Santiago ' category on here. You could start it off with a preliminary plan, because I'm sure it's not just myself that would love to know.

My (preliminary) plan is :

This year:
Leipzig - Nürnberg (Via Imperii - Hoff, then on to the Fränkischer)

Next year (2025)
Nürnberg - Tübingen.

Tübingen - Basel

Then either:

A/ Basel- Le Puy en Velay, on the Via Podiensis, thence the Frances. Although the latter is becoming increasingly unappealing.

B/ Basel - Genève ( Drei -Seen -Weg). Then onwards to Le Puy en Belay, and the via Podiensis to St Jean. Cut across to Biarritz, thence the Norte, probably cutting onto the Primitivo, Verde to the Norte again, variant into Santiago.

But there are a handful of other routes that I'd like to throw into the mix once I hit Spain so the latter is most definitely not fixed!

Finish in Muxia. Thanks to @Robo for that one, I love the idea of the rocks at the end. Fitting.

Timeframe? Perhaps five months, with breaks. ( Working as a Hospi for instance) . Don't care, so long as I'm done before winter.

Tips: No idea what your German is like, as always anything helps. Accommodation options seem to be pretty sparse, to date I have predominantly used booking.com and airbnb. Theoretically there are some Pilgrim options, hopefully the further South you get the more you will find. @Marc S. posted this link : https://www.pilgerunterkunft.de/

I'm doing a Hospitaliers course at the end of March, if anybody there has some hints/ links I will let you know.

Be aware that generally here in Germany there are few if any facilities between stops. So carrying plenty of water and some food is a very high priority. Church yards often have water taps however they are generally from their own Wells and the water is often not considered potable. I'm going to be investing in a Sawyer water filter, just as a backup. You could of course just get a lifestraw for emergency's.

One option you may wish to consider is either a tent or a bivvy bag. On the 200km I've done so far I saw many, many places I could have set up, you don't have to go far off trail to become almost invisible. But my start was in October so it was getting a little too cool for my comfort! I am predominantly a warm weather hiker....


France has many, many excellent camping options.

Again, any French you can learn will help! Although, if you take the Le Puy you'll probably find a lot of Germans on the route too, from what I understand. There's several threads on here about the Le Puy, they will give you some useful hints.

Guten Weg/ Bon Chemin/ Buen Camino!

Peter

EDITED to add: I used Mapy.cz , way marking was often completely non-existent, although I'm told that improves the further South you go.

 

[Kathar1na]

If anyone has hiked this trail the trails I'm going to encounter in Germany or France, I would like to ask you to share any.."unique" challenges or experiences. I have no specific time frame to get from Germany to Santiago..and on to Finisterra. I would offer that anyone interested might reply,

Hi @clarkandkaren, as you intend to start at the end of April 2024 from Nuremberg, I assume that you have a rough plan of the roads you want to take? I have not walked from this area but I am familiar with parts of Germany and in particular Franconia where Nuremberg is located. I don't recall a poster on this forum who has walked from there to Santiago but that does not mean that there aren't any.

I guess that you know this site: https://www.deutsche-jakobswege.de/wege-uebersicht.html ?

It is a collection of interactive maps of the most important Ways of St James in Germany. They write: When selecting the routes, we had the pilgrim in mind who is looking for the most direct, well-marked and well described route from home to Santiago de Compostela. Some of these are historically documented old paths, others are scenic routes that are more suitable for today's pilgrims. The selection of routes largely corresponds to the main route network published by the German St James' Societies.

Are you planning to walk Nuremberg - Ulm - Konstanz - Basel? My gut feeling is that this would be the best option.

If you can read German, there is a German-language pilgrims forum but it is not as large and as active as this forum: https://daspilgerforum.de.

Germany has many "Camino" associations that are active in their regions but I think it is safe to say that Germany has not developed the kind of Camino culture that you find in Spain and, to a lesser extent, in France.

Buen Camino!

 

[Marc S.]

Accommodation options seem to be pretty sparse, to date I have predominantly used booking.com and airbnb. Theoretically there are some Pilgrim options, hopefully the further South you get the more you will find. @Marc S. posted this link : https://www.pilgerunterkuft.de/

Small typo This is the correct link.

https://www.pilgerunterkunft.de/

I agree that in general pilgrim accomodation can be sparse in Germany. On the other hand, last year I walked app. 1000 km in Germany (from Swinemunde to Hamburg on the Via Baltica, and from Gorlitz to Marburg on the Via Regia & Elisabethpfad) and managed to stay in pilgrim Herbergen most nights - but this is not representative for the whole country. I don't know how it is in the south, I hope the links provided in this thread will be of help.

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

Thanks Marc, I've edited my post

 

[Kathy F.]

On March 7th 2020 my plans to hike the Camino came to an abrupt end. On that day Spain closed its border with France and, with the decision, sent my life in a very nice, but eventual dead-end path with my now..ex-wife. Now, 4 years later, without a companion and...with a REAL need to assess what the rest of my life will look like, I am going to undertake this 2000km+ route with the intention of TRYING to determine what the remainder of my life will look like. If anyone has hiked this trail the trails I'm going to encounter in Germany or France, I would like to ask you to share any.."unique" challenges or experiences. I have no specific time frame to get from Germany to Santiago..and on to Finisterra. I would offer that anyone interested might reply, however, as I have no time-table in mind and will do that at a consistent and, hopefully, steady pace of 20-30 km a day, it's going to take a few...days to complete this trek.

I live about an hour from Nuremberg and am very interested in your plan and your progress.
I remember clearly the first official scallop shell Camino signpost I saw, about 3 months before the start of my first Camino, in Rothenberg.
Where in Nuremberg will you start from?

 

[Paul-CH]

Hi have a look at this websites Routes in Germany or Jakobsweg Nürnberg – Bodensee (german only)
You have the choice to go through expensive Switzerland or around it through Burgund (France)
Here a list with the towns and distances and links to Google Map with possible places to sleep

 

[clarkandkaren]

I live about an hour from Nuremberg and am very interested in your plan and your progress.
I remember clearly the first official scallop shell Camino signpost I saw, about 3 months before the start of my first Camino, in Rothenberg.
Where in Nuremberg will you start from?

I’m not sure at the moment. Until
a few nights ago, while having dinner with friend from Germany, I was completely unaware of Nuremberg as a potential starting point. Prior to the conversation my plan had been to start in France at Le Puy en Valey. I’ve asked for some information about the trail from Nuremberg to try to make this particular decision.. or.. I may just go and decide when I get there.

 

[clarkandkaren]

Hi have a look at this websites Routes in Germany or Jakobsweg Nürnberg – Bodensee (german only)
You have the choice to go through expensive Switzerland or around it through Burgund (France)
Here a list with the towns and distances and links to Google Map with possible places to sleep

Thank you! I’m looking to make this as memorable an experience as possible.

 

[chinacat]

Hi have a look at this websites Routes in Germany or Jakobsweg Nürnberg – Bodensee (german only)
You have the choice to go through expensive Switzerland or around it through Burgund (France)
Here a list with the towns and distances and links to Google Map with possible places to sleep

There’s a huge number of places to sleep on that list!
It seems as if there would be ample opportunity to tailor your daily distances, depending upon how you felt, what you wanted to explore etc.

Guten Weg, Bon chemin & Buen Camino!!!

 

[Kathy F.]

The map through Germany to Bodensee looks amazing. Thank you for sharing.
Does anyone know if there are markers along the way from the start in Nuremberg? I don't expect yellow arrows painted on buildings, but brass markers in the street or signposts along the way? Or would one only have this map to follow?

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

According to my research it appears to be pretty well marked, certainly far better than the part I’ve done, which just had very rare shells. Here in Germany I’ve seen zero bronze markers, mainly the golden shell on the blue background, often just small stickers. The base of the shell pointed the way. These are fancy!

 

[Kathar1na]

I don't know how it is in the south

Southern Germany and Northern Germany are like two different countries and two different peoples in many aspects. @Marc S., I take it that you are aware of this.

I already mentioned the German language forum daspilgerforum.de. Of particular interest in this context is their thread about "Was muss man beim Pilgern in Deutschland beachten" (*). It has useful information from people who have walked recently and who talk about accommodation availability and cost, about finding food, and about some of the differences in "Camino" infrastructure between the north/east and the south, and of course about the considerable differences when compared to the Spanish caminos and the French path from Le Puy.

This comment confirms an impression that I've also gained from this forum: The Ways of St James in Germany are very different [compared to Spain] when it comes to the special "pilgrim infrastructure". On some, e.g. the Ecumenical Pilgrim Way aka Via Regia [in the north/east region], there is a lot of simple accommodation for little money, and the Munich Way of St James [in the very South] is also quite well organised in this respect although you should expect to pay at least 25 to 30 € for an overnight stay with fresh bed linen and a good breakfast which is a reasonable price."

Germans are more likely to be aware of the current existence of the Jakobswege in Spain than in their own country.

(*) Browser integrated automatic translation from German to English does a reasonable job as this kind of texts is quite suitable for automatic translation.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I am going to undertake this 2000km+ route with the intention of TRYING to determine what the remainder of my life will look like. ... I have no time-table in mind and will do that at a consistent and, hopefully, steady pace of 20-30 km a day, it's going to take a few...days to complete this trek.

If you only hold an American passport you are supposed to spend no more than 90 days at a time in the Schegen Zone. That would be even less if you spent time in it close to your starting time.

 

[clarkandkaren]

I’m not expecting any problems with the trek in terms of time. I’m a resident of Portugal, but I do have my passport. As with most things in life… if it becomes an issue.. I’ll deal with it at the time. As it is..too many other things to worry about or prepare for!!

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

As it is..too many other things to worry about or prepare for!!

That's okay there's plenty of people here worrying for you. Your profile said "From Texas".

 

[clarkandkaren]

Originally yes… but haven’t seen Texas in a few years and no immediate plans to change that status! I’m hopeful I’ll find a “significant other” on the journey.. but ..that’s not a priority. Thanks!