Pamplona to Logroño OR Palas de Rei to Santiago

[isabeau]

My DH and I will be celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary by walking the Camino. We can only do one section of the walk and need to decide between one of the beginning sections or the last section of the walk. We live in California in an agricultural town about two hours from Napa and love wine, so ending in Logroño seems appealing... but Galacia and the seafood sounds like something special to see. I know many people break up the walk and do it in different years... but if we only have one shot at this trip... what have people enjoyed most about the beginning or the end of the walk and where we could see the most authentic of Spain.

 

[MickMac]

Definitely Pamplona to Logrono both Pamplona and Logrono great spots, nice walk in between.
Palas de Rei to Santiago I find bit bland and very busy, but end up in Santiago if you can .

 

[Anhalter]

Well, both is like 3-5 days of walking. It's up to you if it's worth travelling that far for such a short walk.

As to the question: The ONLY thing speaking in favour for Palas de Rei to Santiago is that you arrive in Santiago. I would not call the walk "bland", but it can be crowded and mass tourism has not improved that section in regards to authenticity.
Pamplona to Logrono on the other hand is a great section, maybe with the exception of the last few km into Logrono. But you'll pass stunning little towns, the landscape is great, food and wine just as well.

 

[J Willhaus]

Well you could walk the Camino Ingles which is also a nice Camino and it is entirely in Galicia. It starts at the sea (at Ferrol) and progresses inland to Santiago.

 

[Grousedoctor]

Having walked each route twice, and they are both good sections of these caminos, my preference goes to the Pamplona to Logroño route. Navarra and La Rioja are two of my favorite Spanish provinces. Treat yourself to a couple nights in Pamplona due to what there is to see there and the wonderful food. Then, between there and Logroño, you have the wonderful stopping points of Puente la Reina and Los Arcos prior to the end of your walk. Both regions offers fabulous historical sights, excellent local cuisine, and very tasty wine. Buen Camino!

 

[Bill's_Walking]

For 5 days and something not a busy as the CF I would suggest the Camino Ingles. You get all the best of Gallicai and arrive in SDDC. And have a chance to get pampered at Casa Avelina.

 

[RENSHAW]

Definitely Pamplona to Logronó.
Stop at Puente la Reina , Lorca , Estella , Torres del Rio , Viana even Azqueta just to mention a few.
Ruby red vino , good food , temperate weather as opposed to Galicia where it can rain for weeks on end.
Less pilgrims , plenty of places to stay as this route is also well established. An abundance of history. some smaller towns. No contest except for Santiago itself.

 

[Ghost Rydurrrr]

Palais de rai is about 40+ km from Sarria so not long enough to get a compostela. I also recommend Pamplona to Logrono to get a more authentic experience of Spanish culture and the camino.

The last 100 km of the Camino is much higher priced and very busy with people. It definitely has a tourist quality about it due to all the shops seling camino trinkets and tour busses.

 

[Henry B]

I have given a to all the posts that favour Pamplona to Logrono based on my own experience on the Frances.
It seems clear to me that the enquirer is not a Compostela seeker and I have no criticism of that.

 

[Grahammac]

Depends what you want. Pamplona and Logrono are both party towns.

 

[Pafayac]

I think Pamplona to Logroño is very nice, but I don't know yet the end of the Camino. Your choice should mainly depends upon the dates you are walking.
In my opinion, if you are walking in summer, you should avoid the end of the Camino because it is crowded.

 

[MaxHelado]

My DH and I will be celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary by walking the Camino. We can only do one section of the walk and need to decide between one of the beginning sections or the last section of the walk. We live in California in an agricultural town about two hours from Napa and love wine, so ending in Logroño seems appealing... but Galacia and the seafood sounds like something special to see. I know many people break up the walk and do it in different years... but if we only have one shot at this trip... what have people enjoyed most about the beginning or the end of the walk and where we could see the most authentic of Spain.

Mrs H and I walked our first Camino last year. The last 100k of the Portugues. We entered Santiago on my 68th birthday and it was truly special. Mrs H cried and I had something in my eye. We collected our Compostelas, which we had previously agreed were of no importance to us. They are now framed and hanging on the wall.
Is there no way you can squeeze a little more time for your Camino? Less than 100k = no Compostela.
PS the Galician Albariño wine is not to be sniffed at. Well, actually, it is to be sniffed at. It’s wonderful.

 

[isabeau]

Mrs H and I walked our first Camino last year. The last 100k of the Portugues. We entered Santiago on my 68th birthday and it was truly special. Mrs H cried and I had something in my eye. We collected our Compostelas, which we had previously agreed were of no importance to us. They are now framed and hanging on the wall.
Is there no way you can squeeze a little more time for your Camino? Less than 100k = no Compostela.
PS the Galician Albariño wine is not to be sniffed at. Well, actually, it is to be sniffed at. It’s wonderful.

If we were to walk the stretch from Pamplona to Logroño and then want to finish that last 10km before Santiago? Is that something folks do? The train and bus routes seem to take quite a while for the transport… is there another approach folks take?

Like another thread it’s a combination of time and physical ability that will limit us… based on the earlier responses we’re working out a plan to fly into Madrid, go straight to the train up to Pamplona and take 2 or 3 days for jet leg before heading out. I’m in my 50s and work a sedentary job and am not in the best of shape so I’m aiming for a 15km a day with some shorter and longer days but I think 20km would be a stretch.., so with two down days it’s tight for us to finish in 12 days.

Like another poster mentioned, I’m not sure what I can manage yet…

 

[MaxHelado]

If we were to walk the stretch from Pamplona to Logroño and then want to finish that last 10km before Santiago? Is that something folks do? The train and bus routes seem to take quite a while for the transport… is there another approach folks take?

Like another thread it’s a combination of time and physical ability that will limit us… based on the earlier responses we’re working out a plan to fly into Madrid, go straight to the train up to Pamplona and take 2 or 3 days for jet leg before heading out. I’m in my 50s and work a sedentary job and am not in the best of shape so I’m aiming for a 15km a day with some shorter and longer days but I think 20km would be a stretch.., so with two down days it’s tight for us to finish in 12 days.

Like another poster mentioned, I’m not sure what I can manage yet…

Hi, Isabeau

I'm assuming you meant to say 10km and not 100km. In which case:

If you want to get a Compostela to hang on your wall then you MUST walk at least 100km finishing in Santiago without any bus/train or taxi-rides in that last 100k. So if you were to walk from Pamplona to Logroño and then jump to walking the last 10k into Santiago you would NOT qualify for a Compostela.

If you actually meant to write "that last 100km before Santiago" then you would definitely qualify and you can ignore what I just wrote.

I believe those are the the rules.
Then it comes down to personal goals and preferences. And I can only offer my experience when I walked with Mrs H last year.

We had decided that the Compostela was not important to us. We had decided that the joy would be in the journey and not in the destination. And if we needed to take a bus or a taxi then so be it. After all, the Compostela is just a piece of paper. What are we? School kids?

And so we began walking our last 100km towards Santiago and something strange began to happen. As the 100km ticked down and as the number of stamps we collected in our Credencials grew we became more determine to make it to Santiago by walking every damn kilometre. Entering Santiago was a complete joy and when we collected our Compostelas we beamed from ear to ear and hugged one another in the square like, like, well like school kids.

That was my experience and may well not mean a thing to you. As many will tell you on this forum there is no one way to walk your Camino and whatever you decide to do will be YOUR way.

Good luck and buen camino!

 

[Cindy McGuire]

My DH and I will be celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary by walking the Camino. We can only do one section of the walk and need to decide between one of the beginning sections or the last section of the walk. We live in California in an agricultural town about two hours from Napa and love wine, so ending in Logroño seems appealing... but Galacia and the seafood sounds like something special to see. I know many people break up the walk and do it in different years... but if we only have one shot at this trip... what have people enjoyed most about the beginning or the end of the walk and where we could see the most authentic of Spain.

I would definitely choose Pamplona to Logroño. It is beautiful wine country with good food and many villages. I would also do no more than 15km a day so you can really enjoy your walk. Better to book ahead too. La Perla is a lovely hotel in Pamplona, since you're celebrating.