Picking a date for my return flight

[andrea_jawn]

I think I'm ready to purchase my air travel for my first camino, the Primitivo starting in Oviedo on 9/1. I'm excited with occasional butterflies because I found a great price on a round-trip flight so feel I need to book very soon. Does a return flight on Tuesday 9/17 sound like a reasonable amount of time to experience the Primitivo? I don't need to be back to work until the following Monday 9/23. I'm wondering what your thoughts are on the balance of time to walk and then time to process the experience before going back to the work life routine. I think I've been dreaming about arriving for so long that the idea of picking a return date to book my flight is throwing me for a loop!

also...
Arriving in Madrid around 5pm on a Saturday, is it simple leaving Madrid for Oviedo on a weekend evening?

 

[trecile]

I think I'm ready to purchase my air travel for my first camino, the Primitivo starting in Oviedo on 9/1. I'm excited with occasional butterflies because I found a great price on a round-trip flight so feel I need to book very soon. Does a return flight on Tuesday 9/17 sound like a reasonable amount of time to experience the Primitivo? I don't need to be back to work until the following Monday 9/23. I'm wondering what your thoughts are on the balance of time to walk and then time to process the experience before going back to the work life routine. I think I've been dreaming about arriving for so long that the idea of picking a return date to book my flight is throwing me for a loop!

also...
Arriving in Madrid around 5pm on a Saturday, is it simple leaving Madrid for Oviedo on a weekend evening?

If you are arriving at 5pm you probably won't be out of the airport until about 6 pm. you will probably be tired and jet lagged by then. Then it looks like you have about a 5 hour (or more) journey to Oviedo by train or bus. I suggest that you spend the night in Madrid, then continue on to Oviedo in the morning.
And I would take as many days as possible in Spain. You can spend a couple of days in Santiago or walk or bus to the coast, which would be a good way to "de-Camino". Give yourself three or four days back home to recover.

Rome2Rio.com is a good source for transportation options between Madrid and Oviedo

Rome2rio

Discover how to get anywhere by searching plane, train, bus, car and ferry routes

www.rome2rio.com

 

[andycohn]

The reality is that if you arrive in Madrid on the evening of August 31, you probably won’t start walking until September 2. There are trains and buses from Madrid on a Saturday evening, but as Trecile says, it’s a 5 hour journey, plus transition time, so if you’re coming from Philadelphia, you won’t have slept for 2 days if you ty to start walking on Sunday, September 1. You can find bus schedules from Madrid to Oviedo at https://www.alsa.com/en/web/bus/home. Train schedules at http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/index.html. Might be better to spend Saturday night in Madrid, then take a bus or train the next morning. Or spend Sunday (when you wake up) exploring the lovely city of Oviedo.

If you start on September 2 from Oviedo, your realistic best case scenario is you arrive in Santiago on September 15. That would mean averaging more than 15 miles a day through very hilly country. Only you can decide whether that’s realistic. You could probably get a flight or train out of Santiago to Madrid late on the 15th, and certainly on the 16th, to then catch your flight back to the States on the 17th, but it wouldn’t leave you much time to “smell the flowers.”

Another possibility would be to just walk from Oviedo to Lugo (also a major city), which is 100 k / 62 miles before Santiago, and from there return to Madrid. That would make your entire journey more leisurely. Lugo is a fantastic city, and makes a fine end point, too.

If grabbing the cheap flight is a priority, then go for it. Worst case scenario is you don’t get to Santiago, but there’s nothing sacred about that.

It’s all good, as my son says.

 

[alaskadiver]

From experience I would strongly suggest you shoot for a return date of Saturday the 21st. Gives you time to spend the night in Madrid, train to Oviedo the next morning and have time to see the Cathedral and enjoy Oviedo. Start walking the day after that. Enough days to walk without a marathon pace and still enjoy Santiago when you arrive. Rest and then fly home on Saturday. Rest Sunday before going back to work.
Gives you breathing room in case the Primitivo kicks your butt half way through as it does to many first time hikers

 

[Michael-FL]

I think I'm ready to purchase my air travel for my first camino, the Primitivo starting in Oviedo on 9/1. I'm excited with occasional butterflies because I found a great price on a round-trip flight so feel I need to book very soon. Does a return flight on Tuesday 9/17 sound like a reasonable amount of time to experience the Primitivo? I don't need to be back to work until the following Monday 9/23. I'm wondering what your thoughts are on the balance of time to walk and then time to process the experience before going back to the work life routine. I think I've been dreaming about arriving for so long that the idea of picking a return date to book my flight is throwing me for a loop!

also...
Arriving in Madrid around 5pm on a Saturday, is it simple leaving Madrid for Oviedo on a weekend evening?

Andrea, I am watching your thead with interest, as I plan to walk a hybrid of the Frances/Salvador/Primitivo in the Holy Year 2021.

 

[andrea_jawn]

Andrea, I am watching your thead with interest, as I plan to walk a hybrid of the Frances/Salvador/Primitivo in the Holy Year 2021.

Thank you, Michael - I didn't know about the San Salvador until now, it's stunning!