Planning an end date

[esmir]

Hey guys! I’m trying to figure out if I should pre book tickets to head back home after finishing the camino frances hopefully in finisterre. I’m lucky enough to be residing in spain at the moment so probably just a flight or a train from santiago to alicante but I know that buying these the day before a trip can be quite expensive. I’ll be starting in pamplona + I have a few variables which may cause my walk to take longer than 40 days which i’ve seen a lot of people talk about.
Do you guys have any advice?

 

[henrythedog]

If your variables are so unpredictable as to potentially cause you to take more than 40 days from Pamplona I’d personally hold off booking a ticket until you’re more certain of your departure date.

Having said that; advance purchase can be so cheap that I’ve occasionally booked two advance tickets for less than the price of a walk-up fare

 

[J Willhaus]

@esmir Our situation is a bit different because we have further to travel to get home, but normally we do have an exit plan which involves flying home to the US from Madrid so we know exactly how many days we have for walking or volunteering. Normally though we cannot get train or bus tickets too far in advance so just try to to be flexible and buy them a few days before we travel back to Madrid. We do watch out for Spanish holidays since seats are more scarce during those days.

I find bus and train transit very reasonable in Spain. You do pay more if you buy train tickets a the station ticket window or at a machine in the station so buying online will save money. I have both the Renfe and Alsa apps on my phone and have set up accounts for both. For me flying is such a hassle that I would rather take the bus or train where there is more room and no extra charges for my luggage, etc. Just looking at Train routes from Santiago to Alicante though it appears about the fastest you could get home is about 6 or 7 hours and you need to change train stations in Madrid from Chamartin to Atoche.

 

[Former member 92300]

Well, I would say - figure out how far you THINK you will walk/day and use that to calculate how long you THINK it will take to complete the Camino. If you want to go to Muxia/Finisterre - add those dates as well. Then give yourself at least a few days cushion for rest days and or other delays you may have. I always plan to walk a certain number of days - and then whatever I have leftover - I plan to use exploring other areas around Spain/Portugal. But I leave those plans more flexible. So - if I think it will take 35 days to walk from SJPDP to Finisterre - I add another 5 days or a week and "plan" to head to Porto or somewhere. If I am slower than planned - it allows me to finish and I just cut short my time in Porto.

Anyhow - I am coming from the US - so I actually give myself way more of a buffer when I can! I have nearly 2 months. I will go to Santiago then to Finisterre/Muxia - and then I might even walk to Porto. Or not. If I decide not to walk - I will just take a bus/train somewhere and explore.

If you are closer - these return tickets shouldn't be as expensive as it would be for me heading back to the US - so that does give you a little more wiggle room should you decide not to buy return tickets.

 

[BROWNCOUNTYBOB]

My wife and I have walked CF four times - every two years beginning 2015. The first time, we relied on John Brierley's guide that suggested 35 days, including 2 rest days. We hiked from St Jean to Santiago in 35 days including one rest day. Since then we've felt this is a reasonable amount of time. In fact, the last two caminos, we've booked private rooms in advance for every night. No problem. We allow two nights in Santiago, a flight from there to Madrid, one night there, then fly to the US. Cindi developed a severe stress fracture during our camino last fall, so I'll walk solo for my 5th camino next fall. Bob

 

[Susan Peacock]

Do you need to be home by a certain date? If not, just take your best guess and add a few days. For me, a roundtrip flight to the US has been almost the same as a one way trip to Spain, so I just book extra time. This allows me to let the Camino unfold naturally and build in days in case of sickness or injury. If all goes well then I end up with extra days when I get to Santiago. I love spending a few days in Santiago and have spent up to 4 days just decompressing in Finisterre or going on to Muxia. One time, I had 5 days and just took a bus to Porto for a few days.

 

[C clearly]

You haven't said whether you have decided when you will start! You would have a better idea that we, as to the price differences between buying tickets 40+ days in advance and buying them closer to the time. How much would the savings be? Would your travel fall on any particularly busy days?

 

[rscohen]

I had a foot problem that required a few days of rest. I took a bus on the Norte route to "catch up." Remain flexible.