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Search 69,459 Camino Questions

Plans for 2021?

Spiritual Lady

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
I have walked half the French in 2014 and would like to walk the whole this year, 2020.
Hi Everyone,
I was wondering whether anyone was planning their camino for 2021 yet? I am wanting to walk the whole of the French Camino from mid July through August. I am a teacher, so this is my only available time. I want to get excited but with this virus thing, I feel I have to hold back. Has anyone made any plans yet?
Angie (Spiritual Lady)
 
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The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
As I wrote on another thread

Personally, I'm hoping to walk again in September. I don't see widespread vaccinations happening before the summer. I won't be traveling until I have been vaccinated and the majority of the population where I'm traveling to has been vaccinated also.

So, right now I'm just hoping. I will make plans when the answers to my questions are clear.
 
Ah, we plan and the Gods laugh. Except I get the feeling even the Gods are struggling to raise much beyond a chuckle just now.

I can plan the French Way, the San Salvador, the Primitivo, others too, because I can walk those richly familiar landscapes in my head. I guess the surprises will come with that little family-run bar that isn't there anymore, the Albergues with their cerado signs, that struggling tienda that gave up the struggle.

I can plan brand new adventures; chasing @alansykes through the dust of a thousand un-walked paths, but I find it hard to plan seriously, plan with any sense of anticipation. As was said in a different context "I can cope with disappointment, it's the hope that I find hard".
 
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" Normally " I will be in the first wave of vaccinations due to my profession but even then I don't think I will go on a Spanish Camino in 2021.
I want to walk some more remote Caminos and I guess opening muni albergues will not be on the priority list of many smaller towns. So budget is also an issue when I could only use private places.
I'm thinking of doing a longer hike here in Belgium or the Netherlands. We shall see.
 
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I'm optimistically planning to (1) resume, in September, my very-slow-and-easy 'inspect-every-church' Frances from where I had to break off in 2019 -- at the "Tired Pilgrims" monument in Mansilla de las Mulas, (2) take about 16 days to walk to O Cebreiro; and then (3) bus into SdeC to gawk at the Holy Year spectacle for a few days.

1607283531498.png

And while I'm optimistic I'm not foolish. I've booked a room at the two-or-three hotels where I know I want to stay, but they can easily be cancelled. And I'm not buying any expensive airplane tickets until the Vaccine has been widely distributed, and Spain has opened it's borders to Americans once more.
 
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I have postponed my flight 3 times due to the pandemic, but am now booked for the first week of October 2021. I will have enough free time to do Sarria - Santiago again before visiting with family in Spain for 2 weeks. Fingers crossed!
 
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I have plan A, plan B and plan C!🙃. We were planning to walk this past September. When the pandemic first hit, I kept planning and thought we might still make it. As it became clear that we would not be able to travel until we were vaccinated, I just kind of withdrew from camino stuff altogether. It was just too hard. Now the vaccine news is hopeful and I am back in full, control freak, planning mode! And, BTW, I know these plans always disappear in the wind as soon as we start walking (we can’t stick to a schedule for anything), but the planning is fun! So here are my three contingencies:

Plan A: we have volunteered to work at Albergue San Martin on the Norte for the first half of August if it is possible to travel. After that and a visit to some close friends, we plan to start walking the Vasco del Interior/Fances/Invierno in early September.

Plan B: if we are unable to get vaccinated and meet travel requirements in time for plan A, we will walk the Via de la Plata starting early October. We will also volunteer as hospitaleros (something we have loved doing) somewhere if possible before or after that walk.

Plan C: if all else fails, we will,walk the VdlP beginning in March 2022 with possible hospitalero service on the front or back end of the walk.

Ultreia LizB!
 
Has anyone made any plans yet?
As you can see, that depends on what you call "plans." I am continuing to watch the progress toward an end to this pandemic, and gather information about Camino routes. It is an interesting subject to study, even if I never walk again.

An excellent planning action, is to be outside walking/training wherever you live, so that as soon as the time is appropriate, you can make a quick travel booking, buckle up your pack, and leave. The more important thing is that the walking/training will be indubitably good for you, no matter what your Camino future.
 
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I am planning to walk the Camino Português in June 2021. I have already booked the flight to Porto, June 7th.

So I'm currently reading a lot, trying to find out what I would like to see on the way, where it might be nice to stay overnight, etc.

Hopefully my foot injury will finally be o.k. by the end of the week, so I can start walking again. I haven't been able to walk longer stages since August this summer.

That’s the plan. But I have no idea, whether this will work out due to Covid-19. But I really enjoy reading about the CP, looking at photos and planning. If I can't walk in June, maybe then October, I simply know at some point I'll walk the CP, it it makes no difference to me whether I'm planning it now or later.

But if it doesn't work out in June 2021, I will walk the Jakobsweg (that's the German expression for Camino) instead here in Germany, from Würzburg to Lake Constance. That should definitely be possible. So either way I will walk a Camino.
 
Hi Everyone,
I was wondering whether anyone was planning their camino for 2021 yet? I am wanting to walk the whole of the French Camino from mid July through August. I am a teacher, so this is my only available time. I want to get excited but with this virus thing, I feel I have to hold back. Has anyone made any plans yet?
Angie (Spiritual Lady)
I haven't made plans, however my husband turns 65 at the end of next year, and we hope to walk May/June of 2022. I use the word hope rather than plan because I had planned to go this year....
The idea is to start walking from Le Puy, and walk the Frances, turn left at Ponferada and finish on the Invierno.
 
Hi Everyone,
I was wondering whether anyone was planning their camino for 2021 yet? I am wanting to walk the whole of the French Camino from mid July through August. I am a teacher, so this is my only available time. I want to get excited but with this virus thing, I feel I have to hold back. Has anyone made any plans yet?
Angie (Spiritual Lady)
No, I am not planning any camino. Right now, I’m trying my best to stay alive and reasonably fit. That way, if conditions are right this Summer (I am a teacher too), I’ll just hop on a flight and start walking.
But it doesn’t look (to me anyway) at all likely. 🙁
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
I am a teacher, so this is my only available time. I want to get excited but with this virus thing, I feel I have to hold back. Has anyone made any plans yet?
Angie (Spiritual Lady)
Hi Angie, I am in a similar boat, work in education but looking to complete del norte from Aviles to SDC in early July. Of course it all depends i suppose on the vaccine efficacy and how open the country/tourist infrastructure is (i would be optimistic of the latter as i walked last summer on the norte and it was fine and the locals were welcoming). If i manage to get the vaccine by the spring i would consider a sneaky 8 days walking from Leon to Sarria as i havent completed the Frances and am a bit reluctant to do it in late July/August with the heat. Are you thinking of early July? Kevin
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

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I think I am up to plan D at the moment. Plan A was walk from my home in the UK to Plymouth and boat to Santander and then onto Santiago in June/July that went up in smoke when I realised Brittany ferries weren't taking bookings for foot passengers. Plan B was walk the Invierno in late March and then the Camino Geira in August, then I realised the airline that I booked with had cancelled my outward March flight without telling me, which made any rough schedule I had in my head probably not doable, so I changed my flights to June for the Invierno. Then 🙄 my partner asked me to come to Alicante with her in early June for business related meetings, after throwing my toys out the pram I decided it was the right thing to do, however my flights for the start and end of that Camino go in and come out of Santiago,and then in the two weeks I had I realised it was easier to do the Braga route in June and then fly to Alicante without going on to Muxia, to make up for that I could do the Benidorm route during the day while my partner attended conferences in Alicante. But then I checked on Brittany ferries and now they are taking bookings again for foot passengers, so at the moment I have plan D,E and F going on inside my head, but fully realise that everything is out of my hands and in reality I'm just a recipient of what the future brings me.
 
I guess I have to plan a bit before my vouchers from cancelled flights this year runs out, but in my mind after cancelling a couple of caminos, the jump on a flight when suited, seems more the thing nowadays.

Luckily I live in a place where I can walk out of my frontdoor and walk in nature for hours if I want to, with no need for facemasks unless it´s too cold. So I can´t complain even if Spain is calling in my mind.
 
I plan to go next year for sure providing there is no 14 day mandatory hotel stay after my holiday. I had to do this in March coming back from Hawaii and at that stage it was home quarantine which was fine because I have all the bells and whistles I could want but it was isolating . For me I think it is a 2 step process , vaccination ( after the health professional etc ) then 2 nd vaccine , then looking at our countries rules about flying . I was hoping late May but really given all that I think October may still be pushing it and if that is my last break before Xmas then I wont be rushing to the Camino .. rather take a rain check
 
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Hi Everyone,
I was wondering whether anyone was planning their camino for 2021 yet? I am wanting to walk the whole of the French Camino from mid July through August. I am a teacher, so this is my only available time. I want to get excited but with this virus thing, I feel I have to hold back. Has anyone made any plans yet?
Angie (Spiritual Lady)
Hoping to walk two solid months in July & August. I could also do August & September. I am just hoping that all is well by then.
 
Hi Everyone,
I was wondering whether anyone was planning their camino for 2021 yet? I am wanting to walk the whole of the French Camino from mid July through August. I am a teacher, so this is my only available time. I want to get excited but with this virus thing, I feel I have to hold back. Has anyone made any plans yet?
Angie (Spiritual Lady)
To misquote R L Stevenson "Sometimes it's better to plan hopefully than to set out". Assuming there's a vaccine and that Spain has opened up (and that UK residents have access to the EU ;)) there's a lot stacked against you: hottest time of the year, students out of uni, it's a Holy Year, and after a year of confinement everybody and their donkey will want to be out there.
I'll be 70 next year so personally it might be a good time to do el camino en coche - drive it, as promised, with my daughter. We'd promise not to collect sellos, pretend to be peregrinos and only stay in upmarket accommodation. We long ago faced up to the fact that, no matter how much she'd like to see that part of Spain, there's no way she'd ever walk it so next year might be the year to do it.
 
O yes, I've got plans to walk another Camino in June/July. Just I had made plans to walk it last year.
There's nothing wrong with planning/dreaming.

It's only that I'm making sure I'm flexible enough to call it off.
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
Hi Everyone,
I was wondering whether anyone was planning their camino for 2021 yet? I am wanting to walk the whole of the French Camino from mid July through August. I am a teacher, so this is my only available time. I want to get excited but with this virus thing, I feel I have to hold back. Has anyone made any plans yet?
Angie (Spiritual Lady)

As long as CoVID19 (or better the measure taken to prevent) allows, I plan to walk the Portuguese Senda litoral from Porto to Santiago on the Easter-break 2021.

If I'm lucky and I'm fast enough, I will make it to Finisterre next year. Maybe by bus, but I try to walk it, too.

BC
Roland
 
Wait and see. Is there a vaccine that the majority of people take, is it effective, does Spain and France lift their travel bans? If you are an American can you travel beyond our borders?
Northallerton is in Yorkshire!

Anyway, I am hoping to go - probably in September, although I do have flights booked for June, just in case it's possible by then.
 
I’m somewhere between dreaming of/planning for doing the Frances begining in early October. I will wait until I see how vaccinations proceed here in the US before making any firm plans (airline reservations, hotels). I have new found flexibility having decided that being let go from my job in June at the age of 60 is the beginning of my retirement 😉. I’m not sure the pandemic would be tolerable if I couldn’t see myself walking sometime in 2021.

frm
 
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Every day I think about it. Every day I wonder. I read here, comment here, watch a YouTube and now some Vimeo videos. I make plans in my head just like I do with every Camino. I can spend hours looking at distances, towns, services and check out elevation charts. I write down stages for each day, albergues I will stay at and blah, blah, blah. Knowing that as soon as I take my first step from, Lisbon, or St. Jean, or Le Puy or Irún, or next in Sevilla will be forgotten immediately. That walking means not knowing anything but the step you are taking. Nothing will make me happier than getting that vaccine, and booking my ticket.
First I hoped for October 2020, than March 2021 and now October 2021. I just have to wait and see and just watch some more videos.
 
The same here I know there isn't anything definite I can say will happen but making plans is like comforting at the moment, I feel( Brexit not included) that we( UK) will be out of our lockdown before some other overseas Camino dreamers, so June feels realistic to me but maybe not if you are elsewhere in the world.
 
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Everybody... everybody will be traveling & walking in 2021 or when virus is under control. I think I'll wait til all the excited travelers/walkers finish their trips. And things may look 'normal' (like in a April/May Camino walk) before I go back to Spain & walking. If I walked at age 71, God willing, I can walk the Camino at 75.
 
My wife and I are planning to hike Camino Frances beginning mid-Sept 2021 in SJPDP and arriving in Santiago in late October. This will be our 4th CF and we have already booked private rooms every night and have credit with Jakotrans to transport our backpacks each day. With vaccines coming out soon, we're hopeful we can be vaccinated to have a safe camino for ourselves and others. Bob
 
I would love to go to Spain and walk a camino in the Summer of 2021, I miss Spain and I miss the Camino, I miss meeting the peregrinos. But I have to wait until the virus is under control so that we can be safe walking in Spain. I do not think it will be in the first half of 2021 so I'm planning to do a long distance walk in my own country during the Summer. Carrying a tent and what ever else I'll need.
 
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Unlikely any Camino plans for me in 2021. It appears all airlines are getting onboard with the idea that getting the Covid Vax will be necessary to fly. I am not an anti-vax, but I do have serious concerns about the rapidity of the development and abbreviated testing of the various Covid vaccine candidates. Usually this process takes multiple years, so seeing it done in mere months makes me concerned.
I will be taking a 'wait and see' approach before getting the vaccine myself, so if the vaccine is required for flying, no Camino's for me for the foreseeable future.
 
Unlikely any Camino plans for me in 2021. It appears all airlines are getting onboard with the idea that getting the Covid Vax will be necessary to fly. I am not an anti-vax, but I do have serious concerns about the rapidity of the development and abbreviated testing of the various Covid vaccine candidates. Usually this process takes multiple years, so seeing it done in mere months makes me concerned.
Words Taken Out of My Mouth. 👏
I couldn't have said it better.
 
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Unlikely any Camino plans for me in 2021. It appears all airlines are getting onboard with the idea that getting the Covid Vax will be necessary to fly. I am not an anti-vax, but I do have serious concerns about the rapidity of the development and abbreviated testing of the various Covid vaccine candidates. Usually this process takes multiple years, so seeing it done in mere months makes me concerned.
I will be taking a 'wait and see' approach before getting the vaccine myself, so if the vaccine is required for flying, no Camino's for me for the foreseeable future.
At the moment, you are allowed into Spain (from the UK that is) with the proof that you were tested Covid-negative. Not easy to get the test (and it’s expensive) but apparently Easy Jet are providing it at a reduced price... I haven’t done it yet myself so this is just what I’ve read, not actual experience...
I’m planning on going in January (not camino-ing, sadly) so we’ll see....
Not sure what more will be required after Brexit is finally done and dusted though 🙁
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
As some of the writers above who are on Plan D can no doubt attest, planning a camino or caminos is one of the joys of the whole Camino Experience. We plan to go to Spain or Portugal or France and once there the planning never stops as we organize our stages and resting places. So at present I am happy to plan, and then plan some more down to some of the details - it keeps the dream and hope alive - until suddenly reality will appear on the horizon and we will all finally have the joy of taking our first happy steps. For me in 2021 perhaps a less travelled Camino, likely from Vezelay.
 
Hi Everyone,
I was wondering whether anyone was planning their camino for 2021 yet? I am wanting to walk the whole of the French Camino from mid July through August. I am a teacher, so this is my only available time. I want to get excited but with this virus thing, I feel I have to hold back. Has anyone made any plans yet?
Angie (Spiritual Lady)
I have booked all my reservations from St Jean to Santiago starting Aug 23
 
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My wife and I are planning to hike Camino Frances beginning mid-Sept 2021 in SJPDP and arriving in Santiago in late October. This will be our 4th CF and we have already booked private rooms every night and have credit with Jakotrans to transport our backpacks each day. With vaccines coming out soon, we're hopeful we can be vaccinated to have a safe camino for ourselves and others. Bob
My husband and I were planning a similiar walk, and prefer to stay in private rooms. Since you have already booked would you be willing to share your accomodation list, either here on the post or as a private message?
 
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If the vaccine is widely available and administered by then, next year July/August will be a bad timing:
1. Next year is Holy Year;
2. July/August is traditional the peak period for pilgrims; and
3. The pent up demands due to the non-travel in 2020 will be over-whelming.

if vaccine not widely administered, not sure if you would want to travel.

In short, bad timing
 
Hi Everyone,
I was wondering whether anyone was planning their camino for 2021 yet? I am wanting to walk the whole of the French Camino from mid July through August. I am a teacher, so this is my only available time. I want to get excited but with this virus thing, I feel I have to hold back. Has anyone made any plans yet?
Angie (Spiritual Lady)
Hello Angie.
I was to have done the Camino Frances to Santiago de Compostela in May of 2020. Obviously, I did not go but I am planning on going in May of 2021 provided we are allowed to travel. At this point, it seems that Covid vaccines are beginning to be distributed in certain countries to the neediest. Hopefully, in the next few months, they will be accessible to those over 60 (I'm 68). Have faith that the Camino de Santiago will be a reality in 2021.
 
Hi Everyone,
I was wondering whether anyone was planning their camino for 2021 yet? I am wanting to walk the whole of the French Camino from mid July through August. I am a teacher, so this is my only available time. I want to get excited but with this virus thing, I feel I have to hold back. Has anyone made any plans yet?
Angie (Spiritual Lady)
I have plane tickets as well as all private accommodations booked from the end of June to mid August of 2021. Fingers crossed of course that my husband and I will be able to enter Spain as we’re in the US.
 
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I have been dreaming about walking Camino Frances in March 2021, but my current (and very flexible) plan now is October 2021. In the meantime, I walk every day in the woods - shorter walks in the morning, during lunch and a longer one in the evenings after work. Sometimes with a headlamp. Some of the paths remind me of parts of Camino Frances... Small glimpses. Actually quite inspiring. That, the forum and reading about the Camino here, there and everywhere.
 
Hi Everyone,
I was wondering whether anyone was planning their camino for 2021 yet? I am wanting to walk the whole of the French Camino from mid July through August. I am a teacher, so this is my only available time. I want to get excited but with this virus thing, I feel I have to hold back. Has anyone made any plans yet?
Angie (Spiritual Lady)
I have a £20 flight from the UK to Malaga, 20th April 2021. It's permitted to change this flight until August. I will be slightly put out by Brexit, if there is no deal, as I was expecting to book a flight home from Porto when I arrive in Santiago, and it is expected that on arrival in Spain I will have to produce a return ticket.
Complicated? But life seems very strange without planning a Camino.
 
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I want to go. I think I need to go. But I currently find myself unable to start serious planning for any route. Until I can walk (my new knee has a long way to go to be fully functional), planning a camino seems to be just a fantasy, for which I currently have no energy. When I can walk, there is still the issue of being vaccinated against COVID-19. Vaccination begins in Canada in three days, but there are far too few doses of the vaccine to expect to be vaccinated anytime soon. Current estimates are that those who wish to be vaccinated and are not considered to have an urgent claim to the vaccine, should all be done by September. In contrast to a couple of posts above, I find myself so eager to go that I should like to whisper to the reluctant that they are probably best to wait until later. Maybe I can creep up closer to the start of the list. I hate the uncertainty; I hate the ballooning cases of the virus in Alberta which make life here more and more dangerous, and solitary.
However, my knee was operated on ahead of schedule and I may well be vaccinated ahead of schedule. I imagine myself called in suddenly for vaccination and told to return in three weeks for the booster shot. I would probably spend most of the three weeks in frantic last-minute camino planning, when I wasn't kicking myself for wasting the previous year. I sure hope so.
 
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Hi Everyone,
I was wondering whether anyone was planning their camino for 2021 yet? I am wanting to walk the whole of the French Camino from mid July through August. I am a teacher, so this is my only available time. I want to get excited but with this virus thing, I feel I have to hold back. Has anyone made any plans yet?
Angie (Spiritual Lady)
It’s looking now like Spring 2022. i am a bit pessimistic about the vaccine rollout coming in 2021. Countries will have to focus on distributing the vaccine, getting a majority to take it, then come up with a plan for identifying those who have taken it. So it looks like I will plan to go from Pamplona in March/April 2022. In the meantime I will hike the nearby hills and imagine myself trudging the path up to Alto del Perdon...
 
Some interesting comments above but I'd fall in with the 2022 mob, assuming I'm still above ground.
Would give my eye teeth to be walking the meseta right now but we aren't allowed out of the country, much less impose ourselves on Spain at this time.
I walked a delightful week or two on the Primitivo last year with a Swiss guy named Paul. He spoke fluent Castilian and had an oft used saying he picked up while working in Spain.
I can not write it in Spanish but his English translation was:
" by the will of God, and if the weather allows"
Just about sums it up.
 
" Normally " I will be in the first wave of vaccinations due to my profession but even then I don't think I will go on a Spanish Camino in 2021.
I want to walk some more remote Caminos and I guess opening muni albergues will not be on the priority list of many smaller towns. So budget is also an issue when I could only use private places.
I'm thinking of doing a longer hike here in Belgium or the Netherlands. We shall see.
Question. Might I ask ...Which routes are you referring to when you say the "more remote Caminos"?
 
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Question. Might I ask ...Which routes are you referring to when you say the "more remote Caminos"?


For instance the Camino Olvidado. Camino Baztan, Camino Viejo or the Camino Aragones. Amongst many others.

Take a look here on this map for inspiration.

 
Hi Everyone,
I was wondering whether anyone was planning their camino for 2021 yet? I am wanting to walk the whole of the French Camino from mid July through August. I am a teacher, so this is my only available time. I want to get excited but with this virus thing, I feel I have to hold back. Has anyone made any plans yet?
Angie (Spiritual Lady)
I'm waiting till January till book anything uncertain about few things but hopefully b able to do Norte will b my14th.
 
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I had plans to walk the Portuguese last June and July but that had to be cancelled. Ever the optimist I booked flights for June and July next year. If that does not happen then I will look at September and October. I don't think getting to the Camino will be a problem but we in New Zealand have very strict quarantine restrictions for anyone entering the country including NZers. whether these will still be in place by then will determine whether I go or not. If it all turns to custard, I will try again in 2022 even though it seems like a lifetime away
 
Hi Everyone,
I was wondering whether anyone was planning their camino for 2021 yet? I am wanting to walk the whole of the French Camino from mid July through August. I am a teacher, so this is my only available time. I want to get excited but with this virus thing, I feel I have to hold back. Has anyone made any plans yet?
Angie (Spiritual Lady)
Absolutely, June-July or August-September, haven't finalized dates, however, it depends on the Covid situation, i.e. vaccines!
 
Wait and see. Is there a vaccine that the majority of people take, is it effective, does Spain and France lift their travel bans? If you are an American can you travel beyond our borders?
Yes! Already making reservations along the Norte route. Making alternate plans in case lodging is not available.
 
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Based upon the science that has been published so far, we have significant grounds for optimism. Its true that the first quarter of 2021 is going to keep the Camino a no-fly zone for all but the most determined locals, with the rest of us hiding in the dark. But as spring turns to summer, the picture will, I believe, change significantly. By late summer, I think we will all be wondering what we were so worried about.

Booked my flights for a late September departure. Sure, its all cancellable, but I won't have to.

Buen Camino
 
“I will be slightly put out by Brexit, if there is no deal.”

As classic British understatement goes, David; that’s straight out of central casting. Well done.

I’ve been tempted to slightly lower my newspaper and look at the continent in a disparaging manner, but it wouldn’t do to be too emotional. Not the done thing.
 
With the UK being the first country to start a vaccine roll-out it starts to look hopeful, though we need France and Spain to follow quite soon. That said, I don't quite understand how a vaccine helps. I can see that it protects the person who has had the vaccine but understand that you can still get Covid and still pass it on - so unless everyone is vaccinated it still won't be safe - I may be wrong (I usually am) but if so then who knows when Camino will be properly open again and without fear?

For the last month or so I had been thinking that Camino was over for me, the last chapter read, the book closed but now, to my surprise, I have sort of spontaneously got all my gear out and have sorted it, worked on getting a lightweight backpack ... so it looks like I shall be on Camino again - Hurrah! - but when is another matter ... who knows when? I don't.
 
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when is another matter ... who knows when? I don't.
Same boat here.
FWIW, my gut feeling is that this coming year will not be possible for me. If things open up miraculously, I might spontaneously walk somewhere, but I'm not making any plans. For later, I'm dreaming mode to walk the Viejo in the summer of 2022.
 
I am firmly planning on walking the Primitivo in May, unless of course it's closed.
But so far, i am hopeful.

@David Even if you can still get infected after the vaccination and possibly infect others, the chances for those events drop. The rest is the magic of statistics :)
 
I’ve got my plans to walk the Frances May 2021 by then I hope the UK vaccine roll out is well under way but I will keep my eye on how covid and brexit are progressing before I book my travel and starting accommodation probably be clearer by March 👍
 
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Was due to walk March 2020 cancelled due to virus, rebooked for September 2020 but cancelled due to virus… For 2021 I’m not as optimistic as many here but I hope they are right! Sadly, I think 2021 might be more about taking opportunities for travel if and when they arise and for me I don’t think that will involve a camino. Concerns about the new strain mean I can’t see us being able to leave London for a few months let alone head overseas any time soon.
 
I’m thinking the 4th quarter of 2021 is likely, assuming nothing unforeseen happens and a majority of people decide to take the vaccine (though that remains a question). For me the penciled in date remains a late September start for the Frances.

frm
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
Hi Everyone,
I was wondering whether anyone was planning their camino for 2021 yet? I am wanting to walk the whole of the French Camino from mid July through August. I am a teacher, so this is my only available time. I want to get excited but with this virus thing, I feel I have to hold back. Has anyone made any plans yet?
Angie (Spiritual Lady)
My aunt and I are tentatively planning May-June 2021 for the French Camino if we can get vaccinated (She’s in the US and I work in Kuwait), and can both go into France/ Spain. If not in the spring we’ll likely push to more of a August-September 2021 time frame. I guess I’ll have to decide by the end of February if I want to order my gear...🤷‍♀️😂
Laura
 
Hi Everyone,
I was wondering whether anyone was planning their camino for 2021 yet? I am wanting to walk the whole of the French Camino from mid July through August. I am a teacher, so this is my only available time. I want to get excited but with this virus thing, I feel I have to hold back. Has anyone made any plans yet?
Angie (Spiritual Lady)
Preliminary dreaming about this section and holding faith yet not making “plans” just yet. May the Camino shine
 
Hi Everyone,
I was wondering whether anyone was planning their camino for 2021 yet? I am wanting to walk the whole of the French Camino from mid July through August. I am a teacher, so this is my only available time. I want to get excited but with this virus thing, I feel I have to hold back. Has anyone made any plans yet?
Angie (Spiritual Lady)
I had my 3rd Camino planned last May. The air ticket from the UK to Porto could be changed free of charge to October... Now transfered to May. I have my fingers crossed. Being an older person might mean I get a vaccination early in 2021. I'm keeping my dream alive.
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
It appears Spain is setting up a registry of it's own citizens that refuse to get the vaccination for Covid-19. Logically then, tourists that haven't had a covid-19 vaccination would likely face difficulties entering the country.
As previously stated in this thread, I have decided based on my own extensive research to 'wait and see' for and least several years before considering getting a vaccination for Covid-19
Looks like it may be some time, if ever that another Camino to Spain will be possible for me.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Plan Y(iii) Well after much changing and fiddling around with dates and flights I am coming to the awful self realization that I might be staying on these sunny shores this year. My dates have now gone to late August early September, that was after I noticed that easyJet flights to SDC are not scheduled to this July, the earlier flights being taken off, kind of them to not tell me.
If I do have to stay in the UK I might head of to one of the routes in the North East of England or if the Scottish border is open to those of us south of the border one of the many pilgrimages over there. Or I could always walk to Reading Cathedral from my home in Exeter.

Buen Camino
 
Does anyone wish to speculate whether being vaccinated against Covid will allow a person to start a Camino in May? Does the state of emergency extend to the beginning of May or to the end? I understand that all of this is very fluid and can change at any time. I'm asking because being vaccinated means someone would pose a much lower risk to the people of northern Spain. Would proof of vaccination make a difference with entry to Spain?
Thank you,
Bob
 
Does anyone wish to speculate whether being vaccinated against Covid will allow a person to start a Camino in May? Does the state of emergency extend to the beginning of May or to the end? I understand that all of this is very fluid and can change at any time. I'm asking because being vaccinated means someone would pose a much lower risk to the people of northern Spain. Would proof of vaccination make a difference with entry to Spain?
Thank you,
Bob
Do we want to "speculate"? - probably not...whats the use?
As you yourself state - it is all fluid and can change at any time.
The way i see it though (and truly hope for) is that The travel to France & Spain opens up by that time for anyone who can produce 1. proof of vaccine or 2. most current (3 days) proof of negative result of COVID-19 test. All the 'little details' are probably too many to figure out and I'm not going to even remotely attempt so
With that - do not forget that even if allowed into the country - all other pieces must fall into place (Case to point - Castile y Leon which is closed until May 1.... and if it will remain so - thats one HUUUUUGE detour for folks who are planning CF!)

Speculative enough? ;)
 
New Original Camino Gear Designed Especially with The Modern Peregrino In Mind!
I booked a cheap flight to Biarritz on the 9th September. Hoping to do a week from St Jean. It's probably only a 50 50 chance that my plans will come to anything but we love in hope..
 
I am (tentatively) planning to walk the Levante, beginning soon after I am vaccinated. Our prime minister says that ALL Canadians who want to be will be vaccinated by the end of September, so that is hopeful. But I shall not buy a ticket until after I receive the vaccination.
And this morning my orthopaedic surgeon looked at my knee and my x-ray and announced that I can do whatever I want. Yes, he was, unknowingly, giving me a great deal of leeway. But when I said that I want to do a long walk in the fall he seemed to think that I could do it by then. He was a little surprised when I said it would be between 1,300 and 1,400 km.
 
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The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
Do we want to "speculate"? - probably not...whats the use?
As you yourself state - it is all fluid and can change at any time.
The way i see it though (and truly hope for) is that The travel to France & Spain opens up by that time for anyone who can produce 1. proof of vaccine or 2. most current (3 days) proof of negative result of COVID-19 test. All the 'little details' are probably too many to figure out and I'm not going to even remotely attempt so
With that - do not forget that even if allowed into the country - all other pieces must fall into place (Case to point - Castile y Leon which is closed until May 1.... and if it will remain so - thats one HUUUUUGE detour for folks who are planning CF!)

Speculative enough? ;)
Thank you, CWBuff, for your response. I'm hoping someone from Spain with connections might also be willing to speculate. By May, many of us will have been vaccinated. I hope Spain might open to visitors who have proof of vaccination. Let's hope.
Bob
 
My brother and friends back in London are optimistic that they will be free travel to mainland Europe(non camino) by June. As a Canadian I am 50/50 at best for August. September my daughters post secondary education denies us the freedom to travel,alas.
 
And this morning my orthopaedic surgeon looked at my knee and my x-ray and announced that I can do whatever I want. Yes, he was, unknowingly, giving me a great deal of leeway. But when I said that I want to do a long walk in the fall he seemed to think that I could do it by then. He was a little surprised when I said it would be between 1,300 and 1,400 km.
Fabulous news Albertagirl!!! 🥾🥾🥾
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
Sadly it was to be expected but happy to go with what’s best for Spain after all it has been caring for the Camino for centuries and will continue to do so long after we’re gone. So plan B (sept/Oct) it is with a trip along the West Highland Way and the Great Glen Way to tide me over until then....buen camino mi amigos
 


The article speaks of " that he doesn’t expect to welcome tourists to Spanish shores until nearly all of the population has been vaccinated". "
"Doesn't expect" does not mean necessarily "not going to happen."

Very suspicious about this source. Let us patiently wait till something will be publicised through the official government channels.
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
Agree it is better to rely on official sources. Although I guess that both EU and governments will be very wary to make any long term predictions about what will be possible (or not) and when. Too many unknowns to predict what will be possible (and under which conditions) in 4,5,6 months time. Such as:
The speed of vaccination in respective countries.
A common EU approach on vaccination passports (which is actually being discussed today).
More clarity about whether people can infect others, despite being vaccinated.
Etc.

The camino will provide (when it is ready to do so...)
 
Ah, we plan and the Gods laugh. Except I get the feeling even the Gods are struggling to raise much beyond a chuckle just now.

I can plan the French Way, the San Salvador, the Primitivo, others too, because I can walk those richly familiar landscapes in my head. I guess the surprises will come with that little family-run bar that isn't there anymore, the Albergues with their cerado signs, that struggling tienda that gave up the struggle.

I can plan brand new adventures; chasing @alansykes through the dust of a thousand un-walked paths, but I find it hard to plan seriously, plan with any sense of anticipation. As was said in a different context "I can cope with disappointment, it's the hope that I find hard".
Even assuming that 2021 will permit reasonable Camino-walks, I am afraid that the circumstances will create disappointments to those remembering their walks in previous years like me. An important part of my good memories of 5 "long ones" are the encounters with peregrinos from all over the world. In 2021, these will not happen as the risks and restrictions imposed will be too great for most pilgrims from overseas. Without the Aussies, the Kiwis, Canucks, Yanks, Koreans and other Asians, Brazilians, Mexicans, etc., etc., the atmosphere on the way will just not be the same.
I reckon that some will only start returning in 2022 and to avoid disappointment, so I will I.
Just having passed my 77th BD, I hope that I'll still have the strength by then. 🙄

How do other "veterans" see my concerns?
 
The article speaks of " that he doesn’t expect to welcome tourists to Spanish shores until nearly all of the population has been vaccinated". "
"Doesn't expect" does not mean necessarily "not going to happen."

Very suspicious about this source. Let us patiently wait till something will be publicised through the official government channels.
I agree we need to wait patiently, maybe something will change in a positive way, but for now the Prime Minister definitely does not sound confident that the country will be open to international tourists before the end of summer.
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
We can plan all we want. Good military adage here: No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy.
The enemy in this case is multi-faceted. COVID-19, availability of vaccine, international travel restrictions and politics.
That said, prior to contact with the enemy: be flexible with jump off date, inspect your gear, train to depart at a moment’s notice and, most of all, understand that the Camino is in charge. All will happen as it should.
 
I agree we need to wait patiently, maybe something will change in a positive way, but for now the Prime Minister definitely does not sound confident that the country will be open to international tourists before the end of summer.

Agree he does not sound confident, but there may well be a political component in his statement, as he seems to want to counterbalance the President of the Spanish Tourism Board Juan Molas who said two days ago that he was expecting Spain to reopen for tourism by April. I do not know which one of them has the most accurate crystal ball..
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Very suspicious about this source. Let us patiently wait till something will be publicised through the official government channels.
I think that's spot on. For what it's worth I cannot find a direct quote where Pedro Sanchez actually said what the headline of this small online publication claims. I had a cursory look at reports about his speech. He gave it a few days ago in the context of a meeting of the UN World Tourism Organization. The Spanish news media reported about it, with a variety of diverging headlines, and there is a summary on the Spanish government's website where the title is "Pedro Sánchez señala que la recuperación del turismo depende de la vacunación total y masiva".

There is, however, what I think the Spanish call a polemico going on at the moment about one or two lines from Sanchez' speech, mainly driven by the Spanish tourism industry.

My general impression is that he said something along the lines of we are opening gradually along with the vaccination program and when we have accomplished a "total and massive" vaccination (expected to happen during the summer), the tourism sector will have fully recuperated and be as active as it was before.
 
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LOL, pick your headline of choice, it's all about the same speech which was given 2 days ago:
  • Spain "better prepared" for foreign tourism by the end of the summer
    (Majorca Daily Bulletin, 2 days ago)
  • Hoteliers attack Sánchez "by the end of summer" statement
    (Majorca Daily Bulletin, 1 day ago)
  • NO GO ZONE - Brit tourists not allowed into Spain until ‘end of summer’ when most of population has been vaccinated, Spanish PM warns
    (The Sun, 4 hours ago, and three guesses who their source is)
 
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A common EU approach on vaccination passports (which is actually being discussed today).
They didn't take any decision this evening. A common Covid-19 vaccination certificate that is more useful for travelling than the international yellow WHO certificate is apparently not yet for tomorrow. VdL made this quite clear.

There is a lot of concern about the variants.

BTW, the number of 70 % of the population vaccinated that is mentioned in the Sanchez article is merely a general aim. All EU countries are supposed to reach this goal by this summer.
 
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Agree he does not sound confident, but there may well be a political component in his statement, as he seems to want to counterbalance the President of the Spanish Tourism Board Juan Molas who said two days ago that he was expecting Spain to reopen for tourism by April. I do not know which one of them has the most accurate crystal ball..
Nobody knows. 😞
 
There is a new headline, btw, but I predict that it will not travel as fast and as wide through the global media and the social media and make as many reappearances as the Sanchez-international tourists-only-after-the-summer headline.

SPAIN TO OPEN BY SPRING SAYS TOURIST MINISTER – AFTER PM PREVIOUSLY SAID ‘AUTUMN’ - ‘Only mass vaccination will open the way to the normality we want,’ the prime minister had said

It's in the UK's Independent and was posted 20 hours ago. Quote:

Spain’s tourism minister has insisted that the country will open up for holidaymakers in the spring – despite the prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, warning the frontiers could remain closed until autumn. On Wednesday the prime minister warned: “Only mass vaccination will open the way to the normality we want.”
He appeared to indicate that the go-ahead to restart international tourism would happen only once 70 per cent of Spain’s population had been vaccinated – and that was expected to be at the end of the main tourism season.
But in a presentation on Friday the tourism minister, Reyes Maroto, insisted the country would open up progressively from the spring.
Unfortunately, towards the end of the article, the author does what so many do when talking about this topic: Mixing the rules of the receiving country (Spain) with the rules of the sending country/country of return (in this case the UK).
 
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That would be great news indeed, but headlines are changing continually and even the reliable sources are often unreliable as the days tick on.
 
Technical backpack for day trips with backpack cover and internal compartment for the hydration bladder. Ideal daypack for excursions where we need a medium capacity backpack. The back with Air Flow System creates large air channels that will keep our back as cool as possible.

€83,-
Hi Everyone,
I was wondering whether anyone was planning their camino for 2021 yet? I am wanting to walk the whole of the French Camino from mid July through August. I am a teacher, so this is my only available time. I want to get excited but with this virus thing, I feel I have to hold back. Has anyone made any plans yet?
Angie (Spiritual Lady)
My Camino del Norte scheduled for mid March 2021 is cancelled. Now I'm thinking Camino Portuguese from Lisbon in October, but due to pandemic, these plans are loosely woven.
 
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