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If the guidebook doesn't tell me, where will I look to find out where the albergues are?
The Brierley guidebook will cover all you need to do the Camino Frances. The maps are good and show all the towns and cover albergues, pensiones and hotels along the way, and includes telephone numbers. The old dude did his homework with that guidebook. Yeah, some people complain that the maps are not accurate distance wise. Sure they may be off a few kilometers here and there, but so what. Who's counting. You're not orienteering and looking for caches.I may not have been clear in my question.
My question to you all is if THIS is the right guide, as far as your experience, for me to buy to get myself a little bit of knowledge ahead of time as far as what to expect, in relation to the areas of interest I had listed...
Of course there will be a wide variety of trail over a section of earth approximately 500 miles long. What I need to know is what kind of trail to expect between town point a and b, or g and h. And since I haven't yet decided if I am going to take the French way or the English way that's a whole lot of points A to B to be asking about so it would be a lot easier to read a book than to come here and bore you all to death with a literal deluge of questions.
Also, If the guidebook doesn't tell me the albergues are, where will I look to find them?
I realize there are churches everywhere all over Europe, but are their locations or any information about them going to be listed in this (or any other better) guide?
I also had this guidebook and I found it more usefull than JB's, especially the listings on lodging, and the maps.You know there are other guides, one that I intend to use is "A village to Village Guide to Hiking the Camino de Santiago". I think the maps are of a better quality the Brierley guide. Also it leaves out all spiritual guidelines which for me was not helpful.
'Thanks I will look at that one too!
We took both the "Village to Village Guide" and the Brierley; I carried one and my wife carried the other. They complemented each other nicely, but if I were doing it again, I'd probably take the most up-to-date Brierley, and before leaving I'd take it to my local office supply/printing/binding shop and have them cut off the spine binding, take out all the non-essential pages, and re-bind it with a spiral binder. Granted, the Brierley maps are simplified and the distances between points are not graphically accurate, but it can be argued that this eliminates a great deal of fluff. In that regard, I'd probably also take the Pili Pala Press "Camino de Santiago Map," a small-spiral-bound, geographically accurate book of maps that's similar but slightly smaller and lighter than the Brierley abridged maps-only guide. In fact, if I were taking only one map/guidebook resource, it would probably be the Pili Pala. BTW, both the Pili Pala and Brierley map books continue all the way to Finisterre, for those that anticipate walking to the end of the world.You know there are other guides, one that I intend to use is "A village to Village Guide to Hiking the Camino de Santiago". I think the maps are of a better quality the Brierley guide. Also it leaves out all spiritual guidelines which for me was not helpful.
1. If I plan to walk in 2016 is there any point in buying an earlier years Brierly? If so should I wait for 2015 to get the nearest year, or just get the 2014 since I won't be walking the year of the Brierly anyway?
2. If I already know I am going to "make up my own phases" and probably just "wing it" through my walk, is there any point in buying the Brierly at all? I know there are other good guidebooks but I am still so new to this that I am in the researching phase. I plan to buy a "Pilgrimage Road to Santiago" and then maybe Brierly. Maybe something else? I have no idea.
3. I am debating between the Camino Frances and the English way. Is this a book that would have information and stories that would help me to think through that decision? Considerations I wokld like to have on hand for the decision would be
- what kind of trails to expect
- altitudes, steepness, etc.
- will the trails be busy, etc.
- what will the towns be like?
- will albergues be available, etc.
- where are churches and other sites of interest?
I would wait to get the latest edition as the information about albergues is constantly in flux.
The primary value is about the conditions you will encounter on the camino itself ... useful to read the night before so you can decide how far you want to go the next day. That would include information about surfaces, altitudes, steepness etc. I like knowing something of whats ahead and it was important to plan as I went late in the year when many albergues were closed for the season.
There is information on statistics to give some idea of how busy things will be at any given point in the year.
The guide is limited in its description of towns ... which are what they are. There is information about churches and other sites of religious interest. There is not much about other sites of interest, however, tourist offices and often the staff at the albergues will have tourist maps showing locations of the grocery store, bus routes, and the museum.
Brierley has divided the book into doable stages to assist in planning and to organize information. There is no obligation that you follow the stages ... you can take as long as you like on any section of the camino.
The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago is a big book. I bought a kindle version and put it on my iPod. I used the iPod for email, camera and books. No music, no phone.1. If I plan to walk in 2016 is there any point in buying an earlier years Brierly? If so should I wait for 2015 to get the nearest year, or just get the 2014 since I won't be walking the year of the Brierly anyway?
2. If I already know I am going to "make up my own phases" and probably just "wing it" through my walk, is there any point in buying the Brierly at all? I know there are other good guidebooks but I am still so new to this that I am in the researching phase. I plan to buy a "Pilgrimage Road to Santiago" and then maybe Brierly. Maybe something else? I have no idea.
3. I am debating between the Camino Frances and the English way. Is this a book that would have information and stories that would help me to think through that decision? Considerations I wokld like to have on hand for the decision would be
- what kind of trails to expect
- altitudes, steepness, etc.
- will the trails be busy, etc.
- what will the towns be like?
- will albergues be available, etc.
- where are churches and other sites of interest?
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