Starting from zero

[Elena418]

Hello All I was hoping I could find some help from this community!

So my best friend and I have decided to complete El Camino as a gift to ourselves for finishing our graduate degrees in social work. We are planning to leave sometime after graduation on June 15, 2013.

We are essentially starting from zero. We are coming from Chicago/New York. I do not know where to fly into.. I am looking for a budget friendly option and I have flexibility with days. I am also not sure if we should start at the traditional point or take a bus to Sarria from Madrid as I've noticed in the forum as well.. (if I did this would we need to book a ticket for 36 days still or less?)

I would appreciate any tips, advice, book recommendations, anything! Thank you SO much!

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Elena,

Welcome to the forum and congrats on finishing your degree. I think walking a Camio is a very fitting way to contemplate what you've just finished and what you're about to embark on. But anyway, as far as our being able to help you, one of the first things you should do is search through the thousands of topics on the forum. You'll get a good base there and can then ask specific questions. That little green "Check if your question has been asked before" right above the map on this post is the search function.

Sarria to Santiago is a 5-6 day walk. From St. Jean it's about 32-35. So there is a huge difference and will just depend on how much time and interest you have. You should take a look at a map for starters, maybe look at the mundicamino.com site and see the stages and route of the Camino Frances, which is probably the camino you are hoping to walk.

I always fly into Madrid, but others go to Paris or Barcelona. You'll see lots of discussion of this with the pros and cons of each on many posts. Have fun planning and learning, and give a holler when you need help.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Iberia Airline, code sharing with British Airways, flies from both Chicago and New York to Madrid through London. I would recommend flying to Pamplona and returning from Santiago. It will save you ground travel time and money.

You can start in Pamplona or spend a day getting to Roncesvalles or St. Jean Pied de Port only to return to Pamplona three days later. You could use the days saved to walk to Muxia or Fisterra on the Atlantic coast after arriving in Santiago.

Regardless, have fun!

 

[scruffy1]

Falcon has offered the traditional and probably easiest solution however there is more than one way to skin the cat, sorry, to achieve you aim. Consider flying to Madrid and connect on to San Sebastian, a wonderful and interesting Basque port on the Bay of Biscay with some amazing tapas bars, a train to Bayonne less than an hour and a bus from the train station in Bayonne on to SJPP. You "earn" a chance for a day to fight the jet lag plus an evening free to sample tapas and Basque life not a bad thing.