The Puy-en-Velay to Cape Fisterra - Questions

[GuyA]

Hi,

Greetings from Canada! As a retirement gift to myself I am planning on walking the above route in either 2012 or 2013. While having hiked/walked extensively in the Canadian Rockies I have never completed a long distance walk such as the Camino therefore have a few questions.

When to start? Rest days?

The overall route is approximately 1,600 km's. I am planning on walking it over 70 days or so averaging 23 km's a day. A few questions:

What would you recommend in terms of rest days i.e. every x days and what locations would be of interest to spend an additional night?

When would you start ie. early May ending late July or early August ending late October. I am thinking early August would be best.

Accommodations

At this point I am thinking of staying in B&B, Hotels etc as opposed to various pilgrem accommodations. Do you have suggestions as to websites etc. where I could start reviewing what is available?

Walking tour companies

I am considering using a Walking tour company for luggage transfer and setting up accommodations as an option. Given past back problems that might well be best for me. Here are the companies I have found so far.

Follow the Camino http://www.followthecamino.com
Chemins de France http://www.chemins-de-france.com
World Walks http://www.worldwalks.com
Outdoor Travel http://www.outdoortravel.com.au
Macs Adventures http://www.macsadventure.com/

I would appreciate any information you can provide on any of these companies or others that you know of. Good experiences or not hearing from you would be great!

Thanks and appreciate you help

GuyA

 

[jl]

Hi there, I try and have a rest day somewhere between every 5 -8 days - I figure that this will average out to about one every week.

There are quite a few places that would be great for a rest day on the Le Puy path. Most people would say Conques is an essential one. St Come d'Olt would be worth spending time in (or have a short day to get to it) and Estaing is rather nice too. I stopped in Moissac, but another interesting place could be Cahors. One thing that various people say is that one should have a rest day where there is not a lot to see because that way you will actually have a rest! Stopping in interesting and large towns means that your rest day might mean that you only walk about 10 - 12kms for the day! However time can be a problem and so I, for one, stop where there is something that I want to see, or alternatively where I have to do chores such as shopping for new boots etc. where the facilities in the bigger towns and cities mean this job will be easier.

Some of the Gites along the Le Puy path are fantastic - it would be a shame to miss some of them.

As to the time - I only ever walk in the summer / autumn. I figure that here in Australia it is the most stable time with regard to weather and I translate that to other large land masses (plus it is the only time I can get off work). The disadvantage with that time is that I miss out on all the wildflowers, but I console myself with the fact that I am not walking 3 inches taller with clay stuck to my boots! When I did it I left le Puy on the 4th August and arrived in Santiago on the 6th October, and by then there were quite a few mornings with heavy frosts in the last few weeks. Walking this distance means that you actually walk through a season. Kiwinomad (on this forum) walked it in the spring and started off in snow but ended up with heat - check out her blog.

Hope that gives you a few ideas, Janet

 

[Canuck]

Hi! GuyA,

Where are you in Canada?
If close to Montreal, contact me by email. I have a ton of stuff to inform you on the route LePuy-Santiago.
If in the Western part of Canada, I still might be able to help you. I am leaving at the end of the month on a road trip to Vancouver, planning to be back in Montreal around the beginning of November.

Salutations,
Jean-Marc