Tips for first time Camino Pilgrims

[KNolan]

Hi there,
Myself and a friend are hoping to organise to do the English Way from Ferrol to Santiago in May 2017. We are hoping to go for 7 or 8 days and do probably 5days of walking. We would consider ourselves very fit and so want a bit of a challenging route, is this a good route to do in this case?
Is it safe for this route to just book into hostels as we go or is there a need to pre-book accommodation?
Any other tips would be very much appreciated

 

[Tulle]

I am 74 years old and I don't find the English way physically challenging. But then I live among mountains in Norway...

 

[SYates]

In May and on the Camino Inglés, I wouldn't bother to pre-book. Just go with the flow and Buen Camino, SY

 

[KNolan]

In May and on the Camino Inglés, I wouldn't bother to pre-book. Just go with the flow and Buen Camino, SY

Thank you
Do we need to bring sleeping bags with us?

 

[SYates]

Yes! The only time I even would consider to do any Camino without a sleeping bag would be July/August and then I still would take a liner. Buen Camino, SY

 

[Tincatinker]

very fit

Can walk 5 successive 30k days carrying an overloaded rucksac? Try the Salvador but leave the beers at home or drink them very quickly.

Only you will know what you mean by 'very fit'. The Ingles is a lovely route with a fascinating history and a couple of 'challenging' (to most 72 year olds who don't live in Norway) hills. It also has plenty of accommodations and unless you are walking in peak season (July-August) or coincide with a large walking group there will be no need to pre-book.

The Salvador has some much more challenging hills but the logistics are also challenging. Accommodation and food sources are sparser.

Some searching of the resources and route specific pages here will answer most of your questions and help to inform your decisions.

Happy planning

 

[rometimed]

I did the English Camino exactly a year ago today. It's not very tough at all IMO. The French Camino is only really challenging because of total distance and you don't really have that on the English Camino. The good part of the English Camino I found was that the Albergues were all very nice, very affordable and not very busy (I only met 7 other pilgrims the whole 4 days I walked and 3 were the first day).

If you want a completely different experience you'll encounter probably 100 times the people from Sarria to Santiago.

 

[Camembert]

Thank you
Do we need to bring sleeping bags with us?

I remember the albergue in Betanzos had no blankets.
And in the albergue in Pontedeume they were hard to find but it could be improved since we walked in 2014

Buen camino

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Hola - if you are going to sleep in Albergues you will need a sleeping bag or liner. You can't book a bed in these and they are first come, first served. If you are going to sleep in hostels or hoteles you may wish to book - the accommodation is listed in the guidebook you can download in the resources section.

 

[Smallest_Sparrow]

Hi there,
Myself and a friend are hoping to organise to do the English Way from Ferrol to Santiago in May 2017. We are hoping to go for 7 or 8 days and do probably 5days of walking. We would consider ourselves very fit and so want a bit of a challenging route, is this a good route to do in this case?
Is it safe for this route to just book into hostels as we go or is there a need to pre-book accommodation?
Any other tips would be very much appreciated

the two websites I'll list below outline the distances and elevation changes for each step of the Ingles. Just click on each step. That will let you judge how good a fit. It also describes the general path, and has pictures, as well as lists albergues and hotels/pensions along the way. If you want to look at other routes, these website have them also. If you don't read Spanish well, google translate will translate the pages for you.
Happy planning and Buen Camino
http://www.gronze.com/camino-ingles
http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/los-caminos-de-santiago/ingles/

 

[JohnnieWalker]

The guidebook in the resources section of the forum has elevation profiles - and it is in English!

 

[Tia Valeria]

The Inglés is an ideal first Camino and using @JohnnieWalker 's CSJ guide you can create your stages to fit the number of days you want to take. We added in notes from Gronze and 'The Northern Caminos' book, but the CSJ guide has been updated now to include profiles etc.
The Inglés does have some more challenging sections but not so as to make it too difficult. The hill out of Pontedeume is IMO harder than the one after Casa Julia, but we broke that latter stage (Betanzos to Bruma) at Casa Julia to stay at O Meson Novo and returned there next morning - so started 'fresh' on that hill.
Betanzos is worth a stop over if you have time, in which case you would need to book somewhere for at least the second night and it is more practical therefore to book both nights there.
Buen Camino

 

[Smallest_Sparrow]

The guidebook in the resources section of the forum has elevation profiles - and it is in English!

oops, sorry, i didn't realize....got to go check that out! (but I would miss the parrot )

 

[Camino Bear]

I walked the Camino Ingles (my first Camino too!) this past August. A lot of people we met were surprised that we chose this route as our first Camino, but I wouldn't have had it any other way. I agree with the hill out of Pontedueme being more challenging than the one after Casa Julia If you are preparing by walking long distances with your loaded pack you'll be in a good place to begin your journey. Johnnie Walker's guide was an amazing companion so don't go without it. Most people on the trail took 5 days, but my husband and I took 8 as we were on vacation and wanted to enjoy the towns we stayed in as much as possible. Bring a sleeping bag as everyone has recommended, I was only offered a blanket once, but after all, it was August. Buen Camino!

 

[dougfitz]

The Inglés does have some more challenging sections but not so as to make it too difficult. The hill out of Pontedeume is IMO harder than the one after Casa Julia, but we broke that latter stage (Betanzos to Bruma) at Casa Julia to stay at O Meson Novo and returned there next morning - so started 'fresh' on that hill.

I agree with the hill out of Pontedueme being more challenging than the one after Casa Julia

It is interesting how different our perceptions of these hills is from their actual nature. These figures are from my 2014 CI pilgrimage:

1. climb out of Pontedeume: length 1.82km, ascent 158m, average grade 8.7%
2. climb out of Bentanzos: length 1.91km, ascent 142m, average grade 7.1%
3. climb after Casa Julia: length 2.16km, ascent 239m, average grade 10.9%

I wonder why the longer and steeper ascent after Casa Julia seems less difficult than leaving Pontedeume.

 

[oldchieft]

We did this in September, very good time was had.

The distances between albergue is nice, were the are longer gaps the are other places.

Pontedeume (or the bridge of doom as I called it!) is hard because it starts from your first step of the day, before you have warmed up.

Johnnie Walker's book, (hard copy) is a must, it is like being led by the hand.

Ann and myself are both over 65, but we were ok.

I was carrying for two as Ann has a back problem, so it can be done with 25kg if you are slow.

Or you can send on by Correios, to the next albergue in most parts.

We took 7 and a half days, mostly 14/16k each day except once we did 24k.

We prepared with 10k on the flat once a week building up to 10k twice a week with broken terrain and hills.

That is what makes the big difference, and use five toe socks to avoid toe blisters.

The only booking we did was at Ferrol for a hotel.

Buen Camino, Jon the Chief

 

[Tia Valeria]

It is interesting how different our perceptions of these hills is from their actual nature. These figures are from my 2014 CI pilgrimage:

1. climb out of Pontedeume: length 1.82km, ascent 158m, average grade 8.7%
2. climb out of Bentanzos: length 1.91km, ascent 142m, average grade 7.1%
3. climb after Casa Julia: length 2.16km, ascent 239m, average grade 10.9%

I wonder why the longer and steeper ascent after Casa Julia seems less difficult than leaving Pontedeume.

We think that much of the perception is dependent on what is underfoot. So Casa Julia seems less difficult as being mostly on track, while the steepest section is a few metres scramble right at the top. Pontedeume is on granite setts or tarmac with very much steeper places at all the corners and also was wet and therefore slightly slippery on the granite too when we walked the first time. We still felt the same second time too, but both times had broken our stage at Casa Julia and the second time stopped overnight at Cabañas so as to 'warm up' before the hill out of Pontedeume.