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Wa. Post Article lists Camino as one of the world's most crowded tourist destinations

kelleymac

Veteran Member
Time of past OR future Camino
March/April 2015, Late April 2016, Sept/Oct 2017, April 2019.
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.
Well 'bad press' in this case is not an altogether bad thing - maybe pieces like this will casue the superficial trendiness to abate a bit.
The irony being that whomever wrote the article did not dig deeply enough to learn that there are plenty of caminos and some of them are as quiet as can be.
And that the spirit of the way remains.
But we know that.;)
 
The irony being that whomever wrote the article did not dig deeply enough to learn that there are plenty of caminos and some of them are as quiet as can be.
I don't think you dug deeply enough into the article. ;-)
The opening paragraph of the section on the camino states:
The Way of Saint James comprises a spider’s web of routes that take weeks to complete by foot, bike or horseback. However, more than half of the pilgrims — religious and secular — follow the French Way, a 500-mile journey that starts in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in the French Pyrenees and ends at Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Galicia, Spain, where the saint is allegedly buried.
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
I don't think you dug deeply enough into the article. ;-)
Oh, yeah...I did read that.;):cool:
There is the momentary lip service to the 'spider's web' of different routes. And after only half a sentence there is the "However..." and the whole rest of the piece is about the thousands who arrive in Santiago, regardless of how they got there, painting all the routes with the bush of the crowds on the [mostly last 5 days] of the Frances.
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
Crowded is the original Disneyland in California where capacity crowds (guessed to be 60,000 -80,000 because the Mouse keeps it secret!) occur frequently during the summer and on holidays! Average daily attendance is estimated to be 30,000 to 40,000! And that’s all within a tiny footprint and NOT counting the other Disney Park next door.

The Camino is NOT crowded though I know it may feel that way sometimes. All those folks are spread out over thousands of miles of trails spanning Portugal, Spain, France, and so on. This past May we had a municipal albuergue all to ourselves PAST the 100km market.

I’m just glad that so many people worldwide take the time to peaceably walk in nature with one another regardless of all their differences.
 
I get the feeling that the author hasn’t visited any of those places. Or at least, hasn’t ventured beyond the standard mass-tourism district. I have rebuttals ready and waiting for Venice, Rome, and Machu Picchu. With the Camino that covers most of their list.
 
New Original Camino Gear Designed Especially with The Modern Peregrino In Mind!
Judging whether a route is "crowded" or not is a very subjective business. I value solitude very highly and enjoy quiet routes and times: 20 winter days on the Via de la Plata meeting a total of 5 other pilgrims, 17 days on the Olavsleden and encountering only 3 others, my first Camino Frances where I probably met fewer than 30 other pilgrims between SJPDP and Santiago. Between my first Camino and today the numbers receiving Compostelas have multiplied by more than sixty times and for various reasons those pilgrim office statistics probably underreport the actual numbers walking by a significant margin. For me personally for most of the year the Camino Frances is abominably overcrowded and I do now look elsewhere.
 
The Caminos do not even compare with the most popular (tourist)places. Spain is not even on the most visited country. At best you could say it is getting more popular.
 
Folk often ask why I don't walk a pilgrim route in England, instead of in Spain.
I always tell them - if you can guarantee a temperature around 23 degs C, plus pilgrim hotels with en-suite B & B for £20, then I might consider it!
But that will never happen!
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Crowded is the original Disneyland in California where capacity crowds (guessed to be 60,000 -80,000 because the Mouse keeps it secret!) occur frequently during the summer and on holidays! Average daily attendance is estimated to be 30,000 to 40,000! And that’s all within a tiny footprint and NOT counting the other Disney Park next door.
But it doesn't have queues of 1,000 km or more. :)
 
Folk often ask why I don't walk a pilgrim route in England, instead of in Spain.
I always tell them - if you can guarantee a temperature around 23 degs C, plus pilgrim hotels with en-suite B & B for £20, then I might consider it!
But that will never happen!

I don't mind the cooler temps and rain-- I'd be happy with the £20 place to sleep and make food. Even a cheap place to pitch at tent would be welcome. I looked the Cotswolds Way for last Sept., but couldn't make it work financially. :( I'm looking at the Ecumenical Way in Germany now, or to continue the Via Podensis in France. -- or what the heck, maybe head back to SJPP. :)
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
The first edition came out in 2003 and has become the go-to-guide for many pilgrims over the years. It is shipping with a Pilgrim Passport (Credential) from the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.
An article in the Washington Post lists Camino as one of the world's most crowded tourist destinations and recommends walking St. Cuthbert's Way, a 62.4 mile trek, in Northern England instead.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/lifestyle/overbooked/?utm_term=.b56120979c38
Hmm...It makes me wonder how many routes the writer actually traveled. Sure the CF may seem crowded at some sites, but I remember having long stretches of the Portugues to myself and God. And that raises another issue. It is in fact a Pilgrimage, and wherever one might be on the spectrum of spirituality, there is an interior journey of the soul that may be overlooked.
 
Hmm...It makes me wonder how many routes the writer actually traveled. Sure the CF may seem crowded at some sites, but I remember having long stretches of the Portugues to myself and God. And that raises another issue. It is in fact a Pilgrimage, and wherever one might be on the spectrum of spirituality, there is an interior journey of the soul that may be overlooked.

The article seems to be equating a walking holiday to a pilgrimage. Although, I suppose one could have a pilgrimage on St. Cuthbert's Way.
 
From Sarria it does feel crowded this was around May 20+/- 3 days 2018. I start my walk with my head lamp on at 5:30... I have my path with just a few quiet people mostly single walker like me or a pair that are older like me and we all carry our packs. Around 11ish I get passed by groups of younger folks singing, yaping, and laughing aloud like they own the place... so I turn my switch on to patience, compassion, love... around 1:00 PM I start looking for an Albergue and check-in and do my routine before I nap and then lunch/dinner around 4PM. The area has quieted down a bit by then... All I could say is BUEN CAMINO... THANK YOU TO THE PEOPLE OF SPAIN AND THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT THAT SUPPORT THE PILGRIMAGE... I FELT SAFE AND UNTHREATENED THROUGHOUT THE 600 MILES I WALKED ACROSS THIS COUNTRY. MUCHAS GRACIAS... Hasta La vista baby 2019 fall same route adding primitivo in between and avoid my dear Sarria...With God's Blessings will still be healthy to do it. Buen Camino.
 
Get a spanish phone number with Airalo. eSim, so no physical SIM card. Easy to use app to add more funds if needed.
An article in the Washington Post lists Camino as one of the world's most crowded tourist destinations and recommends walking St. Cuthbert's Way, a 62.4 mile trek, in Northern England instead.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/lifestyle/overbooked/?utm_term=.b56120979c38
No I haven't read the article but I laughed at this CF 800 km to St. Cuthbert's way 62.4 km, sounds so similar to me :D I jest about that. Now seriously I see how busy the CF is, especially in season it looks so crowded. I know when we walked there were people but not crowded but as we got closer to Santiago I know I did not enjoy the CF as much because there was a different vibe, it got more crowded, conversations became more first world. I loved the CF, would like to do it again but who knows I do know I will do another Camino though.
 
I liked St Cuthbert's Way very much. It's actually slightly over 100km, so I think the WaPo person probably misunderstood the difference between km and miles (ie, it's a bit over 60 miles).

Melrose, the starting point, near where St Cuthbert was born, is a lovely red stone Abbey, and you pass three more abbeys on the walk, partly on a Roman road, partly beside the Tweed River that marks the border between Scotland and England and stopping in Kirk Yetholm, end point of the Pennine Way, England's long distance walk. Crossing the causeway to lovely Lindisfarne at low tide is very special - barefoot is best: the sucking sand gives tired feet a fabulous massage - https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp....rtherner/2012/sep/01/walkingholidays-scotland

But it is not remotely like the camino.
 
And the last 100 km is busy on all routes. More on the french though.

The most beautiful last 100km is from Muxia and or Finisterre BACK to SDC and you get a Certificate if its important
And it is empty.
The last 20 km is in beautiful forests not roads.
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
An article in the Washington Post lists Camino as one of the world's most crowded tourist destinations and recommends walking St. Cuthbert's Way, a 62.4 mile trek, in Northern England instead.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/lifestyle/overbooked/?utm_term=.b56120979c38

Croatia has 4.2 million people .....with 57.6 million Tourists .........1380.78 % discrepancy
Singapore has 5.6 million people .....with 16.4 million Tourists ...... 292.55 % discrepancy
** Spain has 46.4 million people....with 115.6 million Tourists ...... 248.8 % discrepancy
The Camino , except the last 100km is in good hands.
 
Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
abandoning it for quieter routes?
We had met only 8 pilgrims when walking from Mont St Michel before we reached Bordeaux ...........and they my Canadian friend were all going TO Mont St Michel:)
 

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