Walking from Burgos or Sahagun to Santiago de Compostelo

[Anrose45]

Hi everyone My husband and I are from Queensland Australia.
We are going to walk from Burgos or Sahagun to Santiago de Compostelo in early September 2005.
Can anyone tell us what sort of clothing to take at that time and roughly how long the journey will take if you walk say 20-25km a day.
Can you get a pilgrims passport for that part of the journey or do we have to walk further.What is the weather like that time of the year.
Thanks hope to hear from you soon.

 

[ivar]

Hi Anrose and welcome to this discussion board,

Before I start, I have to say that I have not done the camino, but I live in Santiago and I am interested in the town and the pilgrimage (yes, I would like to walk the camino one day, but my life is quite busy right now).

Ok, regarding your questions.

Can anyone tell us what sort of clothing to take at that time and roughly how long the journey will take if you walk say 20-25km a day.

I used http://www.mapblast.com and got directions from Burgos to Santiago. It told me that it was (about) 518km. So then you could do the math and find out how many days you would need. That said, these online maps are not really to be trusted 100% so I hope that someone that has walked the route could tell you. I also leave the "clothing" question to someone that has walked the route.
Anyone? :-D

Can you get a pilgrims passport for that part of the journey or do we have to walk further.

Yes you can. The minimum distance you need to walk is 100km. More on this here:
http://www.csj.org.uk/passport.htm

What is the weather like that time of the year.

To get an idea of the weather that time of year, please have a look here:
http://www.santiago-today.com/santiago_ ... t_id=00039
and here:
http://www.peterrobins.co.uk/camino/weather.html

This winter has been the driest in 20 years (in Galica).

I hope this helps.

Welcome to Santiago de Compostela!

Ivar

 

[William Marques]

Burgos or Sahagun

From Burgos about 21 days and from Sahagun about 16 days but add a few rest days to that if you can. Clothing would hopefully still be shorts and t-shirt for much of the way but be prepared when you get into the mountains for colder weather and at least carry a fleece, jumper or sweatshirt, and some sort of waterproof be that a jacket or poncho. Coming from Queensland you'll know to take a hat.

"Can anyone tell us what sort of clothing to take at that time and roughly how long the journey will take if you walk say 20-25km a day."

If you haven''t already got a pilgrim's passport ('credential') before you leave you can get one at the refugio in Burgos, get stamps in it each day and when you get to Santiago collect the compostela or certificate depending on your motive for the journey.

"Can you get a pilgrims passport for that part of the journey or do we
have to walk further.What is the weather like that time of the year. "

Buen Camino
William

 

[Deliege]

try to walk the meseta, it's a beautifull way there (in august at least ).
Try to live the camino before Ponferrada, from there, there's too much pilgrims, and the way is no more the same than from france (the spirit is VERY different)

 

[GASpangler]

For an extensive collection of Camino Santiago Weather, start here:

http://www.elcaminosantiago.com/Weather-Camino-Santiago.htm

The time 'needed' varies with the individual and the season. Avoiding July and August is a good idea, from two points of view. One: less congestion, two: kinder weather. The Meseta can be a real beast in August. I had the keen forsight to do the Camino in 2003, the hottest year in a hundred, and of course was in the Meseta in August. Absoultely Brilliant.

Your time on the Road from Burgos could be as little as two weeks, or a more leisurely four. I've done the Camino three times to date, and the longer you take, the more you can absorb. Roncesvalles to Santiago was a seven week amble in 2003, and a four week walk in 2004. Same Road, different timetable. Longer is Better.

I'd recommend a day of rest once a week: your muscles can use a bit of recouping. I have pushed onward daily, no rests, to make a schedule, but now feel it is better to have a rest day. See if you can land yourself in a larger city for an extra day. Burgos, Leon, Astorga and Ponferrada all merit a look around.

Buen Camino!

 

[GASpangler]

A postscript ...

Here are a couple of PDF files I recently crafted breaking down the weather along the Camino Frances. Two different ways of looking at the data: one by month, the other by location.

http://www.elcaminosantiago.com/PDF/Climate_Camino_Frances_By_Locale.pdf

and also ...

http://www.elcaminosantiago.com/PDF/Climate_Camino_Frances_By_Month.pdf

Muy Buen Camino