I spent a year reading this forum and getting information and it really helped make the trip smooth for us in terms of equipment, packing, reservations, everything really!
We did it, we hiked the Camino for 30 days with a family of 4. Kids aged 9 and 16. Left June 10. We flew Boston - Iceland- Paris CDG, then cab to Orley, then fly to Biarritz, then Express Bourricut to SJPDP. It went off with no issues and we checked one bag! Phew!
We began in SJPDP and walked to Logrono, then rented a car for a day and drove to Oviedo and hiked the entire Primitivo from Oviedo to SDC. We took 30 days and had rest days in Pamplona, Oviedo (driving day) and Lugo, and of course an extra day in Santiago.
Starting in SJPDP was so worth it. The kids loved the horses, cows, sheep in the Pyrenees, the communal dinner at Orrison set the tone, it was magical. We also bought the best cheese I have ever had in my life in SJPDP and enjoyed eating it with the horses. Splitting the first leg into 2 after a 25 hour travel day was totally necessary! I am so glad we did it that way.
It was no where near as crowded as I was led to believe by the internet. Our first night at Orrison had 7 extra beds and Roncesvalles had 100+, the rest of the trip was like that also, plenty of places to stay and many days we saw very few people.
Primitivo - this was a great route for our family, we live in the mountains, the kids love going up and down, seeing the wild horses in the fog and rain and wind was pure magic. There were fewer towns and places to get bread/ food than on the Frances, so we really had to plan ahead. Every single grocery store in Lugo was closed on Sunday and the next 2 days had no real grocery, two mornings in a row we had to walk 6km and 8km for breakfast, but each place sold use stuff for lunch and the hostel sold us some bread and cheese. The kids were amazing!
Rooms - Even with plenty of rooms for an idividual, family rooms were harder to get and I was very glad I booked in advance as we had a private bunk space often with our own bathroom or a guesthouse/ hotel room to ourselves and that helped a lot! I used Booking for 90% of it and then contacted some places through whats app, I found most places either on Booking, Gronze, Wise Pilgrim guide book. We always stayed right on the camino in town, that was key with kids.
A 16 year old is almost like hiking with an adult, but they need more food more frequently, can hike further, faster and do not get sore, and can get impatient waiting for adults to catch up! They get hangry and need to be fed often. The camino deepened our relationship!
A 9 year old has a lot of energy out of gate, recovers quickly for the next day, but wanes fast and has a hard 20km stop. They need a lot of chocolate to survive. We met another family who suggested baguette with a chocolate bar between the layers, and it was amazing! 9 year olds can really only do 20K. She got bruised heals when did any more, even after a visit to a shoe store to get new padded insoles (gel proved impossible to find in that small a size). Any day over 20K, she and I got a cab for the last 4/6/8km and that really helped her morale. You could often find her skipping around town in the evenings after a few hours of reading and eating. Her highlight was the Irache wine fountain, she could not get over how cool it was, as well as the blacksmith right next to it, we bought some amazing pieces from him.
Luggage Transport -I used Correos and it was perfect, no issues at all. We sent one duffle bag ahead every day, it had our toiletries, sleeping bag liners, rain gear(on days we did not need it) and spare outfit. My 9 year old only weights 45lbs, so she could carry her water, kindle e-reader (this saved the trip) bird book, water proof notebook, fleece, spare socks, rain coat some days and tiny stuffed octopus.
The camino is pretty social in the afternoons/ evenings and the kids just needed to zone out and ignore the world around them, the kindle e-readers let them have unlimited books from the library. We had a deck of cards and played a lot of games.
Phones- I ended up just paying AT&T for the international plan so we could FaceTime my parents (actually my dad who shares a plan with us paid as a present, bc he wanted to talk to the kids!). My husbands phone was not unlocked so he just used wifi, we got my daughter an orange sim card in Pamplona ($20 for 40 days). When she and my husband separated from us, then they could text us and let us know their ETA (some days the little one and I had to take a cab the last bit, and 2 days her heals really hurt and she and I just took a bus to the next town and it was great!). My oldest also wanted her phone working so she could post her walks each day on Strava.
Food - we are a vegetarian family and had zero issues at all. We even managed to eat before 7pm and get everyone into bed by 9 all but about 10 nights. We were and up and out early kind of group. A few times we just got hummus and carrots and fruit and cheese and wine and bread and had picnics and the hostel, but most places we found delicious, nutritious food for vegetarians. In Vilar de cars, and Berecuda, we had 2 of the best soups of our lives!!!!! The wine was fantastic and the kids fell in love with the Cola Cao in the morning, the little one even learned how to order in Spanish sin leche, con caliente agua. They also loved the Kaz lemon and orange soda for mid day breaks!
Expenses- we spent $2700 on places to stay and about 4k on food, which is about $34 a person per day (that number also includes keepsakes, a few cab rides, bus tickets, museum tickets and a new pair of Tevas for me
. We you factor in 4 people, cabs, private rooms, often come to similar per person prices and a bed in a bigger room at the private Albergue.
Fun things- We climbed the Gothic Tower at the Church in Oviedo, and did the roof our in Santiago. We did a few fun things in Pamplona and rented a car to drive from Logrono to Oviedo.
We are planning our next camino, the whole family is in, it was amazing and I can’t wait to do it again.
Observations overall - I had heard the Camino gives you what you need, and for our family, it totally did. As a college professor, I have noticed over the last few years a decline in the ability to easily start small talk and chit chat amount the 20/30 somethings. Watching this age group on the Camino left me full of hope, the Camino gave them back personal onene relationships. It was fun to watch the awkwardness at first and then the ease of development as they days went by. I loved seeing that age group without phones and chatting it up with strangers, it made my heart happy. That is what the Camino is giving right now, and I am grateful.
We did it, we hiked the Camino for 30 days with a family of 4. Kids aged 9 and 16. Left June 10. We flew Boston - Iceland- Paris CDG, then cab to Orley, then fly to Biarritz, then Express Bourricut to SJPDP. It went off with no issues and we checked one bag! Phew!
We began in SJPDP and walked to Logrono, then rented a car for a day and drove to Oviedo and hiked the entire Primitivo from Oviedo to SDC. We took 30 days and had rest days in Pamplona, Oviedo (driving day) and Lugo, and of course an extra day in Santiago.
Starting in SJPDP was so worth it. The kids loved the horses, cows, sheep in the Pyrenees, the communal dinner at Orrison set the tone, it was magical. We also bought the best cheese I have ever had in my life in SJPDP and enjoyed eating it with the horses. Splitting the first leg into 2 after a 25 hour travel day was totally necessary! I am so glad we did it that way.
It was no where near as crowded as I was led to believe by the internet. Our first night at Orrison had 7 extra beds and Roncesvalles had 100+, the rest of the trip was like that also, plenty of places to stay and many days we saw very few people.
Primitivo - this was a great route for our family, we live in the mountains, the kids love going up and down, seeing the wild horses in the fog and rain and wind was pure magic. There were fewer towns and places to get bread/ food than on the Frances, so we really had to plan ahead. Every single grocery store in Lugo was closed on Sunday and the next 2 days had no real grocery, two mornings in a row we had to walk 6km and 8km for breakfast, but each place sold use stuff for lunch and the hostel sold us some bread and cheese. The kids were amazing!
Rooms - Even with plenty of rooms for an idividual, family rooms were harder to get and I was very glad I booked in advance as we had a private bunk space often with our own bathroom or a guesthouse/ hotel room to ourselves and that helped a lot! I used Booking for 90% of it and then contacted some places through whats app, I found most places either on Booking, Gronze, Wise Pilgrim guide book. We always stayed right on the camino in town, that was key with kids.
A 16 year old is almost like hiking with an adult, but they need more food more frequently, can hike further, faster and do not get sore, and can get impatient waiting for adults to catch up! They get hangry and need to be fed often. The camino deepened our relationship!
A 9 year old has a lot of energy out of gate, recovers quickly for the next day, but wanes fast and has a hard 20km stop. They need a lot of chocolate to survive. We met another family who suggested baguette with a chocolate bar between the layers, and it was amazing! 9 year olds can really only do 20K. She got bruised heals when did any more, even after a visit to a shoe store to get new padded insoles (gel proved impossible to find in that small a size). Any day over 20K, she and I got a cab for the last 4/6/8km and that really helped her morale. You could often find her skipping around town in the evenings after a few hours of reading and eating. Her highlight was the Irache wine fountain, she could not get over how cool it was, as well as the blacksmith right next to it, we bought some amazing pieces from him.
Luggage Transport -I used Correos and it was perfect, no issues at all. We sent one duffle bag ahead every day, it had our toiletries, sleeping bag liners, rain gear(on days we did not need it) and spare outfit. My 9 year old only weights 45lbs, so she could carry her water, kindle e-reader (this saved the trip) bird book, water proof notebook, fleece, spare socks, rain coat some days and tiny stuffed octopus.
The camino is pretty social in the afternoons/ evenings and the kids just needed to zone out and ignore the world around them, the kindle e-readers let them have unlimited books from the library. We had a deck of cards and played a lot of games.
Phones- I ended up just paying AT&T for the international plan so we could FaceTime my parents (actually my dad who shares a plan with us paid as a present, bc he wanted to talk to the kids!). My husbands phone was not unlocked so he just used wifi, we got my daughter an orange sim card in Pamplona ($20 for 40 days). When she and my husband separated from us, then they could text us and let us know their ETA (some days the little one and I had to take a cab the last bit, and 2 days her heals really hurt and she and I just took a bus to the next town and it was great!). My oldest also wanted her phone working so she could post her walks each day on Strava.
Food - we are a vegetarian family and had zero issues at all. We even managed to eat before 7pm and get everyone into bed by 9 all but about 10 nights. We were and up and out early kind of group. A few times we just got hummus and carrots and fruit and cheese and wine and bread and had picnics and the hostel, but most places we found delicious, nutritious food for vegetarians. In Vilar de cars, and Berecuda, we had 2 of the best soups of our lives!!!!! The wine was fantastic and the kids fell in love with the Cola Cao in the morning, the little one even learned how to order in Spanish sin leche, con caliente agua. They also loved the Kaz lemon and orange soda for mid day breaks!
Expenses- we spent $2700 on places to stay and about 4k on food, which is about $34 a person per day (that number also includes keepsakes, a few cab rides, bus tickets, museum tickets and a new pair of Tevas for me
. We you factor in 4 people, cabs, private rooms, often come to similar per person prices and a bed in a bigger room at the private Albergue. Fun things- We climbed the Gothic Tower at the Church in Oviedo, and did the roof our in Santiago. We did a few fun things in Pamplona and rented a car to drive from Logrono to Oviedo.
We are planning our next camino, the whole family is in, it was amazing and I can’t wait to do it again.
Observations overall - I had heard the Camino gives you what you need, and for our family, it totally did. As a college professor, I have noticed over the last few years a decline in the ability to easily start small talk and chit chat amount the 20/30 somethings. Watching this age group on the Camino left me full of hope, the Camino gave them back personal one
ne relationships. It was fun to watch the awkwardness at first and then the ease of development as they days went by. I loved seeing that age group without phones and chatting it up with strangers, it made my heart happy. That is what the Camino is giving right now, and I am grateful.
….. slow it down and smell the eucalyptus!
