What is a good second mini-Camino? (after Sarria to Santiago)

[sarahwillwalk]

Hello, everyone!
I did my first mini-camino in April and although I have returned to London almost a month now, I know I have left my heart on the camino somewhere between Sarria and Santiago! I want to walk again!

Things I want to do differently:
1. I want to stay in "pilgrim" places. No more hotels pre-booked by a tour operator.
2. I want to do this on my own. No partner with me. This way, I have more free time to meet fellow pilgrims.
3. I want to do it soon -- for my birthday in September. No more delaying/procrastinating for years!
4. (Maybe) carry my own bags. No more luggage forwarding (maybe!).

Given the above, and my not-so-ideal fitness level, can the Camino gurus / veterans / addicts / frequent walkers out there suggest what a good second mini-Camino is?

Criteria:
1. Dates are around Sept 19-27 (Friday-the following Sat). Will probably need to leave the 19th and 27 for travelling to and from London, so 7 walking days max. 5 days is ideal. Physical effort level that is comparable to Sarria to Santiago would be good, but am willing to train to do harder stuff. The more pilgrims along the way, the better (within reason, ie don't want this to be a "leave at 530am in the dark so I can get a bed". I think leaving at 8am is reasonable.)

2. Two ideas:
a. Would love to do Stage 1 of Camino Frances (crossing Pyrenees on my own, the "hard way"!) but I not good at maps and never walked alone, so worried this may be dangerous? Can't remember which part of the camino the character in the Way died in! Can't imagine doing this in snow (September?)
b. So am thinking maybe I should consider doing the last stage of the Camino Portugues, still arriving in Santiago. This time "on my own" as a Pilgrim (rathan Pil-glam).

3. The way needs to be well marked. I don't follow maps, I follow yellow arrows!

Any tips / votes?

thanks and ultreia to all!
Sarah

P.S. Doing Sarria to Santiago again but "in a different way" crossed my mind but I think it's time to cover new ground.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Crossing the Pyrenees is physically challenging, but if it is within your capabilities, it is a good short camino. Starting in Leon also is good; you probably can get to Ponferrada, where there is good transportation to other places in Spain.

 

[richie_a]

Hi Sarah,
It is very addictive isn't it? If only I was as close to Spain as you

If you want to finish in SdC, then I think you've hit the nail on the head, part of the Portuguese Camino.

You could also consider the English Camino from Ferrol. It's a beautiful walk, very quiet compared with the French and Portuguese routes, but there are a few longer stages (>30kms).

Have you walked out to Finisterre and Muxia. There are plenty of pilgrims walking to Finisterre, just like the last section of the French, but then it's nice and quiet going out to Muxia if that interests you.

Good luck with what ever you choose

Buen Camino
Richie

 

[Camembert]

Camino Ingles. From Ferrol to Santiago 120 kms
Quiet. Beeautiful. No bed race

 

[dougfitz]

You might also consider Finisterra-Muxia-Santiago. It can be done in 4-6 days, depending on how much you want to do each day.

Four day stages:
1. Finisterre - Muxia
2. Muxia - Olveiroa
3. Olveiroa - Negreira
4. Negriera - Santiago

My stages this year (noting I was walking from Santiago)
1. Finisterre - Muxia
2. Muxia - Dumbria
3. Dumbria - Santa Marina (stay at Casa Pepa). The albergue on the main road was closed, and a couple of us walked back to Casa Pepa. It is a lovely place.
4. Santa Maria - Negreira
5. Negreira - Santiago

Split the first day at Lires for a six day option.

 

[tyrrek]

Hi! I just walked the last part of the VdlP from Ourense and would highly recommend it. It‘s 5 days, easy to get to the starting point, good albergues and enough other pilgrims (in May) to be sociable without being crowded or over commercialised.
Other than that, you could explore the Meseta easily with a flight to Madrid and train to Burgos. Back to Madrid from Sahagun or Leon. So many choices!

 

[Metropolly]

Do you live in London permanently, or are you just visiting? If permanently, then I would suggest you start from Le Puy. Yes, it's a long way from Santiago and you won't get far in five days, but as you are clearly already a Camino addict you will be able to return again from London, as and when you have time, to complete the next stage and the next until you cross the Pyrenees and take the Camino Frances to Santiago again. Le Puy is easy enough from London, you can get a cheap flight to Clermont Ferrand or Lyon and then a train from there. It's not an easy trail but so, so worth it

 

[Metropolly]

And by the way, crossing the Pyrenees isn't generally dangerous unless you do so in heavy snow. If you try to cross in heavy snow, or when snow is expected, you will be strongly advised to stop. If you go ahead and ignore these many warnings, that's when it gets dangerous. A normal crossing in normal conditions (ie not extreme snow) is not how the guy died on The Way (which anyway is a feature film and not a documentary!)

 

[Kanga]

And by the way, crossing the Pyrenees isn't generally dangerous unless you do so in heavy snow. If you try to cross in heavy snow, or when snow is expected, you will be strongly advised to stop. If you go ahead and ignore these many warnings, that's when it gets dangerous. A normal crossing in normal conditions (ie not extreme snow) is not how the guy died on The Way (which anyway is a feature film and not a documentary!)

Fog is not good either. The Way is not a documentary, but real people have become lost and died. At the end of September the weather is just starting to become a bit chancy - you might be unlucky and strike a bad day.

Just take the advice given in the Pilgrims Office in St Jean. The numbers will be starting to slow but there will still plenty of company - earlier in September there is such a steady stream of people walking that it feels like a school crocodile.

On a good day it is a glorious walk. But the Valcarlos route is a very happy alternative.

 

[koilife]

. . . it feels like a school crocodile.

Just when I think I've heard all the Australianisms, the iceberg turns over and I realize there must be another couple thousand I haven't heard.

What on earth is a "school crocodile"?!

 

[Kanga]

Just when I think I've heard all the Australianisms, the iceberg turns over and I realize there must be another couple thousand I haven't heard.

What on earth is a "school crocodile"?!

LOL. Two or three lines of children, walking close behind each other on the way to school or on a school excursion. Have no idea where it comes from (you've caused me to look it up) but it's a common expression.

 

[koilife]

LOL. Two or three lines of children, walking close behind each other on the way to school or on a school excursion. Have no idea where it comes from (you've caused me to look it up) but it's a common expression.

If the end of the line really is a crocodile, then maybe it could be turned into a counting game . . . 10 little children walking into school . . . 9 little children walking into school . . . 8 . . .

 

[Kanga]

Google tells me it is an English expression - but I'm not sure I believe that - here's a picture - envisage this on a busy stretch of the Camino, maybe without vests

 

[C clearly]

That IS funny. I'd never heard the expression either but it is a good one!

 

[Metropolly]

Google tells me it is an English expression

Yep, we say it in England too!

 

[SabsP]

Maybe the Portugues from Tui? http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/los-caminos-de-santiago/portugues/

 

[dougfitz]

Google tells me it is an English expression - but I'm not sure I believe that - here's a picture - envisage this on a busy stretch of the Camino, maybe without vests View attachment 10188

I couldn't find it on the Australian Word Map at the Macquarie Dictionary site.

 

[Kanga]

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary gives one definition of "crocodile" as "A long line of children etc. walking together; a long procession of moving objects close together" (colloquial) and "verb intrans. Walk in a crocodile".

 

[Gail Theal]

C clearly, I'm the same...never heard it before...learn something new every day eh? I'm Canadian and in BC too!

 

[Felipe]

Hello, everyone!
Things I want to do differently:
1. I want to stay in "pilgrim" places. No more hotels pre-booked by a tour operator.

Yes!! Do it this way. It is not difficult, it is a better experience and (I guess) much less expensive.

As regards your starting point, you can begin in Roncesvalles, which is scenic without being so difficult. I don' t know when and why SJPP became an almost canonical start...
And remember, there are wonderful Caminos in France and Germany. And they are much less crowded.
The conventional wisdom was that "high season" was from June to August. But this year apparently this included September, too.

 

[Kiwi-family]

Would you consider the Salvador? It is extremely beautiful in a rugged kind of way, yet a lot of it is pretty flat walking. That said, there IS some hill-climbing, but nothing unmanageable. It is extremely well waymarked (apart from the little town of Pola de Lena, but locals will do their best to help you).

 

[Kanga]

The original poster wanted a route with plenty of pilgrims -

The more pilgrims along the way, the better

and she has not posted since 4 July. I think she would have finished her "mini Camino" by now. Would be good to hear what she did and how she found it, without support.

 

[Anniesantiago]

I highly recommend the Madrid route.
It takes about 2 weeks, is spectacular, and is inexpensive after the first few days when you're still in the suburbs of Madrid.

 

[james walter purdum iv]

Hello, everyone!
I did my first mini-camino in April and although I have returned to London almost a month now, I know I have left my heart on the camino somewhere between Sarria and Santiago! I want to walk again!

Things I want to do differently:
1. I want to stay in "pilgrim" places. No more hotels pre-booked by a tour operator.
2. I want to do this on my own. No partner with me. This way, I have more free time to meet fellow pilgrims.
3. I want to do it soon -- for my birthday in September. No more delaying/procrastinating for years!
4. (Maybe) carry my own bags. No more luggage forwarding (maybe!).

Given the above, and my not-so-ideal fitness level, can the Camino gurus / veterans / addicts / frequent walkers out there suggest what a good second mini-Camino is?

Criteria:
1. Dates are around Sept 19-27 (Friday-the following Sat). Will probably need to leave the 19th and 27 for travelling to and from London, so 7 walking days max. 5 days is ideal. Physical effort level that is comparable to Sarria to Santiago would be good, but am willing to train to do harder stuff. The more pilgrims along the way, the better (within reason, ie don't want this to be a "leave at 530am in the dark so I can get a bed". I think leaving at 8am is reasonable.)

2. Two ideas:
a. Would love to do Stage 1 of Camino Frances (crossing Pyrenees on my own, the "hard way"!) but I not good at maps and never walked alone, so worried this may be dangerous? Can't remember which part of the camino the character in the Way died in! Can't imagine doing this in snow (September?)
b. So am thinking maybe I should consider doing the last stage of the Camino Portugues, still arriving in Santiago. This time "on my own" as a Pilgrim (rathan Pil-glam).

3. The way needs to be well marked. I don't follow maps, I follow yellow arrows!

Any tips / votes?

thanks and ultreia to all!
Sarah

P.S. Doing Sarria to Santiago again but "in a different way" crossed my mind but I think it's time to cover new ground.
View attachment 10180

i recommend starting at the beginning and walking to pamplona....much better views, more physical and you get to witness the anxiety of every first timer trekking for 2 weeks...