What Route?

[erikgreb]

Hi everyone,

Hopefully some people with expertise can help me out. I am flying into France from Canada and starting my journey of backpacking through Europe. I fly in at the end of September and am hoping to start my camino shortly after arriving.

At first I was planning on completing the entire Camino del Norte - but have heard that there will be lots of rain during October. While I am not turned away by rain and have plenty of top notch rain gear, I still want to be able to enjoy my adventure and get the most out of my experience as possible. Also, I have heard that the albergues may not be open in the off-season months.

Can anyone provide me with some insight? Is anyone else planning on walking the camino starting at the beginning on October?

Thanks!

 

[SYates]

October on the Camino Frances should be calm, most albergues still open and the way not any more overly crowded. For me personally the Camino del Norte would be too difficult that time of the year (long stages, some albergues already closed) so, if you have no special reasons to chose the CN I would look at the CF instead ;-)
In all cases: Buen Camino! SY

 

[nicollb]

SY -- after reading your post, I am glad we picked CF -- starting out from SJ on Sept 27.

 

[tyrrek]

I would almost always recommend the Camino Frances for a first Camino because of the well-developed infrastructure and the availability of company if/when desired. The exceptions might be in the peak summer season when the other routes are lively but not too overcrowded, or if you are looking for a very quiet Camino, speak a bit of Spanish, are a reasonably experienced hiker etc. Buen Camino!