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Search 69,459 Camino Questions

Why multiple times on the CF?

Time of past OR future Camino
Frances - 2009
Portuguese Interior (2014)
Hadrian's Wall (2017)
Porto to SdC ( Seaside) 2019
I suppose some may not appreciate me posting the question, but I'm interested to know why folks continue to return to the CF when there are other routes to experience? I don't think I am asking for any reason that is intended to be critical; I am aware that pilgrims travel under different circumstances - with different friends and family members at different times of their lives. I still wonder why multiple times on the Camino Frances'? My personal life sends me for religious reasons and I have chosen different routes for the pilgrim experience. [The Handrian's Wall experience was with my son for personal reasons.] With all that said, the question is posted! Have at it!
 
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Put simply....because I enjoyed it the first time and I knew with a change of people and season and new towns to stay in that I wasn't finished with the CF yet.

I'll probably do one more CF in winter, then the Henro Michi in Japan then look at doing a different Camino after that.
 
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I get asked this all the time. Even though I walk other routes, and plan walking new (to me) routes, I always come back to the Frances.

I have talked to other repeat offenders and we all agree on one thing. The Camino Frances has 'something' about it, a kind of magic that other routes just don't have. Now, we are not sure even amongst ourselves just what this magic is, but it is there.

For me also, the Frances has an extreme wide variety on pilgrims on it. Lots of new first timers (I enjoy watching them 'grow' as they walk towards Santiago). A large age range, lots of youngsters and oldies. Diverse nationalities, etc.

Also, after a few times you get to know some of the locals really well, so its like visiting old friends. In some towns I now stay in their private homes (and have to have a day off afterwards)!

Also it has quite a few variations of the route, so there is always somewhere new to explore. Even after five times there are still many town/villages I have not stayed in.

Then, walking in winter is so different than summer etc.

Oh, and it is stunningly beautiful too.

And, well, it is there, so why not.

Davey
 
Having walked the Camino Frances twice , I tried to do Madrid/Salvador/Primitivo combo but the Frances just called me back onto it. I can't explain it, but the Frances is the way for me. There's just a certain magic, a certain energy about it
 
As for myself
"Le cœur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît pas/ the heart has its reasons, of which reason knows nothing."
Pascal, Les Pensées

Perhaps the first post of my last camino explains best why I have walked the Camino Frances ten times; thus it may serve as my apologia.

Check out what others have said in this earlier thread
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/why-do-it-again.51599/

Were you not ever tempted to try one of the other routes? If not, why not?
Thanks!
 
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Having walked the Camino Frances twice , I tried to do Madrid/Salvador/Primitivo combo but the Frances just called me back onto it. I can't explain it, but the Frances is the way for me. There's just a certain magic, a certain energy about it

+1 on this "energy" thing. It's weird and unquantifiable, but I did the Norte for the first time this year and found it lacking that quality, whatever it is. That's not to say I didn't massively enjoy the Norte, because I did, but it's quite a different beast.
 
I suppose some may not appreciate me posting the question, but I'm interested to know why folks continue to return to the CF when there are other routes to experience? I don't think I am asking for any reason that is intended to be critical; I am aware that pilgrims travel under different circumstances - with different friends and family members at different times of their lives. I still wonder why multiple times on the Camino Frances'? My personal life sends me for religious reasons and I have chosen different routes for the pilgrim experience. [The Handrian's Wall experience was with my son for personal reasons.] With all that said, the question is posted! Have at it!

Good question by the way. Why would we not appreciate it? It's something I ask myself all the time!

And I'm interested in others views too!

Davey
 
Its interesting though - some say they will never do the Frances again as it has changed so much and is ever busier....and others just can't keep away !!
 
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Old story about a .com billionaire who had always wanted to sing opera at La Scala.

Eventually he hired the opera house himself and gave out free tickets.

On the night of the recital La Scala was packed to the roof.

The billionaire had chosen to open with Nessun Dorma from Puccini's Turandot and he launched into it with gusto. When he had finished he was astounded when the whole audience stood and demanded an encore. "Again! Again! Encore, encore!"

So he sang it again, from the beginning. Again the audience clamoured for an encore.

After no less than 5 encores the man's voice started to fail. He put his hands up and attempted to silence the crowd.

Croaking he whispered "Thank you, thank you but I can sing no longer!" when a voice piped up in the audience:

"You're gonna sing it until you get it right!"

You've got to walk it until you get it right.
 
I walked 10 different Caminos and certain parts of CF/Fisterra even 4 times in between (as a connecting Camino) those others. It does have some special energy I admit although I more like the solitude of other Caminos.
CF has the history, the variety of nature, the numbers of pilgrims which resulted in special energy. Try to imagine how many prayers, how many tears and laughs, how many personal steps CF had in centuries. I believe it must be "written" somewhere in the core of the Way.

For me it's still beautiful Camino, crowds or no crowds ;)
 
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I get asked this all the time. Even though I walk other routes, and plan walking new (to me) routes, I always come back to the Frances.

I have talked to other repeat offenders and we all agree on one thing. The Camino Frances has 'something' about it, a kind of magic that other routes just don't have. Now, we are not sure even amongst ourselves just what this magic is, but it is there.

For me also, the Frances has an extreme wide variety on pilgrims on it. Lots of new first timers (I enjoy watching them 'grow' as they walk towards Santiago). A large age range, lots of youngsters and oldies. Diverse nationalities, etc.

Also, after a few times you get to know some of the locals really well, so its like visiting old friends. In some towns I now stay in their private homes (and have to have a day off afterwards)!

Also it has quite a few variations of the route, so there is always somewhere new to explore. Even after five times there are still many town/villages I have not stayed in.

Then, walking in winter is so different than summer etc.

Oh, and it is stunningly beautiful too.

And, well, it is there, so why not.

Davey
Great reasons to repeat the Frances, Davey, and I assume you speak Spanish? That would certainly help with being invited to stay in private homes. I've walked it twice, but have walked other Caminos and thoroughly enjoyed them, yet in a somewhat different way. But you are right, there is a certain "something" special about the Frances route, although heading over from the USA, I feel I need to focus on other new walking experiences.
 
Great reasons to repeat the Frances, Davey, and I assume you speak Spanish? That would certainly help with being invited to stay in private homes. I've walked it twice, but have walked other Caminos and thoroughly enjoyed them, yet in a somewhat different way. But you are right, there is a certain "something" special about the Frances route, although heading over from the USA, I feel I need to focus on other new walking experiences.

No, my Spanish is still poor. I had none to start with, but I learn every day something new. Now, I can't hold a conversation but I can get by. I understand more than I can speak. Plus, the younger Spanish speak English quite well nowadays. The old folk, none of course.

And yeah, from England Spain is very easy to get to (could even walk it), and we don't have visa limits with time constraints (yet)!

Davey
 
When I walked the Ingles two years ago I met a woman who had walked it 12 times in a row!
Seemed everyone along the Ingles knew her.

That is not a typo... 12 (twelve) times!

If you walk the Ingles you may run across her. Or find people who comment about her.

My first CF was riding a bike. My second CF was walking. I prefer walking.
 
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I wonder if part of it isn't just that this is an English-language forum, and that the CF is the camino most geared towards English-language speakers? And also, of course, the fact that this forum is geared towards Camino-addicts, or future addicts, or those of us who only walked once & still think about it daily.

I actually met slightly more people on the Le Puy route who were walking a section for the second or third time. Given the lesser numbers of pilgrims, the actual proportion of folks walking a second time was higher. I didn't meet anyone who was walking the entire Le Puy route a second time, though.

There's one part of the CF I'd like to re-walk myself, but ironically, it's the part that I liked the least. To paraphrase Jeff Crawley, I need to walk it again & get it right this time.
 
Right now, I am cycling the Camino north route from Bilbao. I am hopeful of reaching Santiago in few days.
I am cycling in my own. I have seen many walkers along the way.
I must say that I have already decided that I will do another route, perhaps French or Portuguese soon preferably as a group.
What is more, I am not a Christian and I am not doing it for a religious or spiritual reason.
But I find it amazing to see a group of people walking at their own pace to for whole different reasons to the same destination.
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
I wonder if part of it isn't just that this is an English-language forum, and that the CF is the camino most geared towards English-language speakers? And also, of course, the fact that this forum is geared towards Camino-addicts, or future addicts, or those of us who only walked once & still think about it daily.

I actually met slightly more people on the Le Puy route who were walking a section for the second or third time. Given the lesser numbers of pilgrims, the actual proportion of folks walking a second time was higher. I didn't meet anyone who was walking the entire Le Puy route a second time, though.

There's one part of the CF I'd like to re-walk myself, but ironically, it's the part that I liked the least. To paraphrase Jeff Crawley, I need to walk it again & get it right this time.

For me the language thing does not come into it really. I'm happy in my own world if nobody around me speaks my language and I can't speak theirs. Could be for others though I'm sure.

And yeah, many I met on the Le Puy route had walked before, usually in Spain. Oh, and I fully intend to walk the Le Puy route (from Geneva) once again! Now that route is in a class of its own too!

But, I once worked out that if I walked every route to Santiago (say from the Baltic States, Prague, Paris, Austria, Rome and all the Spanish routes etc) I would be around 150 years old when I finished. Well, I'm gonna try anyway. And the Frances again and again!

Davey
 
For me the language thing does not come into it really. I'm happy in my own world if nobody around me speaks my language and I can't speak theirs. Could be for others though I'm sure.

And yeah, many I met on the Le Puy route had walked before, usually in Spain. Oh, and I fully intend to walk the Le Puy route (from Geneva) once again! Now that route is in a class of its own too!

But, I once worked out that if I walked every route to Santiago (say from the Baltic States, Prague, Paris, Austria, Rome and all the Spanish routes etc) I would be around 150 years old when I finished. Well, I'm gonna try anyway. And the Frances again and again!

Davey
Come over here for a few beers and start from Ljubljana, Slovenia. Much shorter than from Baltic states ;)
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
Another thing that might draw people back to the Camino Frances again, rather than other routes, is if they bringing different people with them and introducing them to it. The second time I walked it I walked it with my son. The third time I walk it will likely be either (a) a longer Camino from Le Puy, for example or (b) with my wife. (Probably not both. I can't imagine her walking from Le Puy on her first Camino.)
 
Come over here for a few beers and start from Ljubljana, Slovenia. Much shorter than from Baltic states ;)

Ive always wanted to visit Ljubljana! Ever since I got arrested there changing flights. I'm serious, they were extremely friendly after I explained the Iraqi stamps in my passport! That is a story for another day though! Beautiful place, wonderful people (worked with a bunch of Slovenes in Iraq, we were peace activists). You know, I have actually looked at coming that way before, via Istanbul. Thought walking from a Mosque to a Cathedral might be a good peace thing. Shame I'm skint though, I'd be there tomorrow! Maybe one day I'll meet you there for a beer or three!

Davey
 
CF can’t be beat for the winter Pilgrim. No other route has nearly the infrastructure which also helps keep it more affordable (Albergues vs hotels, Casa rural, etc) and this route is easy to find your way so more time contemplating and less time navigating
 
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Ive always wanted to visit Ljubljana! Ever since I got arrested there changing flights. I'm serious, they were extremely friendly after I explained the Iraqi stamps in my passport! That is a story for another day though! Beautiful place, wonderful people (worked with a bunch of Slovenes in Iraq, we were peace activists). You know, I have actually looked at coming that way before, via Istanbul. Thought walking from a Mosque to a Cathedral might be a good peace thing. Shame I'm skint though, I'd be there tomorrow! Maybe one day I'll meet you there for a beer or three!

Davey
Ahem, I think you mixed up some things/places :D
The Ljubljana mosque is in a building process and our St.Nicholas Archbishop Church can hardly be called a cathedral comparing to those in Sevilla, Burgos or Leon ;)

About a beer - too much is not enough!
 
I get asked this all the time. Even though I walk other routes, and plan walking new (to me) routes, I always come back to the Frances.

I have talked to other repeat offenders and we all agree on one thing. The Camino Frances has 'something' about it, a kind of magic that other routes just don't have. Now, we are not sure even amongst ourselves just what this magic is, but it is there.

For me also, the Frances has an extreme wide variety on pilgrims on it. Lots of new first timers (I enjoy watching them 'grow' as they walk towards Santiago). A large age range, lots of youngsters and oldies. Diverse nationalities, etc.

Also, after a few times you get to know some of the locals really well, so its like visiting old friends. In some towns I now stay in their private homes (and have to have a day off afterwards)!

Also it has quite a few variations of the route, so there is always somewhere new to explore. Even after five times there are still many town/villages I have not stayed in.

Then, walking in winter is so different than summer etc.

Oh, and it is stunningly beautiful too.

And, well, it is there, so why not.

Davey
I agree 200%
Walked in Scotland (The West Highland Way) walked in the USA some parts of the PCT....but,,,Just LOVE the CF :) I just get happy thinking about it ,,,,and yay going again in 8 days .:)
 
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I agree 200%
Walked in Scotland (The West Highland Way) walked in the USA some parts of the PCT....but,,,Just LOVE the CF :) I just get happy thinking about it ,,,,and yay going again in 8 days .:)

Lucky you! Buen camino!
 
I would like to go again as I wasn't solo the first go and didn't fully embrace the essence until it was almost over. I often feel it tugging at me or maybe me tugging at it? Either way something feels unfinished.
 
When I walked the Ingles two years ago I met a woman who had walked it 12 times in a row!
Seemed everyone along the Ingles knew her.

That is not a typo... 12 (twelve) times!

If you walk the Ingles you may run across her. Or find people who comment about her.

My first CF was riding a bike. My second CF was walking. I prefer walking.
In 2001 I had the pleasure of walking for a while with the Belgian pilgrim Etienne de Craemer who was then on his, I think, 17th Camino. Mind you I believe Etienne was the guy responsible for writing the Belgian guide - imagine walking with Johnnie Walker: don't go to that resaturant, there's a better one around the corner; there's a good cafe 3km ahead; don't worry there's a water fountain in the next village . . . . It was Etienne's wife Alice who was killed as they cycled the Camino in 1986 (memorial plaque at Navarette).
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Yes, for me there is something elusive and very special about the Camino Frances. I have walked it now five times from SJPDP to SDC, and parts of it additional times. I've also walked other camino paths in Spain and in France. None has quite the same magic. It is not that English is the lingua franca - because I found that was also the case on the Norte and on the Via de la Plata and on the Madrid. It is not the infrastructure, because I remember before it was not so good. It is not the landscape, other paths are more beautiful. And it cannot be simply the companionship because even in the off season it still holds a special magic.

I think it is because for almost a thousand years millions of pilgrims have walked the CF in faith. And somehow that has imprinted itself on the very path itself. We know it, we feel it, even if we do not hold the same, or any, faith.
 
Old story about a .com billionaire who had always wanted to sing opera at La Scala.

Eventually he hired the opera house himself and gave out free tickets.

On the night of the recital La Scala was packed to the roof.

The billionaire had chosen to open with Nessun Dorma from Puccini's Turandot and he launched into it with gusto. When he had finished he was astounded when the whole audience stood and demanded an encore. "Again! Again! Encore, encore!"

So he sang it again, from the beginning. Again the audience clamoured for an encore.

After no less than 5 encores the man's voice started to fail. He put his hands up and attempted to silence the crowd.

Croaking he whispered "Thank you, thank you but I can sing no longer!" when a voice piped up in the audience:

"You're gonna sing it until you get it right!"

You've got to walk it until you get it right.
Love it
 
I suppose some may not appreciate me posting the question, but I'm interested to know why folks continue to return to the CF when there are other routes to experience? I don't think I am asking for any reason that is intended to be critical; I am aware that pilgrims travel under different circumstances - with different friends and family members at different times of their lives. I still wonder why multiple times on the Camino Frances'? My personal life sends me for religious reasons and I have chosen different routes for the pilgrim experience. [The Handrian's Wall experience was with my son for personal reasons.] With all that said, the question is posted! Have at it!
I usually fib and say I’m a lazy long distance walker who likes to maintain a close proximity to coffee, cooked meals and the “luxuries” of extended strolling.
But, honestly, the truth is that I find my family on the Frances, and as an orphan only-child singleton who just turned 50,, it’s only on the CF that I truly feel I’m swimming with my pod. I come back to the CF because I can no sooner “not” than I can not breathe. It’s the place I am my truest “me”, and the place where I go to understand the un-understandable, to think the unthinkable, to get the ungettable. I’m not religious, or even very spiritual, but the CF is the home of my soul. I home to it, having found it I return like the salmon, to reconnect with my inner and commune with my kith.
Or, because I don’t know how to not return.
 
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IMHO, the Camino de Santiago (all of it) is like peeling an onion. On matter how many layers you peel off, there always appears to be more there to address.

The Camino Frances is the 'main' route of the Camino de Santiago. If you look at a map of all Camino routes in Spain and Portugal, you can see a clear pattern. The Camino Frances appears to be the central route or 'spine' of the entire system of pilgrimage routes. Many routes either intersect or merge with the Frances at some point.

The historical origins of the Camino de Santiago support this pattern. The original paths to Santiago were the main route from France, and the Camino Primitivo. The Primitivo flows into the Frances at Melide, four days from Santiago.

The other major route, coming from the northeast, was the Camino Aragones. This historic route connects to the main flow of the Frances at Puente la Reina. It is the route taken by Francis of Assisi and two of his followers in 1214, when they walked from Assisi to Santiago... then back again...

There are other branching and flowing relationships. But this highlights these two, more historical and established routes.

The point is that sooner or later most all Camino routes flow into the Camino Frances. I surmise that many repeat pilgrims are drawn to the Camino Frances because of this historic pattern and connection.

Also, this Camino is the most established and 'civilized' of all the routes. It simply has the most of what a pilgrim might require along the way for support or diversion. Thus, is has emerged as the most convenient.

Finally, over some 800 Km (500 miles) the Camino Frances is possibly the single best representative . It has everything that all the other routes have: history, architecture, art, culture, varied cuisine across multiple regions and provinces, as well as a varied and almost daily changing climate and topography.

I think it is this built in variety that brings people back again and again.

Personally, I have done the entire route twice (2013, 2014) and the second half, from Leon, once (2016). Health allowing, I hope to do it in full at least once again.

Hope this helps the dialog...
 
As for myself
"Le cœur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît pas/ the heart has its reasons, of which reason knows nothing."
Pascal, Les Pensées

Perhaps the first post of my last camino explains best why I have walked the Camino Frances ten times; thus it may serve as my apologia.

Check out what others have said in this earlier thread
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/why-do-it-again.51599/
Beautifully put. I enjoyed your linked post from October of 2015. Too bad we didn’t meet then. I walked my first CF starting Sept 24.
 
CF can’t be beat for the winter Pilgrim. No other route has nearly the infrastructure which also helps keep it more affordable (Albergues vs hotels, Casa rural, etc) and this route is easy to find your way so more time contemplating and less time navigating
I’m interested to know more about why you think the Frances can’t be beat for a winter Camino. I am walking the Camino Frances this coming Feb and Mar. I come from a cold weather state (Minnesota) and have a body built for heat retention (i.e. big guy), so wintry weather doesn’t frighten me.
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
My short answer when asked why I’m walking the Camino Frances a second time is that it’s not done with me yet. This time I’ll be walking a winter Camino in February and March of 2019. Last time I walked in the fall. For me, the pull of the Frances is the people. I describe the Camino Frances as a river of humanity. You just jump in and let the current take you along. It’s always different because the people are different.

There’s a quote from Heraclitus that I read that sums it up nicely. “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”
 
I think it is because for almost a thousand years millions of pilgrims have walked the CF in faith. And somehow that has imprinted itself on the very path itself. We know it, we feel it, even if we do not hold the same, or any, faith.

Spot on, Kanga. I have pondered the question asked many a time and concluded the same. There is something qualitatively very different about the Frances Route that I would say is akin to the Celtic description of some locations being described as "Thin Places"..... except that we are attributing that concept to a route rather than a place - "A Thin Path" might be a good way to put it, perhaps? I would also say that in comparing the Frances Route to others I have walked, there is maybe something "special" about a route made/established over a long time by pilgrims, compared to routes made or established for "pilgrims". Just my own thoughts..
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
Why not. I have started in SJPdP 11 times and number 12 god willing mid October. None ever the same different seasons colors people. Different places to stop but I also walk other caminos 24 to date. Last week I done 3 days on WAW on west coast of Ireland. Climbed a few of the 12 pins and the reek Irelands holy mountain buen Camino all be safe
 
I walked the VdlP this year and will finish it next year from Zamora. It was a bit hard and wet and days were back to back, would´ve liked to dawdle a day or two...
I have so many plans for many years, but it does not mean I wil not come back to CF.
It´s like; the first time, you go for the possible, might not stop at all the obvious spots,you maintain a steady pace and concentrate.. After you come home, you see the places you missed, or would have liked to stop..

Next time around, it will be in another tempo and with another eye for detail, and with a lot more contemplation, I suspect.
Maybe another season...
At least that is what I hope for...
 
Last edited:
An excellent question. We are all looking to recapture a moment of magic or return to that place where we finally reset our mind or spirit. Many of us use excuses such as we need a route that allows me to walk with an injury or we need to walk the CF slower, or I need another Camino family (where I am my true self). Regardless, we return and find there other and deeper reasons.
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.
I’m interested to know more about why you think the Frances can’t be beat for a winter Camino. I am walking the Camino Frances this coming Feb and Mar. I come from a cold weather state (Minnesota) and have a body built for heat retention (i.e. big guy), so wintry weather doesn’t frighten me.
hey Tom - it’s all about the Albergue network for me. Every day except one I was able to stay in an Albergue and when I chose to, eat in open Bars or find grocery stores. The one day I couldn’t was due to a closure for family emergency and I only had to walk another 4kms to get to the next open one. Having a very limited ability to speak Spanish would be a real challenge on other routes where I’ve read you need to ask locals for rooms, police to open Albergues, etc. Not impossible but I prefer not to worry about such things and focus more on other more important things instead
 
I suppose some may not appreciate me posting the question, but I'm interested to know why folks continue to return to the CF when there are other routes to experience? I don't think I am asking for any reason that is intended to be critical; I am aware that pilgrims travel under different circumstances - with different friends and family members at different times of their lives. I still wonder why multiple times on the Camino Frances'? My personal life sends me for religious reasons and I have chosen different routes for the pilgrim experience. [The Handrian's Wall experience was with my son for personal reasons.] With all that said, the question is posted! Have at it!
Why? Who knows. I just like walking the Frances. When I found a good woman to love, I did not need to look elsewhere. I love walking the Frances. The Pyrenees are so tough for me but I feel like a million dollars when I can say, ' The Pyrenees are behind me.' After each tough stage I get a sense of achievement. Even though I have done it before, I feel good. I was 64 the first time and now at almost 70 it gets no easier. Maybe I should try another route but I feel so happy on the Frances and although the scenery is the same, the experiences and the people are unique on each trip
 
hey Tom - it’s all about the Albergue network for me. Every day except one I was able to stay in an Albergue and when I chose to, eat in open Bars or find grocery stores. The one day I couldn’t was due to a closure for family emergency and I only had to walk another 4kms to get to the next open one. Having a very limited ability to speak Spanish would be a real challenge on other routes where I’ve read you need to ask locals for rooms, police to open Albergues, etc. Not impossible but I prefer not to worry about such things and focus more on other more important things instead
That's good to know. Thanks for answering my question.
 
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.
I usually fib and say I’m a lazy long distance walker who likes to maintain a close proximity to coffee, cooked meals and the “luxuries” of extended strolling.
But, honestly, the truth is that I find my family on the Frances, and as an orphan only-child singleton who just turned 50,, it’s only on the CF that I truly feel I’m swimming with my pod. I come back to the CF because I can no sooner “not” than I can not breathe. It’s the place I am my truest “me”, and the place where I go to understand the un-understandable, to think the unthinkable, to get the ungettable. I’m not religious, or even very spiritual, but the CF is the home of my soul. I home to it, having found it I return like the salmon, to reconnect with my inner and commune with my kith.
Or, because I don’t know how to not return.
So true, thanks
 
I’m interested to know more about why you think the Frances can’t be beat for a winter Camino. I am walking the Camino Frances this coming Feb and Mar. I come from a cold weather state (Minnesota) and have a body built for heat retention (i.e. big guy), so wintry weather doesn’t frighten me.
It's wonderful in winter. Just as beautiful but much quieter.
 
I'm currently on the Mozarabic in Guadix. The CdF was my first. I have done sections of it again. It is beautiful, varied, historical and inspired all my other Camino's. I have always said I will be never again do it in summer because of the racing, crowds and busyness. But reading this thread I find myself missing it and am reminded that it is my "home Camino". The one I love best. I want to go back ... even in summer! The others I have done for the solitude and joy of seeing new places and crossing sections of Spain, but my heart is still with the CdF. There is something mysterious about it, the magnetic centre of the Camino experience.
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
I think it is because for almost a thousand years millions of pilgrims have walked the CF in faith. And somehow that has imprinted itself on the very path itself. We know it, we feel it, even if we do not hold the same, or any, faith.
Spot on, Kanga!
 
I walked my first solo and my second with my family. Totally different experiences but both amazing.
 
A good question with a very difficult and personal answer...
I've walked solo, with family and with friends almost all northern Caminos : Frances, Primitivo, Aragones, Ingles, Portugues, Baztán, Del Norte, Sanabres...
All of them are extremely beautiful. Some even more beautiful than the Frances itself.
All of them have enough infrastructure (specially in summer).
In all of them you find nice people from all countries.
In all of them you can eat (and drink) excellent products.
But....
The Camino Frances has something special.
I dont know what it is, but I can feel it in my feet and in my heart When I'm in the Camino Frances I feel something "different".
I feel I'm not just walking.
It's not easy to describe.
I feel a special "power" in the path, if I can state it that way. I feel I'm where I have to be at that particular moment. I feel I'm the "me" I like the most. And if a mistake my route; I can feel I'm leaving the right path almost inmediatly .
When I'm walking the Frances I feel that I'm walking with thousands of pilgrims that walked before me.
I feel the force of the Cathedral's builders that helped also to build the spirit of Christian Europe.
And If a look East from O Cebreiro; I can almost see a new Pilgrim joining the camino in Roncesvalles, and thus adding a new link to the already long chain of pilgrimage...And that makes me feel I'm part of something momentous.
When I'm on the camino Frances I feel like I'm Praying With My Feet.

And that's something I don't feel in any other Camino...

As I said It's not easy to describe...
 
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A good question with a very difficult and personal answer...
I've walked solo, with family and with friends almost all northern Caminos : Frances, Primitivo, Aragones, Ingles, Portugues, Baztán, Del Norte, Sanabres...
All of them are extremely beautiful. Some even more beautiful than the Frances itself.
All of them have enough infrastructure (specially in summer).
In all of them you find nice people from all countries.
In all of them you can eat (and drink) excellent products.
But....
The Camino Frances has something special.
I dont know what it is, but I can feel it in my feet and in my heart When I'm in the Camino Frances I feel something "different".
I feel I'm not just walking.
It's not easy to describe.
I feel a special "power" in the path, if I can state it that way. I feel I'm where I have to be at that particular moment. I feel I'm the "me" I like the most. And if a mistake my route; I can feel I'm leaving the right path almost inmediatly .
When I'm walking the Frances I feel that I'm walking with thousands of pilgrims that walked before me.
I feel the force of the Cathedral's builders that helped also to build the spirit of Christian Europe.
And If a look East from O Cebreiro; I can almost see a new Pilgrim joining the camino in Roncesvalles, and thus adding a new link to the already long chain of pilgrimage...And that makes me feel I'm part of something momentous.
When I'm on the camino Frances I feel like I'm Praying With My Feet.

And that's something I don't feel in any other Camino...

As I said It's not easy to describe...
You just nailed it, @andonius. Beautiful :)
 
I suppose some may not appreciate me posting the question, but I'm interested to know why folks continue to return to the CF when there are other routes to experience? I don't think I am asking for any reason that is intended to be critical; I am aware that pilgrims travel under different circumstances - with different friends and family members at different times of their lives. I still wonder why multiple times on the Camino Frances'? My personal life sends me for religious reasons and I have chosen different routes for the pilgrim experience. [The Handrian's Wall experience was with my son for personal reasons.] With all that said, the question is posted! Have at it!

Always a good question to ask.

I think for many people it may be the availability of albergues etc whenever needed.

For others it may be the security of the known, whilst some may find comfort and have the need of feeling secure and of being with others fulfilled.

It's probably safe to assume many simply enjoy the CF or walking knowing they have an end goal, whatever that may be.

I personally believe that very many people forget that the CF, like other Camino routes can be wholly different experiences if you choose to start at, or stop at different places from your last venture on a route you perviously walked.

I get it, I fully understand why people repeat their favourite Camino time and time again.

Buen (going again) Camino
 
A good question with a very difficult and personal answer...
I've walked solo, with family and with friends almost all northern Caminos : Frances, Primitivo, Aragones, Ingles, Portugues, Baztán, Del Norte, Sanabres...
All of them are extremely beautiful. Some even more beautiful than the Frances itself.
All of them have enough infrastructure (specially in summer).
In all of them you find nice people from all countries.
In all of them you can eat (and drink) excellent products.
But....
The Camino Frances has something special.
I dont know what it is, but I can feel it in my feet and in my heart When I'm in the Camino Frances I feel something "different".
I feel I'm not just walking.
It's not easy to describe.
I feel a special "power" in the path, if I can state it that way. I feel I'm where I have to be at that particular moment. I feel I'm the "me" I like the most. And if a mistake my route; I can feel I'm leaving the right path almost inmediatly .
When I'm walking the Frances I feel that I'm walking with thousands of pilgrims that walked before me.
I feel the force of the Cathedral's builders that helped also to build the spirit of Christian Europe.
And If a look East from O Cebreiro; I can almost see a new Pilgrim joining the camino in Roncesvalles, and thus adding a new link to the already long chain of pilgrimage...And that makes me feel I'm part of something momentous.
When I'm on the camino Frances I feel like I'm Praying With My Feet.

And that's something I don't feel in any other Camino...

As I said It's not easy to describe...

Well said!
 
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I Love reading all of these replies, as I leave one week from today and still not sure where I will actually begin! I have walked the CP twice w/spouse and then son, now this will be my "solo" camino. So I am really leaning toward getting from Lisbon to Burgos and starting there, cause I really want to walk the Meseta. I will have 5 weeks to walk, so I am anxious to see where this camino will take me. Have thought about doing a 3rd CP, (since I injured myself and couldn't walk the remainder) but am not going to let my "fears" dictate this camino, I will do what is truly in my heart! Bom Caminho
 
A good question with a very difficult and personal answer...
I've walked solo, with family and with friends almost all northern Caminos : Frances, Primitivo, Aragones, Ingles, Portugues, Baztán, Del Norte, Sanabres...
All of them are extremely beautiful. Some even more beautiful than the Frances itself.
All of them have enough infrastructure (specially in summer).
In all of them you find nice people from all countries.
In all of them you can eat (and drink) excellent products.
But....
The Camino Frances has something special.
I dont know what it is, but I can feel it in my feet and in my heart When I'm in the Camino Frances I feel something "different".
I feel I'm not just walking.
It's not easy to describe.
I feel a special "power" in the path, if I can state it that way. I feel I'm where I have to be at that particular moment. I feel I'm the "me" I like the most. And if a mistake my route; I can feel I'm leaving the right path almost inmediatly .
When I'm walking the Frances I feel that I'm walking with thousands of pilgrims that walked before me.
I feel the force of the Cathedral's builders that helped also to build the spirit of Christian Europe.
And If a look East from O Cebreiro; I can almost see a new Pilgrim joining the camino in Roncesvalles, and thus adding a new link to the already long chain of pilgrimage...And that makes me feel I'm part of something momentous.
When I'm on the camino Frances I feel like I'm Praying With My Feet.

And that's something I don't feel in any other Camino...

As I said It's not easy to describe...
I agree in many ways. I've walked the Norte/Primitivo, the Le Puy (loved them both), and the Frances twice. As I trudged the last couple of days on the Frances I said to myself, "I think I'm done with the Frances; I have new fish to fry." But it IS very special and holds an endearing place in my heart for many of the reasons you have described so well...maybe I will go back one day!
 
A good question with a very difficult and personal answer...
I've walked solo, with family and with friends almost all northern Caminos : Frances, Primitivo, Aragones, Ingles, Portugues, Baztán, Del Norte, Sanabres...
All of them are extremely beautiful. Some even more beautiful than the Frances itself.
All of them have enough infrastructure (specially in summer).
In all of them you find nice people from all countries.
In all of them you can eat (and drink) excellent products.
But....
The Camino Frances has something special.
I dont know what it is, but I can feel it in my feet and in my heart When I'm in the Camino Frances I feel something "different".
I feel I'm not just walking.
It's not easy to describe.
I feel a special "power" in the path, if I can state it that way. I feel I'm where I have to be at that particular moment. I feel I'm the "me" I like the most. And if a mistake my route; I can feel I'm leaving the right path almost inmediatly .
When I'm walking the Frances I feel that I'm walking with thousands of pilgrims that walked before me.
I feel the force of the Cathedral's builders that helped also to build the spirit of Christian Europe.
And If a look East from O Cebreiro; I can almost see a new Pilgrim joining the camino in Roncesvalles, and thus adding a new link to the already long chain of pilgrimage...And that makes me feel I'm part of something momentous.
When I'm on the camino Frances I feel like I'm Praying With My Feet.

And that's something I don't feel in any other Camino...

As I said It's not easy to describe...
Beautifully put!
 
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.
A good question with a very difficult and personal answer...
I've walked solo, with family and with friends almost all northern Caminos : Frances, Primitivo, Aragones, Ingles, Portugues, Baztán, Del Norte, Sanabres...
All of them are extremely beautiful. Some even more beautiful than the Frances itself.
All of them have enough infrastructure (specially in summer).
In all of them you find nice people from all countries.
In all of them you can eat (and drink) excellent products.
But....
The Camino Frances has something special.
I dont know what it is, but I can feel it in my feet and in my heart When I'm in the Camino Frances I feel something "different".
I feel I'm not just walking.
It's not easy to describe.
I feel a special "power" in the path, if I can state it that way. I feel I'm where I have to be at that particular moment. I feel I'm the "me" I like the most. And if a mistake my route; I can feel I'm leaving the right path almost inmediatly .
When I'm walking the Frances I feel that I'm walking with thousands of pilgrims that walked before me.
I feel the force of the Cathedral's builders that helped also to build the spirit of Christian Europe.
And If a look East from O Cebreiro; I can almost see a new Pilgrim joining the camino in Roncesvalles, and thus adding a new link to the already long chain of pilgrimage...And that makes me feel I'm part of something momentous.
When I'm on the camino Frances I feel like I'm Praying With My Feet.

And that's something I don't feel in any other Camino...

As I said It's not easy to describe...
Thank you for saving me a lot of writing: Spot on!
 
Many people hike the same trails at home, go to the same vacation spot every year, eat at the same restaurant often, read a favorite book or watch a favorite movie again and again and no one questions them. But for some reason it's odd to walk the Camino Frances multiple times? Unlike those other activities there are so many variables in walking the CF - time of year, stopping points, weather, people - to make each journey very different, yet still a bit like spending time with an old friend.
 
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I've walked parts of the Frances twice and would like to go back and walk the "whole" thing at some point.

First time, we only had 2 weeks to walk, so we started in Leon, got a week in and had to leave due to an emergency at home.

Second time, we had 3 weeks to walk, so we started in Burgos and walked to Santiago, which was great. We did feel pressed for time though - we weren't averaging the 23 km/day that we needed to to reach Santiago in the time we had, so we bused/taxi/train ahead a few times. That was fine, but I wish we had more time.

I want to walk the Frances another time when I have more time - start in SJPdP and walk every step to Santiago and hopefully on to Finestere. I'd love to have the time available to slow down when I need to, have some shorter days and rest days without "falling behind". And I'd like to visit some old friends as well - there are a lot of neat places on the Frances that I'd like to see again.
 
I wonder if part of it isn't just that this is an English-language forum, and that the CF is the camino most geared towards English-language speakers? And also, of course, the fact that this forum is geared towards Camino-addicts, or future addicts, or those of us who only walked once & still think about it daily.

I actually met slightly more people on the Le Puy route who were walking a section for the second or third time. Given the lesser numbers of pilgrims, the actual proportion of folks walking a second time was higher. I didn't meet anyone who was walking the entire Le Puy route a second time, though.

There's one part of the CF I'd like to re-walk myself, but ironically, it's the part that I liked the least. To paraphrase Jeff Crawley, I need to walk it again & get it right this time.
It wasn’t English language oriented when I walked it the previous two times - and I met many repeat offenders on the way also then.. in fact it was much more multilingual a decade ago, French, Italian, German, Portuguese. All were more frequent than English, the frequency of which has surprised me on my present Camino. I insist on speaking bad Spanish as much as I can, because when you take away people’s language, you take something of their culture.
 
Thank you for saving me a lot of writing: Spot on!
Amen. You succeeded wonderfully in describing the magic - and I love: I pray with my feet.
 
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Spot on, Kanga. I have pondered the question asked many a time and concluded the same. There is something qualitatively very different about the Frances Route that I would say is akin to the Celtic description of some locations being described as "Thin Places"..... except that we are attributing that concept to a route rather than a place - "A Thin Path" might be a good way to put it, perhaps? I would also say that in comparing the Frances Route to others I have walked, there is maybe something "special" about a route made/established over a long time by pilgrims, compared to routes made or established for "pilgrims". Just my own thoughts..

im just coming to know about thin places
 
Thank you to the original poster. There is also another post on this topic open on the forum at present. It must be of some interest to many of us.
It is only on reading all these posts that I have come to realize how the camino Frances is of importance to me. I have known since I first felt called to camino that I want it to replace the retreats which I used to attend. I want a time set aside for religious practices and the possibility of deeper spiritual insight. My first camino, the Frances, inspired me with receiving the religious insights and experiences that I crave. My second, joining the Frances at Puenta la Reina after the Aragones and three days of the camino d'Arles, did so also. Nothing like that happened on the VdlP. For me, it was not an appropriate replacement for a religious retreat. I told myself that you can never force God to grant insights, but I still felt a craving for the experiences of my previous caminos. Now, I feel that I must reconsider which caminos I walk. This is not just for a new route and new scenery for me. So I have to think again.
 
Reasons to repeat the Frances .... 1. I know now what I didn't know then. 2. As a solo traveller I would feel more comfortable going "off the beaten path" so to speak. (First time I sorta, kinda, followed a guide). 3. My expectations are different the second time around and by different I mean somewhat better. 4. Different frame of mind for the second one.
 
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.
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.
Why do we go to the same restaurants and order the same dishes when there are so many others to try?

Sometimes we just like it. Feels good. And that's enough to make us do it again and again.

I have not returned to CF (yet), but would not rule out that option. Although, in my case, I'd probably repeat CP - just because I liked it :)
 
I’ve only walked one Camino - the Frances- and I already want to walk it again.

It´s like; the first time, you go for the possible, might not stop at all the obvious spots,you maintain a steady pace and concentrate.. After you come home, you see the places you missed, or would have liked to stop...

Exactly. On my first Camino, as I WALKED I knew I wanted to do it again, not just after I’d come home. There was just too much to see and not enough time to see it all. So many towns I’d of liked to stay in and explore but I’d arrived there before noon! If I’d explored to my hearts content, I’d still be on the Frances, 4 months later, as I write this.

I’d also like to walk a second Camino on the Frances because I’d now have a MUCH better sense of how to pace myself and I think I’d get even more out of the entire thing with better pacing- especially the beginning when I thought I had to walk faster than I did.

I’d also like to see what it’s like MENTALLY upon returning. How I might approach personal challenges with less time spent worrying about getting the day-to-day right that pilgrims tend to learn along the way their first time.
 
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