Will 32 days be enough to also do finisterre and muxia?

[cloud86]

Hello fellow pilgrims!

Im just finalizing my trip (the departure bit) flying out of Santiago to Barcelona.
The rough plan is I do the camino in around 27/28days and then have 4 and half days extra. 3 to finisterre and 1 for muxia before busing it back to santiago at the end to catch my flight.

Also from the start I arrive on sunday morning in SJPDP via the over night Lunea train from Paris, do you stay one night and start on the monday morning - monday 19th Aug. Or on the sunday stay in st jean until dinner and then travel up to Orrison and break up the Pyrenees?
I'm not one for rushing and would like to take one day at a time and enjoy the experince to the max!

any help or tips would be great cheers from C

 

[zammy]

32 Days is not enough.
27\28 is not enough to walk from SJPDP to Santiago- only for this part you will need at least 33-35 days if you walk more then 25 km a day.
It goes like this- average distance for a good hiker=25 km per day
Every 6 days you must have a Zero day, no walking.
Distance from SJPDP to Santiago is 800 km= 32 net walking days plus 5 rest days= 37 days.
From santiago to Finister=90 km, meaning 3.5 walking days.
Now-it's your turn to decide.

 

[jirit]

I walked the camino Frances to Santiago and then on to Finisterre via Muxia in 34 days.

Most of the days were over 25 km, many over 30 km. There was one stretch whereby i covered 140 km in just 4 days. Walking this hard meant all of us had either blisters or feet or leg issues to deal with, fortunately nothing permanent or serious, that a little rest and care later would care of.

I will add that I was not racing or rushing to get the camino finished quickly - it was just the mood and pace I seemed to enjoy this time around. I might also add the first time I did the camino I took considerable longer to walk just to Santiago. I wasn't even interested in walking to Finisterre that time.

Can you do the same route in 32 days? Sure but you will have to decide if it makes sense for you.

After 6 pilgrim walks in different countries, I can tell you whatever you decide in advance will more than likely change due to reasons beyond your control. Best to allow some extra time for those known unknown factors that seem to impact our decisions.

 

[Al the optimist]

Hard to say. Everyone is different, having varying fitness levels etc. Some walk further each day than others. Most find that their fitness levels improve over the Camino, and that what they would struggle with at the start often becomes a lot easier to do. But, and it is a big but, don't ignore the fact that you may have an injury or be sick (most have some problem or other). The other point is that if you are too target driven you may miss out on the changes the Camino can offer you. But good luck in your considerations, both pre and during your Camino
Buen Camino

 

[cloud86]

Hi guys cheers for the advice, what it is, is I have 7 weeks off work and was hoping to see a bit of Europe after it. But after thinking, ill bin off Barcelona and Amsterdam and do them as mini weekends away next year! And give myself 5 weeks to do the camino properly and not rush. Plus I still have Italy, Switzerland and Germany after it! 5 weeks to go beun camino dudes!

 

[whariwharangi]

It takes about 9 hours to walk from SJPdP to Roncesvalles on Napoleon route.

Your arrival time at SJPdP will determine if you have enough time to walk to Roncesvalles before it gets dark.

The last few kilometers have some minor issues with navigation and pass through forests on somewhat steep ground; for safety reasons you don't want to walk here after dark.

I took 45 days to walk to Finisterre. To me 32 days seems too short; I guess it depends on your motivations. I found it sad and difficult to see new friends get caught up in the 'rush' to get to Santiago in time to resume their normal lives on a schedule.

 

[supersullivan]

I know I'm the exception here but I comfortably got from St Jean to Santiago in 21 days and then 3 easy days to Finisterre and 1 day to Muxia so 25 days in total, by my standards took it easy the 1st 3 days keeping it to no more than 35 kms but once I had no aches after this, stepped up the distance most days, was flying in the 3rd week, Samos to Santiago in 3 days. No blisters, no leg problems, right shoulder would get tender at the latter end of my longer days and that was the sum total of my body ailments. By hill walking standards the terrain is very easy, for non-regular hikers it's probably reasonably demanding but a sensible approach to your distances in the 1st week will allow you to adjust your distances as your body adapts to the daily regimen.
It really depends what your fitness levels are like, how much time you have to improve your fitness before you depart and what opportunities you have in advance to regularly walk 6+ hours on forest paths etc with a loaded backpack.

Everyone's camino is different but wish you all the best on yours.

Regards

Seamus

 

[createspace]

I'm a 57 year old woman and I planned to walk from SJPP to Santiago in 33 days without a rest day. I ended up walking to Santiago in 31 days without a rest day. I didn't have any injuries. I probably would have taken one extra day but after Leon I met some people I wanted to see at the end of the day so I pushed a bit but worth it. If I hadn't finished in 31 days I wouldn't have entered Santiago on a Sunday, seen the botafumeiro twice, experienced the joy of seeing others finishing their camino in the two days I had to explore Santiago, I wouldn't have had the two days in Madrid. None of it planned but choices get made every day about distance. Sometimes choices get made for you because albergues are full, etc. I knew many people who had to travel further than they wanted because there wasn't a place to stay.

 

[nalod]

On my first Camino I walked From SJPDP to Finnisterre (not Muxia) in 28 days, I was in my early 50s had no history of walking and never walked for a full day ever.

In hindsight it was too fast.

 

[jpflavin1]

Cloud86:

Can it be walked in 28 days? Yes. You would have to average almost 29km's per day.

If you choose to attempt this, I recommend you start out slowly and work your body into walking shape. Then when you hit the Meseta you can walk some longer days.

That said, no matter what you plan to do, as mentioned in a previous response, the Camino will have it's own plan for you.

My recommendation is to just start walking and go with the flow.

Ultreya,
Joe

 

[PadreTeeJay]

It can be done in 32, I walked from Saint Jean to Santiago to Fisterra to Muxía and back to Santiago in 35. But I would not have planned for it in that amount of time. And I took every longer off the road route that was available.