Camino de Santiago

[pmreyn2010]

Hi all,

Not a peak, but was wondering if any of you had trekked any of the routes on the Camino de Santiago in Spain. I am torn between the Camino Francés and the Camino del Norte; I'm hoping to trek one of these routes next summer. The history on the Frances is supposed to be impressive, and the scenery on the Norte is supposed to be second to none. If any of you have trekked either of these routes before, I'd appreciate any insight you could provide in terms of what your experiences were like on those routes. Thanks!

[gb]

I was just there about a month ago- only hiked a short part of the French route from Sarria (but enough to get my Compostela). It's very pretty as well, although I don't have any experience with the North route. Galicia is super wet and green- the area does get twice the rainfall of Seattle, FYI.

I guess it depends on what kind of experience you want to have. On the French route, there will be a lot of people, and a lot of infrastructure. For me, this was the fun of it. You walk, you talk to people from across the world, then you talk to other people. The movie The Way does a great job of conveying the sense of camaraderie that you have with your fellow peregrinos. I also enjoyed how many places there were to stop- if I wanted a beer or a coffee, I would just stop and have one. It sounds like the North route would have more solitude and fewer cafes- if you're after a more "wilderness" experience, maybe that's the better route. But for me, the cultural aspect was a big part of it...

[Dan_Suitor]

I too did the French route from Sarria (100km / 62 miles). It’s mostly on rolling hills or flats. A lot of it is on roadways or sidewalks, so have comfortable shoes. Like gb said, you will meet a lot of people and there are numerous places to stop in for food and/or drinks. Have your hotels/hostels arranged ahead of time as they sell out and I did not see many places to tent camp, if that is even an option. The scenery was mostly countryside, fields, meadows and some forested areas. My favorite part was the comradery with my fellow trekkers.

[Cary26]

I walked the del Norte x 29 days May - June 2019. Walking along the coast of Spain was fantastic. The most strenuous part was from Irun to Bilbao. But still if you are used to hiking 14ers here this will not be very challenging to you. I mainly walked this route as it was supposed to be less traveled. The disappointing part of this route was the amount of pavement...very unexpected. Changed shoes after 400km because I wanted more cushion and support.
There is an excellent forum you should check out...

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/

Please feel free to message me if I can answer any questions you have. One tip...get a Charles Schwab checking account for your trip. It is a free account and they do not have any fees for international ATM machines...it will save you some $$.

[jrs1965]

Hi all,

Not a peak, but was wondering if any of you had trekked any of the routes on the Camino de Santiago in Spain. I am torn between the Camino Francés and the Camino del Norte; I'm hoping to trek one of these routes next summer. The history on the Frances is supposed to be impressive, and the scenery on the Norte is supposed to be second to none. If any of you have trekked either of these routes before, I'd appreciate any insight you could provide in terms of what your experiences were like on those routes. Thanks!

Old thread, but did you do/complete the Camino? I've just started our planning for the Camino de Santigo and super pumped about the whole experience. We're thinking Fall of 2026, would love to hear about any other recent treks on the Camino. Also, anyone with experience doing the Spanish high point, Mulhacén (11,424 ft)? The Camino is quite the chore, but we're pondering trying to hit the Spanish high point as well. Buen Camino!

[Gulf_Coast_Hiker]

You might check out this guy on YT. Lots of Camino finishes, various routes, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/@Walk_with_Efren/videos

[pmreyn2010]

Hi all,

Not a peak, but was wondering if any of you had trekked any of the routes on the Camino de Santiago in Spain. I am torn between the Camino Francés and the Camino del Norte; I'm hoping to trek one of these routes next summer. The history on the Frances is supposed to be impressive, and the scenery on the Norte is supposed to be second to none. If any of you have trekked either of these routes before, I'd appreciate any insight you could provide in terms of what your experiences were like on those routes. Thanks!

Old thread, but did you do/complete the Camino? I've just started our planning for the Camino de Santigo and super pumped about the whole experience. We're thinking Fall of 2026, would love to hear about any other recent treks on the Camino. Also, anyone with experience doing the Spanish high point, Mulhacén (11,424 ft)? The Camino is quite the chore, but we're pondering trying to hit the Spanish high point as well. Buen Camino!

Hey, I didn’t end up doing it back then. I had all of my transport booked to get to St Jean in May of 2020, but obviously wasn’t able to travel once the time came. I am planning on walking the French route this upcoming summer though; hopefully will start sometime in early June.

[zootloopz]

I hiked ~40 miles on the Camino Frances to ~220 miles on the Camino Norte to ~200 miles on the Camino Primitivo in June 2018.

The Norte had lots of rain and road walking, but the beaches were well worth it and it was way cooler temp wise and less bed buggy than the Frances. Not to forget all the tapas.

The Primitivo had some of my favorite hostels and community experiences as well as some decent vert days and tasty menu del dias.

I would like to go back for at least 2 more Caminos in my life -- if I had to pick a route for the next one I'd do a few hundred miles across Portugal then finish up with the beachiest 70-80 miles of the Norte. The train system allows you to hop around pretty easily.

Let me know if you have any questions!

EDIT: didn't see this was a revived thread from 2019, leaving my comment anyways just because

[81go]

We walked 150 miles of Camino Norte in late April: San Sebastian to Santander. Gorgeous scenery, often with ocean cliffs below. Very green. Great Basque seafood. It rained about 40% of the daylight hours. We walked a mixture of roads, some paved paths, some trails, and a bit off trail (due to a washout). Nice mixture of urban, rural, and small towns. Temps were 45-65F. Plenty of hills. Most vertical in a day was just under 3000 feet. Met some nice pilgrims and so many local folks would give their greetings along the way. Props to my wife for planning such a lovely trip. Buen Camino!

[jrs1965]

I hiked ~40 miles on the Camino Frances to ~220 miles on the Camino Norte to ~200 miles on the Camino Primitivo in June 2018.

The Norte had lots of rain and road walking, but the beaches were well worth it and it was way cooler temp wise and less bed buggy than the Frances. Not to forget all the tapas.

The Primitivo had some of my favorite hostels and community experiences as well as some decent vert days and tasty menu del dias.

I would like to go back for at least 2 more Caminos in my life -- if I had to pick a route for the next one I'd do a few hundred miles across Portugal then finish up with the beachiest 70-80 miles of the Norte. The train system allows you to hop around pretty easily.

Let me know if you have any questions!

EDIT: didn't see this was a revived thread from 2019, leaving my comment anyways just because

Thanks! Bed bugs, yuck! After a sleepless night last year on the Gross Glockner of smelling farts and people snoring we've decided that hostel style sleeping is our last resort. We are definitely planning on doing the Camino Francés Route. I'm guessing the weather in the Fall will be better there and I want to go back through the areas I had visited on an Army exercise in 1994. I'm thinking when I finally retire for good i'll try and get over to Spain/France and do a few of the Peregrino routes. Camino del Norte Route is def on the bucket list...

[Cereal]

Hi there!

My wife and I completed the entire Camino Frances in late April to late May, 2022, from Roncevalles to Santiago, and onward to the coast (Muxia and then Fisterra). I'll give a few details, but certainly feel free to ask anything more specific....

We budgeted 34 days, since the Brierley guide calls for 33 days from Roncevalles to Santiago. We were able to get to Santiago in 27 days, so we continued on to Muxia (3 days) and then Fisterra (1 more day), and then bussed it back to Santiago. I would definitely recommend at least Muxia, as the last 100km (~5 days) into Santiago (and our time in Santiago) were very crowded, so we appreciated a few quiet days afterward as well as seeing the ocean and the coastal towns.

As stated above, we did go quite a bit faster than Brierley advises. While we encountered many peregrinos who struggled carrying backpacks all day every day, we found our moving speed was quite quick, as our 15- to 20-pound packs were less than we typically use (for "real" backpacking). Also, there's not much elevation gain, and it's all Class 1, to put it simply. We also settled into early starts (~6am) every day, as we just got up and started moving once the other peregrinos in the albergues started doing so every morning.

That said, we did stop and smell the roses along the way. We chose the "standard" Camino Frances route for religious reasons; we really enjoyed seeing all the large cathedrals and smaller churches, attending mass most days, and learning some history as we passed through the towns.

We also were intentional about unplugging; we carried one cell phone between us, and only used it when we could connect to wifi in town (many evenings, but not all). This worked perfectly fine; the Brierley book was a great guide. We did do some extra planning ahead (reserving lodging via booking.com) in the last 100km (~5days) prior to Santiago, anticipating less availability in the albergues, but it probably wasn't necessary to do so. I think we got hotels four times (Leon, Burgos, Muxia, and Fisterra), but stayed at albergues most of the time.

I will say that I was completely famished by about the third day; the peregrino dinners advertised at restaurants were not nearly enough calories. We eventually resolved this by developing the habit of stopping for enormous picnic lunches whenever we passed nearby a grocery store - fresh bread, cold cuts, fruits, chips, ice cream, and cookies - and we look back fondly on those lunches. We also eventually started finding albergues that provided kitchen/utensils for us to cook our dinners, and that was fun problem-solving as well.

Lastly, someone recommended to us to take a "vacation" after our pilgrimage in order to transition back to real life. This was great advice! (We ended up renting a car in Santiago and going down to Fatima, Portugal for two nights, and then spending a week in Ireland.)

That's all for now....

Buen Camino!

[jrs1965]

Hi there!

My wife and I completed the entire Camino Frances in late April to late May, 2022, from Roncevalles to Santiago, and onward to the coast (Muxia and then Fisterra). I'll give a few details, but certainly feel free to ask anything more specific....

We budgeted 34 days, since the Brierley guide calls for 33 days from Roncevalles to Santiago. We were able to get to Santiago in 27 days, so we continued on to Muxia (3 days) and then Fisterra (1 more day), and then bussed it back to Santiago. I would definitely recommend at least Muxia, as the last 100km (~5 days) into Santiago (and our time in Santiago) were very crowded, so we appreciated a few quiet days afterward as well as seeing the ocean and the coastal towns.

As stated above, we did go quite a bit faster than Brierley advises. While we encountered many peregrinos who struggled carrying backpacks all day every day, we found our moving speed was quite quick, as our 15- to 20-pound packs were less than we typically use (for "real" backpacking). Also, there's not much elevation gain, and it's all Class 1, to put it simply. We also settled into early starts (~6am) every day, as we just got up and started moving once the other peregrinos in the albergues started doing so every morning.

That said, we did stop and smell the roses along the way. We chose the "standard" Camino Frances route for religious reasons; we really enjoyed seeing all the large cathedrals and smaller churches, attending mass most days, and learning some history as we passed through the towns.

We also were intentional about unplugging; we carried one cell phone between us, and only used it when we could connect to wifi in town (many evenings, but not all). This worked perfectly fine; the Brierley book was a great guide. We did do some extra planning ahead (reserving lodging via booking.com) in the last 100km (~5days) prior to Santiago, anticipating less availability in the albergues, but it probably wasn't necessary to do so. I think we got hotels four times (Leon, Burgos, Muxia, and Fisterra), but stayed at albergues most of the time.

I will say that I was completely famished by about the third day; the peregrino dinners advertised at restaurants were not nearly enough calories. We eventually resolved this by developing the habit of stopping for enormous picnic lunches whenever we passed nearby a grocery store - fresh bread, cold cuts, fruits, chips, ice cream, and cookies - and we look back fondly on those lunches. We also eventually started finding albergues that provided kitchen/utensils for us to cook our dinners, and that was fun problem-solving as well.

Lastly, someone recommended to us to take a "vacation" after our pilgrimage in order to transition back to real life. This was great advice! (We ended up renting a car in Santiago and going down to Fatima, Portugal for two nights, and then spending a week in Ireland.)

That's all for now....

Buen Camino!

Buen Camino! Thanks for the input! We are planning on maybe breaking it up over several years and doing Saint-Jean to Burgos the first year. How was the crowds/weather in April? We're thinking the second half of September might be a sweet spot for weather, but August - September is said to have many Peregrino's...