Camino de Santiago
Discussion
ben5575 said:
Ha that’s such a great video. Watched it many times.
Go for it. Finding 30+ days is hard unless you’re retired tho!
You don’t need to do it in a ‘oner’ though. Mrs Raff did a week/ten days at a time for years. She finished this year. Having done the French way, she’s planning to do the Portuguese route starting next year.Go for it. Finding 30+ days is hard unless you’re retired tho!
Updating this thread as I've started planning to do a section of the Camino Del Norte.
There are some amazing resources out there, but this one really needs highlighting:
https://godesalco.com/
The only thing I would say is that it's not 100% up-to-date - for example there's a new Hotel in Pasajes de San Juan - but this system shows it as hostel only. But as a starting place for planning it is incredible.
There are some amazing resources out there, but this one really needs highlighting:
https://godesalco.com/
The only thing I would say is that it's not 100% up-to-date - for example there's a new Hotel in Pasajes de San Juan - but this system shows it as hostel only. But as a starting place for planning it is incredible.
I was having another look at the CdS recently, the Portuguese Coastal route was looking interesting.
It seems most people just carry a single change of clothes and wash things every day in the hostel, rather than carrying a weighty backpack.
Plenty of Youtube channels with trip reports and logistics ideas.
A good forum => https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/
It seems most people just carry a single change of clothes and wash things every day in the hostel, rather than carrying a weighty backpack.
Plenty of Youtube channels with trip reports and logistics ideas.
A good forum => https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/
That looks like a great route!
I used Santiago Ways who were excellent at organising everything. I would seriously consider getting your main pack transported so you only walk with a daypack. Depends on the level of suffering you think you need to endure for the 'real experience' I suppose.
Keep your pack below 9kg and just take a silk sleeping bag liner rather sleeping bag as you'll be fine April-Sept.
The first person I spoke with on Day 1 at 8.30am, 30 mins into the first climb in the Pyrenees, was a 65yo bloke from Canada who'd flown into Paris the day before, lost his luggage on the flight transfer to Biarritz, missed the train to st Jean where he eventually arrived via bus at 8pm. Everywhere was full, so he slept the night on a mat on a karate studio floor before getting up and starting in the clothes he was wearing and the day pack he took through as hand luggage. He could not have been happier to be were he was
It set the tone for the rest of the trip. I saw all shapes, sizes and ages on the walk, they just moved at different paces.
I used Santiago Ways who were excellent at organising everything. I would seriously consider getting your main pack transported so you only walk with a daypack. Depends on the level of suffering you think you need to endure for the 'real experience' I suppose.
Keep your pack below 9kg and just take a silk sleeping bag liner rather sleeping bag as you'll be fine April-Sept.
The first person I spoke with on Day 1 at 8.30am, 30 mins into the first climb in the Pyrenees, was a 65yo bloke from Canada who'd flown into Paris the day before, lost his luggage on the flight transfer to Biarritz, missed the train to st Jean where he eventually arrived via bus at 8pm. Everywhere was full, so he slept the night on a mat on a karate studio floor before getting up and starting in the clothes he was wearing and the day pack he took through as hand luggage. He could not have been happier to be were he was
It set the tone for the rest of the trip. I saw all shapes, sizes and ages on the walk, they just moved at different paces.
Truckosaurus said:
It seems most people just carry a single change of clothes and wash things every day in the hostel, rather than carrying a weighty backpack.
I think its a little more complicated than that. It depends what time of year you are walking, obviously in the summer months you probably won't need trousers, fleece, waterproofs to walk in, but maybe going out for an evening meal you might want different clothing to what you might walk in during the day. This is a 4.5 kg packing list https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVBTKUAeMxs&li...
Cotty said:
I think its a little more complicated than that...
Indeed. I was suggesting 'single change of clothes' = 2x outfits. Even your man in the video only has 3x of everything, which I think is as much as you need to go - get down to a small bag (4.5kg in his example, there's others getting down to 2kg!). No point paying to ship dirty laundry around every day IMHO.
Part of the 'journey' seems to be going with the flow and not booking anything and see what turns up each day. Traveling minimally seems to fit in with that.
Exactly this.
It's not a hike or a camping trip. It's about leaving your life and everything that entails behind and giving yourself completely to the journey. Just you, your backpack and the people you come across as you go. Just like that Canadian bloke I mentioned above.
There was one phrase that I heard from people over and over again which perhaps sums up the experience and that was 'God willing'.
'Are you going all the way to Santiago? Hopefully, God willing'.
I don't necessarily mean in the religious sense (although this was the case for some). But rather it is very much about embarking on something so much bigger than themselves and surrendering to it. As you say, going with the flow.
It's not a hike or a camping trip. It's about leaving your life and everything that entails behind and giving yourself completely to the journey. Just you, your backpack and the people you come across as you go. Just like that Canadian bloke I mentioned above.
There was one phrase that I heard from people over and over again which perhaps sums up the experience and that was 'God willing'.
'Are you going all the way to Santiago? Hopefully, God willing'.
I don't necessarily mean in the religious sense (although this was the case for some). But rather it is very much about embarking on something so much bigger than themselves and surrendering to it. As you say, going with the flow.
Truckosaurus said:
Part of the 'journey' seems to be going with the flow and not booking anything and see what turns up each day. Traveling minimally seems to fit in with that.
I agree. If I was to do it I would want to carry my own gear, so if I was shattered and wanted to stoo short or wanted to stay where people I met were staying I could just stop and not have to worry my bag is still 4km away in the next town. I understand some/most albergues will only allow 50% of beds to be booked in advance, the rest are available for people who didn't book. Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff