Camino de Santiago

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pmreyn2010
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Camino de Santiago

Post by 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!
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gb
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Re: Camino de Santiago

Post by 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...
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Dan_Suitor
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Re: Camino de Santiago

Post by 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.
Century Bound, eventually.
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Cary26
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Re: Camino de Santiago

Post by 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 $$.
"One returns from the mountains beaming, richer in spirit, in life and closer to the truth about one's own life."
Wojciech (Voytek) Kurtyka
Jesus climbed a mountain Matthew 17:1
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