Adding Camino Walk to Basque Tour

My wife and I are taking the RS Basque tour in a few months. Prior to the tour we plan and walking from St Jean to Pamplona. (We previously walked Pamplona to Santiago.)

The last section which you are contemplating walking is wonderful. We ran into folks who were in a tour company in that section-- a senior from Ohio actually! Small world.

My wife and I used an Irish company called camino ways to book our hotels, which meant we tended to walk with many of the same people we had met-- but not a tour per se.

Good luck!

I have been looking at camino way. The way tours are for 7 days. I walk 5 miles a day at home and I can train, but not sure I can do 10-12 miles a day for 7 days which I understand is what challenges most walkers, the endurance. I would go in September. I had not considered a self-guided. Is there enough traffic on this segment of the path that I would not be too isolated?

The final stretch -- the last 100 kilometers-- is not isolated at all. Almost too crowded. While we walked 13 miles a day on average, there were many that walked 1/2 that a day. There is a great forum for the camino -- https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/forums/camino-frances-most-popular-route.12/

-- that you would be well served reading or even posting questions over there!

There is no better way to see a country than walking it!

Good luck!

We went through Macs Adventure when we did the Sarria-Santiago Camino, but we went with some friends. I don’t know of a company that groups individual hikers into a tour per se. There are some hills but the overall the walk was fairly easy.

As already mentioned, that section of the Camino can get pretty crowded, especially by those “day trippers” who walk a part of the Camino in the morning just to say they walked it. By noon they’re gone. You only need to walk alone if you want to since there are always other pilgrims nearby.

You can arrange hotels and luggage transfers on your own if you are so inclined.

Thank you so much for your responses. Quite helpful!

You can spend as much time as you like walking that last 110km. I spent 9 days doing this in 2015, due to some medical issues. Last year, only spent 5 days doing the same walk and am a bit older. (67 last May)

It is very easy to book your rooms for each night, once you plan how much you would like to walk each day. I use this website to plan my daily km. https://godesalco.com/plan/frances
Pretty much every town along this part of the Camino has private rooms if you would like that. Booking dot com is super easy to use and luggage transport can be arranged daily very easily.

Not sure if your dates match up, but take a look at Camino Confidence and see if Carol has a tour during the same time that you can join. If not, she also can help with planning, getting your rooms booked, etc.
https://caminoconfidence.com/
There are 1000s of women walking many routes of the Camino each year, and about 50% of them are retired and over 60, so you will not be alone. There are 2 FB groups for women, one is Camigas, and the other one is WOACA (women of a certain age) and Camino Confidence has one too.
I have done 5 Caminos so far and #6 is planned for April, so please send me any questions you might have. My Camino FB page is: Camino Jo, where I have a packing list and 100s of photos.

Thank you for the input. I will take a look at the Camino confidence and your FB site. I am a young 73 with a bum hip. I am trying to be reasonable with myself. Gaining confidence that I can do this, just have to figure out a common sense approach.

I went with Marly Camino. It was a journey of a lifetime and I’m glad I went with a tour company. The Camino diehards on other websites will tell you to walk it alone or you’re not doing the Camino the right way. Meaning they want you to suffer the way they did. It’s up to you. You could visit Europe alone and do it yourself, but going with Rick Steves tour is just as valid way to see Spain. So don’t let the Camino diehards guilt you into doing it alone. It’s your Camino. Do it your way. I highly recommend Marly Camino.

Also, if all you are reading online are those who believe that a pilgrim has to suffer, you are simply on the wrong websites and forums. There are dozens of kind and helpful websites and FB pages.

Derek,

Thank you for your advic. I will take a look at the Marly Camino group.

Terry:
Just a little more info about why I recommend Marly Camino for you.
On my camino, there were 20 people. The oldest was 80 years. The youngest was 50+. There were more women than men.
I did the same as you did. After my RS Best of France tour, I flew to Madrid. I spent 2 days on my own at the Hotel Europa near Puerta del sol. Great location.
The tour started in a nice Madrid hotel with orientation, expectations, pictures and equipment distribution. They let me borrow hiking poles, so I didn't have to worry about bringing or buying my own set. They gave us our credentials and passport book and it was on us to get our two stamps per day.
They drove us to Sarria to start our camino.
Lodgings were in very nice pensions or casa rurales. (converted farm houses into hotels or B&B) I'd rate most of them as 3 or 4 star. No alburgues (dormitories). I paid extra for a single room. All the rooms had private bath.
Dinner was provided every night and most were very good. Wine flowed freely. Because it was just our group in each hotel, dinner was at 7 pm and not the customary 8 pm.
One of the my favorite experiences was talking and sharing with my other peregrinos (pilgrims) at dinner. I still keep in touch with some via Facebook.
Luggage transfer is included, as is sag wagon support. each morning after breakfast, you will be transported to the starting point (usually the same spot you ended the previous day's walk) and with the maps and following the yellow arrows and camino shells, you walk. Usually 10-12 miles a day.
Since people have different walking paces, I mostly walked alone, but met and talked to other pilgrims from all over the world. (I speak basic Spanish) At the end of the day's walking stage, which was usually finished around 2 pm. we bought and ate lunch on our own. The guides recommended some places, so one day it was the restaurant known for its pulpo (octopus).
Within each day's walk, the van is positioned at checkpoints, and everyone walks and checks into the checkpoint and gets snacks, fruit and water. then you keep walking.
At the end of the day's walk, the van brings us to the night's lodgings. Sometimes in the afternoon there were activities, such as visiting a museum, church or farm. At one hotel which had their own chapel, the tour company brought in a priest for us to celebrate Catholic Mass.
When we got to Santiago, we walked together to the Plaza and I cannot describe the emotions you will feel and share with your other peregrinos. We had an afternoon mass in the cathedral. The tour company pays (a sizable donation) for us to see the butafumiero swing and we are given front row seats.
I'm so glad that I went with this tour company. The cost is similar to the cost of going on a Rick Steves tour.
But if you can afford a Rick Steves tour, you can afford this. I also didn't want to walk alone, so I am glad to have walked my camino with marly camino.
https://marlycamino.com

Derek , thank you very much for the level of detail and the recommendation. I am looking at marly

I'll confirm what Jo says about Camino Confidence. It is solely for women and Carol has longer and shorter day tours from which to chose. Or she will arrange everything for you and check in with you and your accommodation once per day, and is always available by phone. There are videos on her site that can also answer many questions. I went on one of her tours last May and loved it. My expectations were exceeded. Her groups are no more than 8 women and she's had women in their 80's walking. I took a taster tour with some longer walks, but there are also slow stroller tours. I say tours, but not so much, just a small group of women hanging out with each other and with someone who knows the ropes and will make sure you arrive at the end of the day. Or if you want to walk fast, you can walk with the guide. I take too many photos for that. People will diss having an arranged group, but you can walk alone or with other members of the group, or a little of everyone. What I found great about this is I always had a Camino family at dinner and my lodging, even if I chose to walk alone, which I often did. Sarria to Santiago de Compostela is beautiful. I will say the group of women I was with were fun and easy going, and we all got along well. I think this is probably because of the type of vacation this is. I can't recommend Camino Confidence enough.

Feel free to message me if you have any specific questions.

One camino story: We were about 3 weeks into our walk when we spent the night at small BB right on the trail. At the group dinner we meet a father from Australia with his wheelchair bound daughter. The Aussie looked straight up like member of a biker gang— long hair, tattoos, clothing to match, etc. I am somewhat ashamed to say that if I saw walking down the street in another setting, I'd cross the street in fear.

His daughter was incapable of feeding herself. He had been pushing her along the trail for over a month— and we asked how? How did you manage? He said the Camino finds a way. For example early in their walk, he was slowly pushing her up the Alto de Perdon (Mount of Forgiveness) late in the day when a group of Germans passed him and his daughter. They got to the top 1/2 hour later and realized there was no way this Aussie and his daughter would make it to the top over the rough terrain and slope. So then walked back down and they carried her in the chair to the top.

That’s the camino to me. Nothing is quite what it seems and everybody is just a little bit better too.

I just want to thank everyone for all of the input provided. I am realizing the benefits of your experiences and the generosity of the time everyone took to provide me direction. I am going to build a matrix with all of the recommendations provided and see if I can find a walk to front end my Rick Steves tour. Thank you so much! Terry