I am going to do the El Camino this summer, and I wish I had time to do the whole thing--unfortunately I can only do it for about 10 days. Now I plan on mixing a combination of walking, buses, and train rides to make it to the end, but I don't want to pass over something worth seeing. Does anybody have any recommendations for some great stops along the el Camino? or any routes along the path that particularly scenic for walking?
Any other advice on the El Camino would be great. Thank you!
I would also love to do that journey someday. My advice, which is perhaps a tad eccentric, is to find a novel called Strong as Death by Sharan Newman. It's about a medieval French woman (about 1145 A.D.) making that journey. I think it adds pleasure to any trip to have a literary landscape as accompaniment.
Hi Nicole,
I'm planning on doing the Camino about this time next year! I recently started my planning of the trip and went to the library and found a book called Buen Camino by James Clem, I got alot from this book because he described what the day to day life is like on the Camino. He didn't give alot of information about sites along the way but there are other books that are written specifically for this. interestingly he lives near me and we've emailed a couple of times and plan to meet soon. He recommends using "The Pilgrims Guide to Camino Frances" by John Brierley. He also has a website called www.ourcamino.com with some links, but there are dozens if not more items online for information. Another book I've read is called "Following the Milky Way" by Elyn Aviva, her book is very detailed on the sites and history along the Camino. I'm sure you probably already know this but since you mentioned the various ways you plan on doing the Camino, you must walk the final 100 km to receive your Compostela. Since you live in England you can get you Pilgrims Passport from the Confraternity of Saint James. If you have any other questions please feel free to contact me.
I walked the Camino in the summer of 2007, beginning in St. Jean Pied-de-Port and ending in Santiago 40 days later.
Ten days isn't a lot of time, and if you wish to earn a compostela in Santiago, you'll have to walk at least 100K. Keep in mind that many people do this on the last segment before Santiago, so that part of the trail will be quite crowded.
I walked the entire route (except for about 3 miles in Leon, where a friend I stayed with there gave me a lift to the outskirts of the city), and each day brought a place or stop I could recommend. Just keep in mind that there is no way you can see it all in ten days, so try to enjoy what you are able, and perhaps you may return another day to experience the rest of what the Camino has to offer.
As you've noticed, this site isn't really geared towards the Camino. I recommend that you check these sites for more current info:
Confraternity of St. James - they offer good guidebooks and Camino info. Here is their site:
Ivar Revke - he runs a good pilgrim website out of Santiago where you can meet and dialogue with pilgrims past, present, and future. The site is:
http://www.pilgrimage-to-santiago.com
I also recommend John Brierley's excellent Camino guidebook, which can be purchased on Amazon.com
Buen Camino!
You could do the Camino Ingles - the route that Medieival pilgrims from Britain did when sailing to the north coast of Spain and walking to the tomb of St James. Start at Ferrol, walk 5 days, spend a day in Santiago, then walk to the end of the world - Fistera (3 or 4 days).
Good luck!
