Can you start a new thread/post about your trip? I have this on my list to do but it's a bit overwhelming. How did you prepare/train? Would it be safe for solo female hiker? Did you use a guide book to plan? Any details you care to share are appreciated. Thanks.

hds said:

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Can you start a new thread/post about your trip? I have this on my list to do but it's a bit overwhelming. How did you prepare/train? Would it be safe for solo female hiker? Did you use a guide book to plan? Any details you care to share are appreciated. Thanks.

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I just got back last week from doing the English route. Will put in some comments as well. If you are interested in getting a Compostela, you need to hike a minimum of 100 km or bike a minimum of, I believe, 200 km. The English route is right around 115 km, starting in Ferrol. The longest hike on any given day, which was also the steepest, was 35 km. Since I wanted to see some other parts of Spain, and couldn't spend too much time abroad, this was the route we chose.

I was very lucky because I went with my PCP who is also a friend of mine. He was born in Spain (Basque territory), and he had two friends who went along with us - a Cuban and a Puerto Rican. Both of them also had family members and in-laws living in Spain. All of them were, obviously, fluent in Spanish, but none had previously done the Camino. You could probably get by without being Spanish speaking along this route, but your experience wouldn't be as "rich".

I think September was a great time to go. Schools were in session, so the crowds were smaller, and the temperatures were cooler. Spain is at the far end of the common European time zone, so the morning light starts late but the evenings are also extended. We initially used the app Buen Camino to plan our trip, but changed midway and decided to enlist the help of Tee Travel in order to book hotels. More importantly, though, they transported our luggage day to day so we did not need to pack only the bare necessities for the trip, we could buy trinkets along the way without having to worry about lugging them every day in our back packs, etc. There are other services that you can use for the same service (transporting luggage for you while you hike with more or less a day pack). Tee Travel also got us transfers to and from the airport.

Even if you do go with a travel company, Buen Camino is a GREAT app. It shows you where you are along the Camino and it gives good information about sites you will see along the way.

As far as being a solo female hiker, I cannot absolutely put myself into that position but I feel that, at least along the English Route, you would not be in any particular danger. You will meet people along the way, including those going out in fairly large groups. As an aside, Spaniards have an absolute love for Texans. By the end of the trip, it got to be a bit of a joke with my traveling companions introducing me to Spaniards as El Tejano (especially to Spanish women). They were nearly always interested in learning about what life in Texas was like. I think they watch too many Westerns, though.

As far as training, I didn't do anything special other than breaking in my shoes. I did purchase hiking poles, and I think they helped save the knees on the downhills. Make sure you take along lots of good socks and a change of shoes mid-day helps. Blister tape and lambs wool definitely belong in the backpack daily as well.

The Cathedral of St. James, and in fact the entire city of Santiago, is magnificent. I would like to have spent some more time there if I were to do it all over. You definitely need to plan your exit from Santiago carefully, as it is a bit "off the beaten path" and flights in and out are limited. We ended up driving back from Santiago to A 'Coruna, then flying from that city to Madrid the next morning before departure to the U.S.


Early bird gets the worm. Taken after 07:30 Mass


Cathedral at night

My "guides" with am sun on their backs


Interesting shot with morning sun coming through the church's bell tower. You pass so many churches along the way it's crazy.


Port city of Ferrol, start of English route


No bad meals in Galicia, that's for sure




Buen Camino

hds said:

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Can you start a new thread/post about your trip? I have this on my list to do but it's a bit overwhelming. How did you prepare/train? Would it be safe for solo female hiker? Did you use a guide book to plan? Any details you care to share are appreciated. Thanks.

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We did the Primitivo route over the northern mountains through Lugo. My wife and I went and I used a company called Iberian Adventures to help with the itinerary. We wanted to do on average 12 to 15 mile days and our person at Iberian helped us too book nice accommodations at appropriate stopping points and arranged to have our luggage moved daily. Will be happy to share my contact if you want. My wife and I are pretty avid hikers so we did a trip up to Colorado in July to prep. Kept up the cardio work in between. We also went over a little early and did some hikes along the northern coast before starting in Oviedo on the Primitivo route proper. I have our daily routes recorded on All Trials as well and would be happy to share. If you do the primitivo route there are a couple of days in the mountains. For rain gear get something called the Packa. It is the best solution I have found.

http://www.thepacka.com/


ETA: Per above, poles are a must. They can takes as much as 20% of the stress off of your knees and feet. September is the perfect time to go (Less hikers and cooler weather).

Returned Sunday from two weeks in Europe. Prague -> Budapest -> Vienna -> Austrian/Bavarian Alps -> Germany. Only had to show vaccine card once to get into a place in Munich. Masks hardly required or seen in CR and Hungary. Test stations all over the place for return trip home with results in less than 30 minutes.

We leave for Prague on Saturday. Other than the airport, where did you see return testing sites in the city, and how much are they? I can't seem to find much online. We're bringing two at home tests with us, and plan to use the tele-med option for the return, but I would also like to have a back-up plan.

Espa137 said:

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We leave for Prague on Saturday. Other then the airport, where did you see return testing sites in the city, and how much are they? I can't seem to find much online. We're bringing two at home tests with us, and plan to use the tele-med option for the return, but I would also like to have a back-up plan.

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We did those coming back from Spain. Took about 25 minutes for each of us. One thing is that it required a laptop or iPad (phone wasn't allowed for whatever reason). Loaded test results into the Verifly App and they were ported over to AA which then allowed on-line check in.

I got my test in Germany and they didn't cost a dime if you were vaccinated. Unvaccinated like 20 euros. Didn't look out for any in Prague but I'm sure they're around.