Camino Finisterre Walking Towards the End of the World
Since the Middle Ages, the roads that lead to Santiago de Compostela in Northern Spain have sustained their popularity. I undertook this journey in July 2015 setting out from St Jean Pied du Port in France. After four weeks, I arrived into Santiago to a glorious fanfare. Santiago is a city steeped in history and […]
Camino de Santiago Statistics (2004 – 2016)
Every person walking the Caminos has a different story. When walking it is enchanting to listen to the tangled, exciting or boring stories of other people. In fact, there is no usual story. Equally interesting it is to have a look at the Camino de Santiago statistics. Who is actually walking the route? Has it […]
What is a Pilgrim?
The first thing that comes to mind when I ask myself what is a pilgrim is Canterbury Tales and Chaucer’s partying crowd, or of Homer in the Odyssey. I associate the words pilgrim and pilgrimages as belonging to a bygone era. Going on a pilgrimage in the middle ages was often the only form of travel […]
Is It Safe Walking the Camino de Santiago Alone?
One of the most common questions I am asked – is it safe to walk the Camino de Santiago alone? This became a question being asked more again recently when someone went missing on the Camino. However my opinion remains unchanged – yes, it is safe to walk the Camino de Santiago alone. I would […]
Transitioning from Camino Life to Real Life
After a couple Camino’s and seeing dozens of pilgrims having a hard time with the Camino Blues, I think it is worth a writing an article about. I am certainly no professional, but someone who has experienced the transition back to “The Real World” after the Camino twice. Make no bones about it, the Camino will […]
How Much Does the Camino de Santiago Cost?
The main costs for any of the Camino de Santiago routes are your daily budget on the Camino and getting to and from your start and finish points. For most of in Europe it is fairly quick and easy to get to and from any of the routes – not so from North America, (see travel page here), […]
Top Ten Things About Camino de Santiago
I was asked recently what would be my top ten things about the Camino de Santiago – so here it is. 1. The people, the other pilgrims. The other pilgrims I met is my number one on the Camino, all Camino routes. I feel I was blessed. I don’t like crowds, however, I do in […]
Camino Primitivo – Oviedo to Santiago de Compostela
Stage Five: Primitivo Oviedo to Santiago, May 2nd to May 14th We were flying by now. Yes, our feet still hurt and at the end of the longest day of the whole trip, (41km, a choice so I didn’t have to stay in a dormitory…), I thought I would die. But the next day our […]
Saint Jean Pied de Port to Hendaye then Hondarribia to Oveido
Stage Three: GR 10 Saint Jean Pied de Port to Hendaye April 5th to April 10th This section wasn’t strictly the Compostela/ Camino. One of our hosts who only allowed you to stay if you carried your pack the whole way told us it would be fine to do this by train, but while we […]
Le Puy to Saint Jean Pied de Port
Stage Two: Chemin de St Jacques Le Puy to Saint Jean Pied de Port, March 4th to April 4th This section, on the Le Puy Camino, took us to the wind swept plains of the Aubrac. Cold, I got frostbite on my nose which took weeks to heal but no snow and so we were […]
Cluny to Le Puy on the Chemin de St Jacques
Stage One: Chemin de St Jacques Cluny to Le Puy, February 17th to March 3rd It seemed we were destined to walk the Camino. Well, in retrospect. I had six months long service leave and we had a house in France. Okay we could have stayed and enjoyed the local food, wine and terroire but from […]
Celebrate Your Retirement and Walk The Camino!
This is a post from Des O’Dowd, thanks. I retired on the 1st of September 2008 and I wanted to celebrate my new life and new freedom. The Camino de Santiago was the challenge and adventure I needed. So in late September, like children going on a school tour, myself and my fellow retiree Pat […]
How Fit do You Have To Be?
I think I am a terrible example of getting fit before walking the Camino de Santiago. I walked only once for about 3 hours, with a rucksack, to see how I would be walking before going to Spain. I did have some hill walking experience, though not a lot. I would have walked in the […]
How Long is the Camino de Santiago Distance?
One of the most common questions I am asked when I speak about the Camino is how long is the Camino de Santiago in kilometers and miles. Usually, I just answer by saying 780 kilometers – though if the person is very interested I will get into explaining that there are many different routes in […]
Did You Lose Weight on the Camino?
I lost about 8kgs, about 18 lbs, over a four week period. So yes I did lose a lot of weight on the Camino. However losing weight was never one of my intentions for walking. I did not set out on the Camino to lose weight and I must admit that it never entered into my […]
