Some friends and I are planning to do the Camino de Santiago walk. We would like to do part of it in 5 days. Which route should we take? Which is the best time of the year? Thank you.
May or early June would be the best time to walk, or in the Autumn from mid September to early October. Summer, July and August, are just too hot and the Camino Frances (the most popular route) is very crowded with students and school kids.
If you’re reasonably fit and used to walking you could try the Camino Frances from Sarria to Santiago de Compostela. That’s a distance of 111kms, and walking the last 100kms of the Camino qualifies you for the Compostela certificate from the Pilgrims Office in Santiago. Just remember to pick up a pilgrim ‘credencial’ in Sarria from one of the albergues. This part of the route has plenty of albergues and hotels, so it won’t be a problem finding a bed.
There are many Camino routes through Spain. The Camino Ingles, from the coast to Santiago, can be walked in just a few days but is more difficult than the Camino Frances. And you could also walk part of the Camino Portugues, but I’m not sure that’s quite as well set up.
There are plenty of internet resources on the various routes and there are forums where you can get advice from people who’ve already walked the Camino. A couple of forums I like are Santiagobis – which you will find through Yahoo Groups, and http://www.caminodesantiago.me Another good resource is the Confraternity of St James website which has plenty of information on walking the Camino plus a bookshop with guides to each of the Camino routes, and you can find maps and rough guides here of the various routes: http://www.csj.org.uk
Buen Camino