Sarria or Vigo as a starting point

[MirtaC]

Hi everone!

My sister and I are planning to do the Camino next year either in June or July 2023 and walk the last 100 km due to time constraints.

Debating either do the walk from Sarria or Vigo. Which of these is better on the knees?



Thanks so much!

 

[Walkerooni]

Both are 100k-ish. Neither is particularly challenging. If you choose to use those 3-4 months to do any amount of training at all, your knees will not be an issue.

 

[JabbaPapa]

The Vigo starting point would definitely be better for the knees, from experience of having bad knees myself.

It's not especially difficult from Sarria, but the Way from Vigo is still easier. The route from Vigo is also shorter, and IIRC it's 99K and has a dispensation from the normal 100K rule, whereas Sarria is at 112K I think (some sources may say it's less, but the distances on the Francès have recently been revised upwards by the regional authorities).

 

[Grousedoctor]

Having walked both routes, I’m going to give my nod to starting in Vigo. In addition to being a few wonderful walking stages, you also have the opportunity to visit historical cities like Vigo and Pontevedra. If you have an extra day, I’d encourage you to consider taking the Variante Espiritual, with the caveat that the day out of Pontevedra up to Armenteira has a significant uphill climb. If your knees are up to the VE, the final leg by boat up to Padron is extra special. The other advantage over the Sarria route is that the crowd should be smaller which for me is always a plus. Nonetheless, both are great walks. You can’t go wrong either way.

 

[Jim]

The Vigo starting point would definitely be better for the knees, from experience of having bad knees myself.

It's not especially difficult from Sarria, but the Way from Vigo is still easier. The route from Vigo is also shorter, and IIRC it's 99K and has a dispensation from the normal 100K rule, whereas Sarria is at 112K I think (some sources may say it's less, but the distances on the Francès have recently been revised upwards by the regional authorities).

Having done both routes and also having knee issues, I would also vote for walking in from Vigo as being the one slightly better on knees.

 

[andycohn]

Hi everone!

My sister and I are planning to do the Camino next year either in June or July 2023 and walk the last 100 km due to time constraints.

Debating either do the walk from Sarria or Vigo. Which of these is better on the knees?



Thanks so much!

To inject some objective measurements into the conversation, my favorite mapping app (mapy.cz) shows that the Camino from Vigo to SDC is exactly 100 kilometers, with total ascent of 1493 meters and total decent of 1281 meters. From Sarria to SDC is 114 k, with total ascent of 2009 meters and total descent of 2189 meters.

In sum, the walk from Vigo to SDC is slightly shorter and somewhat less hilly than the walk from Sarria.

In the end, though, I wouldn't base my decision on those numbers, for neither camino is particularly hilly. The hardest thing on my (also balky) knees is steep descents and uneven, rocky ground, and you'll find that there are few steep sections on either of those caminos, while the trail itself on both routes is almost entirely on smooth, relatively manicured surfaces (often pavement).

Most important, as noted above, is whether you want to be accompanied by lots of other walkers or by fewer. As set forth in the statistics from the Pilgrim's Office in SDC, walkers on the Sarria approach to Santiago outnumber those on the Vigo approach by a factor of 2.5 to 1. That's a big difference, which you'll appreciate -- for bad or good -- on the trail.

More subjectively, most people (me included) find the towns on the last section of the Portuguese more interesting than this on the France.

But chacun a son gout! You won't go wrong whatever you choose.

 

[Richmond Gardner]

I cast my vote for Vigo…and I haven’t even been there. I did finish off my last Camino (Del Norte) from Pontevedra, because I couldn’t face the hordes from Sarria onwards again. You will meet plenty of pilgrims on the Portuguese (2nd most popular Camino).

 

[JabbaPapa]

I cast my vote for Vigo…and I haven’t even been there. I did finish off my last Camino (Del Norte) from Pontevedra, because I couldn’t face the hordes from Sarria onwards again. You will meet plenty of pilgrims on the Portuguese (2nd most popular Camino).

Off-topic, but it doesn't look that hard to DIY one's way between Boimorto on the Norte, and Sigüeiro on the Inglés.

 

[Corned Beef]

Off-topic, but it doesn't look that hard to DIY one's way between Boimorto on the Norte, and Sigüeiro on the Inglés.

... or Baamonde to Sigüeiro to Muxia and do the Finisterre in reverse. Lots of rolling Galician countryside.

I dropped a cheap (but necessary) power bank along the route and only discovered my error when I stopped for a second breakfast at one of the small village cafes. While sitting there, a local in his 4x4 drove up and went into the cafe to ask who might have lost it. Very relieved as I didn't have a paper map as a backup.

The camino provides.