How many days off did you take on the CF?

[Bolso100]

my advice is to use the Camino guides as just that. A guide. During training you will get a sense of how far to walk a day. The first week is a breaking in period, but also a beautiful journey that should not be rushed. We took an extra day in Pamplona, Leon and Astorga. We also took a train to San Sebastián and Bilbao after Leon to explore.

Put some extra days in your plan for the unexpected. If you live an area and want to stay, then you can. If you are tired or hurt, you can rest.

The most frustrated or disappointed pilgrims we met were those that did not plan enough days for their pilgrimage. It’s not a race to Santiago, it is a beautiful journey.

If you are answering me, I will tell you that I was NOT frustrated at all... each town was well known, and a guy from Hungary did it at the same time as me, and he was not frustrated.
Another thing is that in addition to the Camino you want to do some sightseeing... Then yes, take all the time you can.

 

[Liica]

Licia,

That is exactly what I was thinking. Maybe 3-4 days off on my 30-32 day journey. Sounds like that will yield the balance of walking and enjoying the various towns on the CF

That’s perfect
Those 3, 4 days in the end will be more than necessary to get ready to go back to real life

 

[Phil2866]

I plan to do the CF from SJPDP on March 2025. It appears the number of days is usually 32-33 days. I know people usually take more than 33 days for various reasons.

My question for people that have done the entire CF, what is your experience in regard to number of days? Did you take a day off because you wanted to explore and enjoy a town? Were you just plain exhausted and needed to recharge? Was it an injury? Also, how hard is it to do walk everyday and complete it in 33 days?

Thanks

Around 33 to 35 days all depends on how you feel at the time.

 

[jgiesbrecht]

I plan to do the CF from SJPDP on March 2025. It appears the number of days is usually 32-33 days. I know people usually take more than 33 days for various reasons.

My question for people that have done the entire CF, what is your experience in regard to number of days? Did you take a day off because you wanted to explore and enjoy a town? Were you just plain exhausted and needed to recharge? Was it an injury? Also, how hard is it to do walk everyday and complete it in 33 days?

Thanks

It took me 39 days with no days off. I did have 3 or 4 short days, anywhere from six to twelve kilometers. But I also didn't really explore many places. For me, the goal is to finish not because I was in a hurry or anything, but just because a new, it was gonna be a hard feat for me, 50ish lbs overweight and no training.

 

[Karl Oz]

Weird. My original post said "...bail by Logroño..." and it got changed to "...dance by Logroño..." in Rob's quote of my post.

???

The word 'bailar' means 'dance' in Spanish. You got the conjugated form - I expect you have some sort of spelling auto-correct feature on your device switched-on. Or something...

 

[Frankybaby66]

I think something weird is going on with the Forum. (or my PC)
It took about 10 goes for me to post just now.
Text kept vanishing, my username even changed............

I did wonder about the context of 'dancing'
(edited the post)

Probably some sort of language issue - 'bailar' is the Spanish word for 'to dance' in English

 

[Maureen McGovern]

I plan to do the CF from SJPDP on March 2025. It appears the number of days is usually 32-33 days. I know people usually take more than 33 days for various reasons.

My question for people that have done the entire CF, what is your experience in regard to number of days? Did you take a day off because you wanted to explore and enjoy a town? Were you just plain exhausted and needed to recharge? Was it an injury? Also, how hard is it to do walk everyday and complete it in 33 days?

Thanks

None, walked it in 33 days

 

[DonnaS18]

Took an extra rest day in Burgos- such a fantastic place one day just doesn’t do it justice.
We took 35 days and rested twice- mainly when accommodation was full and weather was terrible.

 

[Getwood]

The word 'bailar' means 'dance' in Spanish. You got the conjugated form - I expect you have some sort of spelling auto-correct feature on your device switched-on. Or something...

Nah, it's Brave browser on my PC. The change happened during Robo's re-quoting of my post -- mebbe he did the quote on a smartphone with DeepL or somesuch.

Or mebbe the forum software's just messing with us. ;-)

 

[OGPapaSmurf]

I just finished walking form SJPDP to Fisterra and I am 53. I did the Frances in 26 days of walking, with three rest days. I took a day off in Santiago after the Frances and then walked to Fisterra in three days. I never felt exhausted, nor did most I talked to ever feel that way. I did feel sore and injury management was my primary focus as it was for many pilgrims. Having a very light pack, being fit, not walking too fast, and being organized was the key for me. My "goal" was to never let myself walk faster than 4km per hour, start early each morning, be organized/don't waste time... at that pace most will not get hurt and you will be able to make whatever miles you need to. I also would book a day ahead at least, so I knew I had a place to stay and did not spend time going place to place looking for a bed. At that pace, besides the three rest days, I always enough time to take an extra 2 hours in whatever city if it was interesting.

I would also say as a side note... if you are going to have your bags transported for you each day, start that at the beginning. Maybe stop after a week or two if you don't need it anymore or get(and you will) stronger.

 

[Old Kiwi]

I am 81. I have done the SF three times. Starting in SJPDP to Santiago takes 33 or 34 days. I start at 6.00am every morning ,stop for breakfast somewhere and at my destination by midday which gives me time to do plenty of sightseeing. I then go on to Muxxia and Finistere, taking four days. All of this with no problems or blisters.

 

[davejsy]

I'd fully factored in 2-3 rest days to enjoy some of the towns/cities, but in the end I couldn't bare the thought of not walking and actually the thought of staying in towns/cities for any length of time became a bit claustrophobic after the peace of the open trail.

 

[Buffy]

Walked 33 days plus 4 rest days. Probably could’ve gone with just 2-3 rest days but we factored in extra time to our plan so we used it to try to slow down and enjoy some of the cities/towns more.

 

[Jarrad]

While I made it to SdC in 34 days including 2 rest days (Burgos and Leon), I wish I took a little more time to see Pamplona, Atapuerca, Logrono, and (more than) a few other spots. Honestly, I wish I didn't race through the Meseta so fast -- such a peaceful region. Additionally, I have relatives in A Coruna who I needed to spend some time with, so only spent my arrival day in Santiago de Compostella.

I should perhaps start a separate thread, as I'd be curious to know if many have taken time before and/or after their pilgrimage to visit other parts of Spain or Europe. I was fortunate to do so on the front and back ends of my first Camino and the experience made a great impact on me.

 

[henrythedog]

Alternatively, you may feel that you want to escape your ´camino family´. Another reason to take a day out.

Yes, it’s easier to ‘out-slow’ them than out-run them sometimes.

 

[Stephan the Painter]

I took 41 days on the CF. And smelled every single rose on the way. I took three official rest days in Burgos because I was sick. And lots of short days.

Interestingly, I wasn't the only one. There were at least half a dozen people who I met in the first day or two that I saw for the last time in Santiago.

EDIT: I might add that I could've easily done it faster. But I didn't want to. I had the luxury of time. Towards the end I got a little bored and did some 30+ kilometer days

 

[vwzoo]

I plan to do the CF from SJPDP on March 2025. It appears the number of days is usually 32-33 days. I know people usually take more than 33 days for various reasons.

My question for people that have done the entire CF, what is your experience in regard to number of days? Did you take a day off because you wanted to explore and enjoy a town? Were you just plain exhausted and needed to recharge? Was it an injury? Also, how hard is it to do walk everyday and complete it in 33 days?

Thanks

I didn't take any rest days and walked it in 29 days in Sept 2018. I wanted to walk to Muxia to finish and I just didn't feel I needed any rest days. I just woke up and walked until I had enough. I ended up being able to walk to Muxia and Finnisterre. I was 56 at the time and prepped and trained a lot. That's the only reason I could come up with why I was able to do it. I didn't necessarily feel I was walking it too fast. I kept thinking I did want extra time due to flights so I would walk to Muxia, but because I had no issues I had time to walk to Finnisterre as well. I did take 2 days in Santiago when I got there, 2 in Finnisterre when I ended, then 2 more back in Santiago before flying home

 

[Mackcrabs]

Whilst we use ‘days’ as the metric I guess that is somewhat ‘iffy’ as many people walk, say 5 hours (maybe quickly or even slowly) a day and some walk 10 (which is me, very slowly!).

I guess consider what your interests are. So for me the priority is to have a nice lunch and stop at a few bars in the afternoon. I like to get a copy of Marca (the Spanish daily sports paper) and read it in a bar and that tends to be a conversation starter with the old fellas, who line the bar. I don’t, say, go inside churches, or really stop anywhere for any other reasons than eating, drinking, and talking. I like walking into the evening and don’t have blogs to write, or photos to download, so consider what your ‘obligations’ will be too! Just laundry I guess.

I know I need a very light pack as I have poor upper body strength and ‘travelling light’ tends to release the ‘free spirit’ in me. A much heavier pack would double my time! I tend to be fine walking day after day which is tough for some, and am also a morning person so that all helps on a Camino. I am not fit but have always walked as never owned a car so that will obviously help too. Also I was on a time schedule so that motivated me to ‘crack on’.

When I walked most people were doing around 26-30 days but it was during Covid and it was mainly younger Europeans. I think we have an older demographic on here, so factor that in.

You sound quite fit so it sounds like you have the luxury of choosing how you want to progress.

I guess you and I are kind of the same. I want to pack light or use a luggage service. I haven’t figure that one out yet.

I don’t have social media or a following so no need to post since no one would listen! I should be fit enough to do it in 26-30 but do I really want to? The question is how much time exploring and taking in the true meaning of the Way of Saint James.

 

[Mackcrabs]

Took an extra rest day in Burgos- such a fantastic place one day just doesn’t do it justice.
We took 35 days and rested twice- mainly when accommodation was full and weather was terrible.

Burgos seems like the place to take a day off the trail to explore the town. Thanks for the advice!

 

[MARSKA]

So, is anyone planning to do the CF in March 2025?

Yes

 

[MARSKA]

For me 20-25km days with fairly gentle slopes are my sweet spot. In the mountains or if it is hot, 18-20km is enough. I love to chat in the bars and albergues and, when not walking, I am fed by the social and spiritual aspects of the the camino. I prefer the 42-45 day approach, or ideally, the open-ended approach. It is too expensive for me to book a one way from the US (almost 3x the cost of RT) so I closed my eyes and my finger landed on 43 days which ended up being 45 in 2023. IMO more is better.

At the end of my first CF (extremely rainy) in 2023 I really wanted more time so I could walk to Muxia and other routes - I wanted to walk forever (2 rest days in Burgos, 2 in Leon and 2 in SDC). My second CF in 2024 I felt more satisfied and was "almost" ready to return home after 42 days (1 rest day in Burgos, 1 in Leon, 1 in Astorga and 2 days in SDC).

I try to keep in mind that although the days fly by for me in Spain, for those awaiting my return home the days pass more slowly.