Almost There

[Teresa Santamaria]

Hi All, well, my 13 year old and I are soon on our way, and will do our first ever piece of any Camino, and will do four days on the North route from Santander (more likely Comillas to Llanes - where we will visit friends, and then we walk another three to four days before needing to arrive in Santiago de Compostela. I think I read that one has to walk the last 100 KM in order to have your book stamped in Santiago - so the question is, since we are not doing a whole route, would you recommend after Llanes, that we walk from Llanes west and then take a bus to Santiago? or, should we leave Llanes, and take a bus to 100 KM east of Santiago and try to walk avg 25 KM day to Santiago? And likely, I am not sure that I even need to know this yet. Sometimes trying to figure this out, when this Manhattan girl that I am, thinks about this, my head starts to swim a little because I do not yet know how much we can/will do a day anyway and am trying not to think about it. I really ask this more for the people who are helping us plan and encourge our journey. I first started reading this site in March, and it's been very helpful...thank you all for any pre-trip thoughts. We arrive in Santander next Sunday....

 

[Teresa Santamaria]

I forgot to say "Thank you!" Teresa y Luke

[QUOTEHi All, well, my 13 year old and I are soon on our way, and will do our first ever piece of any Camino, and will do four days on the North route from Santander (more likely Comillas to Llanes - where we will visit friends, and then we walk another three to four days before needing to arrive in Santiago de Compostela. I think I read that one has to walk the last 100 KM in order to have your book stamped in Santiago - so the question is, since we are not doing a whole route, would you recommend after Llanes, that we walk from Llanes west and then take a bus to Santiago? or, should we leave Llanes, and take a bus to 100 KM east of Santiago and try to walk avg 25 KM day to Santiago? And likely, I am not sure that I even need to know this yet. Sometimes trying to figure this out, when this Manhattan girl that I am, thinks about this, my head starts to swim a little because I do not yet know how much we can/will do a day anyway and am trying not to think about it. I really ask this more for the people who are helping us plan and encourge our journey. I first started reading this site in March, and it's been very helpful...thank you all for any pre-trip thoughts. We arrive in Santander next Sunday....[/QUOTE]

 

[Dave]

Hi Teresa,

I suggest that you go into it with a couple of options in mind. One option: you love the experience, you decide that it's going to be really important to you to finish the full walk on foot, and thus you walk as far as you can and then plan to return to that spot next time (maybe this means Gijón or Oviedo, or maybe a shorter walk to Villaviciosa--you'll have transport options from all three, but certainly more from the first two). Another option: you like the experience, but don't think returning to the Camino will be a major priority over the next few years (or ever). In that case, perhaps it's worth the push to Santiago, just to get the experience of arrival. The big question will be which route to pursue--there's no reason it has to be the Norte. Given where you'll be coming from, I'd suggest considering taking a train to Lugo and then walking from there on the Primitivo/Francés.

Keep in mind that the transportation portion of this might consume more time than you anticipate right now, and that you might not enjoy packing too much into a limited timespan. For example, is it worth sprinting into Santiago if you don't have any time to enjoy it afterward? I'm not sure what your whole timeline is--just operating from the 3-4 day estimate.

No need to commit to either ahead of time, so it's probably best to act based on how you're feeling after the initial stretch of walking concludes.

Hope you have a great experience!

 

[Teresa Santamaria]

Thanks Dave, I had not thought about "switching" a routes and going from Lugo might be a good idea. We have at least two days to enjoy Santiago de Compostela and the one variable is how long we visit the friends in Llanes. I will look at the route from Lugo to SdC, thank you! Teresa y Luke

Hi Teresa,

I suggest that you go into it with a couple of options in mind. One option: you love the experience, you decide that it's going to be really important to you to finish the full walk on foot, and thus you walk as far as you can and then plan to return to that spot next time (maybe this means Gijón or Oviedo, or maybe a shorter walk to Villaviciosa--you'll have transport options from all three, but certainly more from the first two). Another option: you like the experience, but don't think returning to the Camino will be a major priority over the next few years (or ever). In that case, perhaps it's worth the push to Santiago, just to get the experience of arrival. The big question will be which route to pursue--there's no reason it has to be the Norte. Given where you'll be coming from, I'd suggest considering taking a train to Lugo and then walking from there on the Primitivo/Francés.

Keep in mind that the transportation portion of this might consume more time than you anticipate right now, and that you might not enjoy packing too much into a limited timespan. For example, is it worth sprinting into Santiago if you don't have any time to enjoy it afterward? I'm not sure what your whole timeline is--just operating from the 3-4 day estimate.

No need to commit to either ahead of time, so it's probably best to act based on how you're feeling after the initial stretch of walking concludes.

Hope you have a great experience!

 

[Teresa Santamaria]

Hi Teresa,

I suggest that you go into it with a couple of options in mind. One option: you love the experience, you decide that it's going to be really important to you to finish the full walk on foot, and thus you walk as far as you can and then plan to return to that spot next time (maybe this means Gijón or Oviedo, or maybe a shorter walk to Villaviciosa--you'll have transport options from all three, but certainly more from the first two). Another option: you like the experience, but don't think returning to the Camino will be a major priority over the next few years (or ever). In that case, perhaps it's worth the push to Santiago, just to get the experience of arrival. The big question will be which route to pursue--there's no reason it has to be the Norte. Given where you'll be coming from, I'd suggest considering taking a train to Lugo and then walking from there on the Primitivo/Francés.

Keep in mind that the transportation portion of this might consume more time than you anticipate right now, and that you might not enjoy packing too much into a limited timespan. For example, is it worth sprinting into Santiago if you don't have any time to enjoy it afterward? I'm not sure what your whole timeline is--just operating from the 3-4 day estimate.

No need to commit to either ahead of time, so it's probably best to act based on how you're feeling after the initial stretch of walking concludes.

Hope you have a great experience!

Dave, I never replied that what we did do and this was in part serendipitous, is that the Llanes family was driving to Lugo. So we did four days of del Norte and then relaxed with the family for two nights and then to Lugo. We then had a lovely albeit rainy Galician Camino from Lugo to Santiago where we immersed for three nights before heading by train sadly to Madrid and then home. On the del Norte Luke decided he wanted to try to attain the Compostela, so having your suggestions helped us to frame that, at that point. One is called by the road and one's wishes at the same time. Thank you!