April 10, 2025 from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port

[NerdGjerd]

Hello, if it was your first Camino, what would you do regarding below dates? Any adjustments you suggest?

I am planning my very first Camino. Current loose plans are to start around April 10th in SJPdP, solo. I cannot start any earlier than that. I plan to book ahead the first few days to Pamplona. Likely getting reservations again for the last bit from Saria to Santiago. But I hope to NOT book ahead most other days in-between, playing it by ear, the freedom to stop for the day depending on my mood each day. Mostly staying in albergues.

If you look at proposed beginning stages below, do you see any shifting of dates you would make if it were you? I do like the idea of some shorter days in the beginning.

4/10 Thu Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port
4/11 Fri Orisson or Borda or Valcarlos
4/12 Sat Roncesvalles (Semana Santa starts - extra busy here?)
4/15 Tue Pamplona (Tuesday of Semana Santa? fun to experience or too crowded in your opinion?)
4/20 Easter Navarrete (good place to be on Easter?)
Santiago maybe late 3rd week of May.

About me: I'd like to experience some of the Semana Santa activities discussed in other posts. But I'm also not a huge fan of elbow-to-elbow crowds on the busiest days of the year. I know the Frances will be crowded in general, but this is where I want to experience my first Camino. Not sure how far i'll be able to walk each day, so the above dates are assuming loosely 20Km per day. I'm 60 and have been training to 12Km per day so far plan to increase. I'm planning to carry my own backpack and go as light as I can. No flight reservations yet, I'm retired so am not in a hurry. I have been lurking here for a couple years, so have read most other advice on basics, which has been SO helpful, thank you all!

One idea I'm toying with, is stalling 4 more days, to leave SJPdP on Monday the 14th instead. Others have posted that starting a couple days on the tail end of the LePuy route might be nice. But I'm not sure I'm adventurous enough for that on my first Camino. And I am terrible at languages, so France scares me a bit. If I did that, I would end up in Pamplona very close to Easter, so I'd probably want to walk slower/faster to avoid that. On a side note, current plan is for my wife and I to end our 2 week Europe holiday in Nice on the 9th. (She will fly home from Nice, and I'm hoping to get from Nice to Bayonne or nearby by the evening of the 9th)

Thank you for any suggestions

 

[trecile]

This thread might be helpful:
Where to spend Easter on the Camino Frances?

I think that Navarrete would be a good place to be for Easter.

 

[Grousedoctor]

I think choosing the Francés as your first Camino is a great idea. Like many others on this Forum, it, too, was my first Camino with absolutely no regrets.

Since that first walk, I’ve been back to one Camino or another during Semana Santa three times (I love walking in the spring). With the exception of Sevilla, which was a great experience, you will not experience, at least I haven’t, a crowdedness that I detect some worry about since you won’t be within the last 100km of Santiago. Even when I walked from Tui north to Santiago or Ferrol down to Santiago during Semana Santa, it wasn’t crazy. More Spanish pilgrims are out walking to Santiago which might require some room/bed reservation in that last stretch, but not much more than that. There will undoubtedly be some Semana Santa celebrations in Pamplona, but, in general, nothing crazy and certainly nothing like the Saint Fermin festival in July. Easter is a great time to be in Spain. As you’ll be in and around Navarra then, I wouldn’t expect anything too out of the ordinary. Starting around the 10th of April will put you a bit in front of the bigger pilgrim rush later in the month. Take your time and enjoy every step to Santiago. Buen Camino!

 

[NerdGjerd]

This thread might be helpful:
Where to spend Easter on the Camino Frances?

I think that Navarrete would be a good place to be for Easter.

Thank you. That was a very helpful thread!

 

[NerdGjerd]

I think choosing the Francés as your first Camino is a great idea. Like many others on this Forum, it, too, was my first Camino with absolutely no regrets.

Since that first walk, I’ve been back to one Camino or another during Semana Santa three times (I love walking in the spring). With the exception of Sevilla, which was a great experience, you will not experience, at least I haven’t, a crowdedness that I detect some worry about since you won’t be within the last 100km of Santiago. Even when I walked from Tui north to Santiago or Ferrol down to Santiago during Semana Santa, it wasn’t crazy. More Spanish pilgrims are out walking to Santiago which might require some room/bed reservation in that last stretch, but not much more than that. There will undoubtedly be some Semana Santa celebrations in Pamplona, but, in general, nothing crazy and certainly nothing like the Saint Fermin festival in July. Easter is a great time to be in Spain. As you’ll be in and around Navarra then, I wouldn’t expect anything too out of the ordinary. Starting around the 10th of April will put you a bit in front of the bigger pilgrim rush later in the month. Take your time and enjoy every step to Santiago. Buen Camino!

thank you Grousedoctor! very reassuring

 

[AndrewP]

Hello
I walked a first Camino this year 2024 on the Camino Francis.
Male Australian 64 years of age
Prepared since January 1 2024 with walks a couple of time a week reaching 20Plus KM with backpack by the few weeks before April 10
I started April 10. A Wednesday in SJPDP. I took 40 days with rest days each Sunday.
I arrived Santiago de Compostela Saturday May 18 and rested Sunday May 19 with a pilgrim mass.
I allowed an extra day in SJPDP. Travelled via Paris and Bayonne Monday April 8 rested Tuesday April 9 in SJPDP with the option of splitting the first day Tuesday/Wednesday.
The initial concern was the unseasonal cold weather for Early Spring. Heavy snow and rain meant that the Napoléon route was advised not to walk by the pilgrim office. So I took one day Wednesday April 10 went via Valcarlos and arrived at Roncesvalles safely.
Certainly splitting this day with a stop half way makes sense. I originally wanted to do it that way
I wanted to stop and rest in smaller places and have the opportunity to live like a local for a day, church service, lunch at the plaza mayor, stroll with the locals, that type of rest. Not tour and walk 10 or 20 Kms in a place that was bigger.
My rest days meant
Puente La Reina, that would avoid busy Easter in Pamplona
Later rest days, each one a Sunday
Belorado
Carrion de Los Condes
Astorga (the biggest place I took a rest day)
Triacastela (avoiding busy Sarria)
Santiago

I agree that a place like Navarrete would be great for a rest day
Granon later on is also a place you may consider a stop

I have updated the 10 short videos (average 6 minutes each) and finished a summary video (60 minutes) I posted yesterday
See
Youtube
AndrewwalkwithHim
for the summary video

Regards
Andrew

 

[Stephan the Painter]

4/10 Thu Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port
4/11 Fri Orisson or Borda or Valcarlos
4/12 Sat Roncesvalles (Semana Santa starts - extra busy here?)
4/15 Tue Pamplona (Tuesday of Semana Santa? fun to experience or too crowded in your opinion?)
4/20 Easter Navarrete (good place to be on Easter?)
Santiago maybe late 3rd week of May.

It's a good plan. Just reserve In Pampalona and probably before. I was in Easter in Pampalona over Easter a couple years ago. There's some great parades and events, but it's not too much. Sometimes stores and restaurants have limited hours in the small towns over Semana Santa. But along the Camino Frances, there should always be something open.

 

[rappahannock_rev]

This thread might be helpful:
Where to spend Easter on the Camino Frances?

I think that Navarrete would be a good place to be for Easter.

Why Navarette?

 

[Vacajoe]

It’s a great time to walk and you won’t hit elbow-to-elbow crowds in Northern Spain over Easter. You might hit snow, though, so have a Plan B if the Pyrenees route is closed (Valcarlos, start in Roncesvalles, etc). You will likely have no problem walking without reservations the rest of the route.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

4/20 Easter Navarrete (good place to be on Easter?)

I think that Navarrete would be a good place to be for Easter.

Why Navarette?

The Church of the Assumption in Navarrete is very impressive with a high ceiling and a spectacular gold retablo. In the sixteenth century the town used to be three times it's current size and being on the Camino Francés it could afford an impressive building. @Bradypus started a thread about a mini botafumeiro at the church. My guess is that the thurible will swing on Easter.

The thread is here:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/botafumeiro-in-navarrete.82077/

If you don't visit the thread at least look at the thurible swing (@Bradypus discovered this video):

YouTube video id: G5W1dozVSAs

Here's what the retablo looks like:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/camino-photos/amazing-altar-in-navarrete.10155/

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/camino-photos/the-altar-at-the-church-of-the-assumption-navarrete.1502/

 

[AndrewP]

My snippet from my diary April 19 2024 in Navarette
View attachment Navarette Snippet Day 9 April 19 2024.mp4