Bringing Trekking Poles To My Camino or Purchasing them on arrival

As I do not like to check in my bags (I've had my luggage delayed upon occasion, a couple of times for several days) I would personally buy the Poles upon arrival.

Decathlon - equivalent to REI.

I’m afraid that if you check your poles, you risk them not arriving to your destination with you. That happened to us in Santiago. But, that situation is better than you checking your pack and it not arriving. So, I’d suggest that you leave your poles at home and purchase a new pair in Portugal. Bom Caminho.

If you go to this site, you can locate a Decathlon in Portugal, near where you will land.

Make sure it is a full-service store and not just a city store. The shops located in a city center typically are small shops. They will likely not have hiking poles.

You can view the store on the web site to get an idea. The stores located just outside a city center will be huge, and are usually reached by bus, metro or taxi. That is where you will find literally everything you could need to do a Camino.


Use an online translator to translate Portuguese web pages as needed.

Decathlon is a sports SUPER STORE. It is typically huge, and has entire aisles dedicated to a single sport. It surpasses anything we have here in the US. They offer products that provide good value for the price paid. Their logos and house-brands will be the ones you see the most of on the Camino.

Hiking poles will not be a problem. Buy what you need. I have seen individual, adjustable aluminum poles that are more than suitable, for less than €10 each. In fact, one of the most seen hiking poles are the adjustable, turquoise-colored aluminum poles that usually sell for €6.99 or less each.

When I am volunteering at the Pilgrim Office, these are the poles most often abandoned at the end of a Camino. That is how I gauge their popularity. It seems that many pilgrims do not mind treating these poles as expendable at the end of their trip, especially if they want to avoid the hassle of trying to bring them home on an airplane, without checking them.

Hope this helps.

Tom

I order a decent but inexpensive, pair of trekking poles from Amazon or Decathlon to be delivered to the lodging site I will stay at to start a Camino. Because these trekking poles will be left behind when I fly back home, I do not need trekking poles that will last forever, just until I finish my pilgrimage.

You can register an online account at the Amazon or Decathlon websites in the country you will spend your first night before starting your camino.

I will send an email the lodging site to confirm that it is okay for me to send them to that place, get the proper address and how they wish me to add any identifying information on the shipping label (Dave Bugg, c/o Your Lodging of Choice, Street address, city, etc.

I have always had the order waiting for me when I check into my lodging site. It has been delivered on time with the trekking pole package waiting in my room, sitting on a table or next to the bed.

davebugg said:

You can register an online account at the Amazon or Decathlon websites in the country you will spend your first night before starting your camino.

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How on Earth did you successfully register with the Decathlon website in Spain? It refused to accept any of my three ID'S (German, British, New Zealand.)
When I called their help desk I was informed that I needed a Spanish ID

SILVtheNomad said:

Hello everyone,
I am walking the Camino Portuguese this upcoming September and I am coming from America. I currently have trekking poles already but they are not collapsible (foldable) only quick-lock (shrinkable.) I heard there is a possibility of TSA not letting you through with trekking poles on a carry-on on and you might have to check them in. However, I am just worried about checking my bag in god forbid it were to get lost or the person who loads the luggage doesn't load my bag with care and the trekking poles strapped to the outside of the bag get lost. Does anyone recommend leaving them here and trying to buy some once I get to Portugal (store suggestions.)? or should I just attempt to bring them with me as a carry-on?

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Hi
Having trekked in many places and in many planes, just get a pair of collapsible poles. Your might get broken on the plane an you might have a slim chance of findings poles you like.
Buen camino

Peterexpatkiwi said:

How on Earth did you successfully register with the Decathlon website in Spain? It refused to accept any of my three ID'S (German, British, New Zealand.)
When I called their help desk I was informed that I needed a Spanish ID

Click to expand...

That must've changed because neither Amazon.es or Decathlon Spain required ID, just a valid email account.

Peterexpatkiwi said:

How on Earth did you successfully register with the Decathlon website in Spain? It refused to accept any of my three ID'S (German, British, New Zealand.)
When I called their help desk I was informed that I needed a Spanish ID

Click to expand...

I just successfully created an account by making up a Spanish DNI number