Camino Inglés

[HANDSOMEJR]

My wife and I will be starting Camino Inglés on September 10. Any advice from fellow perrigrinos?

 

[domigee]

No, just enjoy!

 

[peb]

The first thing to say is do not worry!!!

I didn't sleep the night in Ferrol, not because the hotel was bad, but because I was so worried about walking so far, day after day, and how was I going to do it. I needn't have been.

Even at a slowish pace, the longest stages, for me, were 9 or 10 hours, meaning if you set off early, you reach your destination before dark. The hardest part of the Ingles, being the hill after Bar Julia, has been taken out, so that stage is nowhere near as fearsome as it used to be.

Some things that helped me:

1. Remember the Ingles is not like the Camino Frances, where there are bars, restaurants, shops, maybe every 2 or 3 km. On parts of the Ingles, you can walk 1 to 1.5 hours without seeing a bar, restaurant or shop. That helps the Ingles being peaceful and quiet, giving a real pilgrim experience, but it means that you need provisions, water, and sustenance to help you through the day. Shops generally do not open until 10am in many places, but equally close late in the evening, so buy for the next day, the evening before. In Ferrol, the supermarket at El Corte Ingles on the main shopping street opens till 10am.

2. If you arrive in Ferrol the afternoon before you start, walking from the start at the harbour to your hotel can save 30 to 45 minutes on the first morning, and meaning you can walk from your hotel, out of the town. You will thank yourselves for doing this on your first morning.

3. It is perfectly allowed to walk across the N-451 bridge from Ferrol to Fene on the first stage (if you are walking to Pontedeume) instead of walking round the estuary. You will still have walked 100km from Ferrol to SdC.

4. for those that want to finish their walk, have a meal and crash out for an early night, it is difficult to find an evening meal in many places before 8pm or 8.30pm

5. You are in Galicia, so it will rain, some of the time. One of the best things I took was a golf umbrella with a half size pole, I could stick into my rucksack. Decathlon sells them for about 10 $ / £ / €

6. I got lost at Vilar do Colo on the way to Pontedeume, at Cos on the way to Betanzos and coming down into Santiago, but hopefully you will not make the same mistakes as me (my excuse is that it was teeming it down with rain, so I spent my time, sheltering, looking down at the floor, instead of looking at the markers). Otherwise, the path is really well marked

7. Best time to obtain a compostela at the pilgrims office in SdC is when the pilgrims service is on. Took me 10 minutes at 12 noon, so I was in the cathedral in time for the Botafumeiro. The queue for compostellas after the service is long.


And as @domigee says .......enjoy .... the scenery round the coast, especially on the stages to Betanzos are delightful.

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Have you got the latest guide? There was a significant amount of rerouting carried out this spring. Don't worry the people who did it were very, one might say overly generous with the marker stones. Trust them.

Ferrol the tourist offices (2 of them) can stamp your credential but their opening hours are
Monday to Friday: from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm and from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
Saturdays: from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm
So pick your time.
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In Fene there's a great supermarket just over the bridge, turn left and walk along the river until the road curves right. Freshly squeezed orange juice by which I mean YOU control the machine that squeezes the oranges into fresh bottles:
Avenida Mar, s/n, 15500 Fene, La Coruña, Spain


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Just one bar between Fene and Cabanas IIRC, another just on the entrance to Cabanas and then shops/bars either side of river. Tourist office in grassed area on right before crossing the bridge.

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Pontedeume is nice, the climb out is a pig but there's a little seating area 3/4 of the way up and an hostel at the top which doesn't look much but the food is great - farmacia next door.

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Miño is good but you no longer get close to the beach unless you come off trail.

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I didn't like Betanzos because it was raining and I couldn't find anywhere to eat that was open before 9pm.

The town does, however, look promising.

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I went "off piste" after Betanzos to stay an hostel I'd been recommended so can't help with this section.

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Ordes - it was Sunday. Ordes was shut or might as well have been. Great coffee and cakes at the Hotel Restaurante Nogallás though.

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The walk into Sigüeiro has been messed around with and now routes you alongside the main autoroute for some distance. If I were to do it again I'd follow the old route that runs parallel - you can't get lost. Public swimming pool as you enter - wished I had a costume. Stayed at the Sigüeiro Hostel - lovely place by the river. Good food, near to supermarket too.

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The walk into SdC is pleasant in places, though woods. Nice big bar cafe Poligono as you enter the industrial area.

The entrance into SdC isn't, in my opinion, as good as the one from the CF. Mainly residential with the odd small bar until you reach McDonalds by the big roundabout but hey! Well done, you made it!

 

[Tuaruin]

Try not to get too focused on the destination each day, remember to relax and soak up the little things along your way.

Buen camino!

 

[Maxy]

Many thanks for the responses - my wife and I are planning to undertake Ingles next year and starting the planning now. Looking forward to the weather next year - the Norte in June this year was alternately cold and wet and hot and dry. At one point family in England had 32 degrees while I had 12! Have a superb experience.

Buen Camino!

 

[KinkyOne]

Many thanks for the responses - my wife and I are planning to undertake Ingles next year and starting the planning now. Looking forward to the weather next year - the Norte in June this year was alternately cold and wet and hot and dry. At one point family in England had 32 degrees while I had 12! Have a superb experience.

Buen Camino!

This year throughout Europe the weather was a bit messed up in comparison to previous years in my memory. First a lot of rain in the spring and then heatwaves in the summer (Sweden for example). OK, it's not completely unusual to have that kind of weather but the quantity is unusual. I did some parts of Madrid/Levante/VdlP/Sanabres/Finisterre combo this spring and it was so lousy weather that I had to walk at least 10 days in my long pants. On all of my previous Caminos (10 of them) I did that only for one day and a half. This year the temperature in April/May didn't rise above 25C! You just can't predict the weather

 

[judydaisy]

Not sure where to post this but... does anyone know if the CFJ guide to the English route 2017/2018 is sufficiently up to date for a Spring 2019 camino? Given that there have been changes to the route since I last did it. The reviews I’ve read too for the Wise Pilgrim app are not all that positive either.
Can anyone recommend a guide... paper or otherwise. Many thanks

 

[KinkyOne]

Not sure where to post this but... does anyone know if the CFJ guide to the English route 2017/2018 is sufficiently up to date for a Spring 2019 camino? Given that there have been changes to the route since I last did it. The reviews I’ve read too for the Wise Pilgrim app are not all that positive either.
Can anyone recommend a guide... paper or otherwise. Many thanks

Hola!

It was reported that the new reroute is waymarked very good. I also see that you already walked CI in 2012. I think you don't need any guide, paper or otherwise

Buen Camino

 

[peb]

I used the new CSJ guide in March this year. It has the re-route for the new route to hospital de Bruma included, but if I recall correctly, it did not have the new re-route along the road after Cos, by the motorway on the walk to Sigueiro, or the new route after Sigueiro included. However, as @KinkyOne correctly says, the Ingles is pretty well waymarked.

Therefore, whilst the CSJ guide is probably the most up to date guide at the moment (I read somewhere that Brierley is to bring a new Ingles guide out, do not know if before March 2019?), I found that walking with a guide close to me, I was unduly worried about where to go (I kept reading the next pointer in the guide and was concerned about finding where that was) instead of enjoying the scenery and the walk.

Therefore, after the first day, I just followed the waymarks and used the guide only in case the waymarks were confusing.

I also used the Cicerone guide, even though it was out of date, because the coloured maps gave a good indication of each day's journey.

 

[Solsito]

The first thing to say is do not worry!!!

I didn't sleep the night in Ferrol, not because the hotel was bad, but because I was so worried about walking so far, day after day, and how was I going to do it. I needn't have been.

Even at a slowish pace, the longest stages, for me, were 9 or 10 hours, meaning if you set off early, you reach your destination before dark. The hardest part of the Ingles, being the hill after Bar Julia, has been taken out, so that stage is nowhere near as fearsome as it used to be.

Some things that helped me:

1. Remember the Ingles is not like the Camino Frances, where there are bars, restaurants, shops, maybe every 2 or 3 km. On parts of the Ingles, you can walk 1 to 1.5 hours without seeing a bar, restaurant or shop. That helps the Ingles being peaceful and quiet, giving a real pilgrim experience, but it means that you need provisions, water, and sustenance to help you through the day. Shops generally do not open until 10am in many places, but equally close late in the evening, so buy for the next day, the evening before. In Ferrol, the supermarket at El Corte Ingles on the main shopping street opens till 10am.

2. If you arrive in Ferrol the afternoon before you start, walking from the start at the harbour to your hotel can save 30 to 45 minutes on the first morning, and meaning you can walk from your hotel, out of the town. You will thank yourselves for doing this on your first morning.

3. It is perfectly allowed to walk across the N-451 bridge from Ferrol to Fene on the first stage (if you are walking to Pontedeume) instead of walking round the estuary. You will still have walked 100km from Ferrol to SdC.

4. for those that want to finish their walk, have a meal and crash out for an early night, it is difficult to find an evening meal in many places before 8pm or 8.30pm

5. You are in Galicia, so it will rain, some of the time. One of the best things I took was a golf umbrella with a half size pole, I could stick into my rucksack. Decathlon sells them for about 10 $ / £ / €

6. I got lost at Vilar do Colo on the way to Pontedeume, at Cos on the way to Betanzos and coming down into Santiago, but hopefully you will not make the same mistakes as me (my excuse is that it was teeming it down with rain, so I spent my time, sheltering, looking down at the floor, instead of looking at the markers). Otherwise, the path is really well marked

7. Best time to obtain a compostela at the pilgrims office in SdC is when the pilgrims service is on. Took me 10 minutes at 12 noon, so I was in the cathedral in time for the Botafumeiro. The queue for compostellas after the service is long.


And as @domigee says .......enjoy .... the scenery round the coast, especially on the stages to Betanzos are delightful.

Hello

I'm doing Camino Ingles at the end of October 2018. Can you tell me which albergue/hostel/hotel is the nearest to the starting point of the Camino Ingles? (number 2 of your post). I hope I have luck with the weather

Thank you
☼

 

[notion900]

Gronze.com is perfectly sufficient and usually bang up to date.
Betanzos is nationally famous for tortilla.

 

[KinkyOne]

Hello

I'm doing Camino Ingles at the end of October 2018. Can you tell me which albergue/hostel/hotel is the nearest to the starting point of the Camino Ingles? (number 2 of your post). I hope I have luck with the weather

Thank you
☼

The nearest hotel/hostal (no albergue though) is in the city of Ferrol but otherwise the nearest on the trail is Albergue de Neda (which is actually in town of Xubia) if you take the longer and more scenic route around the estuary. It's exactly 15,57 km from the starting mojon in old harbor to the albergue.

 

[james mcev]

Nice route. Enjoy it. Have a look on google maps, Lots of accommodation in Ferrol.

 

[Pelegrin]

The nearest hotel/hostal (no albergue though) is in the city of Ferrol but otherwise the nearest on the trail is Albergue de Neda (which is actually in town of Xubia) if you take the longer and more scenic route around the estuary. It's exactly 15,57 km from the starting mojon in old harbor to the albergue.

Kinky I think that the albergue de Neda is in the municipality of Neda. Xubia is part of the Narón municipality To get to the albergue you have to pass the river Xubia that is the limit between the two municipalities.

 

[peb]

Technically, I think that the nearest hotel in Ferrol to the start of the Camino Ingles is the Parador, about 10 minutes walk away. I do not recall any albergues in Ferrol.

I stayed in the Hotel El Suizo, about 20 minutes walk away, but more in the centre of Ferrol, and so nearer the train station and restaurants. Bla Bla Café, if you can find a table, was very good,.

 

[KinkyOne]

Kinky I think that the albergue de Neda is in the municipality of Neda. Xubia is part of the Narón municipality To get to the albergue you have to pass the river Xubia that is the limit between the two municipalities.

Might be true about the municipalities but village of Neda is 2 km further on from Albergue de Neda. Even Sta.Maria de Neda is 1,5km further. So in what village would then those houses on the main road and albergue be? I guess the village is divided between two municipalities Or they simply call everything after the bridge Neda.

 

[Solsito]

The nearest hotel/hostal (no albergue though) is in the city of Ferrol but otherwise the nearest on the trail is Albergue de Neda (which is actually in town of Xubia) if you take the longer and more scenic route around the estuary. It's exactly 15,57 km from the starting mojon in old harbor to the albergue.

I forgot to write ''...the nearest .... in Ferrol'' I start there. I'm thinking Pension La Parra or Hotel Almendra. As I was reading posts, I think two pilgrims said they stayed at the Almendra. Has anyone tried Pension La Parra? (the reviews on booking are not so good).

Besos

 

[Pelegrin]

Might be true about the municipalities but village of Neda is 2 km further on from Albergue de Neda. Even Sta.Maria de Neda is 1,5km further. So in what village would then those houses on the main road and albergue be? I guess the village is divided between two municipalities Or they simply call everything after the bridge Neda.

I have called Hotel Kensington in Xubia (Naron) and they have explained that the albergue of Neda is located in an area called also Xubia So Xubia is devided by the river into two municipalies. The part of Neda is smaller. So you were right

 

[KinkyOne]

I have called Hotel Kensington in Xubia (Naron) and they have explained that the albergue of Neda is located in an area called also Xubia So Xubia is devided by the river into two municipalies. The part of Neda is smaller. So you were right

Wow, thanks for clarification.
I was (almost) sure in what I was talking because the next indication of the village after Xubia I saw was Sta.Maria de Neda.

 

[peb]

coming back to Ferrol, and the point about walking the first or so of the Ingles from the harbour to level where your hotel is the evening before, the fact that there are no hotels bang on where the Ingles starts and only the Parador (the most luxurious hotel in Ferrol, which, if you have the money, and it does not cost as much as expected in low season) is nearby, illustrates my point. Except for the Parador, it is 20 minutes or so from your hotel down to the harbour, and then 20 minutes back. Therefore, if you can cut that 20 minutes out the evening before (walking without your pack), and then just walk out of where you are staying to the nearest point of the Ingles, your legs will welcome this, especially, if you are walking to Pontedeume. Even if you are walking to Xubia or Neda, as this is the first day, cutting that 40 minute walk out still makes a difference.

Therefore, I would say, choose whichever hotel in Ferrol looks best for you, not whether it is nearer the start of the Ingles. If you stay in the centre, you are nearer the restaurants, bars, and the very good supermarket in El Corte Ingles, which is worth the stock up on provisions the evening before, noting when I was in Ferrol, the supermarket part of the department store was open till 10pm (the main department store opened till 8pm), except on Sundays