Guidebooks compared

[Tarisz]

Hello!
Can somebody please help me find a thread where the various guidebooks are assessed and compared. I used Brierley’s and Wise Pilgrim before and now on the Norte might want to buy the Village to Village guidebook. Brierley does not publish guides on the Norte and Wise Pilgrim I found was a strain on my eyes on previous walks with its minuscule print format. How does Village to Village compare to Wise Pilgrim? Or is there any other slim volume pocket-size option? I would insist on having a book in hand, not only a smart phone and apps.

 

[willydp]

Hello,
I found this: 2022
Buen Camino

 

[Adelina]

I have used Village to Village for the Portugues and the Primitivo - slim volumes with lots of information, and I prefer paper copies with Gronze as backup. Very useful guides.

 

[Tincatinker]

Hello!
Can somebody please help me find a thread where the various guidebooks are assessed and compared. I used Brierley’s and Wise Pilgrim before and now on the Norte might want to buy the Village to Village guidebook. Brierley does not publish guides on the Norte and Wise Pilgrim I found was a strain on my eyes on previous walks with its minuscule print format. How does Village to Village compare to Wise Pilgrim? Or is there any other slim volume pocket-size option? I would insist on having a book in hand, not only a smart phone and apps.

Your choices are Village to Village or Cicerone. Or one of the available apps. The Cicerone is far more comprehensive and includes most if not all all of the coastal variants. It’s comprehensive nature is reflected in its weight, 340gm.

Some might recommend buying both and annotating the V2V for the journey. I don’t make recommendations

 

[dcalonder12]

We used Cicerone in conjunction with the Wise Pilgrim app. It worked out well. Buen Camino!

 

[jrewins]

Tarisz opens up a very needed can of Camino worms here. Having a single objective summary / comparison of both printed and online guides for at least the primary routes in Spain would be a good resource for many peregrinos. If anyone knows of such a piece of work, I would welcome a peek at it’s content.

 

[Tarisz]

Tarisz opens up a very needed can of Camino worms here. Having a single objective summary / comparison of both printed and online guides for at least the primary routes in Spain would be a good resource for many peregrinos. If anyone knows of such a piece of work, I would welcome a peek at it’s content.

I was not being smart. Since Brierley, whose guides I liked a lot on the French and Portuguese route, has no book on the Norte and Wisepilgrim worked fine on the Primitivo but for its small print, I wondered how it compares to the Village to Village guide. Cicerino is a little bulky but still, I would like to have a book in hand walking the Norte.

 

[jrewins]

I apologize Tz if my response sounded condescending - it was not my intent. I think you make a very good point, and one that I share, that the many different guide book/app options can be frustrating as you can’t know which book/app will work for you unless you purchase each one. It would help to have a resource to make the selection process a little easier.

 

[Tarisz]

I apologize Tz if my response sounded condescending - it was not my intent. I think you make a very good point, and one that I share, that the many different guide book/app options can be frustrating as you can’t know which book/app will work for you unless you purchase each one. It would help to have a resource to make the selection process a little easier.

No offense. Don’t worry.

 

[janis2cats]

I bought the Village to Village for the Frances. I also had the Brierley's but didn't use it nearly as much as the Village to Village.

 

[Tarisz]

So to me it sounds as if V to V is quite user friendly. Thank you.

 

[WGroleau]

Hello!
Can somebody please help me find a thread where the various guidebooks are assessed and compared. I used Brierley’s and Wise Pilgrim before and now on the Norte might want to buy the Village to Village guidebook. Brierley does not publish guides on the Norte and Wise Pilgrim I found was a strain on my eyes on previous walks with its minuscule print format. How does Village to Village compare to Wise Pilgrim? Or is there any other slim volume pocket-size option? I would insist on having a book in hand, not only a smart phone and apps.

I bought a Michelin guide a few years ago. Really liked the format, but in my village, it listed an albergue that had ceased to exist ages earlier, and did not list the one that had been there twenty years. I suspect that with some of them, "new and revised" means they changed the date on the cover.

 

[Paul-CH]

"new and revised" means they changed the date on the cover

You can say this to any media. Even Google did show me a Hotel, which was shutdown a year before.
But I think, the last owner had other problems to solve and didn't think about the own Website and Google entries.

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

Another vote for the Village to village. I used it for the preliminary planning of my Primitivo. Found it concise, but inclusive. (By that I mean it showed all variants etc). Extremely helpful.
Took just photos of it with me. Saw several people carrying it.

 

[Tarisz]

This is very helpful. Thank you.

 

[pmccutcheon]

I purchased the Cicerone "Camino del Norte and Camino Primitivo" (Whitson&Perazzoli) guidebook.
I have NOT "used" it on an actual trip.

Weight is 350 g (also mentioned by someone already, I just weighed mine.)
dimensions 12x17x1.6 cm
around 300 pages

This is a well made book: solid cover, binding seems good, glossy paper, color photos and color maps.
The cover has those foldout built-in page marker thingies.
Overview map at the front inside cover.
Distance table at the front, with summary of verticals as well
Some overview, some basic tips. (about 40 pages roughly)
Maps are a simplified topographic format.
Organized in "stages" (like most books) even though it tells you that you don't need to follow stages.
Each stage has a summary table: distance, how much paved, vertical, rates terrain difficulty and trail finding.
Also a profile chart for the stage.
Lists accommodation, services and so forth, seems pretty comprehensive.
Has clear warnings of areas where there is little support.

A nice bonus is it has a side trip to Covadonga. Also some extra route options in the Oviedo/Gijon area. Plus Camino Finisterre.

In several places the authors point out routes they feel are better than the "official" camino.

This book is definitely worth the money, and I am happy with the purchase, sitting from my armchair.

What can I compare it too?
a) It seems as good as/ better than a "Bruce Trail Guidebook" here in Ontario (which might be obscure for international readers). Maps in the BTG are perhaps better (full topo) but Cicerone has much more info about stops.
b) Not quite as slick as Moon's Camino de Santiago (Bahrami) but I'm fine with that. I suspect the market for Norte/Primitivo is smaller.

Would I take it? Alas it seems a bit heavy. I would go for the ebook version, I plan to buy it when I get closer to trip day. They have a big discount if you buy both versions, I wish I had spotted that deal.

 

[pmccutcheon]

I purchased the Cicerone "Camino del Norte and Camino Primitivo" (Whitson&Perazzoli) guidebook.
I have NOT "used" it on an actual trip.

Weight is 350 g (also mentioned by someone already, I just weighed mine.)
dimensions 12x17x1.6 cm
around 300 pages

This is a well made book: solid cover, binding seems good, glossy paper, color photos and color maps.
The cover has those foldout built-in page marker thingies.
Overview map at the front inside cover.
Distance table at the front, with summary of verticals as well
Some overview, some basic tips. (about 40 pages roughly)
Maps are a simplified topographic format.
Organized in "stages" (like most books) even though it tells you that you don't need to follow stages.
Each stage has a summary table: distance, how much paved, vertical, rates terrain difficulty and trail finding.
Also a profile chart for the stage.
Lists accommodation, services and so forth, seems pretty comprehensive.
Has clear warnings of areas where there is little support.

A nice bonus is it has a side trip to Covadonga. Also some extra route options in the Oviedo/Gijon area. Plus Camino Finisterre.

In several places the authors point out routes they feel are better than the "official" camino.

This book is definitely worth the money, and I am happy with the purchase, sitting from my armchair.

What can I compare it too?
a) It seems as good as/ better than a "Bruce Trail Guidebook" here in Ontario (which might be obscure for international readers). Maps in the BTG are perhaps better (full topo) but Cicerone has much more info about stops.
b) Not quite as slick as Moon's Camino de Santiago (Bahrami) but I'm fine with that. I suspect the market for Norte/Primitivo is smaller.

Would I take it? Alas it seems a bit heavy. I would go for the ebook version, I plan to buy it when I get closer to trip day. They have a big discount if you buy both versions, I wish I had spotted that deal.

 

[Tarisz]

I purchased the Cicerone "Camino del Norte and Camino Primitivo" (Whitson&Perazzoli) guidebook.
I have NOT "used" it on an actual trip.

Weight is 350 g (also mentioned by someone already, I just weighed mine.)
dimensions 12x17x1.6 cm
around 300 pages

This is a well made book: solid cover, binding seems good, glossy paper, color photos and color maps.
The cover has those foldout built-in page marker thingies.
Overview map at the front inside cover.
Distance table at the front, with summary of verticals as well
Some overview, some basic tips. (about 40 pages roughly)
Maps are a simplified topographic format.
Organized in "stages" (like most books) even though it tells you that you don't need to follow stages.
Each stage has a summary table: distance, how much paved, vertical, rates terrain difficulty and trail finding.
Also a profile chart for the stage.
Lists accommodation, services and so forth, seems pretty comprehensive.
Has clear warnings of areas where there is little support.

A nice bonus is it has a side trip to Covadonga. Also some extra route options in the Oviedo/Gijon area. Plus Camino Finisterre.

In several places the authors point out routes they feel are better than the "official" camino.

This book is definitely worth the money, and I am happy with the purchase, sitting from my armchair.

What can I compare it too?
a) It seems as good as/ better than a "Bruce Trail Guidebook" here in Ontario (which might be obscure for international readers). Maps in the BTG are perhaps better (full topo) but Cicerone has much more info about stops.
b) Not quite as slick as Moon's Camino de Santiago (Bahrami) but I'm fine with that. I suspect the market for Norte/Primitivo is smaller.

Would I take it? Alas it seems a bit heavy. I would go for the ebook version, I plan to buy it when I get closer to trip day. They have a big discount if you buy both versions, I wish I had spotted that deal.

Thank you so much. This is a detailed and insightful review. However, I think I will not buy Cicerone for its bulkiness. I’d prefer something slim and would insist on having a printed copy at hand when walking and use my telephone for reservation when needed. So it seems my options are Wisepilgrim or Village to Village. I used Wisepilgrim on the Primitivo and it was excellent but a strain on the eyes with its small fonts. I also had Brierley on Portuguese and Frances but Brierley has not published a guide on the Norte. I wish I had a detailed review on the Village to Village guide like yours was on Cicerone. Thanks again.

 

[syug]

Hello!
Can somebody please help me find a thread where the various guidebooks are assessed and compared. I used Brierley’s and Wise Pilgrim before and now on the Norte might want to buy the Village to Village guidebook. Brierley does not publish guides on the Norte and Wise Pilgrim I found was a strain on my eyes on previous walks with its minuscule print format. How does Village to Village compare to Wise Pilgrim? Or is there any other slim volume pocket-size option? I would insist on having a book in hand, not only a smart phone and apps.

Hello, you can download the pdf version from Forwalk and print it yourself. It's very detailed and useful! https://app.forwalk.org/2/8/en/28/

 

[Tarisz]

Hello, you can download the pdf version from Forwalk and print it yourself. It's very detailed and useful! https://app.forwalk.org/2/8/en/28/

Good idea but as for me I’d prefer a proper book.