My head is about to explode with questions & options

[cheekyaussie]

Hi everyone,

My partner and I are walking the camino next year.... which one? what month? Sleeping bag or or sleeve? Do I stop in that place or not? ... oh so many questions! I think I've settled on June 2025
Are there any places you

• must see
• would "skip ahead"

We have 21 -28 days. I want to start at Saint Jean,and ideally,I also want to walk the Primitivo. Before saying "oh just come back and do the rest" please remember that we have to fly 27+ hours to start anything. I would appreciate any, helpful, suggestions!

Buon camino y'all

 

[trecile]

Hi everyone,

My partner and I are walking the camino next year.... which one? what month? Sleeping bag or or sleeve? Do I stop in that place or not? ... oh so many questions! I think I've settled on June 2025
Are there any places you

• must see
• would "skip ahead"

We have 21 -28 days. I want to start at Saint Jean,and ideally,I also want to walk the Primitivo. Before saying "oh just come back and do the rest" please remember that we have to fly 27+ hours to start anything. I would appreciate any, helpful, suggestions!

Buon camino y'all

If you want to walk the Primitivo I recommend that you start on the Norte. San Vicente de la Barquera could be a good starting point with your time frame.

St Jean Pied de Port is a nice enough town, but not nice enough to plan your entire trip around IMHO.

I also recommend no skipping. There's something magical that happens during a continuous walk without taking motorized transport. Decide on a starting point where you can comfortably reach Santiago and go for it.

 

[C clearly]

Are there any places you

• must see
• would "skip ahead"

No.

We have 21 -28 days. I want to start at Saint Jean,and ideally,I also want to walk the Primitivo.

Therein lies a problem. You will have to make some compromises, but only you can decide whether the bucket list item of Saint Jean Pied de Port outweighs the different satisfaction of a continuous long walk.

we have to fly 27+ hours to start anything.

In order to start in SJPP, you might need to add 27 more hours to your travel itinerary, to get to SJPP and then hop around on ground transport to get to other places further along the route. That is why many people, including @trecile above, recommend simplifying your planning by picking a start point and walking from there.

 

[Robo]

We also fly from Oz (Sydney)
Our next one will be the 5th time.....

You'll get loads of advice and tips here.
All well intentioned, some of it conflicting.
i.e. There is no single answer......

For what it's worth, I would approach it like this.
Assuming you want to end in Santiago.

1. Work out how many 'walking days' you have.
2. How many kms you are comfortable walking each day.
3. Allow a day in Santiago at the end.
4. Allow 1-2 rest days along the way (you may need them)
5. Then take your actually walking days x your daily distance.
6. Whatever that is.......start that far from Santiago.
7. Skipping parts is difficult for many reasons. (You miss out on places and friends)

As for route, the Frances is hard to beat as a first or 'one off' Camino.
But read about the different routes and see what appeals to you.
Do you want a 'busy' very social Camino?
One with more solitude?

Don't be too hung up on starting in St Jean.
It's a large 'quaint' village, followed by a tough first day walking.
There is nothing historically 'significant' about starting there.

 

[woody66]

Don't be too hung up on starting in St Jean.
It's a large 'quaint' village, followed by a tough first day walking.
There is nothing historically 'significant' about starting there.

Hi!
The walk is the thing that will make the changes; not where you start !
On all my walks I walk 28 days at a time; it gives me plenty of time to smell the roses have shorter days and rest days! ( i live in the UK so only about two to three hours to either Spain or Portugal)

I found SJPP to be as Robo describes it; plus there were major road works and a deluge Noah would be proud of it took away the romance a bit!

I loved the Portuguese Coastal and Espiritual Variant; but of the Frances i felt Leon, Santiago, Fisterra (bloody fog the whole time i was there), Muxia was the best 28 day walk!
But that's only me
Whatever your choice have a blast
Buen Camino
Woody

 

[naplesdon]

In 28 days you could have the best of all worlds, fly to Porto, which is much more interesting than SJPdP, explore the Douro Valley, walk to SdC, then walk to Ferrol or A Coruna. Both ends of this itinerary are serviced by airlines with links to Sydney.

 

[J Willhaus]

Hi everyone,

My partner and I are walking the camino next year.... which one? what month? Sleeping bag or or sleeve? Do I stop in that place or not? ... oh so many questions! I think I've settled on June 2025
Are there any places you

• must see
• would "skip ahead"

We have 21 -28 days. I want to start at Saint Jean,and ideally,I also want to walk the Primitivo. Before saying "oh just come back and do the rest" please remember that we have to fly 27+ hours to start anything. I would appreciate any, helpful, suggestions!

Buon camino y'all

Spend some time reading through various threads here on the forum. It will give you lots of info and things to think about and help you make some decisions about what could work for you. 28 days is not enough time to do both Caminos. June is a great month to walk as it is a little less crowded. If time is an issue, consider starting in a town easier to get to such as Pamplona.

 

[Antonius Vaessen]

You could choose a startingplace like Leon ( or a few stages before on the CF then walk from Leon to Oviedo on the Salvador then continue to Santiago on the Primitivo and possible have enough days left to walk to Finistere and or Muxia the Salvador and Primitivo are beautifull and mountainous

 

[David Tallan]

Hi everyone,

My partner and I are walking the camino next year.... which one? what month? Sleeping bag or or sleeve? Do I stop in that place or not? ... oh so many questions! I think I've settled on June 2025
Are there any places you

• must see
• would "skip ahead"

We have 21 -28 days. I want to start at Saint Jean,and ideally,I also want to walk the Primitivo. Before saying "oh just come back and do the rest" please remember that we have to fly 27+ hours to start anything. I would appreciate any, helpful, suggestions!

Buon camino y'all

With that much time, if you really want to walk the Primitivo, I would skip ahead to Leon and walk the Salvador/Primitivo/possibly on to Finisterre and/or Muxia.

 

[Anamiri]

St Jean adds a level of complexity and time to your Camino just because of its out-of-the-way location.
If the Primitivo is your goal, starting at Leon makes much more sense, and its a lot faster to get to Leon from say Madrid than it is to get to St Jean from just about anywhere.
This year I started at Pamplona, because with various timings, flights buses etc, it would have added more than a day just to get to St Jean.

 

[alexwalker]

For your time/days and as newbiers, I would recommend:

Do the Camino Frances (all facilities/short distances between villages)
Start in Pamplona (Easy to travel to)
Lots of walkers to get to know

 

[trecile]

Do the Camino Frances (all facilities/short distances between villages)
Start in Pamplona (Easy to travel to)
Lots of walkers to get to know

I think that the 21 - 28 day time frame might be too tight for starting from Pamplona.

 

[cheekyaussie]

Thank you! thank you! thank you!
I've only made 200577 changes to our itinerary in 3 days hahaha

 

[trecile]

I've only made 200577 changes to our itinerary in 3 days hahaha

Only 200577 more changes to go!

 

[MARSKA]

Ha!!!! For sure many more changes to come.

 

[Donna Sch]

If the Primitivo appeals I would suggest a Leon starting point and that can be completed in your time frame. We are actually starting in Madrid in May so if you do this one we could potentially bump into each other in June.

What appeals about the Primitivo for you?
How far do you think you will walk each day?
Are you a social butterfly or would you prefer to walk with only a few others?
Do you want to book ahead or are you more flexible.

My advice is to underestimate how far you will walk each day. There is nothing worse than feeling rushed. If you finish early you can always continue to Finisterre or Muxia.

 

[David Tallan]

If the Primitivo appeals I would suggest a Leon starting point and that can be completed in your time frame. We are actually starting in Madrid in May so if you do this one we could potentially bump into each other in June.

What appeals about the Primitivo for you?
How far do you think you will walk each day?
Are you a social butterfly or would you prefer to walk with only a few others?
Do you want to book ahead or are you more flexible.

My advice is to underestimate how far you will walk each day. There is nothing worse than feeling rushed. If you finish early you can always continue to Finisterre or Muxia.

Last year (2023) I did the Madrid/Salvador/Primitivo combo. It is a great combo! Although you will find the Salvador/Primitivo part very different from the Madrid to Sahagun part. Happy to answer any questions.

 

[RJM]

I've never considered any part of the Camino as must sees or skip ahead. Honestly that sounds like something from a tourist's guide for going on a prefab cruise vacation or something.
I suggest you do your own research via guidebooks, apps, internet etc and decide what you want out of walking an ancient religious pilgrimage.

 

[emmanuel]

We also fly from Oz (Sydney)
Our next one will be the 5th time.....

You'll get loads of advice and tips here.
All well intentioned, some of it conflicting.
i.e. There is no single answer......

For what it's worth, I would approach it like this.
Assuming you want to end in Santiago.

1. Work out how many 'walking days' you have.
2. How many kms you are comfortable walking each day.
3. Allow a day in Santiago at the end.
4. Allow 1-2 rest days along the way (you may need them)
5. Then take your actually walking days x your daily distance.
6. Whatever that is.......start that far from Santiago.
7. Skipping parts is difficult for many reasons. (You miss out on places and friends)

As for route, the Frances is hard to beat as a first or 'one off' Camino.
But read about the different routes and see what appeals to you.
Do you want a 'busy' very social Camino?
One with more solitude?

Don't be too hung up on starting in St Jean.
It's a large 'quaint' village, followed by a tough first day walking.
There is nothing historically 'significant' about starting there.

I personally think the first day walking out of SJPP is fantastic, crossing the Pyrennes and arriving to the great monastery/albergue of Roncesvalles.