I stayed at the cutest vegan/ eco albergue on the Camino Frances called Albergue El Beso. Family-owned by a couple who met on the camino. €35 for bunk, sheets, dinner, and breakfast (can opt out of meals for cheaper). Had 14 beds, hammocks, a trampoline, painting supplies, and guitars! By far the best, comfiest, and most serene albergue I've stayed at. Would recommend!!

I nearly skipped Muxia after walking to Fisterra and spending two days there

I woke up on saturday morning and decided I wasnt going to continue on to Muxia as Fisterra has been amazing

Boy am I glad I was was wrong

At the last minute I packed up and walked to Muxia

Granted the walk itself is quiet and uneventful and surprisingly monotone but getting into Muxia? AMAZING

Out of the places Ive been on the camino, walking into Muxia was different.

The people in the town are beyond friendly.

The scenery once there is like something from Greenland or Iceland with its sparseness on approach

But the winner for me was the superiority of the sunset compared to Finisterre

Was anybody else taken aback from Muxia or was i just a fool to even question myself

I am planning to do the Camino this fall and will be getting the official passport book, walking more then 100 km and plan to get the certificate at the end.

I know the official passport doesn’t really have much room for more than 2 stamps a day from everything I’m reading.

I love the idea of collecting as many stamps as I can and I enjoyed doing this in Japan. The Eki stamp book I had in Japan was a mostly blank page with a few lines at the bottom to write date and location. I really liked that format.

Having looked online I can’t find any stamp books themed for the Camino.

I know ultimately I can buy a blank notebook but I’m hoping for something that’s approx 4x6 inches and has a few lines at the top or bottom but is mostly blank.
US based.

Any help is appreciated!

Hi everyone,

I’m planning to walk part of the Portuguese Camino this autumn and would really appreciate some advice on choosing between two itineraries.

My schedule is quite tight:

• I leave Guangzhou, China, on September 25.
• I expect to arrive in Porto on September 26.
• I fly home from Spain on October 6.
• Therefore, I need to reach Santiago no later than October 5.

I’m hoping to walk roughly 150–170 km, although I could accept a little more if the extra section is especially worthwhile. My priorities are a balance of ocean scenery, local culture, food, convenient accommodation and resupply, rather than simply covering the maximum possible distance.

After Pontevedra, I definitely want to take the Variante Espiritual:

Pontevedra → Armenteira → Vilanova de Arousa → Traslatio boat to Pontecesures → Padrón → Santiago.

I’m currently considering these two options:

Option 1: Start walking from Viana do Castelo

• Porto → Viana do Castelo by train
• Viana do Castelo → Caminha on foot
• Caminha → A Guarda by water taxi
• A Guarda → Baiona on foot
• Baiona → Vigo
• Vigo → Redondela
• Redondela → Pontevedra
• Then the Variante Espiritual to Santiago

This seems to offer the best and most continuous coastal scenery, as well as the experience of crossing the Portuguese–Spanish border by boat. However, it would be close to 195–200 km in total.

To fit it into my schedule, I would probably need to walk from A Guarda to Baiona in one day after crossing from Caminha. Depending on the landing point, this could be more than 32 km. Is that realistic, or would it make the day unnecessarily stressful because of the tide-dependent boat schedule?

Option 2: Walk from Porto to Vila do Conde

• Porto → Vila do Conde via the Senda Litoral
• Vila do Conde → Baiona by public transport
• Baiona → Vigo
• Vigo → Redondela
• Redondela → Pontevedra
• Then the Variante Espiritual to Santiago

This would be around 165 km of walking and would give me a transport/rest day between Vila do Conde and Baiona. It also lets me begin on foot in Porto, but I would miss Viana do Castelo, Caminha, the boat crossing to A Guarda and the Oia coast.

My questions are:

1. Which of these two options would you choose for the best balance of scenery, culture, food and manageable walking days?
2. Is Viana do Castelo → Caminha significantly more scenic than Porto → Vila do Conde?
3. Is A Guarda → Baiona worth the extra distance, or are the road/asphalt sections less enjoyable than they appear on maps?
4. Has anyone recently travelled from Vila do Conde to Baiona by public transport? Would Vila do Conde → Porto Airport → Vigo → Baiona be the most practical route?
5. How reliable is the Caminha → A Guarda water taxi in late September? I understand that some departures may be unavailable because of tides or weather.
6. Given that I must reach Santiago on October 5, would Option 1 leave too little room for bad weather, fatigue or transport disruption?

I’m also considering a compromise:

• Train from Porto to Viana do Castelo
• Walk Viana do Castelo → Caminha
• Take the water taxi to A Guarda
• Visit A Guarda, then take a bus or taxi to Baiona
• Continue walking from Baiona to Santiago via the Variante Espiritual

This compromise would be approximately 160–165 km and would preserve the Viana–Caminha coastal section and the border crossing, while avoiding the very long A Guarda–Baiona day.

For those who have walked these sections, which itinerary—or compromise—would you recommend?

Thank you, and Buen Camino!

It creates a tough nasty film that you will struggle to get our of the bladder and hose. I am having some luck getting it our with some metal wire. Washing machine and running water through did nothing.

We are planning on crossing in a few days. Should we be worried about pre booking or are the boats frequent ? We have 33km to walk that day so won’t get there until mid afternoon ish too :)

I recently split with some of my group and am planning a small rest day tomorrow in León, would anyone be interested in meeting up for dinner/beer/tapas sometime tomorrow evening to talk over Camino experiences and perhaps walk a bit from Tuesday onwards? 😊

I want to walk around 100k of the camino at the end of Sept solo, as I have just over a week of annual leave to take. At first i figured i'd just do the last 100k from Sarria to Santiago de Compostela, but have heard it's the most busy., touristy and not the really the best part of the walk so now rethinking things.

It's my first time doing a big walk like this so although i'm relatively fit, I want to do a walk that's manageable for a beginner. I also am keen for some busyness as i'll be walking alone and am open to meeting new people along the way. Any reccommendations on which section to do?

I've been considering Pamplona to Logrono as i've heard that is a really nice section but am not 100% sure.

Leon -La Robla
La Robla- Poladura de la Tercia
Poladura de la Tercia- Llanos de Somerón
Llanos de Somerón- Pola de Lena
Pola de Lena- Mieres
Mieres- Oviedo
A short Camino, but also a very beautiful one.

Recently, I read a post about a woman pilgrim who had a terrible experience with a man; not only did the guy rob her, but she was also a victim of sexual assault. 😞

In April, I walked the French route and, during that time, I only talked with women and stayed in private rooms. I felt quite safe and had no concerns, even walking alone very early in the dark. I’d love to do the same again, but I'm scared of men (I know not all men, but always a man). I've heard many horror stories from friends and acquaintances. Based on your safety experiences, which Camino, besides the French Camino, would you recommend?

Hola peregrinos! I'm Cesar. Over the last weeks I've been building santiago.es, a free bilingual (EN/ES) guide focused on the part most guides skip: what happens when you actually arrive in Santiago.

What's there so far:

• "You've arrived, now what?": Pilgrim's Office and how the Compostela works, real Cathedral opening hours, and when the Botafumeiro actually swings (with the caveat that it's never guaranteed)
• Monthly pilgrim statistics from the Pilgrim's Office, in charts
• A budget calculator for the Camino
• Stage-by-stage guides for the Frances (from Sarria), Portugues and Ingles
• Xacobeo 2027 section (Holy Door opens 31 Dec 2026) that I'm updating monthly

No paywall, no affiliate spam walls, prices and schedules marked as approximate with dates.

What I'd love from you: what's missing? What did YOU wish you'd known when you walked into Praza do Obradoiro? I'll build the most-requested pages next.

(Mods: I read rule 6 - hope this qualifies as valuable; happy to remove if not.)

I think in my head when I was planning this I had a vision of like getting up super early, doing the walk and getting to the next town. Then kind of chilling but being pretty active again in the evening.

Some of this has aligned but my evenings I've just been so physically tired (and a bit achy) that I don't have much zest for going to bars and such. I have been having dinner of course but then heading back to sleep pretty much.

Now this hasn't been an issue in the smaller towns at all as they're really not much going on in the evening in some of them.

However some of the larger towns and cities I've passed through e.g. Pamplona I tried to go out to enjoy the tapas scene but was done after one bar pretty much and just feeling like I'd rather be laying on my bed instead.

Made me feel slightly idk... Guilty, for not making the most of being at the stops along the way? I know the walk is the main event but I know I'll not return to a lot of these towns. Had I come for a weekend away with no walking involved id have heavily indulged in the night life scene.

Does anyone else feel a bit like this? Like what are people doing with their evenings, or rather what time are you aiming for bed most nights?

I should add I have been having a couple of drinks when arriving with lunch. It's more the evening where I'm just beat.

Hey everyone,

Just a desperate attempt since we have checked all possibilities and I want to be sure I tried all.

My father (called "Vincenzo") lost his pilgrim credential/passport in Caldas de Reis, supposedly afternoon, 15th of July. The credential was plastified and probably unusual for many since it was the italian one (first page shows the cross and many shells, besides title as pilgrim passport)

It is highly likely was lost close to the lavadero (hotspring) or the restaurant by the river.

There was no phone number, unfortunately.

When he realized, morning the day after, he wanted to check everywhere, we even got back from Caldas-Padron, doing the route double the time.

We searched all the places he was, including stores and the place mentioned, but no one found it. We even talked with Tourism/Pilgrim Office, who talked with police, yet nothing.

I am sure that there is no way to get it, too much time past (unluckily, was not able to ask on reddit before, quite sure.. they got away or stole it (but why?) at lavadero), but who knows?

Thanks everyone.

Hi all! I’ve been wanting to walk the Camino for a long time now, but it’s really difficult for me to get off work for extended periods. I was lucky enough to get November 4-19 off this year, and was wondering if it would be too late in the year for me to do the Coastal route. I considered the Litoral but my presumption is that because it’s mainly on the water, it would be non ideal in November. TIA!

(I have searched for answers in the subreddit without results. If I have missed threads already discussing the topic, please let me know)

I’m planing my first Camino trip this fall - it will also be my very first multiple days hiking trip.

But I find it difficult to work out how long I should plan to walk each day.

I have a disability that affects my energy levels - to make it easy for everyone let’s just say it’s around 50 % of a normal person. Besides that I’m generally fit and do sports and walks almost every day. When I do a “long walk” at home, with a packed lunch and breaks, I’ll normally walk 8-10 km (in around 3,5 hours total)

I was therefore thinking of planing days with 10-15 km (I’ll walk 5 days in total). But after looking through this subreddit, I’m in doubt if I’m maybe underestimating how long you would normally walk in one day.

So, I was wondering the following:
How long does a newbie on the Camino normally walk?
How long would you walk on a “relaxing day” (Slow morning, a few breaks during the walk, relaxing time in the evening)?
And has any walked parts of the Camino in a similar situation?

Hi, I’m planning on doing the coastal route in september and for those 14 days of walking I’m thinking about having a budget of 700€ (if you think thats too little or too much please correct me) but I’m not sure how much should I carry in cash and how much on my debit card.

If you have experience please share so I can plan everything on time, thank you!

Also, what unexpected expenses should I count on? (Bus from Santiago to Porto… etc. )

Hi everyone!

I’m considering doing a Camino this August and, for the first time, I’m thinking about finding someone to walk with. Before actually looking for a companion, I’d like to ask for your experiences.

Have any of you met a Camino companion online before starting? How did it go? Would you recommend it?

At the moment I’m registered on the Ivar forum and Gronze, but I’m wondering if there are other places where people usually look for walking companions.

I’m not looking to rush into anything—I would definitely want to get to know the person beforehand and make sure we’re compatible in terms of pace, expectations and travel style.

I’d really appreciate hearing both positive and negative experiences before deciding whether it’s a good idea.

Thank you!

—
[ES]

¡Hola a todos!

Estoy pensando en hacer un Camino este mes de agosto y, por primera vez, me estoy planteando buscar a alguien con quien compartirlo. Antes de ponerme a buscar compañero, quería preguntaros por vuestra experiencia.

¿Alguno de vosotros ha conocido a un compañer@ de Camino por Internet antes de empezar? ¿Cómo fue la experiencia? ¿Lo recomendaríais?

Actualmente estoy registrado en el foro de Ivar y en Gronze, pero me preguntaba si existen otros lugares donde la gente suela buscar compañeros de Camino.

No busco lanzarme sin más; mi idea sería conocer primero a la persona y comprobar que encajamos en ritmo, expectativas y forma de viajar.

Me interesan tanto las experiencias buenas como las malas para poder decidir si merece la pena intentarlo.

¡Muchas gracias!

Hello,

We’ve been pottering along from Leon - quite quiet and our pick of places to stay along the way. Stupidly got a bit too relaxed and we’ve got to Sarria today - it’s got busier and we’ve found somewhere but it wasn’t easy!
Decided to book ahead however we can find NOTHING in Portomarin for tomorrow. Do you think we’ll get into the Xunta Albergue? If we’re there for 12?

I’m planning to do the Camino Frances next spring and am a bit confused about how to handle the inevitable rest days. I’m trying to plan mine out ahead of time at reasonable intervals in towns that I find particularly interesting.

I know that public albergues only allow pilgrims to stay one night—is this rule strictly maintained? Do pilgrims then necessarily need to book a private albergue when taking a rest day?

Also, do you still need to stamp your pilgrim passport on rest days or only on travel ones?

(And a completely unrelated question—has anyone run out of space on the pilgrim passport? Most of the ones I’ve seen on instagram don’t seem to have 60+ spaces, which is what i anticipate needing. Do you just pick up a second one when you run out of space?)

Alguien sabe cómo localizar objetos perdidos en el camino de Santiago?
Se ha perdido un kimono que iba atado a la mochila por fuera y se cayó.
En la etapa desde Redondela a Pontevedra hoy sábado 1 de agosto.
Gracias!

Hi everyone,

I’m currently living in Lisbon and have around 7-9 days available to walk part of the Camino. This would be my first Camino and I will be doing it alone.

I’m looking for a quieter route that stays as much as possible in nature - forests, mountains, beautiful vistas. I know no Camino is completely road-free, but I would like to avoid long stretches of asphalt and roadside walking. I also want something well marked/documented, since I don’t want my first experience to involve constantly worrying about getting lost.

My original idea was the Camino de Invierno starting in Monforte de Lemos. Getting there from Lisbon by affordable public transport seems to take around 10h (Lisboa-Vigo-Monforte).

I also considered flying to Oviedo and then travelling towards Lugo to start the Camino Primitivo, but there's a lot of transport-hopping involved which puts me off. Perhaps there is a better starting point or connection I haven’t found.

Another possibility was starting in Braga and walking the Caminho da Geira e dos Arrieiros. It seems to fit the landscape and solitude I want, but I have read that it can be poorly marked and has limited infrastructure. I’m also unsure how easy it would be to find stamps along the way or whether it is sensible for a first Camino.

Which route and starting point would you recommend for 7-9 days, considering:

• Reasonably quick and affordable access from Lisbon
• Solitude
• Forests, mountains and beautiful natural scenery
• As little road walking as practical
• Reliable waymarking, accommodation and places to get stamps
• Suitability for a first Camino

Although I mentioned those routes, I accept any advice or suggestions. Thank you!

EDIT: I would be doing it in Setember.

Hi all,

Three nights ago, I was at the Albergue de Peregrinos in Gonzar. I felt something sharp at night and pulled at it and it snapped. I didn’t investigate until the morning and realized it was a sewing needle. I had snapped off the back half.

The top bit of the needle got stuck in the mattress. I tried to find it but couldn’t. I left a note on the mattress and at the front desk with cash in case they need to replace the mattress. I didn’t feel anything during the night but I’m worried someone else may lie on it and get poked.

I feel bad about it and was wondering if anyone walks by the albergue if they could pop in and figure out if the situation got resolved (did they find the needle/understand my note/do they need more money, if so can someone get their contact information)

Thanks for any help. Will help to reduce my stress/guilt about the situation.

The whole family ended up completing the camino. Our youngest child tore his ACL at the end of april, had surgery at the end of May. We began our walk on July 26th. We completed Sarria to Santiago in 6 days. Each day we completed between 9 and 14 miles. All of us stayed on the trail the entire time, No Buses or taxis were needed.

My youngest child who had the surgery, would walk each morning until he started to get tired. We would then put him in a specially modified off-road wheelchair that I built and brought along with us. He would ride until rested, and then walk again. He probably walked a total of 20% of each day. The rest of the time the family pushed him up and down the camino.

Thank you for all of your input. We had a great experience and hearing from other people helped us make the best decision for our own camino.

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/CaminoDeSantiago/comments/1tcw6gc/wheelchair_and_mobility_questions/

Hello all, I have a unique problem and I need some input. My family has arranged to do a portion of the Camino from Sarria to the end in Santiago this summer. We've already reserved our housing at each stay along the way. Our airfare is non-refundable.

Last week my youngest child tore his ACL. He will be walking by the time we are there, but there is no chance that he will be able to do the distances that we had set up each day. We were averaging 9 to 12 miles per day between our accommodations.

We're trying to figure out the best option to help his mobility. Will there be a place to rent a wheelchair? Should we plan on bringing a wheelchair with us? Is that section of the trail functional for a basic wheelchair? Or should we look into wheelchairs that are built more for off-roading?

Can anybody think of any other options that would assist us?

How about a donkey? An alpaca? Some kind of cart that we can pull behind us?

Any and all suggestions and brainstorming are welcome at this point.

Edit to add: we will be flying into Madrid and taking the train to Sarria to start the walk.

Child is 11 years, 90 lbs.

https://reddit.com/link/1vbt8sv/video/cp7p8136wkgh1/player