Pilgrim's Guide Book to the Camino de Santiago

PrefaceThe Way of Saint James, also called the 'Camino de Santiago' or the 'Camino', is a crazy but rewarding adventure. For readers who are considering it, this book will be a help to make an informed decision and then plan it well.To do the Camino is to walk, nothing more. Walking is not running or climbing, but neither is it strolling at the mall.This guide is based on my experience of having completed the Camino from Roncesvalles to Santiago de Compostela walking about 500 miles in 35 days, and having finished better than I was at the beginning.Buen Camino Index1. The Way of Saint James

History

The Camino today

Pilgrim or tourist, walker

Routes to Compostela

The stages

Types of roads 2. Make the decision (6 months before)

The reason

Which route to choose

Books and guides

Alone or accompanied

Budget

In summary: yes or no 3. Planning (3 months before)

Starting point

The start date

Plan the stages

Accommodations 4. Preparations (1 month before)

Test routes

Clothing and footwear

Backpack and cane

Luggage

Mobile and camera

Pilgrim's Credential

Take care 5. Running (1 day before)

The first day

Some things to do 6. The stages

A personal experience

Some things that happen 7. The French Camino

Distances

Accommodations visited

Stages

1. Roncesvalles - Burguete

2. Burguete - Zubiri

3. Zubiri - Pamplona

4. Pamplona - Puente la Reina

5. Puente la Reina - Estella

6. Estella - Los Arcos

7. Los Arcos - Viana

8. Viana - Logro o

9. Logro o - N jera

10. N jera - Santo Domingo de la Calzada

11. Sto Domingo de la Calzada - Belorado

12. Belorado - Ag s

13. Ag s - Burgos

14. Burgos - Hontanas

15. Hontanas - Boadilla del Camino

16. Boadilla - Carri n de los Condes

17. Carri n de los Condes - Terradillos

18. Terradillos - El Burgo Ranero

19. El Burgo - Mansilla de las Mulas

20. Mansilla de las Mulas - Le n

21. Le n - San Mart n del Camino

22. San Mart n del Camino - Astorga

23. Astorga - Rabanal del Camino

24. Rabanal del Camino - El Acebo

25. El Acebo - Ponferrada

26. Ponferrada - Villafranca del Bierzo

27. Villafranca del Bierzo - Las Herrer as

28. Las Herrer as - O Cebreiro

29. O Cebreiro - Triacastella

30. Triacastella - Sarria

31. Sarria - Portomar n

32. Portomar n - Palas de Rei

33. Palas de Rei - A Fraga Alta

34. A Fraga Alta -O Pedrouzo

35. O Pedrouzo - Santiago de Compostela 8. The Compostela

9. To be continue...

10. Acknowledgments

11. Basic Spanish vocabulary

12. Personal notes If you are an urbanite who has spent his life locked in four walls, it is logical that now you want to go out into the country. If you work all your life sitting, it is very logical that you want to walk. If you stay in insane and sad offices, you want to breathe clean air. If your days are filled meeting with colleagues and clients, now you want to enjoy solitude. If you must achieve absurd objectives, you want to do something where the end is not a goal.Now you can say goodbye to all that, and alone or accompanied, go to the Camino de Santiago.Buen Camino About the authorJuan Mart n-Garc a is Spanish, 60 years old, author of a recognized book over the history of Spain. He has done the Camino only once, he is not a walking expert, nor an athlete. His motivation for doing the Camino was to understand why hundreds of thousands of people not only start, but complete every year a 500-mile journey. An essential book for pilgrims