Cheesy maybe but I watched the film "The Way" and then googled the whole thing. Has anybody on here done the pilgrimage???? IMO a good film an the pilgramage looks very interesting.
Yes... I walked from St Jean Pied de Port on the French side of the Pyrenees, all the way to Santiago de Compostela, and a couple more days beyond to Finisterre. Incredibly interesting, very busy, and lots of cheap digs, food and drink along the way.
I did the pilgrimage as an undergrad, though we only had just over a week so went in the college minibus, walked a few sections of it and camped, mostly at sites bit one night in a recently ploughed field -not so comfy - and one night in a lovely green field offered to us by a local farmer when he heard we were pilgrims. Fab experience, even by minibus!
I've never done more than a few days an figure this could be a bit of a beast really. I love the Pyrenees so figure this would be the ultimate long distance walk for me!
Four weeks... at an average rate of under 30km per day. Most of the walking is pretty easy, and the waymarking is fairly good. Almost everyone you meet is going your way. There are lots of people on the trail who have never walked the length of their own bodies before and some of them get the most horrendous blisters. The Spanish method of dealing with blisters has to be seen to be believed... and you WILL see how they do it!
Ooo sounds interesting!! I need to look into this more then convince my boss to let me go! I really enjo the freedom of being out in the wilds. This could be my ultimate journey!
I have a mind to have a go at this later this year, probably Paddy's route. What would be the best time of year from St Jean Pied de Port. I am not religious -am I going to be out of place amongst the pilgrims.? I intend to camp which is doable, too many stories for me about bedbugs and snoring to stay in the alburgues.
It's hardly wild country. The route runs from village to village, town to town, and occasionally through large cities. There are sprawling wheat fields, some woodlands, and a few hilly sections. People sometimes walk it just to clock up the distance and tick it off a list, but most of them walk it for its historical merit, visiting churches, cathedrals and museums along the way. Anyone hoping to collect their certificate, or 'compostela' at the end must get a card rubber-stamped on a daily basis and tick the box that says they did it as a 'pilgrim'.
SD... you don't have to be religious, and one of the oldest bits of writing about the route claims that it's regularly been walked by heathens, thieves, charlatans and brigands! Some people start the route in May to avoid the summer heat, but some time their start so that they arrive in Santiago on St James' Day. Others just pitch in when it's high summer, which isn't as bad as it sounds so long as you know where all the public water fountains are located... and there are lots of them available. It's not really a winter trek, as the higher parts get substantial snow cover.
Don't forget... some people cycle the route, ride horses along it, drive or go on a coach trip!
I go on and off this trek. I like the idea of the community doing it but a fair amount of road walking and flatness. Wonder if I am better doing the Balcon de Mediterraneo.
There's not as much road-walking as some maps and guides might suggest. A lot of work has been done to get the route off roads, even though for the past few centuries it was actually a road-walk. Sometimes, a path has been made parallel to a road, while at other times other paths and tracks are used. But it's always been a route that linked several settlements, so it's rarely completely in the wilds.
Bear in mind, if you're tempted to use the albergues, that you have to show your card, duly stamped. If there's the slightest suspicion that you caught a bus, or walked an improbably long distance during the day, your card gets destroyed and you're out on your ass.
Oh... and there are now a lot of Koreans walking the trail. This is because a Korean journalist called Suh Myung Sook walked the route in 2006, and wrote about it so passionately that half the walkers in Korea decided they'd like a crack at it too.
Bear in mind, if you're tempted to use the albergues, that you have to show your card, duly stamped. If there's the slightest suspicion that you caught a bus, or walked an improbably long distance during the day, your card gets destroyed and you're out on your ass.
Paddy, not seen that before. So you do need a pass and a stamp each day to have the option to stop in the albergues.
The 'pilgrim passport' can be obtained once you arrive in St Jean Pied de Port, or Roncesvalles, or at other points along the way. You can obtain one in advance from the Confraternity of St James, based in London.
Once you have the card, all you need to do is get it stamped at intervals along the way... primarily at all the places you stop for the night, but if you're keen, then get it stamped at bars, cafes, churches, cathedrals and tourist information offices during the day too. The albergues offer simple and cheap accommodation, either maintained by churches along the way, or municipal authorities, and occasionally private individuals. I guess a fully stamped card prevents any old holidaymaker trying to use the albergues for a cheap doss, while their powerful motor is parked down a side-street! I have seen people have their cards destroyed for catching a bus, and I have seen people using cars being turned away from the albergues. On the other hand, when the albergues get full, don't despair, because folk don't like to see pilgrims living on the streets. In most villages, the local mayor will hold a bunch of keys that allows him to throw open the doors of the local school or church hall, and let excess walkers fill every space. The only real 'rules' associated with the albergues are that you should all try and get along together and let everyone get a good night's sleep, and if facilities are less than you expect, then you really shouldn't grumble because it's all being provided very cheaply and in good faith. Some albergues don't actually make a charge for staying overnight, but leave it entirely to you to put your loose change in a collection box. Once you're installed, it's worth wandering around the streets to see which bars and cafes are offering a 'pilgrim menu'. This will be a set meal, usually a three-courser, with bread, water and wine thrown in, at a ridiculously low price. It's a take-it-or-leave-it deal, and if you start messing about and asking for other things off the menu, the cost will increase dramatically.
Sandals... and I took no other footwear of any kind except for socks. I saw plenty of people wearing boots, but most of them were suffering and some of them had the most horrendous blisters. I wouldn't really recommend boots for such a trek.
Thanks Paddy. Think it will be next year when I go as cant get the time off from work. Sandals sound good as it will July/August when i go due to the wife being a teacher. Gives me plenty of time to stretch my distance walking in preparation and also read up on it too!
There is one section of the GR11 which goes along 'The Way' for 2 miles but in the reverse direction. Never have I met so many walkers/pilgrims in such a short distance. Amazing.
Try reading Tim Moore's Spanish Steps. He has a chip on each shoulder about nearly everything, plus he took a donkey with him, but there is useful info in there.
