“You have no place to be, and you have all day to get there …” I’ve heard you say this before, and it’s a great thing to remember. That’s the freedom of the wide open road, well summed up.
Check out Topo shoes. My husband and I have worn those on our last few Camino’s. They are excellent. I like the 5mm drop and slightly cushioned. Never had a blister etc. very large toe box too. We are both 70 years old and headed out for another Camino in Sept wearing Topo’s!
Thanks for your videos. This has been a calling for 15 years and myself and my wife will be leaving Alaska on April 29th and spend 2 days in Paris then off SJPD and start our camino. Your videos are great and informative. Again thanks.
Thanks for the update. I'm starting April 23rd in SJPDP. Can't wait. For me, Altra Loan Peak and Brooks are also the best. I use the Loan Peaks for hiking cos of the grip and the Brooks for running on asphalt or treadmill. Have a lovely Sunday.
You didn't say when you were going But if you are going after May 1st, just be prepared for it to be crowded. This is one section where I would recommend prebooking due to the crowds. If you are going in April though, it should not be a problem. The Camino Portuguese from Porto is about 170 km and some people choose to do that instead. It ends up in the same place but much less crowded. It does take a few more days though because of the distance. This site shows all the elevation gains. If you scroll down to Sarria, It breaks down each stage and elevation. www.pygmy-elephant.com/blog/camino-de-santiago-map-elevation-gain-and-loss-and-distance
Probably not necessary, though you might consider locking in a bed in SJPDP. There's only about 50 people per day walking in April, so shouldn't be a problem. There's about 200 beds at the monastery in Roncesvalles and they do offer reservations for half of the beds. You can reserve online at their website. The only other place I would consider reserving is in Zubiri. Beyond that I would just walk and grab a bed when you get to your destination each day. I doubt you will have any trouble getting a bed anywhere in April. If it were me I wouldn't make any reservations at all, but when people ask me I don't want them to have any problems. So I usually recommend those first few days until they get comfortable and understand how everything works. You really want to get to the point where you're not thinking about where you are going to sleep. Just wander, find a group of people you get along with and just follow them.
Sorry, I just saw this message. To me the Orisson is too short if you start walking in the morning. It's only about 4 miles, so you get there at like 9am. It's fine if you start walking later in the day though. But my favorite part is walking those first few miles as the sun is just coming up. But...people who stay at the Orisson say it's a great experience...very festive/communal/pilgrimy...
I don't know...I guess I have to research to see if there's some history about it. The Napoleon route officially opens on April 1st (weather dependent) and The Orisson website currently says they will open on Thursday, April 4th.
I was just looking at it a couple hours ago and it showed the 10th and then I looked at it again and now it shows April 4th (Thursday). The weather is supposed to be nice, so maybe they moved it up.
