Discovering The Camino: You've Gotta Love Google

So, it was time to discover more about The Camino ... and so to Google. One of the first sites I came across was Spanish Steps - lucky me! This site has turned out to be an amazing source of information - and inspiration. Highly recommended for anyone considering The Camino. Another great site is Camino de Santiago, a UK site

One of the first things I discover is that there is more than one Camino. The Camino de Santiago de Compostela, also known in English as The Way of St James, is a collection of old pilgrimage routes which cover all Europe. They all have Santiago de Compostela in north west Spain as their final destination. For more than 1000 years pilgrims have been walking along the Camino de Santiago.

The Camino Frances, which I've chosen, is the most popular of all the pilgrims' paths, and 'follows a path across Northern Spain running from the foothills of the French Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela in north western Spain. A journey of almost 800k'. The Spanish Steps site documents the route over 32 daily stages providing route information as well as accommodation in each town and village along the way.

The next thing I discover is that, while most people walk the Camino in the European summer, in fact July and August are not the best times to go. Very hot and very crowded. The numbers of pilgrims walking the path at the same time as you is an important consideration for many reasons - not least of which is that each night you'll be looking for a bed at one of the Albergues or Refugios along the way. Alberques and Refugios are hostels for pilgrims - and only for pilgrims. If you arrive too late to find a spare bed - your options are to find a hotel room if there is one, sleep under the stars ... or walk on.

The best months to go are April / May and September / October. As it was May already, September and October it was. I thought, only briefly, that this was a huge undertaking and I should be sensible and plan it for 2012. But I quickly dismissed that thought. Who knows what's around the corner. If not now, when?

So, decision made. I'm going. I'd start looking at flights immediately. But, let's face it, that's the easy part. The real challenge would be walking 800 kms. Why did I think I could do that. Well, that's another story for my next post.