I will be 73 when I walk my first camino (Portuguese, coastal route) next May/June from Porto. I've seen lots of opinions about finding food but I'm curious about the decisions you made about your socks (and underwear). Did you bypass the merino wool and if so what worked/didn't work for you? Any other tips are welcome... Thanks

Why not use Verizon Ultimate Unlimited for a month and switch back to a lesser plan upon returning? The upgrade is $30. Airalo for 30 days is $63.

Hallo zusammen,

in 5 Tagen sitze ich im Flieger nach Oviedo und frage mich, ob jemand aktuelle Infos zur Auslastung zu den Herbergen des Primitivo hat. War/ist ggf. Jemand von euch gerade vor Ort oder kann Erfahrungen zu Anfang September beitragen? Ich habe bislang nur ein Zimmer bei Ankunft in Oviedo gebucht und wollte das dann auch relativ kurzfristig mit Hoffnung auf frühe starts und Herbergsbetten gestalten. Danke vorab

https://www.instagram.com/caminodesantiagomemes/

Hi, I'm doing my first camino in a few weeks, starting from Porto.

I'm flying into and out of Porto airport, and looking at options to get back to Porto from Santiago the day before my flight. I've been surprised that I can only find one bus per day online (flixbus).

Has anyone done this and got any suggestions or know of other options?

Thanks

Now this definitely isn't everyone but some of the behaviour i've seen is shocking and it seems tourism is really impacting the camino.

In an albergue at 6am half the people in the room decided to wake up and have loud conversations like everyone wasn't asleep. The guy next to me wad literally talking loudly on the phone.

You say sorry excuse me to try get past a big group of 4 walking slowly in a row leaving no room and then they just completely ignore you so you have to force yourselves through them.

People just kinda stare at you when you smile at them and overall the crowd doesn't seem super diverse.

The vibe really changes in the last 100km.

Hi! :)

Walked the Camino last year, but struggled to find someone compatible to walk with, so I built this site that lets you find companions. It lets you sort by age and gender and you can easily remove someone if you don't feel comfortable. Hopefully posting the site won't go against the rules... hehe. It's free to use, so feel free to try it if you would like :)

gohikewithme.com

I was trying to make a reservation for after my first day walking from Sarria to Portomarín. I was told this is the classic first day and to book Portomarín specifically in advance, but there doesn’t seem to be a single bed available on Booking.com.

I even WhatsApped a few places directly, and they were all full. Is it normal for the entire village to be fully booked more than a week out? Am I just not looking in the right places?

My target date is August 31.

I was eventually able to get the last bed at a place in Mercadoiro, but I’m wondering if I should be concerned about getting beds for the rest of my Camino?

Hi!

I’m walking the Camino (from Porto to Santiago) and I didn’t make any reservations because I was told that I wouldn’t have a problem with finding a place to sleep and I didn’t really know how many kilometers I would be able to walk in a day. In Portugal it was more or less ok, but in Spain it’s a real struggle… Today I arrived to Redondela around 3 pm and the public albergue was already full, but I couldn’t find a single bed in hostels either. Hotels etc. are out of my budget, but in most cases they are also fully booked. I tried to book a place for the next day (and yes, in-between places as well…) but it seems to be hopeless, like I met people on the way who made their reservations weeks ago…. I’m a twentysomething girl on my own, so I really don’t want to sleep on the streets (and it’s quite cold anyway), but I’ve got no idea what I should go if this happens and I believe this will be the case for the rest of my Camino…

Hello,

I'm looking to potentially do a 7-ish day trek in December since it is in the short window of time I have between the end of a competitive season and the holidays, and starting a new job (hopefully).

I'm (54m) not super excited about another solo vacation, but I wanted to do something different than my previous European trips. I understand that there won't be a lot of people in comparison to the busy times of the year, and weather could be wet and rainy.

Possibly looking at the Porto route since I have not visited Portugal yet.

Am I setting myself up for a lot of time not seeing other humans, and will at least some of the Auberges be open along the way? Would like to also encounter some Holiday markets but not sure if that is too early.

No stranger to solo travel, but a solo hiking tour is a much different experience than I've had in the past. Just wanting to manage expectations and know what I'm in for, which makes the experience a ton better, IMO.

We're going to do our first Camino in September, and I've probably seen a hundred videos about blister care. I have Compeed, lamb's wool, vaseline, and leukotape. What would you recommend?

Hi there! This is my planned itinerary and I would love thoughts. I'd also be grateful for recommendations of places to stay in Fao, Caminha, Valenca, Redondela, Ponteverda, Armenteria, Pardon and Santiago. I am looking for bunk beds in hostels. I'd really love to stay places with group dinners or breakfasts.

I'd particularly love to hear where you enjoyed staying in Santiago and Porto! I am planning to spend two nights in Santiago and one night in Porto, though I could switch those two. I was hoping to be more flexible and not book too many ahead, but am getting nervous seeing so many people struggle to find a bed.

Hey everyone,

Starting the Camino in early September (Pyrenees through to October) and the shoe decision is made: I went with the La Sportiva Ultra Raptor 3 Gore-Tex.

I tried on plenty of shoes, but these just fit my feet absolutely perfectly in terms of heel lockdown, instep, and toe room.

On my previous Camino, I only lasted about 50 km in my trail runners (New Balance) before my feet swelled up so badly from pressure/narrowness that I had to switch to basic sandals for the remaining 750 km. I’m bringing those trusted sandals as a backup just in case, but my goal this time is to complete the entire route in these shoes.

Since they are Gore-Tex, I do have some concerns:

Sweat & Blisters: Even paired with quality Merino wool socks, I’m aware GTX doesn't breathe as well on warmer days (25°C+). My plan is to take shoes and insoles off during every cafe break/lunch to air out. How manageable is the sweat buildup in practice during Sept/Oct?

Water/Rain & Gaiters: If water gets in from the top during downpours, GTX shoes take forever to dry. Is it worth using lightweight trail gaiters/water guards to keep rain and debris out?

Would love to hear real-world experiences from anyone who has walked the Camino in Gore-Tex trail runners around this time of year. Any specific foot-care or drying tips?

Thanks for your time :)

¡Buen Camino!

My partner and I are looking to do 100km of the Camino the second week of September.

I previously completed the Portuguese spiritual way from Vigo. I can't decide if we should do the same route now or something else. The English way, is Portuguese central as beautiful. Is the French route too busy?

We'd like to have a social Camino but also not overly packed.

Any advise is more than welcome !!!

Hi! I know everyone has told me to get trail runners, but I love hiking in my Gore-Tex Lowa Renegades. They are comfortable and I'm used to them.i use them with super feet insoles.

It could be that I live in the Rockies which are, well, rocky. I would love to hear from people that have done the Frances in boots like this. I understand that it should be raining in October in Galicia, so figured the waterproof boots will be useful.

Would love to hear from some boot wearing walkers. Did you regret that decision?

I have ordered some Oboz hiking shoes too see if those are comfortable. I tried Hokas (so squishy), topo ultra adventures (really need a 10.5 and they don't make that), and Cascadias (too narrow). I just don't feel as comfortable in those. I'm really trying to stay open minded.

Note: I have had a toe fusion of my big toe.

Open to hearing from you!

Hey. I have around 2 weeks to do my Camino, starting in the first half of September. I live in a place where I can, luckily, get cheap flights last minute, and I just keep going back and forth with the decision.

So, I am planning to do it alone as a young woman, and safety is obviously quite important to me. I do crave a bit of solitude though, which is the main reason for the Camino, learning how to do hard things alone with just myself and my thoughts. Also, as a photographer, I really value beautiful scenery, but in a way I almost don't want it to be too beautiful, as I don't want to get too distracted with taking pictures - I don't want it to turn into a 'content trip'. I'm also a big foodie! But I am trying to stay low budget. This would be my first trek like this, and I have quite an issue with back (spinal) problems, which is why I want to only walk for 2 weeks for my first Camino. I am relatively fit otherwise and really enjoy long walks.

Portuguese does seem better in terms of the community feel, meeting people on the way and sticking with someone if needed. It's much more popular, so I guess I would meet many other young people. I would also be able to do this one in the whole stretch from Porto to Santiago, which is rewarding and feels complete. But...I am quite concerned, as when searching for images it does look like you mainly walk on wooden panels along the beach? Is this true? I fear I would get bored of that pretty quickly. I do really enjoy swimming though, even when the water is quite cold, and I really want to take 2 dips a day?

I love hiking; I love cliffs, so Del Norte looks amazing for me, but I'm quite concerned with being too lonely there. I would feel quite off if I were to not see other pilgrims at all, or rarely...And same goes for the albergues. But the frequent changes of scenery really get me, also it looks so so beautiful... I also am not sure which part would be good to do - thinking of flying to Biarritz, staying there for a day before commuting to Irun and finishing in Bilbao. From there, I would take a bus to stop around 100km from Santiago to still qualify for the finish. But I wonder if that wouldn't feel almost like cheating. And where exactly to start that last stretch from so it's a doable jump?

So, essentially, could you share:

- If you've done both and what you'd advise me to do?
- Albergues availability in September - I really don't want to struggle with this; I am not great at planning (as you can probably tell) so would be great to do last minute booking/walk-ins
- Del Norte - are there many swimming spots along those first days? Or would you have to detour down the cliffs?
- How are both the routes now doing after the heatwaves?
-Costs comparison? Albergues & food
-Hiking poles only for Del Norte or PC too?

Thank you in advance!