Essential Tips for Hiking the Camino de Santiago Trail (from someone who did not train at all)

The Camino de Santiago  (or the Way of Saint James) has 9 different routes that lead to the city of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. We walked the route called the 'Camino Frances'. The cool part about the Camino is you can start at any point on the route, depending on how long you would like your journey to last.

We flew to Madrid and booked a train up to Leon.

We started walking in Leon. This route is about 191 miles, which took us 15 days. We walked from August 31 to September 14 and got lucky, there was no heavy rain. Some days we walked 20+ miles, which I do not recommend if you haven't consistently trained for that.

There are many blogs out there that talk about routes, packing lists, where to stop, etc. Here is my condensed version.

Useful Tips:

• Before you go, train for long walks. It is called a pilgrimage for a reason. Pilgrimages are not meant to be easy. Make sure you can walk 10+ miles in a hike (up and downhill) because you will do this (and more) daily.

  That being said, I did not train at all, and LA is very flat, so I was not used to the elevation. The first three days were some of the most challenging I've ever experienced—physically and mentally. It got better as the days passed, but just train before you go.

  
  

• Planning your route.

  • Download this app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/way-of-st-james-buen-camino/id858222947

  • It is helpful to plan where you want to stop each day.

  • Do not walk more than 18 miles in a day; you will regret it. We made the mistake of walking several 20+ mile days for the first 3-4 days. It allowed us to walk less at the end, but it was definitely a rough start.

    
    

• Start early.  We started every morning at 4-5 am. I know it sounds crazy, but I loved it. (Most people do not do this.) It was cooler out, and no one was around. My favorite moments on the walk were as the sun came up over the misty trails- which you can only see around 6 am. If you do this, you must have a headlamp.

• Pack Service (Correos). If you don’t wanna carry your pack, there is a service that allows you to tell them where to pick your back up and where to drop it off. (its hotel to hotel service and everyone does it)

  • Here is the link: https://www.elcaminoconcorreos.com/ 

    
    

• Back Pack - there's a lot out there about this. Here is what I got.

  • Size: I got a ~40-liter Kelti pack, with the hip support and hip support that keeps the pack from sitting flush on your back.

  • To pack... we just only filled it halfway. This gives you room to add other stuff if you want to at the end of the trip.

  • One option (highly recommend) is to bring a separate duffel bag that collapses in so you can use that as your send-ahead (Correos) so you're not caring as much stuff. I can't recommend this enough.

    
    

• Washing clothes.

  • I was really worried about this - but I shouldn't have been. I brought this to wash underwear and socks in the sink. Most places you go will have a washing machine, so you can easily do a quick load.

    
    

• Many towns have unique experiences/sites, so allocate time to see them! For instance:

  • When passing through Villa Franco di Bierzo, you can ride a horse up the hill with Victor's assistance. While it may seem like taking a shortcut, it is very fun. I recommend booking in advance to secure your spot for this experience.

  • In Castromaior, you can take a very small detour and see Roman ruins! Many don't go, but you can see the main path from the ruins so it is not far.

    
    

Packing/ Shopping List

I brought a ton of things I didn't need. These are the most important essentials.

• Body Glide  

  • A friend who regularly runs marathons recommended this, and this is an ABSOLUTE MUST. I put this all over my feet in the mornings. You can put it anywhere that rubs ....on our thighs, shoulders, etc. It SAVED my feet from blisters - I never got a blister.

  • Buy 2 - one for your feet and another for everywhere else.

    
    

• Osprey water bladder

  • There is water all along the walk. I got this one but it was probably too big. (depends on how much water you drink). I wouldn’t recommend completely loading yourself up. My back was a quarter/half full at any given time.

  • I strongly prefer cold water, so I bought an osprey insulator bag

  • I would fill up my water the night before because we left really early and nothing was open in the morning. At around 7 AM in the first cafés open and I would get a refill on the water and get ice for the day.

• Hiking poles - depending on how long you plan to walk these are a necessity. If you're doing the shorter five or less days you may not need them. But I went up a few mountains and I was so glad I had them coming down.

• Clothes:

  • BUY THIS HAT - my husband and dad had this hat and I didn't have one. I ended up paying almost $50 on the Camino to buy one and it really saved me from the sun.

  • 1 long-sleeve shirt

  • 1 short-sleeve shirt

  • 1 lightweight jacket (water resistant)

  • 3 pairs of underwear

  • 3 pairs of socks

  •  pair of shoes

  • 1 throw-away cheap flip-flops

  • 1 swimsuit

  • 1 poncho, but I probably could've gotten away with just packing 2-3 cheap/disposable ponchos.

  • I brought large safety pins and as I changed socks during the day, I dried my socks on my pack

Optional things to bring:

• Shampoo/Conditioner: I brought this just in case, but didn't end up really needing it. You can easily buy it along the way

• Blanket - I brought this and ended up using it tonight. Most places felt clean enough that I did not need to sleep in something like this.