Tips to do the Camino
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Wondering about walking the Camino for the first time? Don't know where to start? Or how many days you need? Do not panic. This article is for you.
This is a basic guide with some recommendations and tips if you are planning to walk the Camino for the first time.
The most important thing when it comes to walk the Camino is deciding to do so. The rest will follow. In fact, a lot of experienced pilgrims will tell you not to plan too much. Just enjoy the experience. But it is true that there are a few things you should know in advance: which route are you taking, what to bring to the Camino and in which conditions you want to arrive.
Choose your Camino de Santiago
In case you don't know, the Camino de Santiago is not an only itinerary. The truth is that it is a net of different routes along Europe and, specifically, along Spain.
So the first thing you must do is choose which route you will take. Here we leave the most popular ones along with some Camino concepts convenient to know before starting to walk, among which you can find the Pilgrim's Pass, the Compostela and some of the most frequent signals in the Camino.
Once the Camino is chosen, you will have to adapt it to the time you have at your disposal for doing it. There are some routes that can be covered in a few days but there also are some others which require a bigger investment of time. That is why you must choose which Camino (or which stretch) you will be doing.
There is still one thing left to do: divide your route in stages. Whether you are a natural planner or not, we recommend you to establish the number of stages you will be doing and aproximately the kilometers per day. This will allow you to know where to sleep, stop for a while or get some food.
Recommendation: if you are not going to sleep in public accommodations, we recommend that you book them in advance. This way you can walk without worries, knowing that you for sure will have some place to sleep, especially if you choose a time of the year or a route with a lot of pilgrims.
To help you do so, we have available an accommodation search engine, where you will find more than 4000 establishments divided by kind, Camino and locality.
Prepare yourself physically
We always say that, for doing the Camino de Santiago, it is not necessary to be an elite athlete. However, it is convenient to have a previous physical preparation. A simple previous training will, with no doubt, help us to carry every stage better. And also prevent possible injuries.
In this article we gather some tips for preparing yourself physically before starting the Camino. And also some recommendations for during and the end of every stage.
Here we also tell you how to prevent some of the most frequent injuries among pilgrims: from so-feared blisters to heat strokes or muscular problems.
What to bring to the Camino de Santiago
This is a frequent worry among every novice pilgrim. And the answer is universal: thr fewer, the better. One must go to the Camino bringing a light weight and leave full of new expriences.
Beyond your equipment, we recommend you to book some of the services you may need along your Camino. For example, our rucksack transfer service, for avoiding carrying your luggage from stage to stage. In Correos, it is available every day of the week (weekends and holidays included) in the main Camino Routes.
If you are cycling your Camino, don't forget to book its transport. If it's of any help, in Correos we have available our Paq Bicicleta, with which we can send it to your starting point or back home at the end. You just have to reach any Correos office and send it (we will provide there an adapted packaging so that your bike travels safe).
These three are essential issues that any pilgrim will have to do before walking.
Buen Camino!
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