Camino de Santiago Routes … They All Sound Intriguing

There’s definitely more than one way to get to Santiago de Compostela.

There is no ‘one’ way to follow the Way of St. James to Santiago de Compostela. For sure, the most popular and highly traveled route is the Camino Francés (the French Way) which begins in St. Jean-Pied-du-Port, France and continues for ~460 miles (~770km) to its culmination in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. There’s also the Camino Norte, the Northern Way, which begins at the French border and travels west along Spain’s northern coast. The Camino Inglés, the English Way, is quite short comparatively, but has been in use since the 12th century when pilgrims from England and Nordic countries arrived in the ports of Northern Spain to continue on their way to Santiago. There are routes beginning in Germany, Italy, Austria, the Benelux countries and probably lots more we’ve never heard of.

Looking at a map of the possible paths is nearly overwhelming. A well-defined network of routes zig and zag all across Europe, sometimes joining and/or intersecting other paths and almost always offering stops in historic and/or interesting cities… all of which sound appealing. Though the Santiago paths all end in the same place, the routes are vastly different. Some are short, taking only a day or two to walk. Some are long, covering great distances on foot. Some travel along the coast and some head inland, while others take pilgrims through the mountains.

Our choice of the Camino Portugues was based on distance and the opportunity to explore a new country along with the possibility of adding some side trips to the main route, like Caminho de Fatima, a visit to one of Portugal’s key religious shrines and/or a walk to the end of the earth… Camino Finisterre. Both are fairly short add-on walks that will provide some extra distance and interesting historical and cultural perspective.

Beyond the Camino Portugués to Santiago, there are lots of other trekking options in Portugal like the route to Rota Vicentina which we’re seriously considering.

The Rota Vincentina, a trail consisting of two marked routes Caminho Histórico (The Historical Way) and Trilho dos Pescadores (Fishermen’s Trail), is one of our proposed additional walking paths and has really nothing to do with the Camino de Santiago at all. Part of it can be walked as a loop which is how we’ll probably do it. The main path begins to the south of Lisbon in Santiago do Cacém. The Fishermen’s Trail follows the southwestern coast of Portugal to Cabo de Sāo Vicente, the southwestern most point in Portugal. It’s known for dramatic seaside scenery and villages offering charming guesthouses and fresh fish and seafood on the menu. Sounds like heaven to us! The Historical Way, cuts inland for a ways. From what we read, the scenery is not as dramatic, but it provides some insight and experience into rural Portugal.

Our current goal du jour is to develop our own schedule along the route in 12-15 mile daily segments and determine what facilities and amenities are available in each. It seems every time I check out a route segment, I find something that we’ll want to explore or visit or just can’t miss. We only have three months, so we’ll have to pick and choose, but I’m hoping we can include most everything we want to see… OR we’ll just have to return and do it again.

There are so many options for walking the camino that if we enjoy this trek, we might try other routes. Next year, will be an extremely busy year on the caminos since the Feast of St. James will occur on a Sunday which is particularly appealing to devout pilgrims. The paths which are already becoming super busy and overcrowded, will be jam-packed with pilgrims wanting to participate in the St. James Day celebrations in Santiago on July 25, 2021. Burgeoning paths are not that appealing to us, but perhaps we’ll find one of the less popular trails to walk to avoid the crowds… or find another trail in another country. So many trails to walk… so little time.

Countdown to departure to Portugal a/o today (March 4, 2020): 42 days

Note: We are currently monitoring the spread of COVID-19, the corona virus, and its global threat. We abandoned our original plans for Israel (Plan A) and have embraced the Camino Portugués to Santiago de Compostela (Plan B). Will we need to develop a Plan C? Stay tuned… we’re pretty adaptable, but this might take a little more research and legwork. We are certain, however, that we will walk somewhere.