They say the Camino provides.
In fact, it was all I kept hearing when I mentioned to people that I was going to be walking part of this ancient pilgrimage.
Quite what the provision would be was not altogether clear, but it did seem highly personal and profound to each and every walker I spoke.
From inspiration to reflection, space to simplicity, not to mention physical challenge and new friends, it seems the Camino did indeed provide.
I was excited to see what gifts it would impart to me!
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- Complete Camino Packing List for Women
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- Finishing the Camino: Tips For your Santiago Arrival
The Camino Birthday Gift… to Myself!
And when I say gifts, I don’t mean any old sort of present.
I’m talking about birthday gifts!
40th birthday gifts to be precise.
After all, what better way to celebrate a big birthday than by hiking alone for 150km through northern Spain?
Ok, granted, this might not be for everyone, but when Follow the Camino asked if I’d like to head out on a bucket list Camino trip over my birthday, how could I refuse?!
So often these pivotal points in our lives get lost in parties and prosecco, so an opportunity to have the space, time and km to reflect and relax over my birthday week seemed ideal.
I jumped at it.
Get out of London, switch off the emails, stay away from the screens, breath in those expansive views and hike for miles?
Sounded like a dream!
After all, hiking is just about one of my favourite things to do – relaxation in a way not even lying on a beachside lounger can provide this sun-loving lizard.
The rhythmic routine of getting up, eating breakfast, walking all day, reaching your destination, checking in at your accommodation, eating dinner and getting an early night is exactly the sort of nourishing pattern I revel in – the real way to restore body and mind.
Surely, I thought to myself, the Camino can provide me with that?
What is the Camino de Santiago?
I find life tends to split people into 2 camps – those who know all about the Camino (either because they’ve hiked it, or they want to), and those who literally haven’t got the foggiest what it is!
For those of you in the second camp, a little explainer…
The Camino, or Camino de Santiago to give it its full name, (also known as the Way of St James) is an ancient pilgrimage that dates back thousands of years to the Medieval period.
It is one of the most famous walks in Spain.
Traditionally, it was a religious journey, made by pilgrims, to reach the relics of Christian apostle, Saint James, which are believed to be buried in the Spanish city of Santiago.
Alleged to have brought the word of Christianity to the region now known as Spain, St James was subsequently martyred in Jerusalem by order of King Agrippa.
Following his death, his body sailed from the Holy Land to the shores of Galicia in Spain, where it was carried overland to Santiago de Compostela.
Today, modern walkers, many of whom carry the scallop shell symbol of St James, still make this pilgrimage on foot, as they have since the 9th century.
Others also enjoy it on 2 wheels as part of a more contemporary cycling Camino adventure.
You do not, however, have to be religious to embark on the Camino.
Many self-declared pilgrims, myself included, use this spiritual-associated walk as a personal pilgrimage, one of self-reflection and soul-searching.
The Camino, after all, provides for the many, not the few.
How to Walk the Camino?
There are various Camino routes, but the common denominator is that all finish at the Cathedral in the city of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, northern Spain.
The various Camino routes, which begin from multitude of directions – including east from France across the Pyrenees, and south from Portugal up the Atlantic coast – each have specific names, distances and gradients.
All officiated by the Pilgrim’s Office of Santiago’s Cathedral, and maintained by a stream of local volunteers who work tirelessly to maintain the Camino’s signage and trails, this is a cross-European collaboration of epic proportions that is, unsurprisingly, UNESCO World Heritage listed.
Official recognition, available to each and every pilgrim, comes when they have walked 100km to Santiago (or cycled 200km).
Outside of this, the Camino is a wholly independent affair.
You can walk or cycle; either alone, as part of guided tour, or independently with friends.
You can choose how to spend each night – opting either for budget-friendly hostels, mid-range local guesthouses, or luxury boutique hotels – and in which destinations to stop.
And you can choose how much time you donate to your trip, how much you walk each day, and how long your pilgrimage is (providing it’s at least 100km if you want it to be officially recognised).
And then of course, you need to decide which Camino route to take.
From the short and fairly flat Camino Ingles, which usually takes a week to walk, through to the mighty Camino de la Plata, which stretches 1000km across the length of Spain from Seville, and on to the steep Camino Primitivo, which climbs to a lofty height of 1100m above sea level amidst the rugged beauty of the Cantabrian Mountains, there’s a huge array of options!
Which all means that planning your Camino can be a minefield!
Especially if, like me, you literally have no clue as to where to start.
The Camino Experts
Enter the Camino experts, Follow the Camino.
With an incredible wealth of knowledge, information, advice and experience, I highly recommend these Camino-specific professionals if you’re looking for someone to help out!
Established in 2007, Follow the Camino were the first-ever tour agency to assist pilgrims in organising, planning, arranging and booking their Camino de Santiago journeys… and they remain one of the most popular to this day.
Trusted by thousands of walkers and cyclists from across the world each year, believe me when I say these guys know what they are doing!
From bespoke itineraries to designated representatives, pre-trip live video calls, to unique online customer dashboards, Follow the Camino even have their own app – with trail notes and live map features… personally I couldn’t imagine anyone doing it better!
And as a solo female pilgrim, having the safety of an operator behind me, one with long-term experience and established connections with transfer companies and accommodation providers, certainly reassured me.
B-corp certified and committed to a sustainable tourism ethos, including off-setting emissions, I felt as safe in the values of this company, as I did in their Camino expertise.
And if you’re also planning to walk as a solo female, and would feel safer joining an organised group tour, then Follow the Camino can arrange this for you too.
Best of all, they provide luggage transfer!
Yes wave goodbye to lugging a heavy pack on your back as you slog through day after day, km after km of the Camino; because despite what the puritans might say, luggage transfer (from accommodation to accommodation each day) is the way to go in my opinion!
You can now enjoy 10% off your Camino adventure with Follow the Camino using my exclusive discount code Steph10.
Check Follow the Camino’s range of services for yourself here.
When to Hike the Camino?
So now we’ve talked about the way to go, it’s probably a good idea to get onto when to go.
If you’re anything like me, hiking with loads of people around you is not the one, which is exactly why I recommend the Camino shoulder months of May and June, or September and October, as the best times to walk this historic trail.
A whopping 400,000 people are estimated to hike the Camino each year, meaning in the high summer months, things can certainly get a little crowded.
And this is especially true along the most popular Camino Frances, which starts in the French commune of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, before crossing over the Pyrenees into northern Spain along a 790km route.
So instead of joining the, what I imagine to be, ant-like trail of hikers, I opted for the tail end of the autumn season – the last week of October.
And how delighted I was with this choice – next to no rain, 70% perfect sunny days, walk-friendly temperatures in the low 20s (Celsius), and a very reasonable amount of Camino companions made this the ideal time to experience the Camino in my opinion.
My Choice: The Portuguese Coastal Camino
And this was largely made possible by the fact I chose to hike the Portuguese Coastal Camino.
Wonderfully guided in my decision by Follow the Camino, the great thing about this route is that its southerly positioning means it has one of the longest Camino seasons going.
This allows you to walk peacefully, without the large crowds, from as early as April until as late as October, without being too cold or wet (if the weather behaves itself!)
I also think the Portuguese Coastal Camino makes for an excellent route because it’s not too steep.
If your knees are a bit dodgy or you want a more chilled Camino, this could be a clincher!
Unsurprisingly, there’s a lot of coastline on the Portuguese Coastal Camino, meaning large parts of this route are wonderfully flat.
And on the days that aren’t, I loved using the Follow the Camino app, which gave me detailed navigation and gradient guidance, as well as offline maps, meaning I could plan my trail perfectly.
The Portuguese Coastal Camino is also wonderfully diverse.
Spanning 2 countries, it stretches for an impressive 280km from Porto to Santiago de Compostela, meaning walkers of this route get to enjoy a part of Portugal and a slice of Spain.
In my book, this means double the Camino fun and the ability to tick 2 countries, and a border river crossing, off your travel list – woo hoo!
As a multi-national route, the Portuguese Coastal Camino is also varied in terms of language, food, culture and geography.
Encompassing beautiful sandy beaches, perfect for swimming, as well as inland forests and ancient Medieval towns, it’s a great all-rounder with some incredible scenery and fascinating history.
Taking around 2 weeks to complete in total, the Portuguese Coastal Camino is also easily divided into shorter, more manageable sections – perfect for those with varying fitness levels and timeframes.
Sadly only having a week to undertake my first Camino (and I say the first, because when they say the Camino provides, they aren’t wrong!), I started my walk from just across the Portuguese border in the Spanish town of Oia.
From here, it took me a wonderful 6 days to reach the Santiago climax, leaving me a final day to soak in the splendour of this Spanish city.
Oh and if you’re looking a mega challenge, then it pays to know you can actually combine the Portuguese Coastal Camino with the Portuguese Central Camino (which begins in Lisbon), switching between the 2 in Porto, and adding an impressive 370km to your pilgrimage.
My Camino Experience
In total, my Camino trip with Follow the Camino was 8 days of travel joy!
Having had the Camino on my bucket list for ages, it felt like the perfect way to usher in a new decade.
I loved the sense of freedom and purpose it gave me, with the simplicity of the day to day routine truly allowing me to unplug and unwind.
And then there was the space.
From the Atlantic Ocean openness, to the quiet forest paths, walking alone (without so many of the distractions I fill my normal life with) really was the greatest gift – a chance to deeply breath it all, ponder without pressure and truly take stock.
Taking me from Oia to Baiona, on to Vigo and Pontevedra, before hitting Caldas De Reis and Padron in the final stretch before Santiago, the Camino was also a great travel experience, allowing me to see parts of Spain I simply didn’t know about.
Much underrated, the province of Galicia is awash with local restaurants, bars, cafes and hotels, and is utterly authentic in a way more developed Catalonia and Andalusia, filled with tourists, simply can’t be.
For while Camino is not the best hiking I’ve done, it’s definitely the best hike.
It really is the overall experience that makes it.
From the stress-free sense of purpose it gives you, to the shared shelter of community it brings thanks to all the amazing people you meet along the way, this was one heck of a physical, not to mention personal, journey.
So yes, the Camino does provide.
Provide you with an appetite for more!
The only question now, is when will I be back?
My Top Camino Tips
#1 Pack a Proper Day Pack
You’ll be walking for 5-8 hours a day on the Camino, so making sure you have a good daypack with everything you need is essential.
Guidebooks, camera, snacks, water, waterproof gear, sunhat, wallet and a mini first aid kit with plasters for those blisters is essential.
Check out my complete Camino packing list here.
#2 Don’t Forget your Pilgrim Passport
Every day, along the Camino, you can get stamps at various cafes, bars, hotels and churches, which allows your Camino to be verified when you reach Santiago.
Stamps are logged in your Pilgrim Passport, which you pick up ahead of your hike – Follow the Camino provide one for all their clients.
Walk at least 100km to Santiago (or cycle 200km), plus get 2 stamps a day in your Pilgrim Passport and you can get your pilgrimage accredited – you’ll even get a certificate!
Accreditation is given at the Pilgrim’s Office in Santiago, which is found along Rúa Carretas, near the Cathedral.
Go here on the day you reach this final city.
#3 Don’t Rush
Give yourself a full day to arrive and settle in before starting your Camino.
I also suggest giving yourself a full day to relax in Santiago after completion to chill out, sightsee, meet Camino friends and revel in your achievement!
Building in a rest day, every 7/8th day of walking, is also recommended.
#4 Use Santiago Airport
When departing Santiago, check if direct flights operate from this city’s airport to your next destination – this is the easiest way to get home.
I flew to London Stansted with Ryanair in just 2 hours!
Get the best flight deals with Skyscanner.
Otherwise, trains to Madrid from Santiago are also available for other international flights.
Use Trainline to book your rail connections.
#5 Travel Insurance and Money
World Nomads offers simple and flexible travel insurance. Buy at home or while travelling and claim online from anywhere in the world.
Alternatively, if you’re a long-term traveller, digital nomad or frequent remote worker seeking travel health cover, check out Safetywing’s Nomad Insurance policies.
The easy way to spend abroad with real exchange rates, no markups and no sneaky transaction fees, I always travel to Spain with my Wise card.
It works just like a debit card and it links easily with Google and Apple pay – sold!
Grab yours here.
#6 Solo Female Safety
I found hiking the Camino as a solo female very safe, not least thanks to the support of Follow the Camino and the fact other hikers will be walking with or near you.
However things do happen, which is why I recommend an offline map, like that provided by Follow the Camino, as a great resource.
I also recommend getting an eSIM, so you can have phone / data connection when walking in case anything goes wrong.
Holafly provide affordable eSIMS that cover Spain, Portugal, France and beyond.
Get 5% off an Holafly eSIM with my exclusive discount code BIGWORLDSMALLPOCKETS.
#6 Use Follow the Camino
I absolutely loved my trip with Follow the Camino, which was seamlessly organised, fully supported and created with my fitness levels and time constraints in mind.
Get 10% off your Camino adventure with planning experts Follow The Camino using my discount code Steph10.
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My Camino trip was sponsored by Follow the Camino but, as always, all views are my own.
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