How to hike Spain’s Camino de Santiago

What’s it really like to hike Spain’s ancient pilgrimage route? Reality Training’s Bob Morrell shares his experience

Walking the Camino de Santiago was a challenge I’d been thinking about for more than 20 years. My life had changed significantly, and I felt like it was now or never.

You begin the route alone with a long journey ahead, reliant on finding your way to the next bed each night, but you soon get used to this. There are plenty of specialists to help with the logistics, but this is your party – you decide how far to walk every day. Pilgrims have been walking the Camino – or Way of St James – for more than 1,000 years.

Every year, around 400,000 people from across the world undertake the journey. There are several routes starting from various points across Europe, all of which converge in the city of Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain.

I took on the Camino Frances route, which stretches nearly 500 miles from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France, crossing the Pyrenees into Spain. It took around five weeks in total, with a couple of days off. Passing through Pamplona, Rioja, Burgos, León and finally into Galicia, I covered around 11 to 12 miles each day. The first day was a tough hike, but most of it was manageable.

There were hundreds of hostels along the walk, offering a nightly bed for €13-15, and a meal for about the same.

Some make the walk for religious beliefs but most, like me, do it for personal reasons. It’s an emotional, healing experience, and one I highly recommend. Perhaps something happened years ago that you’re still trying to process, and on this long, spiritual journey, you have the space to reflect on it all.

As pilgrims, there’s a familial spirit that binds walkers together. You all have a shared goal. You may have chosen different routes, timings and accommodation options, but you’re all enduring the same mountains, weather and challenges. You think about past, present and future all at once, while making real and varied friendships. I warn you, it’s strangely addictive. So much so that this year I’ll be taking on the Camino Portugues Coastal Route from Porto to Santiago – I can’t wait.

Book it: Operators including Ramble Worldwide, Camino Ways, Intrepid Travel, HF Holidays, G Adventures and Explore offer guided and self-guided walks. Exodus Adventure Travels’ nine-day guided Camino de Santiago Trek starts from £1,395 (not including flights) with hotel accommodation and luggage transfers.
exodus.co.uk

Bob Morrell is managing director of Reality Training and has published ‘Truth & Heresy on Bobby’s Camino’, available in paperback (£13.99) and e-book (£8.99) via Amazon, and ‘Top 12 Tips for Walking the Camino de Santiago’ (£4.99).

PICTURES: Bob Morrel