Walking 9-14 days - which route?

[gringuita]

Hi everyone :-)

Hope for some help here. I want to do walk to Santiago de Compostella, and I would love to do the whole camino (either one, really, although el Camino Frances is the most popular). The thing is I'll only have 9 days to walk on (I can't get more than 2 weeks off from work).

Where should I start from? Though I might not be able to walk a whole route, the most important thing for me is to get to Santiago de Compostella by foot. I'm in good shape, 23 years old, girl. Of course, it would also be great if a short 9-12 days route could be done in some of the most beautiful parts of Spain.

Hope some of you will be able to help me out, I'd be very greatful! Thank you!

Greetings, E.

[Sil]

1. You could start at Villafranca del Bierzo (183km to Santiago) in the beautiful Bierzo valley and cross the Cebrero range into Galicia on the camino Frances. This will be the busiest route to walk.
2. You could consider the Portugues route from Porto - 232km from Santiago - not as busy as the Frances.

To earn the Compostela you must walk a minimum of the last 100km to Santiago.

Here are a few starting places to walk the camino and qualify for the Compostela. On all of these you could add 90+kms to Finisterre (a route I would like to walk every year!)

El Ferrol - 112 Camino Ingles

Lugo - 101 Camino Norte

Sarria - 114 Camino Frances


Tui - 117 Portuguese Caminho

Ourense - 108 Silver Way

Muxia/Fisterra - 116 Fistera Way **

** If you start at Muxia and walk to Finisterre and then to Santiago you will earn the Compostela.

You can download guides to the shorter routes from the CSJ website here: Pilgrim Guides on-line

Pilgrim Guides to Spain (and Portugal)

• Camino Inglés (revised ed, Jan 2010)
• Finisterre (revised ed, Jan 2009)
• The Tunnel Route (revised ed, May 2009)
• Camino Portugués, Porto to Santiago (revised ed, January 2009)
• Camino del Salvador (January 2010)

Good luck with your plans!

Sil