CAMINOLOVERS.COM – FROM PILGRIMS TO PILGRIMS WITH LOVE
Author: Matej
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From San Sebastian to Zarautz, Camino del Norte, stage no. 2
Basic Details Starting point: Center of San Sebastian Ending point: Convent of the Franciscanos, Zarautz Availability of alternative routes: YES, there is a small alternative detour on the coast close to Zarautz, to visit El cargadero de minerales Malla Harria o Mollarri de Zarautz (mineral loading area , interesting historic building that served to load…
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From Irun to San Sebastian, Camino del Norte, stage no. 1
Basic Details Starting point: Iglesia de Nuestra señora del Juncal (Irun Cathedral, you can get your credential–the pilgrim passport there, more info here: how to get a pilgrim passport in Irun). Ending point: Center of San Sebastian, where you will find many accommodation options for every budget, except of the extreme low cost. Availability of…
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Do you have to pay to do the Camino? Facts & Myths
If you’ve been to different countries of the world, you know for sure that it isn’t always free to walk in a forest, yet alone to hike some trail. Fees range from symbolic $1 (in local currency) to outrageous fees like $25,000 for being able to go to Mount Everest. And while most of these…
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Readers’ questions: Do you have to be Catholic to walk the Camino?
I’ve got an email from one of the readers of CaminoLovers.com a few days ago. They asked me what role Catholicism plays on the Camino, and whether it is fine to do the way, even though you do not believe in any God. Their message helped me to realize that things obvious for us “Camino…
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Do albergues have blankets? My personal experience from Camino de Santiago
Many people are tempted to pack super-light for the Camino. After all you’ll sleep every day inside (or at least you hope to :)), so why carry a towel, or a sleeping bag? These things take a lot of space in the backpack, and perhaps you do not need them, especially if you do the…
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Ticks on Camino de Santiago – Facts vs Myths
I’ve met enough Americans, both on the Camino and outside of it, to know how scared they are of ticks. And perhaps they have a good reason, considering the huge number of ticks infected with Lyme Disease in the forests of US, especially along the famous Appalachian Trail. Then you have the fear-mongering pharma lobby,…
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Are there toilets on the Camino de Santiago? My personal experience
Camino de Santiago is not a walk in a jungle, or in a thick forest where every tree fifty feet away from the trail offers an opportunity to relieve yourself in privacy. On the contrary, you will walk a lot in open spaces, in the fields and on the plains of inland Spain (super beautiful…
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Ultralight Packing List for Camino de Santiago [2025 Edition]
It is not necessarily true that lighter backpack is easier to carry, and that you will enjoy the Camino more if you carry 4 kilos than 8 kilos. Each approach has some pluses and minuses, and more things mean more comfort on your pilgrimage. Having said that, I fully understand that most people who can…
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What to eat to lose weight while walking the Camino?
Losing weight on the Camino is a goal of many pilgrims, though few would admit it. The tricky part is that you do not necessarily lose weight just because you cover a decent mileage day after day, as you progress towards Santiago de Compostela. Some people lose weight, others gain weight, and some end up…
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Best Maps for Camino de Santiago – Top 3 Alternatives
With the constant growth of popularity of the Spanish caminos, people always come with new products and business ideas. Sometimes they try to help the pilgrims, and sometimes they simply hope to enjoy their fraction of this juicy pie, making some money from selling something to pilgrims. And since a modern man of 21st century…
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Where to Get a Pilgrim Passport in St. Jean Pied de Port in 2023
Numbers do not lie. In 2019 (the last year before the pandemics) over 30,000 pilgrims started their long walk to Santiago from Saint Jean in France, and the number actually includes only pilgrims who reached Santiago, and visited the pilgrims office to get their “Compostela”, the certificate of completing the pilgrimage. Which means that in…
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Best T-Shirt for Camino de Santiago – My personal experience
Every detail matters, as long as you want to enjoy your pilgrimage to the fullest, and avoid any unnecessary injuries. Just as you will always carry your shoes and backpack (and no doubt you did your research, and didn’t buy the first model with colors you liked), you will also wear a t-shirt most of…
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What is a Parochial (Parroquial) Albergue? Everything you need to know about this type of pilgrim hostel
Following any of the pilgrimage routes in Spain, you will come across albergues with different labels. “Publico”, “Privado”, “Municipal”, “Donativo”, or “Parroquial” are the five main common words you will find next to the name of a pilgrim hostel. And while each place is unique, and you cannot judge some hostel for pilgrims just because…
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How to plan to walk the Camino de Santiago with Success
In a certain way walking the Camino is no different to pursuing any other big goal in life. As Benjamin Franklin famously said: “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Sure enough, if you’ve walked five long distance hiking trails before in life, and run fifty miles a week on trails in your…
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How to volunteer on Camino de Santiago in 2024 and beyond
Many of us received priceless gifts while walking the Camino. The pilgrimage has changed our lives. It brought new joys, or new questions, it took us out of our comfort zone and taught us the most important lessons about ourselves. And of course the connections with other pilgrims and people on the way we will…
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Finding Love on Camino de Santiago – My personal experience
We all have our reason for walking the Camino. The real reason, not the one that we necessarily share with fellow pilgrims, or with people back home. While many people hope to lose weight on the Camino, without ever admitting it, many also dream of finding love of their life, or at least a summer…
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Gluten Free Diet on Camino de Santiago – My personal experience
If you’ve never been to Spain, you may have heard a couple of myths about Spanish food. For example that it is healthy (far from truth), or that they eat mostly fish and vegetables (even further from the truth). Regardless of what you’ve heard, however, you should realize two things: Spanish is a vast country,…
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Walking the Camino over 60 – Pluses, Minuses, Options
Age is just a number as the saying goes. And though many people around the world (athletes, artists, 80 years old billionaires who marry 20 years old gold-diggers) serve as a living proof of the saying, the question is whether it is true for us, mortals, for a common Joe and Marry with normal life,…
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Can you walk Camino de Santiago with a dog? My personal experience
Every true dog lover knows how hard it is to leave your beloved companion home for a month, while you embark on what can become the most memorable trip of your life–the Camino de Santiago. But can you walk the Camino with your dog? Will it be possible, and what obstacles will you face? Do…
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Can you walk Camino de Santiago in January? My personal experience
When you say pilgrimage in Spain, most people imagine summer time. Hot Spanish sun and cold drinks, endless skies and never-ending evenings (they called Spain the “land of setting sun” for a reason), and of course miles of walking day after day, until you reach the shrine of St. James in Santiago. It is a…
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Where to get a pilgrim passport in Pamplona in 2023?
Pamplona does not belong to the most common starting points of Camino de Santiago. Majority of pilgrims who want to follow the French way start either from Saint Jean Pied de Port, or from Leon, or from Sarria, depending on whether they want to walk 800 or 500 or just the last 100 kilometers to…
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Where to get a pilgrim passport in Porto? 2023 Guide
Camino Portuguese has gained a lot of popularity in recent years. Neither too short nor too long, neither too difficult nor to easy (for a true pilgrim experience), it is steadily climbing up the ranks of most popular pilgrimages. In 2019 for example (the last year before the pandemics), Porto was the 3rd most popular…
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Where to get a pilgrim passport (credential) in Lisbon?
Camino Portuguese has gained a lot of popularity in recent years. And though the way from Lisbon to Porto isn’t exactly a picturesque one, or a dream of a pilgrim, considering that you will walk almost entirely on asphalt roads (unless you follow alternative routes), many people like to start in Lisbon, for two reason.…
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Is Donativo Albergue Free? – Facts vs Myths 2023
Donativo albergue, or pilgrim hostel. Few people realize that back in the day (decades and centuries ago), when pilgrims headed to Santiago slept in churches or houses of local inhabitants, all albergues were donativos. There weren’t anything like private pilgrim hostels run by people with an aim of making profit (while serving the pilgrims). Many…
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How many days to walk the Camino the Santiago? We have the answer for all main routes!
Most of us have all sorts of obligations and ties back home. When planning the Camino, it is important to know how long it will take us to reach Santiago, so we can take appropriate leave from our work, and make the necessary arrangements with our loved ones. I’ve walked all major Caminos in Spain,…
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Via de la Plata on Bike – From Seville to Santiago, Interview
Doing the Camino on bike was always one of my goals, and something I wanted to try. But which way should I follow? Frances wasn’t really an option, and I did Norte just recently. San Salvador & Primitivo combination was tempting, but perhaps too difficult (if not impassable) on a bike loaded with luggage. Via…
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Doing the Camino as a Teenager – Pluses, Minuses, Personal Experience
Watching some movies about the Camino, or checking most popular online forums, you can easily get a wrong impression about the pilgrimage. It may seem like teenagers are a rare occurrence on the way, and that you’ll spend most of your time with people twice or trice your age. And though you can certainly learn…
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Best Time to Walk Camino Portuguese – Personal Experience
Camino Portuguese is a great way for “Camino beginners”. Whether you pick the coastal route or the inland one, the distance from Porto to Santiago is just about 250 kilometers, the terrain is mostly flat, and you can do this walk in 10 days. In my personal experience, Portuguese caminos aren’t as rich in natural…
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Where to Get a Pilgrim Passport in Sarria (+ Map)
Sarria, the most common starting point on Camino de Santiago. Situated exactly 100 kilometers from the shrine of St. James in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, which is the minimum distance you need to walk to officially complete the pilgrimage, and get your certificate upon arrival, it attracts hordes of pilgrims each year. Ranging…
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Walking the Camino over 70 – Is it doable, and how?
Leaving home for a month or two is not easy once you are working, raising children, paying bills, and barely noticing how time flies by. Sure, it isn’t the same for every profession. Teachers for example are a common occurrence on the Camino in the summer. They have six weeks of holidays in most countries,…
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How fit do you need to be to walk the Camino de Santiago?
Let’s start with facts. Camino de Santiago isn’t the most difficult long walk in the world. It is actually one of the easiest waymarked trails out there, when we look at trails that span over 500 kilometers (Camino Frances has about 780 kilometers all the way from Saint Jean to Santiago). The first reason is…
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Do I need to know Spanish for the Camino de Santiago? My personal experience
I’ve been lucky enough to walk the Camino many times. I followed different ways, ranging from the most popular Frances and Norte, to the lesser known San Salvador and Camino Olvidado, and anything in between the two extremes. When I walked my first Camino Frances I spoke no Spanish at all. Sure enough, I considered…
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What is the best bike for Camino de Santiago?
Some people say one does not experience the real Camino de Santiago on bike. I cannot disagree more. First of all, there’s nothing like “a real Camino”. Each pilgrimage is unique, and each of us embarks on this journey with their own hopes and dreams. Whether we eventually get what we wanted–or the way serves…
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Where do you fly to start the Camino? Best airports and routes 2023
Many things have changes with the pandemics. Some airlines closed down, some airports were almost shut for a year. But things are getting slowly back to normal, borders are opening again, and Camino is ready for a new wave of pilgrims hungry for spiritual and other experiences. If you have also waited for this opportunity…
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Eating vegetarian on Camino de Santiago – Everything you need to know
I love going for long trips over ancient pilgrims’ roads, or over distant mountain ranges in distant countries. And while people would think the main issues on such trips are planning, navigation, or staying healthy, for me really the biggest issue is food. I’ve been a vegetarian since 2016, and I actually prefer plant based…
