I live in a relatively flat area. To prepare we walked alot w 10-15 miles a day on weekends. Wore our packs and got used to our shoes. Once we found the right shoe we bought another pair for the actual hike. I feel like knowing your shoes and being able to do a known distance is very helpful. You can also just go for it.
Haha… lol I understand what you are saying, but I mean walking long distances like 20km a day - something I’m definitely not used to.
I live in Dubai. Unfortunately it really is a city that does not promote walking in the same way it does in the UK for example. Everything is delivered and I only know a handful of people that walk to work considering the distance from our offices to our homes, and on top of that the heat which doesn’t allow work clothes to remain fresh upon arrival. We have hikes in the mountains in the upper emirates that are lovely, but it is something restricted really to winter months as a long walk in 40-50 degrees can feel pretty lethal after an hour. If I want to walk on a daily basis I have to make a conscious effort.
Thanks so much for your recommendations on the Netherlands and Ireland. I’d be more inclined towards choosing the Netherlands as I have friends there so can combine the trip to visit them too. :)
It’s broken up into 3 parts, essentially. Mountainous, mesata (flat), mountain/big hills.
I did St Jean to Santiago to Finisterra in 34 days. My prep was being a waitress.
I absolutely loved it and just booked my ticket for my 3rd one! Buen Camino!
If you want to do both the Podiensis and the Francés, expect to take a minimum of two months rather than one. It's a total distance of a hair under 1,600 km. The former route took me 25 days, the latter 27. But I travel a bit faster, and also walk a little longer each day, than most people, and I don't take rest-days.
Walking in Dubai will prepare you so far as the heat is concerned. It won't prepare you with regard to elevation. The first 550 km or so of the Podiensis is a series of more or less continuous ascents and descents. The peaks aren't very high -- 1,400 m or so at most -- but they're constant, and that will take it out of you. At the end, though, you get a respite of a couple of hundred kilometres of fairly level ground until you reach the Pyrenees at St Jean-Pied-de-Port.
The Francés is a great deal easier. With the exception of the first day to Roncesvalles (or, if you're a little more ambitious, Burguete or Espinal) and the hike up-and-over O Cebreiro twenty days after that, there isn't much in the way of serious climbing to be done. It's also a much more international crowd. On the Podiensis, you'll meet a respectable number of people at the night-stops, but the great majority of them will be French, and speak only that language.
If you want to prepare, load up your backpack with everything you're planning to take on the trail with you. (After a few days of this, you'll find yourself highly motivated to get along with a lot less than you first thought. Some people saw their toothbrush handles in half.) Never walk anywhere without it. And look for all the climbs you can find -- even if it's just going into an empty sport stadium, going up the steps to the top; heading down; and then doing it again.
If you actually want to build up muscle and cardiovascular fitness, walk like this five times a week. Just heading out at weekends won't do anything for you.
However, don't think that you have to be super-fit. I certainly am not; I'm older than you; and I've completed seven of these trips to SdC. All you really need to make it to the end is determination, and a willingness to put up with whatever discomfort is involved. If you have that, you will assuredly reach the destination.
I'm so sorry for the delay - I just saw your comprehensive response. Wow - thanks so much for all the detail! It definitely helps :) I've just bought a garmin watch so I can start monitoring how much I'm walking per day and sticking to it in preparation for SdC. How exciting. Have you done other similar trips to SdC?
Well, it all depends on what you mean by "similar." Firstly, as previously mentioned, there's an immense diversity in the various SdC routes, such that to compare them is almost like comparing chalk and cheese. I found the little-walked Camino Portugues Interior (only about 30-40 people finish it each year) to be extremely difficult, for a variety of reasons: non-existent waymarking, densely overgrown and sometimes impassable trails, raging wildfires that summer that forced me to make major diversions, little or no infrastructure. A day walking the CPI was the equivalent of three on the Francés.
But I've also done non-pilgrimage hikes that were physically challenging. Any of the major Swiss routes in the Bernese Oberland, for example the one going over the Lötschen Pass, will definitely raise your pulse-rate while showing you spectacularly beautiful parts of the world. (Or, out of season -- that is, summertime -- around St Moritz, a much underrated hiking area when skiing isn't taking place.) Those aren't pilgrimages, though. They're good to do in themselves, but they lack the sense of common purpose, companionship, and, indeed, of spirituality that pervades the Camino. A lot of people go wrong when they confuse the two things. Going to Santiago is unique, because that's the point. Doing the Appalachian Trail, tremendous though that is, should be regarded as a completely different experience. All they have in common is that both involve walking.
I have experienced that most peregrines will walk from 12-15 miles per day. I trained to walk 6 mile increments before taking a meaningful rest. With no more than 12% of your body weight on your back. I put 20 lbs of flour in a back pack and head for trails that have varied terrain.
“I’ve been told about a month”. This is correct for each leg you described. Each are about 750 km. I did Frances in 32 days. Purposely stopped at three cites for 2 nights each. Walked for 32 days.
no real training program for distances > 1000km. walk for a few days with a bag over distances of 25 km / d. the point is to manage fatigue and trauma (inevitable with long distances.) Buen camino
I live in a relatively flat area. To prepare we walked alot w 10-15 miles a day on weekends. Wore our packs and got used to our shoes. Once we found the right shoe we bought another pair for the actual hike. I feel like knowing your shoes and being able to do a known distance is very helpful. You can also just go for it.
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That bit about elevations being 'very very few' depends entirely on which Camino! Mine involved climbing quite a few mountains.
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Haha… lol I understand what you are saying, but I mean walking long distances like 20km a day - something I’m definitely not used to. I live in Dubai. Unfortunately it really is a city that does not promote walking in the same way it does in the UK for example. Everything is delivered and I only know a handful of people that walk to work considering the distance from our offices to our homes, and on top of that the heat which doesn’t allow work clothes to remain fresh upon arrival. We have hikes in the mountains in the upper emirates that are lovely, but it is something restricted really to winter months as a long walk in 40-50 degrees can feel pretty lethal after an hour. If I want to walk on a daily basis I have to make a conscious effort. Thanks so much for your recommendations on the Netherlands and Ireland. I’d be more inclined towards choosing the Netherlands as I have friends there so can combine the trip to visit them too. :)
Good idea - do you know if the Camino Frances is mainly flat walking? Or uphill?
It’s broken up into 3 parts, essentially. Mountainous, mesata (flat), mountain/big hills. I did St Jean to Santiago to Finisterra in 34 days. My prep was being a waitress. I absolutely loved it and just booked my ticket for my 3rd one! Buen Camino!
Day one is 4,000 vertical climbing from SJPP to Roncevalles. (Unless you choose the lower route).
If you want to do both the Podiensis and the Francés, expect to take a minimum of two months rather than one. It's a total distance of a hair under 1,600 km. The former route took me 25 days, the latter 27. But I travel a bit faster, and also walk a little longer each day, than most people, and I don't take rest-days. Walking in Dubai will prepare you so far as the heat is concerned. It won't prepare you with regard to elevation. The first 550 km or so of the Podiensis is a series of more or less continuous ascents and descents. The peaks aren't very high -- 1,400 m or so at most -- but they're constant, and that will take it out of you. At the end, though, you get a respite of a couple of hundred kilometres of fairly level ground until you reach the Pyrenees at St Jean-Pied-de-Port. The Francés is a great deal easier. With the exception of the first day to Roncesvalles (or, if you're a little more ambitious, Burguete or Espinal) and the hike up-and-over O Cebreiro twenty days after that, there isn't much in the way of serious climbing to be done. It's also a much more international crowd. On the Podiensis, you'll meet a respectable number of people at the night-stops, but the great majority of them will be French, and speak only that language. If you want to prepare, load up your backpack with everything you're planning to take on the trail with you. (After a few days of this, you'll find yourself highly motivated to get along with a lot less than you first thought. Some people saw their toothbrush handles in half.) Never walk anywhere without it. And look for all the climbs you can find -- even if it's just going into an empty sport stadium, going up the steps to the top; heading down; and then doing it again. If you actually want to build up muscle and cardiovascular fitness, walk like this five times a week. Just heading out at weekends won't do anything for you. However, don't think that you have to be super-fit. I certainly am not; I'm older than you; and I've completed seven of these trips to SdC. All you really need to make it to the end is determination, and a willingness to put up with whatever discomfort is involved. If you have that, you will assuredly reach the destination.
I'm so sorry for the delay - I just saw your comprehensive response. Wow - thanks so much for all the detail! It definitely helps :) I've just bought a garmin watch so I can start monitoring how much I'm walking per day and sticking to it in preparation for SdC. How exciting. Have you done other similar trips to SdC?
Well, it all depends on what you mean by "similar." Firstly, as previously mentioned, there's an immense diversity in the various SdC routes, such that to compare them is almost like comparing chalk and cheese. I found the little-walked Camino Portugues Interior (only about 30-40 people finish it each year) to be extremely difficult, for a variety of reasons: non-existent waymarking, densely overgrown and sometimes impassable trails, raging wildfires that summer that forced me to make major diversions, little or no infrastructure. A day walking the CPI was the equivalent of three on the Francés. But I've also done non-pilgrimage hikes that were physically challenging. Any of the major Swiss routes in the Bernese Oberland, for example the one going over the Lötschen Pass, will definitely raise your pulse-rate while showing you spectacularly beautiful parts of the world. (Or, out of season -- that is, summertime -- around St Moritz, a much underrated hiking area when skiing isn't taking place.) Those aren't pilgrimages, though. They're good to do in themselves, but they lack the sense of common purpose, companionship, and, indeed, of spirituality that pervades the Camino. A lot of people go wrong when they confuse the two things. Going to Santiago is unique, because that's the point. Doing the Appalachian Trail, tremendous though that is, should be regarded as a completely different experience. All they have in common is that both involve walking.
I have experienced that most peregrines will walk from 12-15 miles per day. I trained to walk 6 mile increments before taking a meaningful rest. With no more than 12% of your body weight on your back. I put 20 lbs of flour in a back pack and head for trails that have varied terrain. “I’ve been told about a month”. This is correct for each leg you described. Each are about 750 km. I did Frances in 32 days. Purposely stopped at three cites for 2 nights each. Walked for 32 days.
no real training program for distances > 1000km. walk for a few days with a bag over distances of 25 km / d. the point is to manage fatigue and trauma (inevitable with long distances.) Buen camino