Hiking the 800km Camino de Santiago in winter скачать в хорошем качестве

Hiking the 800km Camino de Santiago in winter

On February 9th, 2025 i began the Camino de Santiago, (frances route). In total, the journey would take me a little over a month to complete, 29 of those days spent walking, and the others spent exploring a city for a day, or recovering from a fever. Over the 800(ish) kms, I passed through multiple provinces and regions, each with their unique culture, architecture and of course food. There were even changes in language/dialect as I made my way across Spain. I made this video as a way to remember it for myself, but I hope it serves as a guide if you’re looking to do it yourself, or it brings back fond memories if you have done it. Every day I tried to shoot a few minutes of footage, to capture the key landscape of that day, as well as any notable landmarks/points of interest. I’m gonna lay out some key info, as well as tips that I think would’ve been useful to know prior to starting the Camino: Should I do it in the winter? I would say yes, in fact I would say only in the winter. Why? When I started in February, I never struggled to find a bed at any of the albuerges. The trail was rather empty, sometimes I would go a few hours without seeing anyone. I think this allows you to tap into that solitude and isolation that is typically the purpose of the Camino. As I got closer to Santiago, specifically after passing Sarria, there were probably 20x the amount of people on the trail. (It’s close to the minimum 100km required for a Compostela) For me, this took me out of the mindset I previously had, as it felt like a bit of a race to get to an albergue and find a bed. I heard from others that in the summer, the trail gets so busy you can never not see someone else. The weather wasn’t as bad as many made it out to be. Of course, this changes with the year, but for me only had one or two days below 0, most were around 10-15 degrees. Yes, there was rain, but the vast majority of days were nice and sunny. I wore shorts for a good part of it in order to keep my pants clean for at night. For me, this is perfect walking weather as it allows you to exert yourself without sweating too much. How heavy should my bag be? I’ll admit it, my bag was a little heavier than ideal. For the first week, it weighed around 45-50 pounds, give or take water and food. After the first week, I mailed 10lbs of un necessary things to Santiago. Although manageable, it did take its toll on the body, and perhaps a lighter bag would’ve made the experience more enjoyable. However, I liked knowing I was getting a good workout in, and I also had the added benefit of having all my camping gear should it be necessary. Most people have a bag between 10-25lbs. The general guideline is to have it be no more than 10% of your body weight Had I not had 2 months of travel planned afterwards, I wouldn’t have packed so many extra things. My ruck is the fjallraven kajka 65L. I highly recommend it. It’s certainly more of a pack built for wilderness expeditions, as it has a frame and fairly heavy base weight. I wanted that durability and carrying capacity though, so it suited my needs perfectly. How are the albergues? Depends on which type, and which specific one. There’s a few types that I stayed in, ranging from “donativos” which are donation based, typically run by a Christian organization of some kind, or a monastery. In the middle we have some government run albergues, typically ranging from 5-12 euros, and then private albergues, which ranged from 5-20 euros. I also stayed in private rooms a few times in order to rest and recover. These can be found from 17-50 euros most of the time, depending on amenities. 90% of the albergues had a power outlet near the bed. 80% had reliable, working wifi. 80% had laundry facilities 70% had a communal kitchen, with a stove and pans 30% had community, donation based dinners. In my opinion, my best nights were spent in the donativos. Especially the ones lacking amenities, out in the mountains, like Foncebadón. 18 people crammed into a room, sharing a dinner, and without wifi and power outlets, it forces people to get to know each other. I had a great group of friends, so it made these nights all the more enjoyable. I feel like these were the “true” Camino experience. What about footwear? I wore Salomon quest forces mid cut, with custom fit insoles. Do you need a boot? I saw a ton of people just wearing hiking shoes/trail runners. In fact, one of my good friends just wore normal Nike trainers. What you need is going to depend on what you want, like ankle support, cushioning, water resistance, and how heavy your bag is. For me, I felt the need to use boots due to the load I was carrying, and the length of some of my stages. Give yourself time to break them in prior to starting the Camino.