We have been intrigued about the Camino de Santiago de Compostela for several years, even before we retired and began traveling. We know one person who walked the Camino and when she described her experience, we thought that we might like to walk it someday. But the distance seemed daunting.

We didn’t have a spiritual reason for walking the Camino but approached it as a physical challenge and a chance to visit Spain and Portugal. So, 6 months ago we decided to take the plunge and plan this adventure.

WHAT IS THE CAMINO DE SANTIAGO?

The Camino de Santiago, also known as the Way of St. James, is a network of ancient pilgrimage routes leading to Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, in northern Spain. Traditionally, the Camino would start from the pilgrim’s home, wherever that was, although nowadays, many consider the official route to begin in the town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, just across the French border from Spain. Known as the Camino Francés or French Way, the main route stretches more than 790km (490 mi) across northern Spain.

The Camino de Santiago has been a pilgrimage route for more than 1,000 years, and there’s even evidence that there was a route across Spain in pre-Christian times. This earlier Roman trade route – which earned the nickname of Milky Way as it seemed to point in the same direction as the galaxy – led to what people believed was the end of the Earth.

Christian teaching states that one of the original 12 apostles – Santiago, or Saint James – helped spread Christianity throughout the Iberian peninsula. One theory states that when he died, his disciples put his body in a boat to the coast of Spain, just west of where Santiago de Compostela stands today. The other says that his body was found by a Galician farmer near the town of Padrón centuries later. Either way, King Alfonso II ordered the relics to be buried in a specially built chapel, which later became the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, attracting pilgrims from across Europe.

HOW WAS THE ROUTE CREATED?

There are many theories as to how the route came to be. The leading belief is that it was by word of mouth, with pilgrims giving each other tips about the path, including which towns or villages to stop at, where to find water, and the safest way to cross the mountains. Over the centuries, the route was etched into the soil with each passing pilgrim.

The modern Camino was created in the 1980s by Father Sampedro, the priest of the village of O Cebreiro, who marked the ancient route with yellow arrows so that pilgrims could easily find the way.

THE CAMINO TODAY

The Camino is becoming increasingly popular. In addition to marking the route, Father Sampedro also promoted it throughout Europe, and it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage route in 1993. In 2010, The Way, a movie about the Camino starring Martin Sheen, was released. Since then, it has become the most well-known long-distance hiking route in Spain.

There are several Camino routes. The most popular routes are the French Way, the Portugues Central Way, and the Portugues Coastal Way.

In 2023, more than 440,000 pilgrims walked the Camino de Santiago which included over 219,00 Pilgrims on the French Way, 88,717 on the Portuguese Central Way, and 52,747 on The Portuguese Coastal Way.

THE PORTUGUES COASTAL WAY

We decided to walk the Portugues Coastal Way, which starts in the city of Porto, the second largest city in Portugal. The route covers a total of 270 km (169 miles) along the entire Portuguese coastline until it enters Galicia, Spain crossing the Minho River. Once in Galician territory, the route passes through important cities and fishing villages such as A Guarda, Oia, Baiona, and Vigo, until it joins the Portuguese Central Way in the town of Redondela. The routes merge to finally end in Santiago de Compostela.

Although this route has been recognized as an official way only relatively recently, the route dates back to the ninth century, after the discovery of the remains of the apostle Santiago and the beginning of the phenomenon of pilgrimages in Europe.

By the end of the 16th century the route declined but by the early 2000’s the route was re-established and now is one of the most popular routes.

OUR WAY

After deciding to walk the Portuguese Coastal Way, we researched the route and began to plan our walk based on our time frame and the number of miles we thought we could walk.

We took advice from people on the internet and planned to walk 2-days in a row followed by a rest day for two weeks. We would do this for 14 days. After our 2-week hike, we planned to spend 2 weeks in northern Spain, an area we had not been to before. So, in addition to planning where to stop each day, we planned our hotels, and how to transport our luggage from one destination to the next for each of the 10 walking stages.

Once we started walking, we found finding lodging more difficult than we anticipated. Initially, we were going to “wing it” and just plan as each stage came up. But when we started, we found hotels were fully booked and luggage transfer was offered only from specific hotels. In fact, during our walks, we had to be flexible and change our plan as issues came up. We tried to balance the distance of each stage. We did not want to walk more than 15 miles in one stage or walk less than 8 miles in another stage.

Pre-Start

We planned to fly into Porto, Portugal, and spend a couple of days to adjust to the time change and explore the city. We would then take a train to the start of our walk, stay overnight, and start walking early the next morning.

Sounded like a good plan. Unfortunately, due to flight delays and overbooked flights, we had a 2-day delay. Luckily for us, time was on our side. We had no commitments and we had plenty of time to complete our walk to Santiago. Most pilgrims have a limited timeframe.

Our new itinerary called for a 9-hour layover in Newark before flying to Porto. We spent the entire time in the United club. We ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner and closed the place down, I was ready to put on my pajamas and sleep there.

The Trek Begins

The weather in Portugal was very rainy and cool. Before we arrived, it rained almost every day. We saw photos of rivers where the trail once was. We were worried about how we would walk for miles in the cold and rain. Our biggest concern throughout our entire journey was blisters. We saw so many pilgrims limping, walking slowly, their feet wet and bandages on their feet to cover their blisters.

However, in the first 2 days of our journey, the weather was perfect. It was sunny, cool, and calm. The view of the ocean was spectacular. The trail was flat and well-marked. We enjoyed meeting and talking with other Pilgrims along the way. At one point, we walked with a group of high school children from Italy. The young man we were walking with had rain-soaked shoes from previous days and he had blisters.

In the remaining 12 days of our journey, the weather was cloudy, cold, and rainy. Several times each day, we donned our rain ponchos. We could not just stop and wait for the rain to stop. We had to keep going until we arrived at a small town or village where we could duck into a café or restaurant until the rain passed. As we walked further north, the trail moved away from the coast crossing farmland, forests, and small villages. The path was hilly, and sections of the trail became rutted and muddy.

We took breaks during our hikes. When we came across a café, we stopped to have a coffee or a snack. We met people from all over the world during these breaks. We compared notes, highlights and hardships, and their motivation to walk the Camino.

The final 2 stages of our walk were the hardest. We were anxious to finish. We worried about the rain and how hard it would be to trudge 15 miles a day in pouring rain. The trail became hillier and muddier, and we saw dozens more fellow pilgrims walking ahead of us as we got closer to Santiago.

The Portuguese Central Way and The Portuguese Coastal Way merge in the town of Redondela, Spain. Also, there are many Pilgrims who chose to start in the town of Vigo for a shorter distance and time to Santiago.

We came across many people walking very slowly, limping, or taking care of blisters or pain. As they got closer to their destination, it seemed that many people were not interested in talking or walking with others. They just put their heads down and walked.

TO THE FINISH

Finally, on our 14^th day, we reached Santiago de Compostela. We walked the last two 2 miles through the city of Santiago. As we got closer, a steady flow of Pilgrims walked through the narrow, gothic streets to the cathedral.

We all had to cross a busy street that had a very long traffic light. We could see in the Pilgrims’ eyes and body language, as they waited for the light to change, their anticipation of reaching the cathedral. We finally rounded the last corner and suddenly we’re in the cathedral square anchored by the Cathedral de Santiago de Compostela.

And just like that, we were done. Like crossing the finish line in a marathon, we felt tired and exhilarated, relieved and emotional. Each person had their own emotions at the end. Mine was relief and happiness, Kathy’s was exhausted and emotional. I suddenly had energy, the last of Kathy’s energy was depleted several miles back. But together, we simply stopped, hugged, and then walked to the end of the plaza to sit down and rest.

For us, the celebration and true joy will come later. We just wanted to sit and take in all that was going on around us.

OUR CELEBRATION

We didn’t really celebrate. The night we finished, we went out to eat at a nice restaurant and went back to our apartment. No late night for us.

The following morning, we returned to the cathedral to claim our certificate. The cathedral has 4 masses daily. We went to the 11 o’clock mass. It was standing room only. Luckily, we arrived early enough to find a place to sit.

Later, we just sat in the square again and watched people. We saw people celebrating in their own way. Some celebrated as a group, others with their partner or friend, and some celebrated alone.

OUR REFLECTIONS

Marc’s Reflection

For me, completing the Camino to Santiago was a goal I wanted to achieve. I had no spiritual reason to walk, but the walk did change me. I learned something about myself walking for 14 days. I was truly inspired by all the people walking and those we met along the way. We met pilgrims as young as 17 and as old as 82. We met others who were struggling to climb the hill or make it to their hostel for the night. We wondered if they would make it.

On our 3^rd day of walking, we met Hans, an older gentleman from Germany, who was walking alone. We walked with him for a short time, and he walked slowly but steadily. Every day after that we wondered about him. How was he doing? Is he okay? Did he get hurt?

Amazingly, we met him again 3 days after we finished. He and his daughter, who flew in to meet him in Santiago, were on the same walking tour as us. We were happy and relieved to see him and reconnect. He truly inspired me.

I felt both happy and sad when I saw solo walkers taking their last steps and entering the square to celebrate facing the cathedral. Happy for them that they completed their journey, but sad that they did it alone. We were able to celebrate the finish with each other knowing how hard it was to get to the end. They were by themselves with nobody to share their accomplishment with. They probably wanted this solo accomplishment, but I was happy to share the experience with Kathy, my best friend.

Every day, more than 1,000 people complete their Camino by walking into the Square. It’s a steady flow that never ends and one man told us that the Camino is like a moving village. You walk with others when the timing works. They may speed up or fall behind, but it’s a group, like a village, moving along the Camino.

To me, the Camino is like a river. We are leaves that fall into the river and are carried downstream. Sometimes a leaf may get stuck on a rock or the shoreline and that leaf may end its journey. But many times, other leaves come along and nudge it free to continue downriver.

Kathy’s Reflection

We are thankful that we had this opportunity to hike across Spain. However, truth be told, it’s hard to sum up our hike with any profound thoughts. The Camino gives people the chance to take a break from their usual obligations, and fast-paced lives to have the time to think about what’s important to them.

I gained confidence in my own physical and emotional capabilities. I walked 150 miles in rain, mud, and sunshine, up steep hills, through industrial areas, into beautiful gothic Spanish towns even when I was exhausted and just wanted to stop. I had to go on for a few more miles and I did.

The scenery of northern Spain is diverse and gorgeous. Paths sheltered by the forest, curving in long descents into towns in the far distance with medieval church towers. We walked along acres of vineyards and adapted to a new rhythm of walking, eating, sleeping, and repeating.

The sound of church bells, the wind rusting through the trees, and bird songs surrounded me.

There was often silence, except for the crunch of my shoes and the clicking of my poles on the gravel. I don’t usually meditate, but this aloneness was sort of awesome.

“How am I ever going to do this?” “Just put one foot in front of the other,” I thought.

The Camino was not so much about arriving at a destination, it was slowing down to enjoy the journey itself. All the Pilgrims were heading to the city of Santiago de Compostela. We wanted to get our pilgrim passports stamped and our final certificates to prove we had completed the long trek. No two people had the same experience, not even Marc and me.

The final 40km was tough. When we reached the end, we realized that on the Camino we were surrounded with people from all over the world, who were different in every possible way: socially, politically, spiritually, socioeconomically… And yet, choosing to walk great distances across a foreign country made us all Pilgrims through life.