Camino de Santiago

What started as a religious pilgrimage one thousand years ago, the Camino de Santiago or Way of St. James, has evolved into a long-distance hiker’s dream. Walking hundreds of miles through the Spanish countryside has become a challenge for many walkers from around the world. For many, it remains a religious quest to reach the cathedral in Santiago to pay their respects to the relics of St. James. Others come for the challenge of completing what might be the most demanding physical feat they’ve ever attempted. And for some, it becomes an obsession to walk as many of the “Caminos” as possible.

I heard about the Camino de Santiago several years ago while searching for international multi-day hiking destinations. Then I watched the movie, “The Way” and knew I needed to experience walking the Camino. I read several books others had written about their time on the Camino and even bought a guidebook for the Northern Caminos. But would I ever actually get to Spain? It all seemed very intimidating.

Now that I knew where I was going, I picked the dates to take off from work and started the fun part… planning the details! Since I was on a tight timeline I opted to book everything ahead instead of just going with the flow once I reached Oviedo. With the help of my Camino Primitivo guidebook, the Buen Camino app, and Booking.com, I mapped out my 13-day itinerary and started booking accommodation. For my flights, I opted to purchase round-trip air from the States to Madrid then booked a separate one-way ticket to the Asturias airport with a short bus ride to Oviedo. I also bought a train ticket that would bring me back to Madrid from Santiago once I completed my walk. Thankfully, everything worked out smoothly!

Day 1: Oviedo to Grado 16 miles

Day 2: Grado to Salas 14.5 miles

Day 3: Salas to Tineo 12.5 miles

Day 4: Tineo to Samblismo 10.8 miles

Day 5: Samblismo to Berducedo 14 miles

Day 6: Berducedo to Grandas de Salime 13 miles

Day 7: Grandas to Fonsgrada 17 miles

Day 8: Fonsgrada to O Cadavo 15.5 miles

Day 9: O Cadavo to Lugo 19 miles

Day 10: Lugo to Ferreira 16.5 miles

Day 11: Ferreira to Boente 17 miles

Day 12 : Boente to O Pedrouzo 17 miles

Day 13: O Pedrouzo to Santiago 12.5 miles

Once again I was blessed with on-time flights and no travel mishaps in getting to Madrid. The flight from Madrid to Asturias was absolutely gorgeous! Not only did we fly north over the mountains but also across the northern coast over the ocean parallel to the shore until we landed at the Asturias Airport. The airport was quite small so I overestimated the amount of time it would take to collect my bag and get to the bus. I had already bought a bus ticket to get to Oviedo for 2:00 but the 1:00 bus was there getting ready to leave. Since the bus was mostly empty, I thought I would try to take that one instead of waiting an hour. The bus driver was not amused but she reluctantly let me stay on board. This was all done with facial expressions and gestures but her level of exacerbation came through loud and clear.

Once at the Oviedo bus station, I started walking toward the Cathedral and my hotel. It was a beautiful day and I was looking forward to getting to my room to relax for a while before getting some errands done.

I stayed at the Soho Boutique Hotel about a block from the cathedral in Oviedo. My room was small but had a perfect view of the cathedral! After checking in, I set out to get cash from an ATM, find a pilgrim’s passport to collect my stamps along the way, and get some food. The ATM and food were easy, but finding a passport was not. The tourist office was closed so my only other option was the cathedral, which was also closed. However, I did find out that the cathedral gift shop opened later in the afternoon so I was able to buy one there and received my first stamp for my journey to Santiago. I now had everything I needed! The jet lag was catching up to me so I went to bed so I could get an early start the next morning.