I'm glad this thread came back to the top.

I'm still planning to go in 2014.

I'll be walking 5 days in France from Cluny this March.

I've done bits of the Camino in Norway and Switzerland. This keeps it in my head.

Just read and enjoyed Hape Kerkerling's I'm off Then. Definitely a great read.

Hi gruezi,

Glad to hear you're still planning to do it. Are you planning to do the whole Camino Frances?

Oh no. Not this time. Just 5 days. This is a little warm up.

My friend and I are hoping to do the Camino Frances next spring.

Just stumbled (so to speak) upon this report. Thank you so much for sharing. I am not sure how to explain this but this is the first report I've read in a long time where I said "I've just got to do that." I have no plan or money for it but I really want to. Out of curiosity, if you are Catholic and do this pilgrimage are there more opportunities for Mass if you seek it? I am fine with it being in Spanish.

Definitely. Many pilgrims attend mass throughout their camino. Most places where you stop will have a church - just check mass times.

If you walk at least the last 100 km of the Camino you qualify for a certificate that walked on the Camino and that is called a Compostela. In order to verify that you did indeed walk, bicycle, or take a horse, you must have your "pilgrim passport" stamped at various towns. In some towns it will be a bar or restaurant but wherever possible it will be a church. Besides a very large city, it is doubtful that a church would have mass in another language besides Castellano and the local language such as Basque or Gallego.

5Alive-- the Camino de Santiago is an amazing experience-- the most popular route is the French (818 Kms), but there are about 15 other routes that take you on to Santiago and are consequently AKA Camino de Santiago. The albergues along the Camino are very viable lodging options; most are donations-based. If staying at a private albergue is about 10 Euros/night for a bed and breakfast in the morning. You have to have a Compostela (booklet to collect the stamps on "pit stops") to prove your pilgrim status. Most of these places have a kitchen if you want to cook your own meal and prepare lunch for the next day. A lot of people save money that way. Almost all villages and cities along the Camino have a "Pilgrim's Menu" a nice 4/5-course meal for about 9-12 Euros. My favorite were the menus when I was walking on La Rioja region where the most amazing wines were included :D

I made a point to stop at every church that was open along the Camino. This was not only a very fullfilling spiritual exercise but I love history and I saw the most amazing architectural gems in some of the most remote corners of Northern Spain. Of special memory is the 6pm Mass in Roncesvalles where the Priest gave a Pilgrim's Blessing in 12 languages. Pretty special. Most churches have the Mass hours posted outside. Hope you get to do it someday, if not all, at least sections of it. :)

5alive,

Its a vacation that can be very reasonable in cost, even cheap(especially if you stay in the pilgrims' albergues). With regard to mass, due to the schedules and time we would arrive/ leave at each town, we just attended mass at our starting point O'Cebreiro amd, obviously at the end in the Cathedral in Santiago.

Hope you get to do it, its very special. I'm now looking at different options for me to do next year.

Thanks, Cruiseluv. It sounds very meaningful. I have both money constraints and time constraints. Our oldest is now a senior in high school and we are looking at colleges etc. I need to get more hours of work so probably a different job.

I am impressed your family walked it with you but could definitely see our family going off at all different paces too.

topping again to read in detail