What is the Camino de Santiago and why do people walk it?
The Camino de Santiago (Way of St James) is a pilgrimage route from various locations in Europe, ending at the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. St James spread the gospel in this part of Galicia, before returning to Jerusalem where he was executed. Legend has it that his followers transported his remains by boat from Jerusalem and buried him in Santiago de Compostela, where they were later discovered by a shepherd in the 9th century. Pilgrims have been walking the Camino for over 1000 years.
Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
There are many different routes to Santiago de Compostela, most named for the place from whence they originate.
Many Catholics and other Christians still walk the route for spiritual reasons, but nowdays all sorts of people walk it for all sorts of different reasons.
The Camino can be done on foot, by bicycle or even on horseback.
Certificates, passports and sellos
If you complete the last 100km of any of the Camino routes you qualify to receive a Compostella (if you completed it for religious reasons) or a Certificate of Distance if you completed it for any other reason. .
The Credencial de Peregrino, or Pilgrim's passport, is a little book that is used to prove how far you have walked and where you have stopped, it is also proof that you are walking the Camino and that you thus qualify to sleep in the pilgrim hostels and buy the pilgrim meals along the way. You get your passport stamped whenever you stop at a cafe, hostel, bar, restaurant or church along the way. All the cafes, hostels etc have their own personalised sellos (stamps). The credencial is a lovely reminder of where you have been. NB. We need to get a minimum of 2 sellos a day to qualify for our Compostellas.
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My credencial from our 2016 walk
Albergues
Albergues (pronounced al-burr-gay) are pilgrim hostels, they vary from very primitive "donativo" hostels, where you sleep in a dorm, share a bathroom and pay what you can afford, to more upmarket albergues with dormitories as well as private rooms, some with en-suite bathrooms. In some albergues the pilgrims cook their own meals in a communal kitchen, others offer dining-rooms with a pilgrim menu. Most people walking the Camino stay in albergues, but there are many other forms of accommodation, including pensions (small hotels), B&Bs, hotels, and paradors (very fancy hotels).
Routes, stages and distances
There are various guidebooks available, the most popular being the John Brierly guidebooks. These guidebooks break the various routes into stages and a lot of (fit!) people follow the standard stages which are normally in excess of 20kms per day, but it is by no means essential to do so. Many people don't book accommodation and simply walk until they are tired and then stop and find an albergue.
Food on the Camino
The menu del dia (menu of the day) is a meal offered by Spanish restaurants at lunch time and is generally a 3 course meal that is very affordable. The Menu de Peregrino (pilgrim's meal) is usually an evening meal, offered to those walking the Camino, and is generally 3 courses and a carafe of wine and is usually about 2-3 euros cheaper than the menu del dia. Both are really affordable and generous meals. Baguettes, tortillas, sandwiches and the like are available for between 3-6 euros.
Our plan is to eat a small breakfast before leaving in the morning (some places offer breakfast, some don't) stop for a "second breakfast"/snack mid-morning and then have lunch and a well-deserved beer at the end of our walk. This lunch would usually be a baguette, a tortilla or tapas. We then like to have a Menu de Peregrino for supper. Last time we walked we would always make sure to have some snacks in our rucksacks, just in case we were between stops at a meal time or the accommodation didn't offer breakfast.
Arrows and shells
The most common waymarker on the Camino is a yellow arrow, you will see them wherever you walk on a Camino. The scallop shell is another often used marker and you will also see scallop shells hung on pilgrim's rucksacks. Scallops are indigenous in Galicia and legend is that medieval pilgrims would continue their pilgrimage past Santiago to Finnesterre and collect scallop shells on the beach, which they would then use as proof that they had completed their pilgrimage.
Greetings and etiquette
The universal greeting on the Camino is "Buen Camino" (pronounced Bwen camino) which roughly translated means "have a good Camino" and is usually uttered by pretty much every passing pilgrim.
You might also hear pilgrims use the word "ultreia" as a greeting or word of encouragement. This word has been used on the Camino since medieval times and is derived from the latin word "ultra", meaning "beyond" or "further", "ultreia" basically means "let's go further!" or "persevere".
There are a few points of etiquette which should be noted:
Dont put your rucksack on the beds in the albergues - unfortunately there have been cases of bed bugs on the Camino and these little critters are spread from one albergue to another on the bottom of rucksacks. (we never encountered any bed bugs on our last Camino, but every now and again there seems to be an outbreak of them, I think its more common in dormitory situations)
Tipping - In most situations, tipping in Spain is not expected and is entirely at the discretion of the customer. The majority of Spaniards will not tip as many restaurants that provide table service will already factor this in with the addition of a service charge. Look for “servicio incluido” on the bill.
The Camino has a strong sense of comaraderie and so it's the norm to greet other pilgrims, usually with a "Buen Camino". It would be considered rude to ignore passing pilgrims.
Some albergues expect you to leave your shoes at the door, there will be a shoe rack for this purpose.
The Way
The Camino is often referred to as "the Way". There is a movie of the same name, set on the Camino Frances, starring Martin Sheen and his son, Emilio Estevez, which I highly recommend.
Arrows and shells
The most common waymarker on the Camino is a yellow arrow, you will see them wherever you walk on a Camino. The scallop shell is another often used marker and you will also see scallop shells hung on pilgrim's rucksacks. Scallops are indigenous in Galicia and legend is that medieval pilgrims would continue their pilgrimage past Santiago to Finnesterre and collect scallop shells on the beach, which they would then use as proof that they had completed their pilgrimage.
Greetings and etiquette
The universal greeting on the Camino is "Buen Camino" (pronounced Bwen camino) which roughly translated means "have a good Camino" and is usually uttered by pretty much every passing pilgrim.
You might also hear pilgrims use the word "ultreia" as a greeting or word of encouragement. This word has been used on the Camino since medieval times and is derived from the latin word "ultra", meaning "beyond" or "further", "ultreia" basically means "let's go further!" or "persevere".
There are a few points of etiquette which should be noted:
Dont put your rucksack on the beds in the albergues - unfortunately there have been cases of bed bugs on the Camino and these little critters are spread from one albergue to another on the bottom of rucksacks. (we never encountered any bed bugs on our last Camino, but every now and again there seems to be an outbreak of them, I think its more common in dormitory situations)
Tipping - In most situations, tipping in Spain is not expected and is entirely at the discretion of the customer. The majority of Spaniards will not tip as many restaurants that provide table service will already factor this in with the addition of a service charge. Look for “servicio incluido” on the bill.
The Camino has a strong sense of comaraderie and so it's the norm to greet other pilgrims, usually with a "Buen Camino". It would be considered rude to ignore passing pilgrims.
Some albergues expect you to leave your shoes at the door, there will be a shoe rack for this purpose.
The Way
The Camino is often referred to as "the Way". There is a movie of the same name, set on the Camino Frances, starring Martin Sheen and his son, Emilio Estevez, which I highly recommend.
Guidebooks.
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