American Pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago

Flying all the way from the USA or Canada to walk the Camino de Santiago is no small deal. In fact, we’re so impressed by American pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago that we wanted to offer you some tips to keep you on top of your game and ensure nothing gets lost in translation.

From the get-go we highly recommend using flight socks for your transatlantic tour. You’re going to be using your legs a lot during this trip so we can’t stress enough how important it is that you look after them from take off. Flight socks will help with circulation and prevent swelling, which is the last thing you’ll need with a 100 km walk mapped out in front of you.

Remember Europe uses kilometers, not miles. 1 = 0.62 miles so, 100 kms is 62 miles. This means if you want to get your Compostela or pilgrim certificate you must walk the last 62 miles in to Santiago from whichever route in you choose. In order to get your certificate you must get 2 stamps per day along your route as proof of your pilgrimage to be shown in the pilgrim office in Santiago de Compostela.

Some other things to note is Europeans tend to eat light in the mornings with what’s called a continental breakfast. This usually consists of some juice, a coffee and croissant. Don’t worry if you’re a big eater, you’ll be well fed along the Way with big portions and plenty of variety for every other meal of the day.  However if there are particular dietary requirements it is possible to let us know and we’ll ensure the hotel will have the necessary foods in for you on your arrival.

Also, some of the town or villages along the Way may be very small and not have big hotels so you may be staying in welcoming guest houses with the family taking care of you. There may not be a huge choice of menu in the restaurant but you’ll be assured two choices of meats with a mix of vegetables, wine and freshly baked bread.  Dinner in Spain is typically from 8pm onwards with some places serving food to well after 10pm. So be sure to have a substantial lunch or light snack in the afternoon to keep you going to dinner.

Not all rooms are guaranteed to have air conditioning as it just not culture but if you travel outside of July and August you’ll not need it as northern Spain doesn’t get as hot as the south.

The currency is €uro which at the moment (September 2016) = $1.12. So €100 is $112.  We recommend you download a currency convert app like XE Currency to keep track of your spending while on holiday.  Internet coverage is good along the Way as long as you change over to a local network you should have no problem getting signal.  Popular phone networks in Spain are Movistar and Vodafone.

We hope those tips were helpful. Also, if you’re from USA or Canada and you would like to experience the adventure of walking the Camino de Santiago but you would like to hear more details about how hard is it to walk the Camino when you’re from those countries, go check out the interview with Carmen Marriott and David Donselar – American Pilgrims on the Camino!

We here to answer any further questions you may have, just pop us a line and we’ll get back to you ASAP: info@followthecamino.com