Camino de Santiago
April 22 to May 4, 2025
Have you ever wanted to do a part of the world famous Camino de Santiago in Spain? The Camino de Santiago or in English, the Way of St. James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition holds that the remains of the apostle are buried. It is not a traditional hike – more of an experience. You meet people from all over the world, become part of history and can come away with a better impression of life.
Brenda Lorenz is organizing a trip April 22 to May 4 this year, for six people to do approximately the last 120 km of the trail. To get your Compostela, the official certificate, you must complete the last 100 km on foot – no taxis or skipping spots.
We will fly into Madrid on Tuesday, April 22 and take trains to Ponferrada where we will stay overnight. The next day we will be picked up and taken to Las Herreiras where we will hike up to O Cebreiro, one of the oldest sections of the trail. We will spend some time there and then be taken to our starting spot and hike to Tricastela. We stay overnight and from there, continue on the Camino to Santiago to the end.
We will hike seven days with one day off to visit Lugo, the only town that still has a Roman wall around the town. We stay two nights in Santiago, so that people who wish to can take a taxi to the official end of the Camino, in Finisterra, at their own cost. We take a train to where we stay at an airport hotel overnight before our flight on May 4.
The daily hikes range from 13 – 23 km. There are very few hills, mostly flat and you have the whole day to complete each daily hike. There are lots of cafes in the towns and villages to stop for lunch or a drink. The weather should be good, hopefully no snow but maybe some rain but not hot.
The cost is $3400 CDN pp for 6 hikers and $3600 CDN pp for 4 people and $1,200 as a single supplement. It covers:
- daily movement of luggage so a day pack is all that you will need to carry
- accommodation for the nights in small hotels
- breakfast (bread and coffee mostly – I bring a jar of peanut butter)
- suppers except for Ponferrada, second night in Santiago and at the airport hotel in Madrid
- some transfers.
Does not include:
- flights to and from Canada
- dinners as mentioned above
- taxi to Finisterra
The Canadian Travel Agency is Teachers’ Travel in Toronto. We will go through it to pay our deposit and balance for the tour operator in Spain. You can also book flights through them for the trip.
Please contact Brenda at env.hiker@gmail.com or 519-384-5966 if you are interested. Once you have confirmed that you want to do the hike, you will need to send a deposit of $700 which needs to be sent to Teacher’s Travel – address to follow by February 1.