Thank you for the music.

I welcomed spring this year with a beautiful week on the Portuguese Camino.

We walked a trail that is familiar to me, from Porto to Valença.

We made it to the border between Portugal and Spain, and then we crossed into Spain just to say we did.

Six friends. 80 miles. 12 pitchers of Sangria. 28 Porto Tonicos. 16 plates of gambas. (give or take)

And SO MUCH MUSIC!

In between visits to the Camino, I forget how much I love the energy of this network of paths.

But once I get on the trail and see a yellow arrow or a Camino shell, my heart is all aflutter with Camino memories.

When I am on the Camino, all my other Caminos are present with me.

All my fellow pilgrims, past and present, are walking alongside me.

This Camino evolved out of a couple of desires expressed by my somewhat regular group of early spring walkers.

We wanted to go back to Portugal. Three years ago we walked the Rota Vicentina in Portugal and we all loved it.

And we wanted to hike somewhere (in Europe) that would be warm and sunny in March.

So we chose the Portuguese Camino. Once we settled on it, we reached out to other past spring walkers until we had a group of six.

We met up in Porto. Some arrived early, and some arrived late (delayed flights!), but eventually we all made it and were walking together.

Four of us started from the Porto Cathedral in the afternoon and walked out along the River Douro to the sea.

We did a short day just to stretch our legs and (for those based in the US) to reset circadian rhythms.

By late afternoon we were in Matosinhos having Porto Tonicos by the sea.

It was a perfect way to ease in. And Matosinhos was an easy hop from the airport for our late arrivals.

We stayed in a crazy bunk room that first night. (It’s fine. No one sleeps well on the first night anyway because of jet lag, right?)

We loaded up on coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice the next morning while we waited for our final hiker, Kelsy, to arrive.

And then we began together, ignoring a few tiny raindrops and the clouds.

We walked along the sea all day. Sometimes we walked on cobblestones, sometimes on pavement, and then most blessedly, on these wooden boardwalks that are so much easier on the joints than concrete.

Even with the clouds it was a beautiful day, and we were in high spirits to be walking together again.

This was the first full day of walking and it was all about catching up with each other and hearing what’s new.

I love to walk by the sea, and one day I want to walk the full Coastal Way in Portugal, but I so loved my time on the original route in 2022 that I wanted my friends to get to experience that as well, so we really just had this one full day by the sea (and a half day the day before).

Because we knew it was short, we tried to soak up our surroundings.

There’s a balance to stopping enough to take everything in, but not so much that the day drags on for too long.

We stopped to rest a couple of times, once for a snack and a leg stretch (and a nap for Kelsy who had literally just gotten off an overnight plane).

Then later in the day we stopped for a late lunch before leaving the seaside.

The sun even came out for a little bit. The little bits of morning rain were long forgotten.

We had a gorgeous lunch by the sea and then about an hour to go to get to our hotel for the night.

We stayed in a hotel that had an indoor pool and spa, a big step up from the bunkroom the night before! Three of the gals were even able to book last minute massages!

I spent over two hours in the pool and sauna. We had it all to ourselves and there was a large water spout in the pool that shot water at such a high pressure that it was like a thera-gun but with water. It was delightful!! Zoë discovered it and then we played in it for an hour at least, laughing that we were re-engaging our theme from last year on the GR7 of making love to the water.

But the true theme of this year’s trip was still coming…music.

We weren’t totally tuned into it yet, but there were hints as the hotel lobby area played total bangers all afternoon. We had to walk down a hall that was at least a mile long to our rooms and you could not help but dance as you walked down it to the music they were playing.

The next morning we transferred from the Coastal Route to the Central Route and started walking north on the original Portuguese Camino.

It was still pretty cloudy, but warm enough to be in shorts. (Among our group we vary in our desire for sun or shade, so someone is always happy!)

We carried on along the cobblestones to Rates, the site of Saõ Pedro, one of the oldest Romanesque churches in Portugal.

After Rates, we walked on towards Barcelos, the destination for the day.

We made one coffee stop in the morning and then a stop for lunch later on. When we stopped for lunch, I hoped we had only about an hour left to walk.

(I’ve learned that it’s better to have LESS to walk after we eat, especially if there are drinks at lunch.)

We ate lunch at a tiny bar that didn’t even have menus, but the waitress kindly listed off several sandwiches you could have for lunch.

I asked if I could have a salad and she said sure! It was a different combination than other salads I’ve had on the Camino. I’m used to the ensalada mixta in Spain, but I’m happy to have a salad in almost any form.

This one had hard-boiled eggs, chickpeas, tuna, olives, corn, tomatoes and melon.

Later that afternoon, I had some tired girls with me as we crossed the bridge over the river into Barcelos. We’d come 13 miles.

Barcelos is one of my favorite stops on the Central Portuguese Camino, probably because of the sweet Pilgrim Blessing they do at mass there, but also it’s a beautiful town on a river. You could easily spend a couple of days wandering around.

After we checked in and showered, we went to sit in the main square for the afternoon before going to chapel and dinner.

The pilgrim blessing was as sweet as I remembered it.

We laughed so hard at dinner that night and I think it might have been the result of a combination of tired + joy.

The next morning we set out in the rain. You have to put your rain covers on at least once in a week in order to justify carrying them, and gratefully, this was the only time we needed them.

I was so excited on this day because we were headed to Casa Fernanda, which is one of the most beloved stops on all Caminos. I couldn’t wait for my friends to experience Fernanda’s special brand of Camino hospitality and I was curious about who else we would meet.

This was one of only two nights on this trip that we were sharing rooms with other pilgrims.

The rain continued through the morning but broke around midday.

We made our usual coffee and lunch stops.

It seemed quiet on the trail, maybe because of the weather.

We had seen several other pilgrims leaving Barcelos, but we soon spread out over the trail.

We ate lunch at a place that was full of mostly locals as it was off the beaten path a bit.

They had two lunch plates you could choose from and one of them came with veggies and rice, so I asked to have just the rice and veggies, which was plenty.

After lunch, we only had a little ways left to walk to reach Fernanda’s house.

When we arrived, there were already three or four other folks there sitting in the garden.

We sat down and joined them, and Fernanda mixed up Sangria for us all to enjoy.

While we visited with each other, Fernanda made croquettes and chorizo with bread in her outdoor kitchen.

Then we all dispersed to take showers, do yoga, take naps, etc.

While we were doing yoga in the garden, four German students arrived to take the final spots in Fernanda’s back garden hut.

They threw their packs in the room and came back out to join us.

We were thoroughly entertained by this foursome, who sang several songs in German for us after dinner.

This night ushered in our music theme. We all took turns sharing songs and then sang ones we all knew until I was literally hoarse.

Then Fernanda’s husband Jacinto pushed the kitchen table back to make room for us to all dance.

And really, a kitchen dance is the best kind there is.

I had to take a shower before bed because I was so sweaty!

The next morning we came to breakfast a little tired, but excited for the SUNNY day!

We told Fernanda and all our other new friends goodbye and set out on the trail.

This day we were properly in the countryside and the sunshine all day, so it might have been my favorite.

It’s hard to say. There was something to enjoy every day of this walk!

But on this day we passed one million beautiful calla lilies. We’d seen a lot of them already, but never this many together.

And we stopped for coffee (and other bevvies) at a place where we could sit in the sun and eat from a giant bowl of kiwis that were just the right form of ripe!

I think we ate about 20 of them between us.

We were headed to Ponte de Lima this day, which is another favorite town on the Portuguese Camino.

You enter town along the river underneath the most lovely promenade of trees.

As we sat down to order lunch by the river a gal who was a contestant on the Spanish version of the Voice was setting up to sing for the afternoon. She was live streaming on Tik Tok or Instagram and she was so great.

We stayed for a long time listening to her and singing along to songs we knew.

It was one of those perfect sitting-in-a-square moments that I live for after a good walk.

Finally we pulled ourselves away from the riverside restaurant when our private concert ended to go check into our rooms, which had lovely views of the town.

We went and walked on the bridge at sunset before dinner.

The town is named after the bridge and the river it runs across.

It was a gorgeous night.

Then we went to dinner, and we interrupted a sweet lady’s 80th birthday party. We had to sit outside at first because the place was packed and the whole party was singing along with a man playing a guitar. Then as the guests started to go home, our waiter squeezed us inside. The temps were dropping and we were cold, plus we were so curious about what was happening inside.

One of the birthday gal’s friends started singing Fado songs a cappella. The whole place got quiet as her voice filled the room. I have read that the best Fado is a spontaneous experience and so I was so excited we were getting to listen in. When she finished, we all applauded and I went over to thank her and ended up meeting Alice, the birthday girl, and all her friends, one of who had come over from Madeira from the event and told me I need to come hiking there next.

The whole evening was one of those wild, magical experiences that you aren’t sure was real after you leave. Did that really happen? We asked ourselves after the portal we had stepped into closed after Alice and her friends paraded out at the end of the evening, after many hugs and kisses goodbye.

But I have a small reminder that it was real: a book of poetry that Alice had written and self-published for the occasion. When she discovered how close our names were, Alice and Alison, she inscribed one of her books to me, and now I’m using it to study Portuguese.

The next morning the sun was shining again as we crossed the bridge to head up the hill on our biggest climb of the week.

We left Hayley behind to hang around gorgeous Ponte de Lima on this day because her knee was hurting her so much.

As we walked over the hills into the next village we heard a choir singing. We couldn’t figure out where it was coming from at first, but we finally decided that the music was coming from a church that was far away on a hill. We think they were projecting the service on a speaker on the outside of the church, maybe because they know pilgrims are walking by and will hear the music.

We made it to the top of the hill around noon and sat out in the sun for rest. Lizard time, Kelsy calls it when we have little naps in the sun. I’m a fan.

Then a little while later, we had lunch on the side of the trail at a little cafe. I love the Camino for its MANY roadside cafes.

When we got to Casa da Capela, where we were staying for the night, the big surprise was that there was a pool and it was open! It was absolutely freezing but Zoë and I jumped in anyway and then headed straight to the hot tub.

Our host served a yummy dinner, lots of bits at the beginning…bread, cheese, meats, olives.
And then a vegetarian hash with eggs and potatoes and I don’t even know what all, but it was delish. As was breakfast the next morning.

We loved this spot, just a little bend in the road between Ponte de Lima and Valença.

Our last day of walking came oh-too-soon. We only had a short 8-9 miles to go into Valença.

It was another gorgeous day, with lots of final arrows, shells and photos.

I think this little taste of the Camino definitely had these gals wanting to come back for more.

We had a very sweet week together and I would go right back tomorrow and do and all over again.

We ended in lovely Valença with the beautiful blue tiles and textile shops everywhere.

Valença’s old town is preserved within its medieval fortress walls.

We had lunch in a sqaure, did a bit of shopping and sitting in the sun.

A final bottle of Tinto Verde.

A last wander at sunset, across the bridge into Spain and back again to Portugal.

One more dinner together. And one more sleep.

Goodbye Portuguese Camino! We’ll be back one day!

Many of the photos in this post come from my fellow hikers: Kristie, Zoë, Koko, Hayley and Kelsy! I’m super thankful to them for trusting me to lead them on this adventure. 

If you enjoy reading about my walks, consider subscribing to get future updates.

The post Return to the Portuguese Camino appeared first on Alison Chino.

Every time I go for a hike with a group of folks I send out a packing list.

People don’t always follow it, but they can’t say I didn’t try to help keep those trail pack weights down once we’re out there hiking.

I love to travel light.

It is freeing on any trip, but especially on one where you are carrying everything with you every day.

Also when you’re moving to a new place every night, it’s so much easier to pack up again every morning if you don’t have much.

I tend to explode when I unpack, so less is always going to be better for me.

Every time I go these days, I weigh everything and try to get it down a little bit more.

For example on a recent trip I didn’t need a sleeping bag liner, and I decided to leave the rain pants and fleece layer at home when I looked at the weather. So my total pack weight with water empty, and wearing trousers, underclothes, base layer, fishing shirt, boots, phone in my pocket and trekking poles in my hands was 10.9 pounds/4.95kg.

That’s a record I think. We’ll see if I can beat it this summer, but I’m hesitant to go to the Alps in any season without my rain pants. Plus for most mountain huts, you need a sleeping bag liner.

Here’s what I bring on a hut-to-hut hike…

Alison’s Hut-to-Hut Packing List

Gear:
24 liter Osprey Sirrus Pack 1.2kg
Water bottle: 32 oz Nalgene. 120g empty/600g full
Sleeping bag liner: 160g

Clothes:
Black Montane Hiking trousers (w/belt) 195g
Black Montane Hiking shorts (sans belt) 110g
Plum sleeveless wooly tank 80g
Short sleeve wool base layer 75g
Long-sleeve wool base layer 175g
Columbia fishing shirt 145g
Fleece zip up mid-layer 239g
Plum Montane Rain Jacket 200g
Gortex Rain pants 230g
Ultralight Down Jacket 110g
2 pairs of underwear 20g each
1 forclaz black tank 75g
1 icebreaker sports bra 30g
2 pairs of Darn Toughs 115g (together)
Leggings 200g
Thin wool gloves 55g
Blue Patagonia beanie hat 36g
Blackberry baseball cap 63g

Shoes:
Hiking boots 1070g
Xeroshoes sandals 240g

Personal Hygiene:
Small fast drying towel 45g
Small bar of soap
Toothbrush and toothpaste tablets
Moisturizer, lip balm, sunscreen, meds, ear plugs
Total weight for toiletries: 400g

Other:
Trekking poles (not pictured)
Backpack rain cover (included in pack weight)
Journal 50g
Pen 8g
Phone 204g
Charger/charging bank/headphones 340g
Passport 36g

Small wallet with credit cards/etc
First aid kit 400g
1 roll KT tape 100g
Headlamp 65g
Picnic silverware kit 30g (Just the spoon 8g)
2 Protein bars 52g each
1 nut butter 32g
1 tube electrolytes 50g
Deck of cards 75g
Small stuff sack 38g
Swimsuit (I use my sports bra and shorts)
Knee brace 20g
Bandana 30g

Here are a few more photos of what I’ve packed on trips over the last few years.

If you’re planning a hiking adventure soon and have questions about packing, hit me up! I LOVE to talk folks into packing less.

Before you know it, you’ll be back at home and wishing for the simple days of living out of a backpack. Embrace the vagabond energy while you can!

The post Hut-to-Hut Packing List appeared first on Alison Chino.

12 miles 

 2500 ft of elevation up and  3000 ft of elevation down

We woke up to sunshine on the last day of our walk on the GR7.

I had originally planned for us to only walk the five miles to Pampaneira. However it seemed like such a shame to not spend the whole day in the sunshine, so I extended the walk to Soportújar. We would go 12 miles instead of only five or six. We couldn’t do two short days in a row!

We fueled up early on this day. Two twin brothers ran the hotel where we were staying. They served us the usual toast with ham, cheese, tomato and olive oil. The bread for this toast was delivered fresh every morning in each place we stayed.

I (per usual) also asked for hard-boiled eggs and we kept our hosts busy with our requests for multiple coffees.

Whenever I would say, does anyone need more coffee?

The answer was always YES.

These brothers were so kind and patient with us!

We finally drank our last sips of coffee and got out of their way.

We descended out of Capileira quickly. It was cold so we were anxious to get into the morning sun.

It’s hard to describe how steep the descent was that morning. We first dropped into the valley, crossed the Poqueira River and had to climb back out.

Then once we got to the other side of the gorge, we went downhill for the rest of the morning.

The day was so beautiful that it made me a little teary. I am always sad when a walk ends, but this week had gone by so fast and this day was so gorgeous, I sort of wanted it to go on forever, a sentiment I would later make me laugh.

The Poqueira Gorge or barranco, as it is called in Spanish, is absolutely stunning. The hills climb steeply up both sides of the river and are covered in olive and almond trees.

When I see terraced farms on steep hillsides, I wonder at humanity. Honestly, how did we ever begin to farm this kind of terrain?

When I got home from this trip I read a book called Driving Over Lemons by Chris Stewart, which is about one family’s experience of moving to this part of the world to work this land. It’s a good read, both for how funny it is and because of the glimpse you get into the world of the folks who still live and work up in these mountains.

It felt like we spent the whole morning losing all the height we had gained throughout the week.

We got down to where we could see Pampaneira, but it was still probably an hour before we made it into the village.

We had a small break when we got down to where we crossed the river again.

I pulled out my fig log and cut off little chunks as treats and hopefully motivation for the final push.

Everyone was hungry and ready for some lunch in town.

Pampaneira isn’t very high on the side of the gorge, but it was still a short climb for us to get into the town.

This village is a popular stop for folks who are visiting Alpujarran pueblos blancos, so it had more people in it than we had seen all week.

I think one of the draws might be the local chocolatier. She certainly got our business.

We had a quick wander about town and a snack in the square. I gave everyone an hour to spend in the village, most of which I spent in the square people-watching. We managed to drop a fairly astonishing amount of money in Pampaneira in one hour. I might have instigated a bit of panic shopping by not giving everyone more time. But sooner than everyone wanted, it was time to push on and continue our hike, with backpacks just a little bit fuller.

Bye Bye Pampaneira! We hope to see you again one day.

We had to drop back to the river and cross it a third time before rising again. Before we left the gorge, we could look back and see both Pampaneira and Bubion in the distance behind us.

The towns got smaller and smaller as we climbed away from them. The trail map for the afternoon looked fairly easy. Instead of climbing up for a long time and descending for a long time, the trail went steadily up and down. It looked like a gentle ramble.

Unfortunately, the steady ups and downs were on a rough trail that wasn’t nearly as traveled as the one we’d been on in the morning. And they were not long drops or climbs but they were steep. So it was a lot of work.

As the afternoon wore on, the sun beat down and it was not long before we grew both tired and hot.

And so I got my wish. This day DID go on forever.

We kept on hiking for hours and hours before we finally arrived in the witch-themed town of Soportújar.

Truly, the town has witches everywhere. I’m not sure why but it’s quite cute. You can even visit Hansel and Gretel’s house. (Not a Spanish fairy tale, but who cares?)

We made a quick effort to see the town before we posted up in the main road and ordered food and drinks like we hadn’t eaten all week.

I remember having the best salad of my life. (I’m sure that how good it tasted had nothing to do with the extra hours of walking in the sun.)

But even though it was a long last day, I was grateful to feel like when we left the GR7, I had given my all.

It always feels good to push hard on the last day. I’m sure my fellow hikers agree, now that it’s behind us. We left the witchy town in a taxi to stay in a town where we could catch a super early bus back to Granada the next morning, where we spent one more day together touring the Alhambra before saying goodbye.

It was a grand adventure, and I’m so grateful to this sweet group for joining me in the Alpujarran hills! Let’s do it again soon y’all!

This is the sixth in a series of posts about hiking the GR7 in Spain in the Alpujarras. Many of the photos come from my fellow hikers: Kristie, Eve, Zoe, Alexis and Kelsy! I’m super thankful to them for trusting me to lead them on this adventure. 

If you enjoy reading about my walks, consider subscribing to get future updates.

The post GR7 in Spain Day 6: Capileira to Soportújar appeared first on Alison Chino.

6 miles 

1500 ft of elevation up and 800 ft of elevation down

We had a slightly later start on Day 5 of the GR7 as we were not trying to cover as many miles.

I had a second loop hike above Capileira in reserve in case we arrived with a lot of steam still in our engines, but after the long slog of Day 4, we were all more than content with a shorter day.

A little rain was predicted in the morning with heavier showers in the afternoon. We hoped to be done hiking for the day before any heavy rain arrived.

It started to sprinkle a bit on us as we left Pitres.

However, as soon as we put on our rain jackets and pack covers, the rain stopped.

We had a steady climb out of Pitres and then a meandering wander on the trail towards Capileira.

Capileira is the highest of three villages in the Poqueira Gorge, the other two are Bubion and Pampaneira. We would descend part of the way into the gorge today to Bubion, then climb to Capileira.

Then on our final day we would hike down the opposite site of the gorge to Pampaneira and on to our final stop on the trail, Soportújar.

When we got to a big rock formation called Peña de Angel, we could see down into the Poqueira Gorge.

It was fun to be able to see our destination so early in the day, especially since we had opted not to carry lunch.

We descended quickly into Bubion and started to look for a food spot.

These three villages are so high that they are consistently colder than the lower villages we’d been through.

But we were grateful that the heavy rains had stayed away.

In town there was not a lot open. The restaurant I had picked out would not be open until 1pm, so we found a coffee shop that was still serving breakfast and just starting to have some lunch on offer. The owner told us there was a vegetable soup on offer, which several of us ordered.

The Spanish tortilla I was hoping to have for lunch was not an option, so I asked if it would be possible to just have hard-boiled eggs.

It’s unusual to have eggs for breakfast in Spain, but I’ve started asking if it’s possible to have hard-boiled eggs. I have found this off-the-menu request to be more likely to be accommodated than if I ask for eggs cooked some other way.

Everyone else said they also wanted an egg. The waiter was a little taken aback when I asked for six hard boiled eggs, but he brought them to me anyway and then was relieved that I was sharing them with friends.

We also had more cafe con leche of course.

We left Bubion happily fueled up for the last mile or so of our hike up to Capileira.

The sun even came out for a little while as we made our way up the hill. Part of the trail had washed out from heavy rains in early March so we walked some on the road. One side of the road had fallen away down the side of the hill, reducing the traffic to one lane.

But we found our way through a small wood and over the road into the next town up.

Even though Treveléz is officially the highest village in the Alpujarras, somehow Capileira feels higher. The views down the gorge make it feel like you are way up high.

And the village feels like a remote, far away place.

I loved all the villages we visited on this walk. They each had their own charm. But I think if I had to choose one as my favorite, it would be Capileira. Maybe it was just that we arrived here earlier in the day and had more time to enjoy it.

Almost as soon as we got into town, it started to rain harder. So we checked into our rooms and then went to find a warm spot to enjoy being out of the weather.

We found a bar around the corner where we posted up for the afternoon playing cards before going back to our rooms for naps before dinner.

Before dinner we did a little shopping in the small village. There were beautiful handmade rugs and baskets for sale along the main street.

At dinner, I asked for salad and was grateful for some lettuce with my other pickled veggies from jars. These veggies are a standard part of mixed salads in Spain, especially at this time of year. Spring had not quite reached these high villages.

The rain was still falling when we walked back to our rooms, but the usual end-of-dinner offerings from random, unmarked jars of spirits kept us warm. Capileira’s offerings came in lemon or coffee flavored. Both were delightful.

Even with the short day, I fell asleep quickly. I slept hard in this sweet village perched high on a hill.

I could not believe we only had one more day of walking! The week had gone by so fast.

This is the fifth in a series of posts about hiking the GR7 in Spain in the Alpujarras. Many of the photos come from my fellow hikers: Kristie, Eve, Zoe, Alexis and Kelsy! I’m super thankful to them for trusting me to lead them on this adventure. 

If you enjoy reading about my walks, consider subscribing to get future updates.

The post GR7 in Spain Day 5: Pitres to Capileira appeared first on Alison Chino.

11 miles 

2650 ft of elevation up and 3625 ft of elevation down

Alternate title for this day: Does anyone see the trail?

After waiting for what seemed like forever for breakfast at our lodging in Trevélez, we finally set off on Day 4 of the GR7 after 9am.

We climbed to the top of the quiet village under a cover of clouds, and warmed up quickly in the cool morning air.

When the village ended, we still kept climbing up through mountain farms.

We passed sheep and horses. Dogs and cats.

We criss-crossed the edges of steep slopes, crops planted unfathomably on hills.

Farming already seems like awfully hard work to me on a flat plain, but mountainside farming must be hard on a whole other level.

We rose high above the town of Trevélez fairly quickly.

Early in the day we missed one or two of the GR7 marks and had to back track to find our way.

The red and white markings are usually easy to spot, but there are places where the markings have faded and other places where they are marked along overgrown tracks that no longer resemble a worn trail.

We determined that perhaps this section of the GR7 is less-traveled than the previous days.

For the beginning and ending parts of the day we traveled along a dirt track. Waving goodbye to Trevélez, we looked across the valley at the trail we had been on the previous day. We were drawing a big U-shape with our footsteps with our entrance into and departure from the jamon-themed village.

After a while the trail curved away from the valley and we could no longer see the town behind us.

And soon after leaving the dirt track, the trail seemed to disappear.

It would later reappear, seemingly out of nowhere, complete with clear markings, only to disappear fifteen minutes later.

I used my GPS to follow where the trail should be but often we would have to turn around and find a different way because the way was covered in large branches or impassable overgrowth.

It was slow-going to say the least, and a bit frustrating. We stopped for a snack on a wide expanse of rocks. Someone must have placed them there intentionally at some point, but what for we never figured out.

The rocks served as a good resting point. While the gals had some snacks, I went to scope out the next stretch of trail, looking for the least overgrown way forward.

We later discovered that the recent heavy rains had washed away parts of our trail and covered other bits with lots of debris, which we navigated as best we could.

There were a few falls, several slips and many scrapes and scratches as we traveled the miles between Trevélez and Pitres. It was a trying day to be sure.

I would rejoice when we found a marker or a clear bit of trail. Then I would feel downtrodden fifteen minutes later at losing it again.

We made our way forward, slowly but surely inching closer to our destination.

We stopped for lunch after finally reaching a dirt track again.

When I sat down to eat, I practically fell asleep on my pack.

Apparently getting lost is very tiring!

I was relieved to discover that after lunch we could just follow the dirt track the rest of the way down into town if necessary.

It was a long way down into town, so we stayed on a trail that was shorter than the road. However it crossed the switchbacks of the dirt road over and over again so it was always nearby if we needed it.

At some point we caught up to a cat that walked with us most of the way down. Our new companion charmed the girls so much that they perked up at the end of a long day.

Between our late start and the slow progress of bush-wacking, this day seemed to wear on forever.

We reached a point where we could see Pórtugos, a town that was just a mile or two before Pitres. We decided we would stop in Pórtugos for much needed refreshment and call it the end of the day.

While we rested, we expressed much gratitude for finally being off the mountain.

Then we decided to take a picture of how we all really felt at this point in the day.

Laughing, we filed into Pórtugos and found a young waiter willing to bring us veggies and drinks even though the restaurant was shutting down for the afternoon.

We ordered up a big plate of patatas a lo pobre (poor man’s potatoes) with eggs on top.

The waiter laughed at our bad Spanish and at how ravenous we all were.

We never wanted to leave, but eventually it was time to walk the last mile to Pitres and find our hotel.

Pitres was so quiet when we arrived that for a moment, I wasn’t sure it was inhabited.

I interrupted an older gentleman’s nap at the hotel in order to ask for our rooms. He was sleeping around the corner from the desk in an armchair.

After I disturbed him a second time for the wifi code, I told the gals that we needed to let that poor man sleep. No more questions.

Which was fine, because they all crawled into their beds for naps as well.

After a warm shower, I went to make dinner arrangements. After the previous night’s terrible meal and the morning’s disappointing breakfast, we were overdue for some yummy food. I felt we had earned it after the day we’d had.

Thankfully, in Pitres, there is a master chef from Malaga who came to the countryside for a quiet life. He opened this beautiful restaurant overlooking the mountains in Pitres and serves up his gorgeous creations each night to the lucky few who wander into the village and find him.

We were the only ones at El Jardin del Mirador that night. I had to drag the gals out of bed and up the hill to the restaurant. We walked up there feeling like we could just as easily have gone to bed rather than have dinner at all.

At El Jardin de Mirador, there are tables outside with beautiful views, but the temps were dropping as we arrived so we sat inside the small cozy spot.

Our host listed off the various dishes he could make for us and everyone chose different ones so we would have a variety.

He cooked all the meat on his grill, and then he would come inside and hand our plates through a little window from the kitchen.

We were all revived as we enthusiastically oohed and ahhhed over every dish that came through the window.

The chef told us he had been in Pitres for several years, but that he had grown tired of the small-mindedness of the village.

Everyone in this town would rather just have a pizza place!

He said he was headed back to Malaga soon to open a new restaurant there.

When we discovered that El Mirador was in its last season, it felt so special that we had spent an evening there.

It was like we found a secret (and temporary) door that opened onto the best meal of our whole week.

We promised to come find him in Malaga when we next returned to Spain.

He couldn’t believe how far we were walking. Then he told us that we were sure to be in the rain the whole next day.

Oh no, I said. It won’t rain on us. 

At the end of the night, he poured out goodbye shots. It was Zoco, a Spanish liqueur made from sloe berries.

We giggled and talked on top of each other all the way back to the hotel.

It’s amazing how a good meal and a lovely evening can wash away even the roughest of days.

This is the fourth in a series of posts about hiking the GR7 in Spain in the Alpujarras. Many of the photos come from my fellow hikers: Kristie, Eve, Zoe, Alexis and Kelsy! I’m super thankful to them for trusting me to lead them on this adventure. 

If you enjoy reading about my wanderings, consider subscribing to get future updates.

The post GR7 in Spain Day 4: Trevélez to Pitres appeared first on Alison Chino.

11 miles

3000 feet of elevation up and 2200 of elevation down

We woke up early for Day 3 of our walk on the GR7 in Spain.

Because we had our breakfast already prepared in the fridge we could choose the time, a small luxury when you’re at the mercy of B&B hosts and their schedules.

So we had a 7:30am breakfast of hard-boiled eggs, toast, yogurt, granola, fresh fruit and a cheese and cured meats platter. It was a massive amount of breakfast compared to the previous days and we ended up packing up some of it into our equally massive sack lunches.

Then we strapped on our packs and started to climb out of Bérchules into the hills.

I love going uphill in the morning if there is a little chill in the air. The cold pushes you to climb just a little faster so that you warm up.

We were going to cross our highest point of the week so we had a lot of climbing to do. 

We weren’t climbing the Mulhacen but we were going to hike up to what would be our best view of it. 

High in the Alpujarran hills, I expected that we might even spot snow. 

After a good start at climbing we stopped for a midmorning break on the hillside. We broke out the rest of breakfast and even a bit of lunch though it was still before 11.

After our break we walked steadily uphill and came to a forest where we did indeed find some snow that had not yet melted. The shade of the trees protected some little frozen patches.

It certainly wasn’t an amount to have fretted over as I had done just a bit when I had arrived in Granada and glimpsed the snow topped Sierra Nevada, living up to its name. 

It was just enough snow to be fun, exciting to glimpse evidence that we were right at the beginning of the proper hiking season. 

We had the mountains all to ourselves. We passed no other hikers on this day and very few on any of the other days, which is unusual for me when hiking in Europe.

I don’t know if there is a high season for hiking the GR7, but I wouldn’t imagine it is in summer when the temperatures soar above 90 degrees F, even in the mountains.

We felt like we were hitting the trail at the exact perfect time, even if most of the villages were very quiet.

At the high point of the day (6600 feet), we took lots of photos while the Mulhacen darted in and out of the clouds behind us.

We were all feeling the exhilaration of making it to the highest point of the week.

The mountain vibes were in full effect!

I think we all managed to leave this spot with a new hiking profile pic. 

It was a little early for another food stop so we carried on along a dirt road that started to descend.

When our tummies started rumbling, we found an outcropping of rocks just off the trail for our picnic. 

We were all super excited for our packed lunches as our host in Berchules had gone all out. 

Besides the usual sandwiches and crisps, she included many small treasures: little foil packs of sliced cucumbers, dried figs, hard boiled eggs and little juice boxes.

After our feast, we had some naps, or at least resting our eyes.

We had used a lot of energy on the climb.

After naps, it was time to descend. 

And descend and descend. 

Oh how my knees miss climbing when it’s time to go down. 

Grateful for the trekking poles that save our joints, we kept descending until soon we could spot Trevélez in the valley below. 

The mountains seemed even bigger, while the town seemed to stay far in the distance.

Trevélez is the highest village in Spain.

The village is famous for hams. Jamon de Trevelez is famous all over Spain and especially all over Andalucia. The hams cure in the mountain air in warehouses.

And I believe the pigs are corn-fed to make the taste of the ham even better.

Eventually the village got close enough that we knew we were almost there.

We came up over one more hill and then wow, we were so close!

Finally, beautiful Treveléz.

To get into town we crossed over a river, and so true to our trip theme, we had to make a stop to make love to the water.

After the long descent, it felt so good to soak our feet in the freezing cold mountain water.

I got all the way in up to my knees to help with inflammation.

After we checked into our rooms, we found a cafe with a table in the sun and immediately ordered up some drinks and of course, some Trevélez jamon.

The gals said it was delish, and I took their word for it since I don’t eat meat.

Once we’d rested for a long while, we wandered about the village.

I took so many photos of these handmade pot covers.

The whole village was decorated in these brightly colored crocheted pot covers and banners.

And of course, with hams.

You could purchase both in just about every shop.

In fact, this village had more shops than any of our previous stops so my fellow hikers found some treasures to fill the very little space left in their backpacks.

There were large warehouses where the hams were hanging to cure.

But we never saw any live pigs, which confused us until we realized that the hams are sent to the mountain village to cure, but the pigs aren’t actually raised there. Zoë discovered this by asking the locals questions in Spanish. Since she couldn’t remember the word in Spanish for “pig”, she asked (to the immediate amusement of everyone around us) “Where are the hams that are not dead?”

You can buy anything in the shape of a ham in Trevélez: earrings, key chains, magnets. You can even press the shape of a ham onto a penny as a souvenir.

It was a good thing we ate such a lovely snack and drinks in the square when we arrived because our hostess wasn’t quite open for the season yet. We realized this when everything we had for dinner was brought out from her freezer. It was not our best meal of the week, but we ate it gratefully and went to bed, super tired and dreaming of hams.

This is the third in a series of posts about a week of hiking the GR7 in Spain in the Alpujarras in early Spring (March/April). Many of the photos come from my fellow hikers: Kristie, Eve, Zoe, Alexis and Kelsy! I’m super thankful to them for trusting me to lead them on this adventure. 

If you enjoy reading about my wanderings, consider subscribing to get future updates.

The post GR7 in Spain Day 3: Bérchules to Trevélez appeared first on Alison Chino.

OR

alternatively this day could be titled:

Make Love to the Water

We headed out early on Day 2, our first REAL walking day on the GR7. We would cover over 10 miles with some more significant elevation drops and gains on our way to the next village on our itinerary: Bérchules.

We headed downhill out of Yegen into the morning sunshine.

It was a beautiful spring day, exactly the kind I dream about when I am training throughout the winter in the cold rain.

Much of our trail was made up of old donkey tracks that had been paved over, so we pounded the pavement for miles.

Whenever the tracks turned to gravel, my knees and ankles were grateful for a little more give in the ground, even if the dusty trails kicked up bits of rock into our shoes.

The trail markings on the GR7 are generally very good, but occasionally we had trouble spotting them. Sometimes the sun had faded the paint on the marker,  and the whole post blended into the mountainside. You had to get closer to spot it.

Soon the sun rose high enough in the sky to reach us on the trail and we warmed up fast, shedding layers and drinking more water.

After descending a while, we started to climb to Mecina Bombaron, a village that we had planned to stop in if there was an open cafe as it was the only one we would pass through on this day. Originally I had planned for us to sleep in Cadiar, but there hadn’t been a place to stay that was open for the season and would hold all six of us, so we were pushing on to Bércheles, skirting around Cadiar altogether, opting to avoid an extra 1000 ft drop down and back up again.

It was already a steady uphill climb to the next village without dropping down to Cadiar, but the cool mountain air made for such a pleasant morning of walking.

I wanted us to log several miles before the sun got too high, but a theme of this trail is that if you find an open cafe, you should go ahead and stop, even if you aren’t too hungry or tired yet, because there might not be another one for a long time.

So we took full advantage of the open bar in Mecina Bombaron and stopped for second breakfast. (Our first breakfast had been instant coffee, yogurt cups and fruit from the tiny supermarket in Yegen.)

Fresh squeezed orange juice in Spain is one of my most favorite treats, so I ordered up a round of jugo de naranja and cafe con leche.

We also had the ubiquitous toast with tomato puree, olive oil, ham and cheese before moving along through the village.

Mecina Bombaron carried on the “book” theme from Yegen, another nod to the famous author that lived and wrote there.

As we left the village, we stopped at a fountain to refill our water bottles.

An older gentleman was drinking from the fountain and told us that the water from this particular fountain was the very best in all of the Alpujarras.

Then he put his whole head under the fountain, turning it from side to side and just letting the water run down his face.

He gestured to us to follow his example.

I wasn’t quite hot enough yet to be dunking my head in the cold fountain, but he was insistent.

You can’t only drink it, you must MAKE LOVE to the water!

Clearly we were not convinced, so he continued,

If you do not play, you will miss your life!

I was trying to decide if I was going to volunteer when Zoe removed her her hat and stuck her head in the water.

The old man was so delighted and we all cheered for her.

Most of us had just met Zoe, but we all fell in love with her when she stuck her head in that fountain.

We were all laughing as we left the village to rejoin the GR7, and just like that, Make love to the water! became both a catchphrase and theme of our whole trip.

We would come back to it again and again.

I love a good swim on a hot day, especially after a hike, but now I will forever phrase the glory of a post-hike dip as making love to the water.

The day began to properly heat up as we carried on, so were glad we had all re-filled bottles at the fountain.

By the time we decided to stop for lunch, everyone would probably have been happy to find a little water to dunk our heads into, but we were up high and there was none to be found.

We did find the perfect picnic spot though, high on the trail and across the valley from our destination.

Bérchules seemed close enough to reach out and touch, but in reality it was further away than we imagined.

We ate our packed lunches on sunny rocks looking over the valley and just soaking up the beautiful day.

After lunch, we carried on down a road that seemed like it was heading away from Berchules in the opposite direction, but then Kelsy spotted a gate that had some faint markings for the GR7 on it.

We opened it up and took the small track behind it down into the valley.

The valley had a fairly steep drop off to our left so we couldn’t quite see how we were going to cross it, but the trail revealed itself as we carried on.

As trails often do.

Walking a new trail requires a bit of faith. Sometimes you have to move forward without being able to see what’s ahead.

You have to believe that the way will emerge as you carry on. There will be a way. You just don’t know what it looks like yet.

Then you come around a rock and you see the trail start to cut switchbacks back and forth across what seemed like an impossible ravine edge.

From below, we looked back up at the layers of rock we had come down and the trail seemed to have disappeared behind us.

A small river cut through the bottom of the ravine. We walked across the bridge over the river and onto the trail on the other side before I realized that we should absolutely not pass up an opportunity to make love to the water!

Y’all! We should go back and make love to that water! And so we did.

Because we don’t want to miss our lives by not playing.

And also icy cold water on tired feet is SUCH a balm!

Then we dried off, put our boots back on and climbed the hill to the village.

By now it was getting on in the afternoon and we were craving our post-hike drinks and snacks.

We hoped that everything wasn’t closed for siesta yet!

Fortunately there was an open bar in town, so we made our way inside and collapsed at a long table. The bar had some cheese puffs for sale on the wall. So we grabbed a bag and dumped it out on the table.

I think we finished them all before our drinks even came.

Clearly, we needed to pack more lunch tomorrow. We also ordered an extra large sandwich that looked like a giant doughnut. You cut it into pieces to have several small sandwiches. So clever.

After our bar stop, we found the hotel where we were staying, but they were having a plumbing problem. The water had been turned off in the entire hotel, which also included the restaurant where we were hoping to have dinner.

But our sweet hosts, a mother and daughter from the Netherlands, had prepared some other apartments they own for us. They usually rent them out by the week but they offered them to us in place of the hotel rooms.

They turned out to be so beautiful with balconies overlooking the Alpujarras and little fridges stocked with drinks.

We all said we would LOVE to come back and stay in them for longer.

We spread out over the balconies and soaked up the last of the sunshine.

We laughed about the day and looked at the map for the next day’s hike while our hosts cooked us the most beautiful dinner.

A Moroccan dish cooked in a clay tagine with beans and veggies.

They also brought us breakfast for the next morning and generous sack lunches for the next day.

We felt so spoiled and as I went to sleep I said a little prayer that our sweet hosts would be able to get the hotel plumbing fixed before the Easter Holidays. Apparently it’s really hard to get work done in these remote villages and our hosts were on the cusp of the busier season, so they really needed a plumber to come.

Because obviously you need working toilets, sinks and showers in a hotel. I was so grateful that we had not had to forgo showers!

After a hike, a shower feels so good. You just want to stay in there forever. It’s like making love to the water.

This is the second in a series of posts about a week of hiking the GR7 in Spain in the Alpujarras. Many of the photos were taken by my fellow hikers: Kristie, Eve, Zoe, Alexis and Kelsy! I’m super thankful to them for trusting me to lead them on this adventure. 

If you enjoy reading about my wanderings, consider subscribing to get future updates.

The post GR7 in Spain Day 2: Yegen to Bérchules appeared first on Alison Chino.

It’s often a mystery to me how a trail ends up on my list of ones I’m hoping to get around to. I heard about the GR7 in Spain from several sources, but I think the main reason I finally put it on the calendar and made it happen is that the portion of this trial in Andalucía is so far south in Europe that it can be comfortably hiked in early spring.

The GR trails are a massive network of trails all over Europe. I believe they started in France so GR stands for Grandes Randonnées, but in Spain they are called the Grans Recorridos. And they have different names in other countries, but mainly a GR is a long trail, a way to wander around Europe in the most delightful way possible…on foot.

The GR7 runs through France, Andorra and Spain. The portion that runs through the Alpujarras in the Sierra Nevada in the far south of Spain seemed like the perfect next journey for my crew of spring hikers who are game to head off just about anywhere I suggest within reason. We roped in a couple of new friends and off we went!

We met in late in March in Granada, where the sunshine was plentiful but the evening temps still required puffy jackets. Perfect for hiking. We could even see snow in the mountains in the distance.

We had an afternoon and evening in Granada before taking off for those mountains.

It was just long enough in Granada to want a little more time, so we were glad we had booked another day there at the end of our trip to see the Alhambra.

We wandered the old town and found our way to a drinks spot with a view of the Alhambra.

Some of us were just meeting and some of us hadn’t seen each other since last year so we had lots of catching up to do.

We laughed over drinks and then once we were too cold too sit outside any longer, we climbed higher to a Moroccan restaurant where we had dinner.

Before the food came we warmed up with the most beautiful pots of tea.

It was just the beginning of noticing all the North African influences in Andalucía for my group. The next morning we stopped for breakfast at a cafe with colorful lamps everywhere that reminded me of the teapots from the night before.

The Hike Begins

I had requested that we make a very early start from Granada so we would have time to stop for breakfast along the way. So at 7:06am we left our hotel and walked the two miles to the spot in Granada where we were catching the bus to the Alpujarras. I had planned only a five mile walk on the start of the trail that afternoon, so it seemed like a good idea to add a couple miles more that morning.

As I marched us through the quiet morning streets of Granada, my newbies expressed a little consternation to their friends about how quickly we were moving.

Kristie and Alexis confessed to me later that they had both reassured Eve and Zoe that I would not walk this fast all week. But it was cold and dark and I did not want us to miss our bus. The next one was at 5:40pm. So yes, I was moving quickly.

We stopped for a quick coffee and a classic Spanish breakfast: bread spread with tomato puree, olive oil, ham and cheese. (We would see A LOT of this breakfast in the week ahead!) Of course, I was tapping my toe and rushing everyone along so that we could get over to the bus stop and wait.

And wait.

And wait.

The bus was late enough that I started to research other ways to get into the Alpujarras.

It was late enough that I asked random people at the bus stop where they were going and if they knew anything about the Alsa Bus to the Alpujarras.

It was late enough that any bus that came along, I boarded and asked if the driver had any information about the Alsa Bus to the Alpujarras.

I was starting to formulate a plan about what we could do for the day if we had to wait for the 5:40pm bus. Had we missed the morning bus? Had it come early?

I wasn’t in a panic, but my brain was in overdrive creating Plans B, C and D.

And then the bus arrived exactly 37 minutes late.

We got on. I let everyone know we would be on it for a while and the road getting into the mountains would have a lot of twists and turns. So several of my jet-lagged American friends fell asleep as we made our way out of Granada and up into the hills. After about an hour, we stopped in Lanjaron where I would spend a week the following September. Then we drove through some of the towns we would walk back through. The road snaked up and up, and I was amazed that the driver could navigate such a large bus around all the narrow curves.

After several hours on winding roads, the driver pulled over on the side of the highway and let us out in the absolute middle of nowhere. From the side of the road, I directed my sleepy friends up a small lane in the sun where we reached the very quiet village of Mecina Alfahar. I had hoped we might have some lunch there, but thankfully we all were prepared with snacks because there was a whole lot of nothing open in Mecina Alfahar, which would be a bit of a theme on this trail.

So we pulled out our oranges and snack bars and headed up the hill to find the trail.

We hiked a few miles in the hot sun before we reached the village of Válor, which thankfully, had an open cafe!

We were able to get some food (Spanish tortilla!!) and a drink I had recently learned about on a previous trip: Tinto Verano.

Tinto is red wine and verano means summer, so this beverage is cold red wine mixed with sparkling lemonade. It seems more common in Andalucía than sangria and I like it better. (But it’s hard to steer me away from a cold Spanish lager.)

After some refreshment, we carried on in the hot spring sunshine. Because of the bus and the late start, we were walking at the hottest part of the day, which helped us be motivated to get an earlier start the next few days.

All the villages have spring fed fountains with water from the mountains, so we would refill and cool off with a little splash here and there.

We rolled into Yegen a little after 4pm.

Ending the GR7 in Spain in Yegen on Day 1

Most of the villages of the Alpujarras are pretty chill. But Yegen is next-level quiet.

Its claim to fame is that British author George Brenan lived here in the 1920s. I had never heard of him but his book South From Granada is a bit of a British classic about Spain and I later read it. The most amazing part of his story is that when he lived here, the village was only accessible by donkey or foot, so if he had visitors, he would walk all the way to Granada to escort them back to his house. He regularly WALKED the journey that took us over three hours by bus. I had to pause reading the book on multiple occasions to just wonder at his wild scrambles across the Alpujarras.

But now, even though you can drive a car to Yegen, the village is probably less populated than it was in George Brenan’s day. There is a tiny little supermarket at the bottom of the village that we explored to restock our snacks for the next day and for breakfast because our host wasn’t serving breakfast until 9am and I wanted us on the trail well before then.

We rinsed out our sweaty clothes and then tried to catch all the remaining sunshine before the evening air brought in the chill.

By dinnertime, we were cold enough for a fire. We were staying in the only pub in town but it was closed on the day we arrived. However, our host, an Irish lady who had moved to Yegen over 20 years ago, agreed to make us dinner. She reminded us more than once that it was her day off, and so we felt a little awkward about coming up for dinner, but there was nowhere else in town to eat and we had exhausted the resources of the little supermarket.

While we enjoyed the fire in the chilly dining room, she gave us our choices (pork belly or steak, veggie plate for me) and then headed off to the kitchen to prepare everything. We devoured the food when it came which was good because very soon it was time for us to go. Our host had a lot to do, and again reminded us that it was supposed to be her day off.

So we went to our rooms like good little children and she locked the doors behind us so we wouldn’t help ourselves to more drinks in the pub.

Thankfully there was another door to the outside from the hallway, so we could get out the next morning.

Before we went to sleep, we made cups of tea in our rooms and watched the most beautiful Alpujarran sunset through the windows before settling into bed. The early start had caught up to us. I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

This is the first in a series of posts about a week of hiking the GR7 in Spain in the Alpujarras. Many of the photos were taken by my fellow hikers: Kristie, Eve, Zoe, Alexis and Kelsy! I’m super thankful to them for trusting me to lead them on this adventure. 

If you enjoy reading about my wanderings, consider subscribing to get future updates.

The post GR7 Spain: Day 1: Mecina Alfahar to Yegen appeared first on Alison Chino.

I often receive emails with questions about how to plan a Camino or about the Camino in general.

There is A LOT to know about the Camino.

There are over 200 recognized Camino routes. I have barely scratched the surface of Camino walking! So of course, I can’t possibly cover everything, but I can tell you what I tell folks when they ask. And maybe, if you find yourself planning a Camino, which, by the way, I highly recommend, you might find some of it helpful.

If you ask me how to plan your Camino, first, I’ll start by asking you some questions. The answers to these questions can help you map out the best Camino for you, which is important. There are as many ways to do the Camino as there are people walking it. I believe that the Camino’s accessibility is part of what makes it such a great experience, so please feel the freedom to craft your Camino your way. 

And part of how you do that is by asking and answering questions:

Do you want to complete a Camino or just walk on a Camino path somewhere?

How much time do you have to walk?
When do you want to go?

Do you want to walk by yourself or with others?
Do you want to stay in communal hostels or in bed and breakfasts/hotels?

Do you want to carry your stuff or use a luggage service?

So let’s take those questions one by one.

Do you want to complete a Camino or just walk on a Camino path somewhere?

All Camino roads lead to Santiago de Compostela, the official end point of the Camino. Do you want to walk into Santiago de Compostela on your trip or are you looking for a pretty section of the Camino to walk?

If you want to reach Santiago on your Camino, then you take the amount of time you have to walk and work backwards from the town. If you have a chunk of time and you just want to spend it “somewhere” on the Camino, then I might recommend a more scenic stretch of the Camino that does not necessarily get you all the way to Santiago.

How much time do you have to walk?

So if you know you want to reach Santiago and you have a week, consider walking the last 100 km from Sarria to Santiago. If you have 35 days, maybe you want to walk the 800 kilometers from St Jean Pied a Port and walk into Spain from France. If you have two weeks, consider walking from Astorga to Santiago or taking the Portuguese Camino from Porto. 

If you have a week to walk and you don’t mind if you reach Santiago this time, you might walk from St Jean Pied a Port to Livorno. That way, you will have walked the “beginning” of the Camino Frances and if you fall in love with Camino walking, you can come back and pick up where you left off. Another fun week would be to walk from Irun to Bilbao on the Camino del Norte or you could walk all the way to Santander if you have two weeks. When choosing a random section of the Camino, if you only have a week or two, it’s best to pay attention to which entry and exit points are easier to get to. You don’t want to end your walk in a tiny town with no bus or train service. 

Also in choosing a route, ask yourself if you are most after the “Camino camaraderie” or scenery/beautiful trails. My favorite trail in Portugal is the Rota Vicentina in the south of the country, but I loved walking the Camino Portugues into Santiago for the traditional “Camino” experience. 

On the final 100km on the Camino Frances and on the Camino Portugues, there will be lots of other pilgrims. 

When do you want to go?

The Camino routes in Spain are open all year long, but if you go between May and September, the weather will be warmer (so you can carry less) and there will be more fellow pilgrims. 

I have walked the Camino as late as November, which had its own kind of charm. Fewer pilgrims but strong camaraderie. We didn’t book ahead because we weren’t competing for beds, but also a lot of albergues were closed for the season. But the weather was definitely a challenge most days. (We had rain, snow and sleet on the trail.)

If you have flexibility I recommend April-early June before it gets too hot in Southern Europe or late September-October. The routes are very popular from May to September, so I would book lodging ahead of time, which brings us to the next question.

Private albergues vs public albergues? And b&bs or hotels?

Some pilgrims really like to just go with the flow and walk as far as they can and then find a bed. Most of the time, I am not that pilgrim. I like to map out how far I am going each day. I know myself and about how far I can walk each day. And I also find that I can walk as far as I have planned to walk. I would posit that even if you know where you are ending up each day, you can still go with the flow, stop for breaks when you want, take as long as you want throughout the day, but while still having an exact destination in mind so that you know you have a place to sleep and (if using a transfer service) where to send your luggage each day. 

So when you get ready to start making your bookings, decide if you want to stay in hostels or in private rooms. If you’re walking with a friend or two, you can usually get a private room for close to the same price of 2-3 beds in a shared bunk room. (This is one advantage of walking the Camino with others.) If I am walking on my own, I usually do a mix of private rooms and hostels. 

I stay in a private room about every third night. After a couple of nights in hostels, I just want to get a really good night of sleep, be able to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night without putting on clothes and not listen to other people snoring or alarms going off at 5:45am. 

But I love an albergue that has a shared meal option, so that you are at the dinner table with others and you have a chance to meet and talk to other pilgrims in shared spaces. 

A lot of public albergues do not take reservations (although more and more do) and you have to bring your own sleeping bag or sleeping bag liner (summer), so I lean more towards private albergues that have linens and duvets so I don’t have to carry them. Many private albergues also have towels and toiletries. (More things that don’t have to go in my pack.)

If you are walking your Camino in the summer, as a treat, I would look for places with a/c and/or swimming pools for at least a few of the nights.

You can book rooms ahead of time easily with Gronze, which has the best and most updated lodging lists that include hostels. The website is in Spanish but you can use a browser to translate it if you don’t read Spanish. Or if you prefer, you can use booking.com or even a Camino guidebook to find places to stay. 

Do you want to carry your stuff or use a luggage service?

For me, figuring out the answer to this question is all about how much stuff you want to bring. My favorite way to Camino is to carry my small 24 liter pack. If I am walking alone, I don’t transfer anything and I don’t store things in Santiago for before/after the trip. You can buy a new outfit in Santiago if you’re sick of your hiking clothes. Honestly you can buy anything you need on most Camino routes. 

But usually when I lead a group on the Camino, I have the option of luggage transfer because it’s quite hard to get people to leave home without over-packing. Haha. But I’m training folks. For about half the trips I lead, we just take smaller packs. You’ll be amazed at how you just don’t need that much, especially in the summer months. And it’s so freeing to have less. Because you are moving every night, the small pack keeps you from exploding (as much) all over the room every day, and it’s quick to pack up in the mornings. 

However, this is an area where it’s helpful to know yourself. The handy thing about the luggage transfer is that you can take along the extra shoes and then change if something is not working. You can wear tennis shoes on easy days and hiking boots on harder days. You can leave your rain gear in the suitcase on sunny days and only carry your water and your snacks in a day pack. 

There are all kinds of reasons that some people just can’t carry a backpack and so it’s great that the luggage transfer service is available. You can book it online at Correos and make adjustments to your schedule right up to before you leave if you need to. 

So once you know how long you’re going, when you’re going, what kinds of places you want to stay and what you’re bringing, you have most of your Camino sorted. You just need to buy a plane ticket and book your lodging. You’re on your way.

BUT HERE ARE SOME OTHER QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE

Can someone else plan my Camino for me?

Yes! Two services I recommend for doing most the planning for you: Ramble Worldwide or MacsAdventure. These services will also book your luggage transfer and for an additional fee will get you from the airport to the start of your walk if you want. I have worked with both of these companies over the years and they are both great. Ramble Worldwide even does a group tour from Sarria if you want to walk with a group. (I lead tours for them a few times a year.)

How do I train for the Camino?

What I love about the Camino is that people from all walks of life make their way to this trail. All ages and all varieties of fitness levels are represented. Many people do it without any preparation, but the more you do ahead of time, the more you are going to enjoy your Camino.

Here is a great 12 week training plan for walking the Camino. If you find it hard to keep the schedule this training plan suggests, incorporate as much of it as you can.

Mostly I tell people to just get walking. Walk to work. Walk to the store. Google how far it is to the places you normally drive. For the places that are less than 5 miles away, start walking. Walk at least 4 days a week. Start slow and build up. Walk in the shoes you are going to wear on the Camino and carry the backpack you are going to take.

What shoes should I wear?

People walk a lot of the traditional Camino routes in every possible kind of footwear. It is such a well established path that you don’t necessarily need hiking boots. I walk the latter sections of the Camino in trail runners, so not a full on hiking boot but a bit more supportive than a tennis shoe. But if I’m hiking for longer than a week, I walk in a full hiking boot. I find I just need the support for longer treks. 

My favorite hiking boots are Scarpas and my favorite trailrunners are Altras. But I have a wide toe box with a narrow heel so those are the brands that have worked consistently for me. So try on lots of different shoes to see what works best for you. Buy several pairs and walk around for a day in your house to figure out which ones feel the best over time and then return the rest. Or buy from REI because they will let you return them even after you hike in them!  

How do I get to/from the airport in Santiago/Madrid/Barcelona?

Follow up/similar questions to this one include:

Should I fly into Madrid and then make my way to Santiago? 

If I find a cheap ticket to London, then can I just book a separate flight to Santiago?

If you are short on time (like you don’t have time to visit London/Madrid/city you are flying into), then book a flight all the way to where you are going. If possible, I book a multi-city flight to fly into where I’m starting and out of where I am finishing.

If you’re walking from Sarria to Santiago, fly in/out of Santiago, get a bus to Sarria and then walk to Santiago. If you’re walking from St Jean to Livorno, fly in/out of Pamplona. Or you can fly into Pamplona, get a bus to St Jean and then fly out of Livorno. If walking from Porto to Santiago, I’d fly into Porto and out of Santiago.

Flying in/out of different airports or into smaller towns tends to be more expensive on the front end, but whenever I try to fly into a bigger city to get a cheaper flight, I usually spend whatever I saved on airport hotels because I end up needing to stay in that town in order to fly out the next day. That is in addition to the cost of buses/trains from the city. Also I lose a day on either end, which I don’t mind if I have plenty of time. There is a new fast train from Madrid to Santiago that I would totally take if I was trying to spend some time in Madrid.

Also if you fly into a big town and then book a budget airline (Ryanair or Easyjet) separately, you have to give yourself a lot of time between your arrival flight and the departing one. As they are not linked, if you miss your flight, you will have to buy another one at the last minute. Also, the budget airlines charge extra for any bags you carry on so the “cheap flight” isn’t always as inexpensive as it seems. 

To figure out the best way to get from one place to the other I use the app Rome2Rio. To buy train tickets in Spain I use Spanish train app/website Renfe and for buses I use the local bus apps, often it’s an Alsa bus I need but it’s good to check all the options. For checking flight prices, I use Kayak and Skyscanner to set alerts for flights I’m watching.

How do I navigate the Camino? Do I need a guidebook?

I use Alltrails for all hiking navigation these days. I pay for the subscription so I can download maps and have them offline. They still work with my phone on airplane mode.

You can also use a guidebook if you want, but I don’t think they are super necessary. I usually read one from the library before I go and make notes of anything I want to remember because I don’t want to carry it.

For the Camino Frances and Camino Portugues, all you need to do is follow the arrows. Really! They are so well-marked. For lesser marked routes, I sometimes download a guidebook ahead of time, but I usually find that just the map in Alltrails is enough.

I also use the Buen Camino app to see all the info for each town.

Should I read anything else before I go on the Camino?

Isn’t the Camino Frances really crowded? Especially the part from Sarria to Santiago?

There are so many different opinions about this but I actually think it is one of the benefits of the trail. It is amazing to get to experience the feeling of walking with people from all over the world to the same place. It’s beautiful to me. And if you lean into it, you’ll have your world widened by meeting so many people. But also, you might have to wait in line for a bathroom or a coffee. Even this can be an opportunity to just enjoy the slow pace of walking and meet someone new. 

I find that if the path feels a bit full in the morning, over the day you get spread out on the trail and it’s not that bad. And because so many are walking, you will find that there is water/drinks/food/bathrooms wherever you need them, which makes the walking really easy to me. You just follow the other folks on the trail and stop whenever you need a rest. 

One way you can avoid a little of the congestion is to book places to stay that aren’t in the main towns. I usually do a little bit of this but it’s tricky because you have to make sure they serve an evening meal since you’re not close to the restaurants in town. One thing I have found is that after we finish for the day, sometimes folks don’t want to walk a long way to dinner because they are tired. So it can be a relief to stay in places where they serve dinner and breakfast in addition to having rooms so that when you arrive for the day, you don’t have to move again unless you want to.

What do I pack for the Camino?

I have two Camino packing lists, one for if I am carrying only my 24 liter backpack and another packing list for if you are transferring a carry on suitcase every day while only carrying a small day pack on the Camino. 

Like I said earlier, when I take folks, sometimes we carry our packs and sometimes I have everyone bring a small day pack and a carry-on suitcase, and then I have the suitcases moved every day. It really depends on the group I am taking, but if possible, I prefer to make the decision ahead of time because if you pack in a large backpack and then decide on the trail that you want to start shipping it, then you need to purchase something else to carry while you walk because you still need something for your water, rain jacket, etc. 

I have a (very rambly, unpolished) video showing what to pack in a small backpack for a week or two of hiking that you can watch if you want. It’s a video I made for folks who are coming hiking with me so it won’t all apply to your Camino. I’ve also done a video for if you are traveling with a day pack and moving bags. This second video was made as we were coming out of the pandemic, so there are some dated bits. Also, I mention buying SIM cards ahead of time but now you can get an inexpensive eSim on Airalo or a similar service, if you have an unlocked phone. 

Do I need trekking poles?

I don’t use trekking poles on most of the Camino Frances or the Camino Portugués. It’s mostly level paths so I don’t find that I need them. If you change your mind you can buy them there. I do use trekking poles for hiking harder trails and for sections of the Camino that have more elevation.

Do you have specific recommendations for where to eat or stay?

I stay and eat at different places every time I go, and there are always new albergues and cafes opening, so it’s impossible to keep track of everything. However, I do have a few favorites that I try to not miss when I head to the Camino, so I’ll list them below for each Camino.

Camino Frances

I recommend staying at La Casona de Sarria if you start in Sarria.

In Portomarin, we always hit up D’Gusta Cafe for breakfast before we hit the trail. Yummy coffee, bacon and egg option (unusual on the Camino), tostadas and other pastries. 

Casa Roan Casa Rural This family-run rural stay is off the trail a bit (near Ligonde), but they will come pick you up from the Camino, feed you dinner, give you a beautiful room, feed you breakfast and drive you back to the trail. I don’t generally like to leave the Camino, but one year I was trying to shorten the stage from Portomarin to Palas de Rei, so I ended up staying here and now I always go back. Their outdoor spaces are like a little retreat on a sunny afternoon. 

Casa Domingo has my favorite cookies and pastries on the trail. 

For a splurge experience, 1930 Boutique Hotel in Arzua is maybe the most beautiful hotel on the whole Camino Frances with an exquisite dinner (and breakfast) experience. You’ll never want to leave. If you want to stay in a hostel in town but just want a special dinner spurge, they have a sister restaurant in town that might be your best meal of the whole Camino: Casa Nené.

If you miss everything else on this list, don’t miss the little farm shop right on the Camino called A Granxa de Tato. If you are staying in Arzua and you didn’t get breakfast, wait until you get here and have breakfast here, in the garden if it’s a pretty day. If it’s cold, there is a fireplace inside. Cozy inside and out, I have found I can spend hours in this tiny spot looking at the artwork and reading the messages on the communal board left by other pilgrims. I have a gorgeous painting hanging on my wall that my Camino group bought here for me one year.

Camino Portugues

Do not miss staying at Casa Fernanda.

What about the spiritual experience of the Camino? Do I have to be religious? Or Catholic?

The Camino has a long beautiful tradition of being a spiritual pilgrimage, but there are plenty of folks doing the Camino as “just a walk.”

However, sometimes folks who are looking for a deep spiritual journey don’t find it to be as meaningful as they had hoped and sometimes folks who are “just doing a walk” end up finding the experience to be wildly meaningful.

Wherever you find yourself, go with an open heart.

I like to go to a few pilgrim masses along the way, even though I am not Catholic. And I always appreciate the Pilgrims’ Mass in Santiago.

I love reading the traditional pilgrim blessing out loud in the mornings before we walk.

There are lots of simple ways to create space for meaning on the Camino.

I’ve walked with a fellow pilgrim who chose to be silent in the mornings, to let the trail be her companion and to give herself the gift of meeting each day without having to talk. Another pilgrim who is Catholic wanted to find a mass every evening before dinner if possible, marking the end of her day with the routine of communion. Once on Sunday, when it was snowing on the Camino and we were freezing, a group of us decided to stop for mass mid-morning, as much in the hope of waiting out the weather as out of a desire to go to Mass. The tiny service ended up being one of the best gifts of that Camino.

I love these words that were written by a fellow pilgrim about how our bodies become prayers while we are walking. These were written by Margaret Hebblethwaite on walking St Cuthbert’s Way:

I see a pilgrimage as a way of turning my body into a prayer. Most of us do not pray well enough or often enough, but on pilgrimage I do not have to do anything clever with my mind: I just reach towards God with my body in a way that is both difficult and simple. It is difficult because I get blisters and sunburn and aching limbs, but the spiritual uplift comes because of the physical effort, not despite it. It is simple because all I have to do is put one foot in front of the other and go on doing that all day. That action is a prayer because it is a striving towards God, a movement towards a place made holy by the influence of others – the saint who is the inspiration of the pilgrimage, and the many good people who have gone there before me, seeking God.

I love to remember that so many good people have gone before me on these paths and to think of my own body as striving towards God as I take each step. There’s nothing else I have to do today but walk.

Do you have any other important Camino advice?

For all Camino planning, the best advice I can give you is to do your best to ‘know thyself’ ahead of time and then to make the best of what you end up planning. 

A couple of examples:

Luggage Transfer vs Carrying Everything: You probably know if you’re going to find carrying a full backpack for 10+ miles in the sun to be an exciting challenge or a total bummer. If it’s the latter, book the luggage transfer. But if you want to carry everything and then you arrive and are discouraged that you’ve chosen that for yourself, there is always the option to ship your pack forward tomorrow.

Communal Hostels vs B&Bs/Hotels: Are you introverted or extroverted? Do you want to talk to people all day on the trail and then be by yourself in the evenings or vice versa? Are you ok to eat by yourself or would you rather have other folks around? Book what you think you will enjoy and then make the best of what you’ve booked. If you need to cancel something because you find yourself wanting more private rooms and or more community, that’s ok!

Mainly, just get your plane tickets ASAP and everything else will fall into place. You’re going to have a great time no matter what! Enjoy the journey!!!

Once you decide to go on a Camino,

You have already begun your ancient pilgrimage.

By committing to this walk,

You have started your journey.

In fact, every step you take to prepare to walk the Camino is actually part of your Way.

I hope that excites you as much as it does me.

The first step on any epic journey is the one you take out your front door.

In Norway, they call it the “doorstep mile.”

And every time you walk out your front door to go for a walk, you are taking the hardest step there is.

The beginning.

Once you’ve begun a journey, everything else is just an obstacle to be faced along the way.

But since you’re already on The Way, you have everything you need with you in order to face whatever comes.

Whatever is waiting for you around the next bend in the path is just something to walk through.

So consider that all the other things you need to figure out are just the next steps on your path!

Buen Camino!!

XO
Alison

PS. The Camino is one of my favorite topics of conversation, so please do ask any questions you have in the comments and I will do my very best to answer them. I have written loads about the Camino on this blog. Lots of stories, but also maybe some helpful details there.

PPS. Also, this online Camino Forum is a wealth of information. You can search old threads (most of the questions you have thought of have been asked), but also folks are super generous to answer questions for new pilgrims who are starting out. The Buen Camino app has lots of info, both for on the go and for planning ahead of time. 

PPPS. Most years, I take a small group of 6-8 gals on the Camino. If you would like to walk with our camaraderie in 2027, please get in touch. (alison AT alison chino DOT com)

The post How To Plan A Camino appeared first on Alison Chino.

It’s been exactly 10 years since I first visited the Scottish Isle of Skye.

We took the kids camping there for an autumn school holiday (also known as Tattie Holidays). It was the last year we still had four kids under our roof and I was determined to make the most of every family holiday we had together. We explored the Isle of Skye from top to bottom and east to west. We camped near the Cuillin Hills at night and visited the Fairy Pools, Talisker, the Old Man of Storr, and Neist Point Lighthouse on the far western shore of the island. Our favorite hike was the often photographed Quiraing.

Last summer we returned to the Isle of Skye with a group of friends and stayed in some of the many glamping cabins that have popped up on the isle since we lived in Scotland.

I had been warned by folks from Aberdeen that the island is somewhat overrun these days and we would struggle to find parking for our day hikes. It was much busier than I remembered it, but it wasn’t unbearable.

Taido and I gave early wake up calls so we started hiking before the masses on the days where we were headed to the overly instagrammed, honey pot areas. (I’m looking at you, Fairy Pools.)

But also, I spent time researching less popular hikes. In case we were overwhelmed by the crowds, I wanted to have at least one hike where we experienced the Isle of Skye as I remembered it on my first visit: a wild place full of remote hiking trails that you have all to yourself.

I recalled Skye as an island where you can hike for hours and only meet one or two other people on the way.

And I am happy to say that I found a part of Skye that still felt like the place in my memory.

Oronsay.

While part of our group went off to tour the Talisker Whisky Distillery, the rest of us headed to hike this new-to-me walk that crosses a tidal causeway from the small settlement of Ullinish to Oronsay Island.

I had been watching the tide times, because the causeway out to Oronsay is covered in water during high tide, but the stars aligned and we managed to get out there at just the right time.

For our whole week in Scotland, we had a mix of sun, fog, rain and mist each day. Almost all my pictures are full of moody clouds and brightly colored raincoats dotting the trails.

Unsurprisingly, we experienced a lot of the classic Scottish weather on our trip.

I expect fog and rain in Scotland, and indeed, in the UK. I think it’s part of what makes the blue skies feel so special.

We had already been hiking in the rain on this very day, but in the afternoon across the causeway on Oronsay Island, the sky cleared a bit and we had sunshine on our faces as we wandered the short three mile loop to Oronsay and back.

We stripped out of our jackets and down to our t-shirts for what I think was the only time all week.

From the cliff tops on Oronsay, you can see far out southwest into the inner seas of the Scottish Isles.

When we reached the highest point, we sat there in the grass for as long as we dared, just watching the water and the clouds.

But as the tide was on its way in, we soon headed back to cross the causeway while it was it was still uncovered by water.

On the walk back we stopped for a quick dip just off of the pebble causeway, our only swim all week, so I was so glad I jumped at the chance.

When we got back to our car, we drove to meet the rest of the group at Neist Point, where we hiked out to the lighthouse. The sun was long gone by then, but we still enjoyed our third short hike of the day, and we all had hardy appetites after our full day on the Isle of Skye, which was good because we ended the day with the 8-course chef’s choice meal at the Kitchen Table in The Three Chimneys. A Very Special Treat.

But I have to say, even with the gorgeous meal and several more stunning Scotland hikes in the days following, the hidden gem of Oronsay Island ended up being my favorite part of last summer’s trip to Scotland and a little reminder to me to always look for some new treasure at the edges of my trail maps.

You can find this trail on Alltrails if you’re looking to do it yourself. If you find yourself on the Isle of Skye, I highly recommend you check out Oronsay.

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