A few weeks ago, I decided to go on an adventure that will be hard to forget: I walked the last 130 miles (200km) of the Camino de Santiago. I followed the most famous route, the French Way.
It was in late December and I got hit by 3 storms and got plenty of rain, wind and even snow and ice. Doing the Camino in winter comes with many more challenges than bad weather, though: you'll need more gear, many places will be closed, limited hours of daylight, fewer fellow pilgrims... but I believe it's the best time to do it.
I wanted to share a few tips that might help those of you thinking about doing El Camino to decide whether you should do it in winter or wait for warmer months.
Gear for winter
Although you might find sunny and relatively warm days in the winter, you should prepare for the worst. And that means lots and lots of rain, with lots and lots of wind. Expect constant mud and water on the trail.
So bring:
- a good pair of boots,
- an umbrella, you might get lucky with the wind and be able to use it,
- a poncho, because the umbrella will break at some point,
- a raincoat to go under that poncho,
- hat and gloves,
- spare socks and t-shirts
Another essentials for the Camino are:
- first aid kit (with plenty of band-aids),
- toothbrush and toothpaste,
- soap and shampoo,
- a pair of sandals,
- a phone (download the route beforehand),
- an external battery,
- a camera,
- walking stick (I used my tripod),
- if you are sleeping in public shelters, a sleeping bag
Every ounce counts
My backpack weighed 15kg (33lbs) when I left home. It felt heavy from the very beginning, but I couldn't imagine how much worse it would feel a few days later. When you carry a backpack on your back for a minimum of 8 hours a day, every ounce becomes a pound. Think twice, and three times, about everything that you put in that backpack.
That being said, if you must bring a lot of stuff and it's too much to carry, there are companies that will move your luggage from your starting point to the place where you'll be staying for the night. Those services range between 5 and 10 euros, but I highly doubt they are available in winter.
Clothes
The bulk of the weight I was carrying was clothes. I was on a tight schedule and the last thing I wanted to do after a long day on the trail was to have to wash my clothes. That's why I brought so many, and I think it was a mistake. Next time I'll bring fewer items and just look for a washer.
Anyway, besides what I was wearing on the trail (hiking pants and sweater under raincoat), I also brought a change of clothes for the night. That way and no matter how wet I'd gotten during the day, I could change as soon as I got to the hostel. I loved the feeling of those dry sweat pants and sweater, also the thick socks.
Know your gear
I bought a brand new backpack for this adventure, and didn't even try it before hitting the trail. Big mistake, as I had to learn as I went about how to adjust it, where the best places for storage where and whatnot.
Whatever you bring with you, know how it works.
Get dry as soon as possible
You are going to get wet, there's no escaping that. When you do, make sure to not take long breaks -you'll get cold really quick- and try to get dry as soon as possible once you get to your destination for the day.
Every night I'd hang my clothes next to a heater or even use the hair drier to dry my boots. There's nothing worse than putting wet shoes on the next morning.
Sleep, if you can
You need to rest. I'd go straight to bed after dinner, and lay down there for 10-12 hours. It's at that time, when your body cools down, that you start to feel the pain. You even wonder what part of your body will hurt the most that night. I usually don't have any problems to fall asleep, but I struggled every night of this adventure.
Not many hours of daylight
I left a week before the winter solstice, so the days were the shortest of the year. This is important when it comes to plan your days: you don't want to find yourself walking in the dark (although some people might decide to do so).
I had barely 9 hours of daylight a day, and I used them all for walking. I planned my days around that schedule, leaving just before dawn and usually arriving at dusk.
Make sure everything feels right before starting to walk
You'll be walking for hours, so even the tiniest details will become important issues over time. Make sure your backpack is well adjusted, your boots are tight and there's nothing bothering you (besides the pain from the day before!).
It will hurt
I'll always remember the last day of the Camino as one of the hardest -and most painful- things I've ever done: after a few days on the trail, my feet were destroyed and they hurt from the very first step. I took 55,000 more steps that day: I felt pain 55,000 times, a bit more on each of them.
Everything will hurt, though. And that can be "good": sometimes my back would take over my feet and be the part of my body in the most pain, so I'd forget about my feet for a while. I guess you can only feel so much pain at the same time, which is a relief in some way, right?
You'll be alone (if you want to)
Some people go on this adventure to disconnect from the world and get some time alone; others do it to meet new people; and the rest, like me, don't have any idea in mind.
If you belong to the first group and are looking for some solitude, the winter is definitely the best time to find it. I did run into some pilgrims, but for the most part, you'll be alone on the trail.
Stick to the trail
After 3 storms in 1 week that brought plenty of rain, wind, snow and ice, some parts of the trail were blocked. In winter and with just a handful of pilgrims out there, you might be the first one to find out. This is bad news: you'll need to retrace your steps to find an alternative route, adding extra miles to your day.
The main trail rarely gets very far from a road. I walked on pavement coming down from the mountains to avoid the snow and the ice, and later on when I ran into floods on the trail.
That being said, remember that the journey is the destination. One day I decided to skip most of the trail and took the road, just to realize about my mistake that night when a pilgrim from the Netherlands showed me pictures of himself and others crossing the floods. I was missing that part of the adventure, which was the whole point! I stuck to the trail from there on.
I'd say, stick to it and take the mud and the water. Enjoy the journey, that's why you are there! Do use the road, though, when the trail is unsafe (ice).
Most places are closed
You'll find some kind of cafeteria, bar, shelter, hostel, restaurant or even vending machines every few miles. On the last sections and once you get closer to Santiago, every half a mile.
Thing is, most of these business shut down for winter. Don't rely on Google Maps to know if a place is open, call them first. I made that mistake a few times, I'd walk to a place that was supposed to be open just to find it closed. Walking a few extra miles while looking for a restaurant is the last thing you want to do.
Make sure you got a place to stay...
You might be able to play it by ear in the summer, because there are so many places where you can crash for the night. But in the winter, you don't want to find yourself in the middle of a storm without a roof.
I booked all the places ahead of time. If you want to stay flexible (maybe you want to take a day off here and there), at the very least call that same morning and make sure you'll have a place for that night.
Be aware of online booking. This surely is an exception, but on my first night I found the place I had booked "closed for the season". They had forgotten to shut down the online booking, and I had to look for a new place in heavy rain after a long day on the trail. From then on, I'd make sure to call my next reservation every morning.
Eat. Eat a lot.
Walk hard. Eat hard. Rest hard. Repeat.
I was burning around 5,000 calories a day, according to my Fitbit. That's a lot of calories! Thankfully, the high caloric Galician food will make it easy for you to replenish them.
Spain isn't a breakfast country. Unless you get lucky, you'll have to settle on the typical coffee, toast with jam / butter, orange juice and some pastries (croissants and such). Some places might be willing to make you some eggs, but you'll need to ask (that's not something Spanish people eat for breakfast necessarily).
Lunch is the main meal of the day in Spain, and they take their sweet time to eat it. This can be tricky for a pilgrim as well: the last thing you want to do is to take a long break to have a huge meal, having many miles left ahead of you on a dimming winter day.
I'd simply skip lunch. I had a big breakfast, relied on snacks (chocolate and nuts) on the trail, and had a huge dinner to finish my day.
Dinner can be tricky as well. I'd finish my day around 6pm, and half an hour later I'd be showered and starving, ready to eat. 6-7pm is very early for dinner in Spain, but I found that many businesses on the trail have adapted and start serving dinner earlier than usual for them, so you should be able to find food at that time.
Consider the Winter Way
Even though the French Way is the most famous route to get to Santiago, there are plenty of other ways to get there, and all of them are official Caminos. As a way to get pilgrims to different parts of the region, the local government has been pushing for an alternative way for the winter months, called the Winter Way. This route (that happens to go through my hometown) avoids the mountains of O Cebreiro.
Those mountains do get snow during the winter, but only a handful of times, not a lot, and it doesn't last on the ground. More likely than not, you'll find clear trails (wet and muddy, sure, but not snowy). If you do hate the snow and don't want to even see it, then consider the Winter Way. If you don't mind the chance of some snow, then definitely go through the mountains.
Why you should consider doing the Camino in winter
Doing the Camino in winter is full of challenges you simply don't have to face in the summer. But I loved every second of it.
I loved the snow in the mountains, the solitude, I even got to embrace my pain as part of the adventure. It made the whole thing a bit more epic because I wasn't fighting only myself but also the elements.