Walking the Camino de Santiago

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Summary: Presents an ancient pilgrimage route
Review: Collaboratively researched and written by Bethan Davies and Ben Cole, Walking The Camino De Santiago presents an ancient pilgrimage route across northern Spain that was once used by Celts and Christians, and is now available to contemporary travelers wishing to share and partake in this historic route. Extensive directions, detailed sketch maps, medieval history, tips on identifying local flora and fauna, information concerning pilgrim hostels, and much, much more pack the pages of this detailed "must-have" travel guide for anyone seeking to embark on the Camino De Santiago pilgrimage. Also very highly recommended is the newly revised and expanded second edition of Bethan Davies and Ben Cole's Walking In Portugal (0952266814).

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Summary: An excellent aid for a Camino de Santiago hiker
Review: Contrary to what one often reads at various Internet group sites, the Camino Frances is just a long dirt track with occasional climbs, not difficult to walk for an average hiker, and very well marked throughout its circa 780-kilometers-long course. As such, a topographical guide to it is not really necessary. Just the same, the Davies and Cole book is pure fun to read - I mean especially the sections about the Camino flora and fauna, as well as the general remarks at the beginning of the volume. If one really needs directions, these are given in a down-to-earth, practical way. The guide is rather short on cultural info, therefore it should be used in conjunction with the Gitlitz/Davidson volume. Of course, the yearly Confraternity of St. James' practical pilgrim guide is a must for any hiker planning to do this route. On the other hand, if you'll find the Camino Frances overcrowded, often sightseeing-unfriendly and too touristy (as I did in 2003), you should buy another excellent guide by Ben Cole and Bethan Davies, "Walking the Via de la Plata", written in the same utilitarian format, and follow this longer but less-trodden path to Compostela.

Rating:
Summary: Terrific guidebook-- funny and smart.
Review: Excellent guide for the English-speaker walking the Spanish Camino. Davies and Cole balance wealth of information with the obvious weight restrictions to come up with a book which was helpful, interesting, and often very funny. The remarks about the towns and the available Auberges were so helpful that pilgrims of other nationalities walking the camino at the same time as I would often make a point of asking me what my book said about what they could expect in the day ahead.

I also appreciated the advice on the special things to do and see. The Best of the Camino list was right on target and we were very pleased on the occasions when we took this "best of" advice.

As the book was written in 2003 and a great deal was changed on the Camino for the Jamesian Year in 2004, I recommend annotating your copy with updates which can be found at the publisher web site.

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Summary: Essential, useful, and accurate
Review: I rode the Camino de Santiago in September of 2003, and while this book is, obviously, for people interested in walking the Camino, it is equally useful for people who ride bicycles. All the information I used was accurate and helpful. Riding on a bike, I took two books (the other being the Confraternity book mentioned below), but if I was limited to one, this would be it. The directions are clear, the maps are accurate, and the brief section on flora and fauna a nice addition. Buy this book and go. Buen Camino!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent - fills a void in the English language guides
Review: Walking the Camino de Santiago is 11 ounces and 211 pages easy to read, fact filled guide with sketch maps, elevation profiles, and something about the history, and the flora and fauna of the trail. It covers the trail from St. Jean-Pied-de-Port near the French border to Santiago de Compostela and on to Finisterre.

When walking the Camino, the mandatory guide for English speakers is the Confraternity of St. James Pilgrim Guides to Spain I. The Camino Frances. This is a barebones 76 page guide focused on pilgrim food and shelter - how far is it, how many beds available, what does it cost. Supplementing this is the Camino chapter out of the Lonely Planet's Walking guide to Spain - about 35 pages.

Walking the Camino de Santiago is a more route oriented guide than either the confraternity guide or the lonely planet guide. It does have information on where to stay, but most of the text is on what happens in between places to stay. The flora section is brief. One thing I would have added is the crocus, which was common and in the harshest terrain when I traveled the Camino in Sept - Oct.

I definitely recommend this for anyone starting at St. Jean or in Spain. I still say that the confraternity guide is mandatory, because it gives you a great level of comfort about what to expect, where it is and how much is the next place with food and/or shelter.

If a pilgrim starts in Le Puy en Velay, then Alison Raju's the Way of St. James Le Puy to Santiago, a Walkers Guide would have to be used. It is a more terse, difficult to read guide than the Davies and Cole guide.

I had a difficult time finding information on the Camino before I did it in 2001, so I have put what I consider the classic Camino books on my website, along with related pilgrim information. I just added this book - Walking the Camino de Santiago to my short list of important titles...