Essential Camino Prep: Route Planning and Packing

Keith and I were inspired to walk the Portuguese Coastal Route of the Camino de Santiago earlier this year. Our plans for travel and adventure had changed and this journey quickly became a way to challenge ourselves. Be sure to check out Part 1: Camino de Santiago: Our Journey's Inspiration

I first became interested in the Camino when I saw videos of the coasts of Portugal and Spain. This vision motivated the entire trip so the route was a no-brainer for me. The next thing that concerned me was packing for the Camino. I spent much time learning about the gear needed to succeed on the Camino.

Route Planning

I knew immediately that I wanted to walk the Portuguese Coastal Route since the coastal scenery inspired the trip. The 170 miles seemed challenging, but attainable for me. For these reasons, I wasn't interested in exploring the other options. The next steps involved breaking down the days, or stages, for walking. There might also be a concern for seasonality, including weather and the amount of pilgrims on the trail. I knew Fall was ideal for me because of the slightly cooler weather and fewer pilgrims on the trail.

There are some examples of the stages and with the coastal route, you can also hop on and off the central route. Plus there is an optional spiritual variant. Early on I decided that I would do the coastal route and planned to take three rest days within the walk to sightsee. I wanted as much time as possible to enjoy this journey, I didn't want to be rushed. There seemed to be a 12-13 day plans that most pilgrims follow. I planned 14 days for walking because I wanted the last day to be shorter to make the arrival at the cathedral more enjoyable. I also heard that getting your Compostela in the afternoon can be difficult if the wait is long. Beyond that, once we booked our flights and added that to the agenda, everything fell into place just right.

About a month before the trip, I started writing more details that I read in blog posts or saw on TikTok for each of the stages. Some of this included information about the terrain, cafes not to miss, or albergues (hostels) with the nicest amenities. As a planner, it was hard to balance between wanting to know all the information with knowing that the plans needed to be flexible for each day.

Basic Plan and Stages

This is the basic plan we used. Although some adjustments were made along the way, this gave us a good outline to make decisions about where we needed to be each day to finish on time.

• Day 1- Flight from Salt Lake City, Utah to Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Day 2- Layover/explore Amsterdam, flight to Porto, Portugal
• Day 3- Explore Porto
• Day 4- Start the Camino!!  Se Cathedral in Porto -  Vila Cha -16 miles, 800 ft elevation
• Day 5- Vila Cha - Agucadoura- 11 miles, 400 ft. elevation
• Day 6- Agucadoura to Marinha- 12 miles, 265 ft. elevation
• Day 7- Marinha to Viana do Castelo- 13 miles, 1135 ft. elevation
• Day 8- Viana do Castelo to Caminha, 17 miles, 1282 ft. elevation
• Day 9- Extra day for rest/sightseeing
• Day 10- Caminha (Portugal) to Viladesuso (Spain) 15 miles, 900 ft. elevation
• Day 11- Viladesuso to A Ramallosa 12 miles, 1130 ft. elevation
• Day 12- Ramallosa to Vigo 15 miles, 935 ft. elevation
• Day 13- Extra day for rest/sightseeing
• Day 14-  Vigo to Redondela 10 miles, 670 ft. elevation
• Day 15- Redondela to Pontevedra 13 miles, 1400 ft elevation
• Day 16- Extra day for rest/sightseeing
• Day 17- Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis 13 miles, 900 ft. elevation
• Day 18- Caldas de Reis to Padron 11.5 miles, 930 ft. elevation
• Day 19- Padron to Santigo de Compostela 16 miles, 1725 ft. elevation (may split this day to arrive in Santiago earlier in the day)
• Day 20-  Arrive in Santiago today or earlier! Ideal to arrive in the morning so there's time to get Compostela
• Day 21- Explore Santiago
• Day 22- Ground transfer to Porto, Portugal. Fly to Paris, France. Layover/explore Paris.
• Day 23- Flight from Paris, France to Atlanta, Georgia. Flight to Salt Lake City, Utah

Gear and Packing

This part of planning was quite stressful for me. Knowing what to buy, how much to spend, and how to include everything I needed, but wouldn't be too heavy was something I spent way too many hours on! This is how I work though. As I revised the list, I thought about every aspect I could think of and ultimately I believe that helped prepare me. Once it came time to pack it all up, I had exactly what I needed and I wouldn’t have changed much, if anything. I also met my goal for the weight of the pack, 15 lbs, without water and food. This wasn’t super lightweight by any means, but it was the perfect balance between everything that would make the trip enjoyable while not overloading my back.

There are some good videos on YouTube and TikTok for advice on gear and packing. It seems overwhelming at first, especially if you haven’t backpacked before, like me. It came down to having items for clothing, bathing, sleeping, and a few other odds and ends for technology, first aid, and eating. As noted below, the only items I bought on the trip were a set of hiking poles, a nail clipper, a foot cream, and an umbrella. I really did have everything I needed with me!

My Packing List

Supplies

• Backpack– Osprey Tempest 30L; used rain cover from another backpack
• Patagonia hip pack- credential, passport, ID, credit cards, cash, iphone
• 3 dry bags- Osprey 6L
• 1 toiletry bag
• 1 reusable produce bag- used for packing/organization
• Smartwater bottle
• Camino Portugues Guide book- I didn’t have time to use this.
• Pen

Toiletries

• Comb
• Travel Brush
• Toothbrush/ Toothpaste
• Shampoo/conditioner/hair oil
• Soap- body
• Face wash- bar
• Face lotion 
• Face sunscreen 
• Razor 
• Nail file
• Tweezers
• Nail clippers *bought in Portugal
• Deodorant
• Q tips
• Mascara- used once *this was a luxury item
• Chapstick
• Towel- body
• Towel- hair *this was a luxury item
• 4 Laundry clips
• Laundry detergent

Clothing

• Raincoat
• Umbrella* bought in Spain because of Hurricane Kirk
• ALTRA Torin 7 running shoes and a pair of sandals
• Socks- 4
• Bras- 3 
• Underwear- 3
• Shirts
  • 3 short sleeve athletic shirts- Adidas, Under Armour, Real Essentials 
  • 1 long sleeve sun shirt
  • 1 long underwear long-sleeve shirt
• Pants  
  • 1 pair of leggings
  • 1 pair of long hiking pants 
  • 1 pair of shorts
• Sunglasses, case 
• 2 hats - accidentally got put into dryer early in the trip, destroyed one, made do with the other
• Swimsuit
• Headband and Buff- didn’t use, but would take again

First Aid

• Keith packed a variety of meds, ointments, and bandaids. We also bought various Compeed Blister Pads along the trail as needed.
• I took my own meds and hikers wool for my feet.
• Foot cream *bought to help with swelling
• Kleenex
• Wipes- took a pack of water wipes and antibacterial- didn’t need
• Soap sheets- I used these instead of the hand wipes. Many bathrooms do not have soap.

Technology

• Power Adapter
• Airpods- only used on the plane
• Phone and watch chargers
• Air tags- backpack and hip pack

Food Related

• Fork/spoon  
• Tupperware to-go container- stored coffee and hydration packets, used for leftovers/snack
• Instant coffee packets- 8 single serve
• Scratch-hydration mix - 5 packets
• Binder clips- 2

Other

• Hiking poles- bought at Decathlon in Portugal
• Sleep sack
• Grocery bag/ Laundry Bag
• Travel lock
• Stone from home- the only item that got searched for at Amsterdam airport

Another Option for Gear

Does the idea of carrying a backpack worry you? Maybe you have an injury or another reason for not being able to carry this extra weight. It is possible to send your backpack ahead to your destination and only carry a small daypack while you walk. We did not do this but saw some who did. The paid service seems very reliable, but it does come with a catch of having your next lodging booked ahead of time to organize the service. Since we did not use this, I don't know much about it.

Upcoming Post

Next week I’ll explore more about planning for the Camino de Santiago.  This will include details regarding physically and mentally preparing for the walk.

How would your packing list look different? What luxury items would you choose? Let us know in the comments section below.👇 💬