Walking the Camino de Santiago Inglés: 3 Days, 76 km

This summer I found myself in Galicia, Spain for a few weeks. I have been going to Galicia every year for the past 3 years. When I arrived here the first time, someone mentioned Caminos. And that was the first time I thought about doing this multi-day hiking. I love hiking, so how could I not think about this? Initially, I thought I would do camping, at that time I didn’t even know if that was possible.

Fast forward 3 years later, I decided to go to Galicia for a longer period and hike around (6 weeks). Last years I had done some smaller ~20km a day hikes in Galicia and absolutely loved it. This year after doing some small hikes of 15–20km, I realized I wasn’t sure if I was ready for Caminos physically or mentally but I knew deepdown I really wanted to do it. At this point, all I had was motivation, and I was counting on it to take me through it. Anyway, I decided to go for it!

I used caminodesantigo to plan the hike. This was also useful to see where I could book the hostels. I booked my hostels and I was ready to go.

I decided not to pack too much stuff so that I wouldn’t have to carry all of it. I had a medical emergency kit, toiletries, 3 pairs of clothes, some healthy snacks, a rain jacket, a pullover, food and water, so mostly just essential stuff. I also planned to wash some clothes along the way. I think the weight of the bag was still more than one should carry. It's recommended to carry 1/10 of your body weight but mine was close to 2/10 of my body weight.

I also quickly realized after starting that I was underprepared after seeing people walking with big backpacks. I realized I didn’t have backup shoes in case it rained. I only had one pullover, so again, what if it rained? I had realized all this on the very first day. Thankfully, the weather was great and I got lucky.

My itinerary looked like the following:

Camino Inglés Route (From A Coruña)

• ● = Main stopping point
• ○ = Pass-through or optional stop

Day 1 (32.6 km)

• A Coruña ● (Start)
• O Burgo ○
• Ponte da Xira ○
• Sergude ○
• Sarandós ○
• Bruma ● (End of Day 1)

Day 2 (24.2 km)

• A Calle ○
• Sigüeiro ● (End of Day 2)

Day 3 (16.1 km)

• A Barciela ○
• Santiago de Compostela ● (Final stop — Day 3)

Day 1 (32.6 km)

All the days, I started very early in the morning around 5:30, and I met so many people on the way. On the 1st day, I walked for almost 9 hours and by the end of it, I was very exhausted. Just about 1 km before the end, I stopped by a café and the café owner left me so surprised. I had walked 30+ km at this point and my legs were hurting. I was simply sitting on my chair, massaging my calves, and this lady, who is also the café owner, brought me a stool and put my legs on it. I was deeply moved by her kindness. Probably because her café is on the Caminos trail, she understands the pain? And can just see it through. She also brought me some biscuits. What a beautiful end to the day.

When I arrived at the hostel, my legs were hurting so badly that I was questioning if I could continue. Day 2 required me to walk 24 km and physically I wasn't feeling confident. I watched some YouTube videos and asked ChatGPT about what I could do to relax my legs and kid you not, it worked.

Day 2 (24.2 km)

Next day, I woke up around 5am and felt my feet were sore but fine I could slowly do Day 2. I started around 5:30ish, walking in between beautiful forests and small villages. I stopped by a café in the morning to have breakfast, saw the same group I had met yesterday, and had breakfast with them. Things changed from there. I had already walked 4 hours by the time I was having breakfast.

I resumed after breakfast. It was very sunny and I was struggling. I was intentionally walking very slow, but the last 8 km were the hardest. I was questioning why I decided to do this hike. I had to take a break every 200 meters because my left leg really started to hurt. But anyway, I pushed through and I was the happiest when I finished the hike for Day 2.

I joined a few folks I had met during the hike earlier for dinner, and there I met this author who had a pretty amazing story to share. He has been doing Caminos for 14 years. It was nice hearing stories about his French Caminos journey that took 6 weeks and is 800 kilometers long. He also gave me some massage tips and a pain reliever gel for my calf and knee pain. It was really helpful.

Day 3 (16.1 km)

Day 3, I started around 5:30. Met 2 other folks who were starting around the same time at the hostel, so we ended up doing the last 16 km together. The last leg was mostly in Santiago. We were chill and mostly taking it easy, enjoying the cafés in between and sharing stories. One person was from the USA, and another from England who had sailed for one week to do the Caminos. What a day it was! We finished the hike with happy smiles on our faces and a very nice coffee in the old town of Santiago.

Even though I questioned a lot because of the pain 9 hours of hiking caused me on day 1, I do not regret it. I would do it again given the chance. I’m so glad I pushed for it.

When I started, it was just the inner voice saying “you can do it.” I wasn’t sure if my body could take me through it but I counted on the confidence of that inner voice, and I’m glad I did!