![]() What’ more, the age distribution isn’t the same on all Caminos. There are actually ways (such as Via de la Plata connecting Seville and Santiago) where you’ll have to walk over 30 kilometers on some days, simply because there won’t be any village/bar/hostel in between the starting and ending point of your walk. The thing I said about infrastructure on Camino Frances doesn’t apply to all Spanish caminos. When you are over 70 and not in an excellent shape, walk Camino Frances (instead of other ways)Īn important thing to consider once you pass certain age is the right way to walk. He’s a living proof of the saying that “age is just a number”, and that you can do the Camino at any stage of your life. Now he’s almost 80, yet every year he returns to Spain to walk one of the Caminos. Siegmund from Germany, 74 (at the time of taking this picture back in 2017), walking Via de la Plata. I have met and talked to dozens of pilgrims aged over 70, both men and women, and though some of them struggled on the Camino (physically or mentally), the same can be said about pilgrims from any other age group. He was one of those camino addicts who simply come back every year :). Speaking from personal experience, the oldest pilgrim I met had 85 years (Giordano from Italy), and he was actually walking more than 1,000 kilometers on that occasion. Sure, 60 isn’t 70, but the point I try to convey here is that you won’t feel like an outsider, or a relic on the Camino, just because you aren’t in your twenties anymore… There will be many people of your age around you, and you may even find a hiking partner in their ranks (if you prefer to do so, of course, since walking solo is also all right). ![]() Pilgrims aged over 60 account for more than 18% of all pilgrims on the wayĪccording to the statistics from 2019 (which is a much better year to look at than 2020, since we already had pandemics in 2020 and numbers of pilgrims dropped heavily), pilgrims aged over 60 accounted for 18.73% of all pilgrims on the way. You can do the walk at your own pace, letting the youngsters to run away while you enjoy the beauty of Spanish countryside and take it all in slowly. With the current infrastructure on the Camino, you do not have to worry about having to walk many kilometers on a day, which is a huge plus once you are over 70. On the other hand, it allows virtually everyone to follow the trail, since it is a huge difference whether you have to walk 20 or 30 kilometers on a day (to reach next shelter, shop, restaurant etc), or can call it day after 5 or 10 kilometers only, simply because you are tired, want an easy day, have a blister, it rains outside or whatever. Sure, commercialization of the Camino and vast infrastructure of bars, hostels and shops along the road has its minuses. In my opinion though, things are never black or white only. Some people argue it is not good, that Camino has become “a carnival”, or “a food fest”, which has nothing to do with original spirit of the pilgrimage. If I exaggerate a bit, you’ll run into a bar on every kilometer, and you will find a pilgrim hostel (a place where you can sleep) in every small village along the road, and sometimes also simply in the middle of nowhere. ![]() Camino de Santiago is a different story though. Infrastructure is almost non-existent on many long distance trails. I slept in a tent or in the open and often had to walk a certain distance in a day, just to get to water stream or other important point on the trail. On many occasions I had to carry a lot of water, food supplies for several days. I’ve been lucky enough in life to have walked many long distance trails in different corners of the world. But there is one game-changer on this trail: the infrastructure. ![]() That’s a tough task for almost everyone, regardless of their age. Sure enough, you’ll cover close to 800 kilometers on your way from Saint Jean to Santiago. One of the things I like the most about Spanish Caminos, and especially the Camino Frances, is the accessibility of the walk to all sorts of people.
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