Preparing for the Camino Ingles

In April 2026 I’m returning to the Camino, this time the Camino Ingles, or English way. Starting in Ferrol, and down to the city again. Santiago de Compostela.

In this article I thought I would share what i’m doing to prepare myself, my gear, and any other factors that come in to play.

Why the Camino Ingles?

I have done the Camino Frances and Portuguese Coastal, and once you do one, it is not unique to try and collect them all. Repeat customers on the Camino are a real thing. That area of Spain is very pretty, and the length, 118 km or 63 miles, is a good length for just a couple of weeks vacation.

Me and my wife planned for 2 weeks, and plan to do the Camino Ingles and the Camino Finisterre. So it should work out fine with the time we have.

You can choose to do one of the longer Camino’s and starting at points further along the road, like Sarria on the Frances for example. But that feels like intruding to me. And I dislike doing that. So I rather walk one that is a traditional way.

Fitness

To be honest, I was never an athlete, but we are all doing our best to stay fit and healthy in our own way. Since Oc(stop)tober 2025 I have made some changes and am going to the gym and doing my best with getting my daily steps in.

It is oftentimes a surprise, how much a person can actually take on a hike with a bit of willpower.

My advice is to go get your gear together, and walk with everything a couple off day hikes around your area as a shakedown. If you are capable of walking: 25 kilometers or ~15 miles, without much issue or worries about the next day, your capable of hiking the Camino. When in doubt, see a psychical therapist beforehand and get yourself checked out.

Credencial

For a Camino you need a Credencial or a Pilgrim passport. With it you gain access to the albergues, and with stamps you can get a certificate at the end. We ordered ours from the Internet from the German Pilgrim society.

You can find your local church or society online, and order directly, or you can visit and pick it up yourself. If you want to know more, read my dedicated article on The Pilgrim Passport | Credencial

Gear

At this point in my hiking “career”, I basically have all the gear I need for most outings. The only thing that changes up are my hiking shoes, and small items or clothing that need replacing or testing.

My last hike, the South Downs Way in England, I did again in Salomon’s speedcross, but ever since walking more in barefoot shoes in day to day life I was thinking about switching over to zero drop trailrunners. And the Salomon’s are close to wearing out again.

I decided to go with the Altra Lonepeak 9’s since I keep seeing that shoe all over with popular hikers. Usually I like to go a bit for the underdog or unique pieces of kit, but my wife has worn Altra’s for a bit already with success. So curiosity finally got me.

After the Camino is over I will report back and write a dedicated review on the shoes.

Tech

On the Camino there are a couple off apps that I recommend installing on your smartphone, you can survive without them but they sure do make things easier. Especially if you have slight detour from your albergue back to the Camino. And planning out your days.

Buen Camino

Organic Maps

As a second opinion to the Buen Camino, I like to have Organic Maps also installed with the offline map and GPX file of the route. I grabbed the one from the Flemish pilgrims society. Which you can find on the following link:

Compostellagenootschap.be

Simply get Organic Maps setup, download the offline map from the area in Spain. And open the GPX file with Organic Maps. The route is then automatically added.

Organising the Travel to the start

Getting to Ferrol is not as easy as some other starting points, and requires a bit of creativity. We go from Nuremberg Germany to Porto by flight(ryanair), from Porto to Santiago(flixbus), and from Santiago to Ferrol(train). All in all we lose about 2 days to traveling to the starting point. Whereas in Porto you can start basically as soon as you get off the plane.

For every situation and your home base, this will be a bit different. Also depending on what kind off mode of transportation you prefer. Take a look first at Google Maps, and then services such as Flixbus and the local train services in Spain. Trainline is another international train app that gives you tickets that are valid the whole way. And comes in handy in those cases.

The countdown starts for me until I get to Spain again, I can’t wait. I will do my best to answer any questions and ideas that pop up afterwards. So follow me for more info and tips.

If you are going on the Camino Ingles in April 2026, or also marching into Santiago around the middle of the month. Send me a message, maybe I can buy you a drink for reading my articles!

Happy Hiking and Buen Camino!