General Help
Easy Mode
The full camino planner allows a lot of room for precisely describing your preferences in terms of distance travelled, the sort of comfort you want at the end of the day, special locations and on and on and on. This can be a bit overwhelming for a first-time user.
Easy mode takes basic information about how fit you are and what comfort levels you want, the Camino you want to walk and uses sensible defaults for other parameters. Once you have a plan, you can refine it by turning easy mode off and exploring other options in more detail.
Travel Types
The travel type is a broad description of how you intend to travel the Camino. Generally, people either walk or use a bicycle.
| Icon | Travel Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Walking | Walking the Camino. | |
| Cycling | Cycling the Camino. |
Fitness
Fitness is a broad estimate of how long you can keep up a consistent walking or cycling pace. Most legs on the Camino take five to eight hours and you can get pretty tired and footsore along the way. The fitness level allows the planner to make allowances for the inevitable slowing of pace as you weary. See below for information on how to estimate fitness.
Beware of over-estimating your fitness. "Normal" fitness is someone in their 20s or 30s who has trained for long walks.
| Fitness Level | Description |
|---|---|
| Super-fit | Very, very fit, world-class athlete level. |
| Very fit | Very fit, athlete level. |
| Fit | The fitness level of an experienced long-distance walker. |
| Normal | The fitness level of a consistent long-distance walker. |
| Unfit | An average walker who has trained for the Camino. Consider this level if you have doubts about whether you're up to the normal level. |
| Casual | An average walker who wishes to smell the roses. This fitness level is suitable for shorter Caminos and other walks where the traveller wishes to spend more time enjoying themselves. |
| Very unfit | An average walker without much training. |
Estimating Fitness
The standard definition for fitness levels (other than Casual) is the amount of time it takes to climb 1000 feet (300m) over half a mile (800m). For example, using the following table, if it took you 25 minutes to climb 1000 feet, you would be classified as fit. Another way to estimate fitness is to measure the time you can walk at a nominal 5km/hr (or 3mi/hr) before noticeably tiring.
| Fitness | Climb Time (mins)1 | Tiring Time (hours)2 | Nominal Speed (km/hr)3 | Maximum Time (hrs)4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Super Fit | 15 | 20 | 6.0 | 24 |
| Very Fit | 20 | 10 | 5.5 | 23 |
| Fit | 25 | 8.0 | 4.5 | 17.5 |
| Normal | 30 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 14.5 |
| Unfit | 40 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 11.5 |
| Casual | N/A | |||
| Very Unfit | 50 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 8.5 |
| 1 How fitness is determined. The time it takes to climb 1000 feet over half a mile | ||||
| 2 How fitness is determined. The time you can walk at 5km/hr before noticeably slowing. | ||||
| 3 Based on average over five hours walking | ||||
| 4 The maximum feasible -- but hardly recommended -- time spent walking | ||||
Cyclists can estimate fitness based on road-speed and VAM (velocità ascensionale media or average ascent speed).
| Fitness | Road Speed (km/hr)1 | VAM (m/hr)2 |
|---|---|---|
| Super Fit | 40 | 1600 |
| Very Fit | 32 | 1300 |
| Fit | 28 | 1100 |
| Normal | 24 | 900 |
| Unfit | 20 | 700 |
| Casual | N/A | |
| Very Unfit | 16 | 400 |
| 1 Sustained road speed on a flat, well-maintained road | ||
| 2 Sustained climb over an hour or so on a 5% gradient. As a rule of thumb, add 50 for every extra 1% gradient and subtract 50 for every 1% reduction in gradient. | ||
Comfort
Comfort is a broad description of how much hardship you're prepared to put up with while walking. Most of the time, comfort levels translate into pre-packaged accommodation and service preferences while walking the camino. You can adjust these pre-packaged defaults on the following screens to suit your needs. Comfort levels also adjust the bias towards longer or shorter daily stages.
| Comfort Level | Description |
|---|---|
| Austere | Minimise the use of expensive accommodation and services. Camping is often a preferred option if there isn't an inexpensive albergue nearby. Rather than use restaurants, you intend to buy your own food and cook it. |
| Frugal | Reduce the use of expensive accommodation and services. Camping is an option if there is nothing suitable nearby. You are quite willing to buy your own food and cook it. |
| Pilgrim | The normal pilgrim level of comfort. In general albergues or guest houses are preferred accommodation options, but you're willing to spring for something a bit more luxurious every now and again. You generally plan to eat in restaurants or cafés along the way. |
| Comfortable | Similar to the normal pilgrim level of comfort but you're more willing to shell out to sleep between sheets and eat well. |
| Luxurious | Money is no object and you would prefer to have comfortable accommodation options and plenty of service available. |
Use Transport Links for Accommodation and Services
Checking this box allows travellers at a few locations to use bus, train or ferry links to access nearby accommodation and services, widening the options in terms of possible stops and locations.
Checking this option violates the spirit of the Camino. It should not be used if you intend to get a Compostella Certificate at the end of your pilgrimage. The option is included for recreational travellers and routes that are not pilgrimages.
Points of Interest Categories
Points of interest are locations that a pilgrim might like to stop at while on their way. Not all pilgrims are alike, so the points of interest are divided up into broad categories, indicating the sort of thing that a pilgrim might like to stop at.
Points of interest might fall under multiple categories. For example, a cathedral is (obviously) of religious interest but also of historical interest or a park might be both an area of natural beauty and a recreational spot.
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Religious | Something of religious significance, such as a chapel or shrine. |
| Historical | A location of historical significance, such as a castle, statue or town square |
| Cultural | Something of cultural significance, such as an art gallery or museum |
| Natural | A location of natural beauty, such as a national park |
| Pilgrim | A location specifically geared towards pilgrims, such as a pilgrim information office |
| Recreation | Recreational facilities, such as a shopping area, food and drink or a municipal park |
To begin with, choose the way you intend to travel. Then choose the level of fitness that you have.
Easy mode allows you to fill out a few fields about your travel style and which routes you want to travel. Sensible defaults are then used for things like daily distance, accommodation preferences, must-see stops and the like. Detailed mode allows you to fine-tune your preferences in terms of distance, accommodation, where to stop and so on. However, the level of detail can be quite complex. Use easy mode to start with and then uncheck this box to allow more detail once you are familiar with the system.
Be careful with fitness. Normal is normal for a young walker with plenty of training; someone who can walk three hours at 5km/hr without tiring. If you have any doubts, choose Unfit.