A Personalised Camino: Built Around You, From Training to Santiago
When most people start looking into the Camino, they find the guidebook stages and assume that's how it has to be walked. Stage one, stage two, stage three, a set distance each day, the same towns as everyone else, all the way to Santiago.
It just isn't true. The guidebook stages are a useful place to start. They help you get your head around the major towns, the distances between them, and where the cafés, shops and pharmacies are. But they're one way of walking the route, not the only way. There are a thousand ways to walk any Camino.
That's a big part of why I spend so much time out on the routes. I walk them, I stay in the villages between the guidebook towns, and I get to know the people who run the guesthouses along the way. Knowing the trail that well is what lets me cut a route up into whatever version suits you: shorter days, longer days, a rest day where you need one, an extra night somewhere you'll love.
I don't sell fixed packages. Every walk I plan starts with a conversation about what you need, what you want, and what you like. Then I build the itinerary around that.
What a personalised Camino actually looks like
Plenty of companies say their Camino is personalised. Often that means you pick a route and a start date from a list, and maybe add a night in Santiago at the end. The stages are the same ones everyone else walks.
Tierra Trekking Co. is just me. There's no sales team and no handover to a booking department once you've paid your deposit. Because it's just me, I can focus on you.
That means the person you first talk to is the person who plans your walk, books your rooms, and answers your message when you're halfway to Santiago and want to change something. I know your plan because I built it, and I know the route because I've walked it.
Here's how that works in practice.
Can you personalise a Camino de Santiago itinerary?
Yes. We can customise it around you. Because you're not tied to a group, the days can be planned to suit how you walk.
The things we can shape around you include:
Which route you walk, and where you start
How far you walk each day
Where you take rest days, and how many
Extra nights in towns worth seeing properly
Your start date, so it fits your flights, your leave and the season you want
Time in Santiago, Porto or anywhere else at either end
Shorter daily distances on the Camino
Guidebook stages typically run 20 to 30km a day. We can bring that down.
Take the last 100km of the Camino Francés from Sarria. The usual plan is five days: 22, 25, 29, 21 and 20km, back to back. For some walkers that's perfect. For others, the 29km day into Arzúa is the bit that puts them off the whole idea.
So we split it. We can bring most days down to around 10 to 15km by adding overnight stops in the smaller villages between the main towns. It's the same 100km and the same Compostela at the end. You just get there over more days, and you arrive each afternoon with something left in the tank.
The same goes for every route. If 20km is your comfortable limit, we plan around 20km. If you'd rather walk 12km and spend the afternoon over a long lunch, we plan for that instead.
How many rest days should you take on the Camino?
There's no right number, but I'd almost always suggest at least one on a walk of a week or more, and more on the longer routes. A rest day isn't a sign you can't keep up. It's the day your legs recover, your washing dries, and you actually get to see the place you're staying in.
The trick is putting them in the right spots. I'll usually suggest rest days:
In towns that deserve more than an evening, like León, Burgos or Pontevedra
After a run of harder days, before your legs start complaining
At the end, in Santiago, so you're not walking in and flying out the same day
On the Portuguese Coastal, for example, I like a rest day in Baiona about halfway through. On the Francés, a few days in León breaks up the walk nicely. Where yours go depends on your route, your pace and what you'd like to see.
Walking the Camino with bad knees
Dodgy knees come up in a lot of my conversations with walkers. I'm not a doctor and I won't tell you what your knees can handle. If you're worried, have a chat with your GP or physio before you book. What I can do is plan the walk so it's kinder on them.
For most people, the hard part isn't the climbs. It's the long, steep descents. The Francés has a few that people remember, like the drop down to Molinaseca after the Cruz de Ferro, and the descent off O Cebreiro. Knowing where those are means we can plan around them.
Shorter days on the steeper sections, so you're not tackling a big descent on tired legs
A rest day before or after the hardest stretch
Splitting tough stages in two, like crossing the Pyrenees with a night at Orisson instead of doing it in one day
Choosing a gentler route altogether, if that suits you better
And because your luggage is moved ahead each morning, you're only carrying a light daypack. That makes a real difference over a few weeks.
Taking your time on the Camino
A lot of people come back from the Camino saying they wish they'd slowed down. They spent every day watching the kilometres, walked straight through the best villages, and arrived in Santiago having seen the path more than the places.
You don't have to walk it like that. If there's a winery you want to visit, a town you want to explore properly, or a long lunch you don't want to rush, we build that in. Some of my favourite parts of the Camino are the afternoons with nowhere to be. A plate of pulpo in Melide, a coffee in a plaza, a wander around an old church before dinner.
It's your walk. It doesn't need to be a race to Santiago.
Camino training and gear advice
A personalised Camino isn't only about the itinerary. It's about you turning up ready for it, and that's where a lot of my time goes.
I know what it takes to get your body ready for weeks of walking, because I've done it on every route I sell. I'll put together a training plan that suits where you're starting from, how long you've got before you leave, and the route you're walking. Someone heading off on the Francés in a few months needs a different build-up to someone walking the last 100km next spring.
Then there's the gear. I'll talk you through it all, based on your route and the time of year:
Shoes, and why most people are better off in walking shoes than boots
Socks, which matter more than most people think
Walking clothes that dry overnight and layer well
Choosing a daypack that's comfortable all day
How much water to carry, and where you can top up along the way
You'll still have plenty of choices to make. You just won't be making them on your own.
How to get to the start of the Camino
For a lot of Australians, the trickiest part of the whole trip is working out how to get from the airport to the start line, and how to get home again at the end.
I help with that too. Which flights make sense and which city to fly into, which train to catch and where to book it, where to get the bus, how to get from the airport into Porto or across to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, and where it makes sense to stay the night before you start. Then at the other end, how to get from Santiago back to Madrid, Porto or your next stop.
It's the kind of thing that's easy once you've done it a few times, and confusing when you're looking at it from home. I've done it plenty of times, so you don't have to work it out on your own.
How I plan your personalised Camino itinerary
Every booking starts with a conversation, not a booking form. I'll ask about:
How much walking you do now, and how far you're comfortable going
Anything that slows you down, like knees, hips or a back that doesn't love hills
How much time you have, and when you'd like to go
What you want from the trip: the walking, the food, the history, the quiet, or all of it
Where you'd like to slow down or spend an extra night
From there I'll recommend a route if you haven't picked one, and put together a day by day plan with distances, overnight stops and rest days. You can change whatever you like until it feels right. Then I book everything and send you your walking notes.
No templates, no call centre. Just a conversation with me, and a walk that's built for you.
Make it your Camino
The Camino isn't one walk. It's whatever walk you need it to be. Long days or short ones, five days or five weeks, a rest day every few days or a straight run to Santiago.
If you've been thinking about it but the standard itineraries don't look like you, get in touch. Tell me how you like to walk, and I'll show you what your Camino could look like.
Buen Camino,
Ben
Tierra Trekking Co. is an Australian and New Zealand tour company running self-guided Camino experiences. Our routes include the Camino Francés, the Portuguese Coastal Camino, and the Camino del Norte. Get in touch to find the right route and timing for your Camino.
Hi, I’m Ben
I’m Ben, founder of Tierra Trekking Co.
I’ve personally walked Camino routes across Spain, Portugal, France, and Italy, and started Tierra Trekking Co. to help Australians and New Zealanders experience these trails with practical support, thoughtful planning, and honest advice from someone who genuinely knows them.
If you’re unsure which Camino route is right for you, feel free to get in touch.
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