Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

[Lorelei]

looking for guidebooks on the El Camino del Norte....I am a first time pilgram and need a lot of information! plus any advice on choosing this route as my first? I am traveling second week of sept. 2008 onward. I keep checking websites but you can't flip through a web sit?
thanks lorelei

[JohnnieWalker]

Have a look on the Confraternity of St James Website:

http://www.csj.org.uk/route-coastal-route.htm

Guide books.

Los Caminos del Norte (Pilgrim Guides to Spain # 4) Confraternity of Saint James. Detailed route description and accommodation where known. £5.00 each. Available in our Bookshop. In the following parts:
Introduction (2004)

A: Ruta de la Costa, 1: Irún to Villaviciosa (2005). 2005 update

A: Ruta de la Costa, 2: Villaviciosa-Gijón-Arzúa (2005). April 2006 Update.

B: The Tunnel Route (2002).Update

F: The Camino Primitivo (2002)

Full details of all these on the author's website.

El Camino de Santiago del Norte, by Paco Nadel and Fundación Caixagalicia. El Pais/Aguilar. ISBN: 84-03-50228-1. €19.90. The guide covers the route as far as Villaviciosa and then turns inland to the Camino primitivo. One of the few guides that crosses provincial boundaries. Can be bought at http://www.cervantes.com
Dos Caminos a Santiago, A lavishly produced reprint in A4 format of the old spiral-bound guide. All the inaccuracies in the maps are still there but excellent for an overview with some good photographs. Can be obtained free by writing to the Bilbao Tourist Office, Paseo del Arena, 1 - 48005 Bilbao, Spain.

Make sure to check their updates too.

John