Walking Guide to the Camino de Santiago History Culture Architecture from St Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela and Finisterre: The guide for pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago

What a fantastic resource! We used John Brierley's guide and maps planning our Camino in 2013, which worked pretty well, but they would have been a lot of weight to carry for 500 miles. We searched for a Kindle guide to put on my iPhone, and found Gerald Kelly's book. It was just what we needed. The towns were all there, even the smallest, with up to date information on lodging, complete with telephone numbers, and email addresses. The maps, which were sort of schematic, were more than adequate. The book does not have Brierley's spiritual readings, but we had other spiritual materials on our iPhones and liked the fact that the Kelly guide stuck to the essentials: how to get there, how long it would take, where to stay, and what it would cost.We're planning another Camino this summer, and obtained the 2015 edition. It is definitely new and improved. For one thing, it looks like the maps have been upgraded; they have topo data now, which I don't recall in the 2012 edition. It's always good to have a sense of how steep the walk will be. This edition also has an alphabetical list of places in the beginning; clicking on them is much easier than using the Kindle search function we had to use on the prior edition.As far as I can tell, the book is completely unbiased. Places Mr. Kelly recommended were all as promised, and he seems to be careful to say only things like "Good reports" when his information is not first hand. We liked the fact that he did not seem to be steering us towards any particular places.The book seems to be very up to date; it even warns that the Pilgrim Office in Santiago was scheduled to move to a new address this year (which it has).Anyone walking the Camino will benefit from this resource. The price is very reasonable, the the weight on your back is zero, if you have a phone. It has all the information you need. We can't wait to start out again this summer with Mr. Kelly's guide on my iPhone.

This is my first Kindle book, and I am reading it on a Surface Pro 3, that is my challenge, but it is really frustrating when maps are presented on their side in the text and when you turn the tablet to see the map in proper orientation the device automatically reorients the map wrongly. Perhaps mostly for that reason, and some others I am finding the maps in this guide to be less than I had hoped for. I am finding the method to define distances one might walk very confusing. The background information is interesting, and the where to stay and what to eat listings look useful (I will not be walking the Camino Frances until Sept of 15 so I can't confirm or deny their accuracy). I got this Kindle version to see if I could have a paperless guide that worked for my needs. At least for me, this guide did not meet my expectations.

Had I known the maps are all sideways view when using iPad meaning they are impossible to read without the extra effort to toggle on and off the screen lock and again to go back to the text. Most annoying to think that this guide would be used navigating the Camino on a phone no less. This feedback goes to the author or whomever made the decision to for this setup. I also thought it not help when a "new place" is given no name, as well as only phone numbers, shouldn't a guide provide an address, an email? Disappointed but found a much preferred option as my tool.

I just finished walking from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Finisterre and this book was a great help. It gave all the information that I needed to find a comfortable bed each night. Distances between villages given in KM and hours. Descriptions of hostels very useful. The best Albergues have an evening meal. Basic maps of bigger towns and regions. No frills but good solid information. The only thing I would add to this book would be a larger map of the regions being walked through.

Been reading it but there seems to be some confusion as to what is considered the eight and the left trail; the natrarive says the Napoleon route is the left route but the graphic on page 12 titles it the right route.

Helpful. I appreciated being able to access the backgrounds. I started the Camino with a friend who had the "Dodo-MiamMiam which gave details on lodging and restaurants. Once I walked solo, I did not have enough information about lodging to plan my day adequately. I must say though, that I looked for rooms with bath, so this comment does not apply to most. Also the distances and waypoints were a bit weird and hard to follow. Twice I walked an extra 10ks or so.

I had downloadet this guide to my Kindle and it was my only guide to the Camino. I found it really useful, but had to supplement it with the small paper Michelin guide 'Camino de Santiago' because I felt the need for some real maps - but those two guides in combination were really good.

Mr. Kelly does an outstanding job of being thorough describing so many of the best places to see history and architecture on the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. It is somewhat light-weight at only 6.9 ounces but I will be making notes of specific things and not taking it with me because I am taking as little weight as possible in my backpack. However, for preparation, it is incredibly helpful to get the most out of your Camino.

We bought this to try and be different from the standard Brierley books which every one uses. I'm far from convinced that it was the correct decision. The good points are that it is inevitably very useful: anyone doing the Camino de Santiago benefits enormously from guidance, advice and directions and it to an extent meets those requirements; crucially, it is well bound and in an excellent robust cover so survived occasionally brutal treatment over a near 900km walk. However, it is frustrating: the formatting is a good idea but complex and, particularly in the case of the directions, the fonts don't work too well; there are no vertical profiles which is surprising given the significance of the c11,000m of climb; and the maps, whilst vital, would greatly benefit from colour printing, although I accept that there is a cost dimension to that. Most importantly, the overall book deteriorates markedly towards the end, with increased errors, reduced information, limited or no directions or advice, missed villages, misplaced notes and editorial errors. It bears the hallmarks of a rushed job to meet a publishing deadline. Finally, the entire book is littered with mis-spellings and minor errors which imply lousy proof-reading. In sum, although we found it essential in the absence of any other, I recommend waiting for a revised and improved edition before using this particular guide.

I don't normally take the time to write a review but after using this book on the Camino de Santiago I had to. This guide book was fantastic, I'd read online that most people go for the brierley guide book but I'd heard that that book is extremely common on the Camino and the towns it recommends can get very full. This book differs to many I saw pilgrims using as it doesn't have a day-by-day guide. Instead, this book gives detailed information on EVERY town/village/city you can sleep in on the Camino. This was so great as on days when we didn't want to walk the average of 25km, we had info on albergues closer to us, meaning we weren't stuck in a routine of having to walk the recommended distance every day. We met people whose books had very limited to no information on albergues other than the ones they suggested. The books layout confused me before I went on the camino but once I was there it made perfect sense. It tells you distance from every town to the next, prices, names and directions of where to sleep as well as information of the town amenities, banks, shops etc. The description of places was, bar one evening, very fair and reliable. In the larger towns there is a map included with albergues locations listed on it as well as supermarkets etc. I cannot emphasize how brilliant and useful this book was. I (honest to God) even had fellow pilgrims asking to use my book in the evenings so they could read about the following day. One lady even took it to a post office to photocopy the whole second half of the book! Excellent book and so up to date. I highly recommend it! Take note, it is not useful for pre-Camino reading and information - only use as a guide for the walk itself!

Excellent guide book updated for 2018. Covers the French route, easy to understand and covers the pilgrim hostels - beds prices and what's included in the way of meals. A brief history of east major town on route. Route maps and advice. The guide weights in at 215 grams so not too heavy. I have used the information to book in my first and second night I could do more as phone numbers are provided.

Okay guide for the historical part of the trip, i.e. knowing the different interesting locations to visit, and for the finding of hostels, of which this offers a multitude of options. Found it a tad lacking on the information on the route itself and how to get around, or more lack the absence of information regarding the route and get around. Essentially you are left on your own in finding your way to the Camino. Not very reader friendly at first, because you need to read through introduction to actually figure out what's going on. Overall okay, and delivery excellent.

I just finished the Frances. This book has been a great Camino friend. If you're asking yourself WHY would someone waste space and weight of a walking guide on glossy pages and pretty photos, then you'll really appreciate Mr Kelly's style. Its no-nonsense route description and super helpful albergue comments were priceless. Not to mention the food recommendations. This book has led me to some truly hidden gems. Other pilgrims were taking photos of the pages, it was so much more helpful than other books! (including the hugely overrated Brierley book). Many thanks!