Walking the Camino de Santiago

The trip will be memorable for many reasons. Our tour leader Lucas is a commendable young man, who knew exactly when and were he was needed and when to relax and let us enjoy our own company. His knowledge of the area and the environment was extensive and he delivered it in a relaxed and unobtrusive way. A special thank you must also go to our two leaders, who hosted the tours in Leon and Santiago. Both were incredibly knowledgeable and made everything funny and not at all dry, which some tours can be. The hotels were of a good standard and a special mention has to made about Hotel Pazo de Sedor. After a very long day it was like an oasis at the end of a very long walk. The building, which is an old manor house, the staff and food were quite brilliant. A special thank you, has to go to my fellow travellers, we were an amazing group which made everything even more special.

It was a wonderful experience. I wouldn't change a thing. I was part of a group of seven led by an awesome tour leader (Lucas). From start to finish, the trip exceeded my expectations. The itinerary was the perfect pace. Accommodation was all lovely. It was an ideal balance of walking, cultural experiences, group revelry, and reflection time. I highly recommend this tour and look forward to traveling with Explore again.

What a vacation! Relaxing, but thrilling at the same time. Explore have come up trumps with this trip.accomodation was awesome, varied each night a range of hotels, small family run guest houses to a manor house. All were spotless, with good facilities and a super team running each place. The trip was the right mix of challenge and relaxing. There are some long days of walking but the time flies in such beautiful countryside and time spent chatting to other pilgrims. The explore team on the trip were attentive and frankly brilliant, Lucas.our tour leader, did a great job looking after the teams needs in a totally relaxed way.His local knowledge and understanding of the environment we were walking through was invaluable and interesting.a great tour leader. Angela and Emma hosted tours of Leon and Santiago respectively. They were funny, engaging and oh so knowledgeable. We were so privileged to have them all. Us, a small group of seven, were of varying ages from late forties upwards, had an absolute ball. Each was able to find their own time, relax and find friendships which I believe will last. We laughed together and reflected together like old comrades. It was a life changing trip in so many ways. New friends, new experiences and some personal changes. Just perfect, thank you.

Ester is the best leader I have had with Explore! She was well organized and very personable. The trip was awesome because of Ester’s attention and care for all of us. I would sign up with Ester for a tour of my backyard! Yep she is that good!

I cannot imagine a better guide than Ester Galindo for my first experience walking the Camino. She has a vast knowledge of the region’s history and culture and brought it to life through her own personal experiences and good story-telling. She was keenly aware that people walk the Camino for many different reasons, and she provided encouragement for each individual pilgrim’s journey, along with providing for our physical needs. For example, she worked with our hotels to get earlier dinner times for us so we could get more rest, she provided tiger balm for sore muscles, she arranged for us to get a blessing at the church in O’Cebreiro even though the priest was off duty. I could go on, but in summary her warmth and generosity made the trip truly special.

Walking the Camino was a great experience, whether getting to know the other people in the group along the way or spending time on your own. The scenery, food, places & people were all great. Ester the tour leader is as good as they come, going above and beyond. Her enthusiasm and passion for what she does was a huge part of what made this tour great.

Just brilliant! I can't recommend this trip enough. It was tough going at times but all worthwhile when we eventually marched into Santiago in glorious sunshine. Our guide, Rocio, was beyond brilliant. She was so supportive, set the pace to suit everyone and kept us all going when people were struggling towards the end of the day (usually me). She helped us all in so many ways over the 12 days and always with great efficiency, competence and good humour. Nothing was EVER a problem. It was truly a fantastic experience, not always easy but the people you meet, the sights you see and great sense of achievement when you are done make it all worthwhile. So, if you are reading this and thinking should I/can I/will I do the Camino – DO IT. I promise you won't regret it.

The Explore leader was excellent and provided way more services than expected. The trip began with a slow start in that none of our fellow travelers received the promised shuttle from the airport and had to make our own way to the first hotel. This is where we first met our Explore leader, Jessica. I did not expect any more from Explore than a once a day briefing on our route but Jessica looked after us like a mother hen looking after chicks. She kept track of who was leading and who was lagging. Escorted the willing on side trips to visit churches or monuments, directed us to pharmacies, restaurants, laundries. Arranged for taxis for those that needed them and followed up to make sure that the taxi had actually arrived etc. She was outgoing and personable and made what turned out to be the hottest week in a century more tolerable. Great job!

First and foremost we had a most wonderful guide, Jessica. She gave us a rundown daily of what to expect ie: mileage, terrain, history of the area, landmarks. She made sure we were well hydrated during the heat wave. Had numerous bathroom breaks as well as nutrition stops. Jessica was able to negotiate and translate with the locals when we needed her in restaurants and hotels. To me Jessica made the entire trip memorable. She is a ray of sunshine.

I will start with a couple of small things that meant a lot to me. I had been travelling all day and arrived a Madrid Airport around 11pm local time to be met with Alex our guide who had a taxi waiting for me. He ensured the hotel checkin went very well. Everyone on the Camino was incredibly friendly if anyone was in trouble everyone came running to help. I mentioned above about being met at the airport and everything going smoothly it was the same for the whole trip. The hotels were all first class, the staff could not have been nicer. I felt that we were given the freedom we needed to experience the Camino with the support of a guide there in case anything went wrong. We formed a good group who got on really well. I can see why the pilgrimage is rated so highly, the scenery was excellent, the churches were fantastic along with some of the historic towns and cities. Something which surprised me about the Camino was the number of single women walking on their own. The fact that they feel that it is safe to do so should be a source of pride to the Spanish people. Everyone I talked to who completed the Camino took away what they needed from it.