Hi,
I’ve had a few questions related to SIM cards. So this was my experience based on walking the Camino Frances in 2015 (From St Jean).
I pre purchased SIM cards for France and Spain. I didn’t want to wait until hitting the first major town before being able to get a SIM card.
The French SIM I used for a few days in France and in St Jean. Then swapped over to the Spanish SIM when I got to Roncesvalles. Both SIM’s worked well. Both included voice and data.
The French one I bought from: Le French Mobile
and the Spanish one from: SimCardSpain
I ordered these before I left Australia, and they just arrived in time. Took 7-10 days. I would use both these companies again.
It took me a while to work out how to ‘recharge’ the Spanish one…. I used a lot of data uploading videos to my blog, calling my wife on Skype etc. Most small shops do the recharge! Just ask for ‘Telefono Recarga’. Hand over 5e 10e or whatever you need and tell them the network you are using. I used Vodafone. They will do the recharge and you’ll get a text message telling you the recharge amount and how much credit you have remaining.
SIM cards?? Rob, I am not a techie. I have downloaded the French and Spanish language files w Google Translate.
Please tell me why I need a French and Spanish SIM card.
I plan to do my first Camino April/May 2018. Your blog is so informative, as is the Camino Forum. Perhaps we will pass on the Way.
Regards and much thanks,
Hi Michele, Glad you are finding the Blog useful. You obviously only need SIM cards if you need internet or phone connections along the way. If you have downloaded translation files, then maybe you don’t need Internet. I had SIM Cards because I wanted Internet connections at all times. Not in any way that was ‘intrusive’ to my Camino or that of others. But I used Internet connections for:
Map my Walk app. I would glance at this periodically out of curiosity to see how fast I was walking or how far I had walked.
Phone Calls or Calling Apps (like Line and What’s App). Whilst I was unplugged from my business I needed to be reachable in case of Business Emergencies. (No one called me) But more importantly (#1 reason), I needed to be reachable by my wife who was dealing with a very sick parent at home. We talked daily.
Bookings. I preferred to book accommodation a day ahead. So I used online apps to do that.
Flights. I had to change my return flights a couple of times. I was able to do that online.
Blogging. #2 reason. I created this Blog initially to keep everyone back home up to date with how I was going, where I was. I was very lucky to have a team member back in the office who would update my Blog every day for me, transcribe audios and edit videos. (My hero Maybelle) Having good internet access was important as I had a lot of material to upload each day, and I would often leave it uploading over night. (I went though a lot of SIM top ups)
Casual Access. If you are looking for ‘casual’ access to the internet along the way, it’s not that easy to find. Internert cafes are a thing of the past although some Albergues have an ageing PC in the corner. WiFi (called WeeFee) is everywhere, but not always that fast. OK for emails etc. But I didn’t want to ‘hog’ the bandwidth with my uploads…
Hope that helps. Maybe we’ll see you in April/May 2018? Pat and I will be starting from St Jean late April.
P.S. For anyone blogging along the Way, I found doing audio recordings were great. Rather than leave my writing till the end of the day, when I might forget things, I would record my thoughts in ‘real time’.
Hi!
If I want to only periodically send an email, will I need a Sim Card or is there usually WiFi on the way?
Wanda
Which route are you walking?
On the Frances there is WiFi everywhere.
Hello, Rob,
I am going to walk the French Way this April. Could you please let me know which sim card you bought for use in Spain? There are many to choose from and I don’t know which one is good for me. I simply use the card for internet access as I am hard of hearing, I won’t make call.
Margaret
I have found SIMs a bit of a lottery, sorry. Though I usually use Vodafone.