Quote Originally Posted by Starchild View Post
From someone who has done 3 Camino's I have to say, though I don't know what the REI tour is, it is not needed on the Camino De Santiago on the French way or Portugal way. Yes there may be a little confusion at first but it's easy to get going and help in english is available. Nothing wrong with taking the tour, but the reasons you say why you took the tour in this location of the world were not really an issue.
As I said, REI is a "luxury tour" more than a hike. It did involve hiking about 90 miles, but included a lot more than hiking. If one is on a tight budget, REI isn't the way to go, but if one has the resources REI turns a hike into an "adventure." I will share just one example. on one of the days, we had lunch with a Count in his country mansion. We got a taste of what it is like to be royalty in Portugal. One doesn't get that kind of experience on a mere hike.