next june (2026) i plan to fly to Lisbon and want to travel to Tallinn by foot travel and trains here and there probably throughout spain. My question is if anyone has done something this far before and any tips. I plan to go alone as well.
I'm gonna pitch just one thought, but it all stems off this: Are you committed to doing it that direction, or would you consider going the other direction?
Much of that direct path links up with the old Camino de Santiago route from Gdansk and, for many long stretches of that route, you can easily hop from one albergue/hostel to the next super conveniently. It keeps things cheap while letting you leave the tent, pad, & likely even sleeping bag at home. In some areas the hostels will have gone away over the years (esp further away, like Poland. From ~Darmstadt onward you shouldn't have hardly any gaps though), but almost always there'll be some local lodging still available if you plan ahead. Gdansk to Santiago to Lisbon is over 80% of the total length you're proposing doing, which would significantly cut down on route planning when not doing side missions to other cities/touristy locations too: https://sandiegotosantiago.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/the_camino_de_santiago_routes_of-europe.jpg
I'll push this as an option because a few years ago I did the Camino from France and it was one of the best travel experiences I've ever had (and I like to think I've done some cool shit in my life: hiking to Everest Base Camp, sailing across the Atlantic, running with the bulls in Pamplona twice, etc). I made lifelong friends, lifelong memories, and really thrived with seeing the world at a slower pace and having more opportunity to meet people than almost any other form of travel. Cannot recommend highly enough!
You can, of course, still use the hostels and route going the other way, but most of the fun comes from meeting other pilgrims (in Spain they're known as Pelegrinos) and chatting with them along the way. Chances are pretty slim you'll find many going away from Santiago though.
Just to "yes, and..." my own post, keep in mind that the cheapest form of shoestring travel, "wild camping", is illegal in many areas throughout Europe. Super conveniently for this potential route is that Estonia and Poland are the two most lenient of the countries you'd be traversing. Theoretically, you could travel to Estonia with a hiking pack that included camp gear, hike/camp your way to Gdansk, mail that shit back home or donate it if it's not valuable to you, and then continue your trek with less load for the majority of the hike.
Also, you'll want a light pack. Lighter the better. When I did the Camino, this was my loadout (minus the stuff at the bottom, so closer to 12lb base weight): https://lighterpack.com/r/e6utm5
I ended up never using the camping gear on my route, but left it in for your potential needs further east. If you do this with the kitchen sink, trying to lug 40lb across Europe, you'll hate yourself by the end of the second day. Pare it down, know you can buy things over there if you do end up wanting something you'd left behind, and try to keep it to 8-13lb or so, because 2-3L of water will push you closer to 15-20.
I'm gonna pitch just one thought, but it all stems off this: Are you committed to doing it that direction, or would you consider going the other direction?
Much of that direct path links up with the old Camino de Santiago route from Gdansk and, for many long stretches of that route, you can easily hop from one albergue/hostel to the next super conveniently. It keeps things cheap while letting you leave the tent, pad, & likely even sleeping bag at home. In some areas the hostels will have gone away over the years (esp further away, like Poland. From ~Darmstadt onward you shouldn't have hardly any gaps though), but almost always there'll be some local lodging still available if you plan ahead. Gdansk to Santiago to Lisbon is over 80% of the total length you're proposing doing, which would significantly cut down on route planning when not doing side missions to other cities/touristy locations too: https://sandiegotosantiago.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/the_camino_de_santiago_routes_of-europe.jpg
I'll push this as an option because a few years ago I did the Camino from France and it was one of the best travel experiences I've ever had (and I like to think I've done some cool shit in my life: hiking to Everest Base Camp, sailing across the Atlantic, running with the bulls in Pamplona twice, etc). I made lifelong friends, lifelong memories, and really thrived with seeing the world at a slower pace and having more opportunity to meet people than almost any other form of travel. Cannot recommend highly enough!
You can, of course, still use the hostels and route going the other way, but most of the fun comes from meeting other pilgrims (in Spain they're known as Pelegrinos) and chatting with them along the way. Chances are pretty slim you'll find many going away from Santiago though.
Just to "yes, and..." my own post, keep in mind that the cheapest form of shoestring travel, "wild camping", is illegal in many areas throughout Europe. Super conveniently for this potential route is that Estonia and Poland are the two most lenient of the countries you'd be traversing. Theoretically, you could travel to Estonia with a hiking pack that included camp gear, hike/camp your way to Gdansk, mail that shit back home or donate it if it's not valuable to you, and then continue your trek with less load for the majority of the hike.
Also, you'll want a light pack. Lighter the better. When I did the Camino, this was my loadout (minus the stuff at the bottom, so closer to 12lb base weight): https://lighterpack.com/r/e6utm5
I ended up never using the camping gear on my route, but left it in for your potential needs further east. If you do this with the kitchen sink, trying to lug 40lb across Europe, you'll hate yourself by the end of the second day. Pare it down, know you can buy things over there if you do end up wanting something you'd left behind, and try to keep it to 8-13lb or so, because 2-3L of water will push you closer to 15-20.
That is over 4000km.
Have you ever done such a long hike before?
Assuming you are coming from outside the EU do you even have time for that if you are constrained to 90 days in 180?
I get the point of crossing the whole of Europe, but you might enjoy a much shorter but more consistently interesting/impressive route more.