When I (not parent) went to the Camino de Santiago, I was already an experienced hiker (I could certainly walk 30kms in a day and I had done it many times) and I brought a good pair of shoes with me (that I used before without getting any blisters).
But my feet were just not ready to take 30km per day for many, many days in a row. It's one thing to do it just during weekends, doing it every day is a different beast.
Eventually it got better, but it took a while for me to get used to it (and a whole lot of Compeed plasters).
My advice for anyone who is going, would be to start gradually (maybe 10-15 km/day) and then over time go for longer and longer walks.
Edit: I totally agree with the sibling comment about socks being just as important, if not more, than shoes
This was something I heard very often from fellow pilgrims on the camino. That the constant abuse, really is something else. There is a ton of shoe stores along the camino, and plenty of people that "just have to wait a bit" for their feet to catch up. I guess both shoes and socks are important; but certainly never do what I did and go to Spain with brand new shoes...
When I (not parent) went to the Camino de Santiago, I was already an experienced hiker (I could certainly walk 30kms in a day and I had done it many times) and I brought a good pair of shoes with me (that I used before without getting any blisters).
But my feet were just not ready to take 30km per day for many, many days in a row. It's one thing to do it just during weekends, doing it every day is a different beast.
Eventually it got better, but it took a while for me to get used to it (and a whole lot of Compeed plasters).
My advice for anyone who is going, would be to start gradually (maybe 10-15 km/day) and then over time go for longer and longer walks.
Edit: I totally agree with the sibling comment about socks being just as important, if not more, than shoes