Camino de Santiago de Compostela

[muma]

Hola peregrinos!

I'm planning to do the camino aragonés from Oloron St Marie to Puente de la Reina at the beginning of August but I'm a bit concerned about availability at the albergues. Has anybody done it recently? Was it busy? Should I book accommodation in advance?

Many thanks,

Isabel

[sillydoll]

Isabel, If you know more or less what distances you want to walk, there are a few albergues you could book in advance. (You might want to consider walking to Pamplona instead of to Puente La Reina. We spent a night at Eunate - VERY special - and walked to Pamplona the next day, missing out Puente la Reina altogether.)

In Oloron Ste Marie, you can book a bed at the new Relais du Bastet albergue. http://www.relaisdubastet.fr/

At Sarrance you can book at the Monastery or at the former St Jacques Study Centre about 1.5km before Sarrance. http://fontaines.selfip.com/pyrenees-ba ... -rooms.php

At Borce you will get a bed at the Gite Communal (http://www.tourisme64.com/hebergement_G ... +Borce_738) liliborce@hotmail.com

Canfranc Estacion - we stayed at a lovely Casa Rural - 20 euro with breakfast - La Tuca - http://www.lospirineos.info/latuca (You can also book ahead at Pepito Grillo - http://www.pepitogrillo.com/ )

In Jaca we stayed at the new albergue - follow the bronze arrows in the street from the centre of town. I don't think you can book ahead.

Most of the small albergues between Jaca and Puente La Reina can't be booked ahead.

We stayed at Santa Cilia, (Arres has a very good reputation)
Artieda (you can book ahead),
Sanguesa (if the albergue is full, stay at the camping site dorms for 9 euro)
Izco, Tiebas and Eunate (not at Punete La Reina)

[muma]

Wow!

That's exactly the information I needed. Thanks very much!!

[cilento]

Hi Isabel,

I just got home from walking the Aragones. It was amazing. I walked from Oloron to Logrono and once I reached the Camino Frances I realized exactly why I enjoyed it so much.

From mid-July in Oloron, we had no problem on the Aragones with albergues being full with the exception of Sanguesa where we were happy to go to a hostel for the evening. We opted for a casa rural here and there because my walking partner wasn't crazy about the albergue experience. I stayed in the one that Syl mentioned in Canfranc Estacion for 20 Euros each and one in Monreal for about the same. In Sarrance we found the monastery to be booked for the night, but that might have been only because we didn't call the night before. We walked on to reach Bedous in a couple of hours and the Gites there was great. It's on the main town square and the people there were wonderful. We met some great pilgrims, and there were plenty of beds available. That was just 10 euros. If I had to do it again, I'd stay in Bedous. It gave us a very easy day to Urdos -- pilgrim accommodation there was also great. We all had our own room with a sink, shared bathroom.

Jaca's albergue was quite nice and there was plenty of space. The albergue in Arres was very special. That one was crowded but there were still beds when we arrived at 7 pm. In Ruesta the albergue was beautiful, but some people complained about the cost. Dinner, breakfast and bed did add up a bit -- I think it was 22 each, but I thought it was well worth it. That was the best dinner we had on the entire 2-week journey.

It was so great to walk without having to race for a bed as I had to do on the Camino Frances in 2007. We walked at our own pace, left the albergues late, took long breaks at lunch, and walked in the afternoon. That worked better for us than waking up early, but we had to change our schedule when we got onto the Frances in Puente La Reina. In fact, all of the albergues were full in Pamplona and Puente La Reina when we arrived.

Immediately as we reached Pamplona (we walked from Monreal to Pamplona instead of going to Puente La Reina directly) the differences in the caminos became really apparent. Pilgrims seemed more like tourists to us on the main road, and people were rushing from place to place. One thing I can say about the main road is that the signage was much better. On the Aragones we had some trouble finding the route at times, but mostly in France. Once we crossed into Spain we had lots of helpful yellow arrows.

One place I loved at the end of our trip was the campground in Irache. It's just up the road from the monastery where the camino returns to the highway. It's called Camping Iratxe and they have these little cabins with 2 beds and a half bathroom for 25 euros per room. We were exhausted and needed a break, and jumping into their pool after a long walk from Puente La Reina was truly a spiritual experience for me.

As much as I loved walking the Camino Frances in 2007, I truly fell in love with the Aragones. We met some great people, but never felt nervous that we wouldn't have a place to stay and never looked at them as competitors for reaching a bed. It is a quieter experience with many hours passing at times without seeing other people. There's a lot less flexibility than on the main road. You have to walk certain distances on some days because there are no options in between, and there are some major stretches with no food or water, so you have to plan a bit more than on the Frances. From Arres to Ruesta, for example is a difficult day.

I hope you have an equally wonderful experience and fall in love with the Camino Aragones.

Buen Camino,
Dominick

[Gareth Thomas]

One place I loved at the end of our trip was the campground in Irache... ...and jumping into their pool after a long walk from Puente La Reina was truly a spiritual experience for me.

Your recalling jumping into the pool there as a 'spiritual experience' reminded me so much of last year, just a few kilometres further on from Irache, just before Villamayor de Monjardin, there is the medieval pilgrim bath: the Fuente de los Moros. Last year I threw off my rucsack and clothes, and descending the flight of steps into the clear, freezing springwater, I just luxuriated in the refreshing waters. It felt like a second baptism after which I stepped out blinking into the sunlight, naked, and was instantly captured on camera by two Japanese tourists...

Gareth

[kriszta]

Hi,

I'd need help for my friends; they are walking now.
They heard, that in Galicia no one can sleep on the floor in the albergues.

where could they sleep in Negreira, Olveiroa, Muxia and Fisterra, if the albergues are full?
thanks

kriszta

[Gareth Thomas]

They heard, that in Galicia no one can sleep on the floor in the albergues.

I don´t think I´ve ever seen people sleeping on the floor in an albergue. Why would you wish to do that? People would fall over you in the night. There are curious ideas sometimes on this Forum, but the idea of sleeping on the floor in a place where there are a set number of beds - usually regulated by safety rules - suggests that some people have not really thought things through very completely. The rules governing accommodation on the Camino are there to protect everyone. The Camino is a liberating journey but it is not a "free-for-all" and there have to be some practical rules.

Gareth

[KiwiNomad06]

Gareth, just a couple of years back it seems that people could sleep on the floor in Galician albergues, and that people weren't turned away. There may still be people who are starting to walk now, who don't really know that the situation has changed.
Margaret

[MermaidLilli]

On the way to Fisterra (and I do not know which albergue, but they had tents outside), my son and his friends arrived and there were no beds or tents available. They were not allowed to sleep on the floor inside, although it was quite a large area, due to rules, but were allowed to sleep on the cement patio outside. So with their sleeping bags, they slept outside and it was cold and drizzly. On top of that they were still charged the albergue fee . I think it was crazy to not let them sleep inside on the floor.
Lillian

[Alan Pearce]

The albergue that MermaidLilli referred to would be the one at Negriera. We had the same experience when we were there last year. There are only 20 beds and 36 pilgrims arrived, so 16 had to sleep on the concrete patio outside, on matresses provided by the hospitalero, who explained that fire safety laws prevented her allowing people to sleep on the floors inside. Imagine trying to escape from a fire, only to trip over someone lying on the floor between you and the safety of the doorway
As for being charged a fee, those who slept outside got the use of the hot showers, the kitchen, and the mattresses [a bit thin though]. The patio outside was under the roof line so pilgrims were protected from the rain, which bucketed down all night. For those who did not like this arrangement there were hostels available in the village. The hospitalero had to throw out one Frenchman who waved his Compostela at her and demanded that as a certified pilgrim he deserved better treatment. The fact that everybody else there also had a Compostela did not seem to occur to him.
I leave for the del Norte in 5 days.

Alan


Be brave. Life is joyous.

[Gareth Thomas]

On the way to Fisterra (and I do not know which albergue, but they had tents outside), my son and his friends arrived and there were no beds or tents available.

This is definitely the refugio in Negreira. I stayed there last year in very wet conditions, in one of the tents outside, and some pilgrims did sneak back indoors to sleep on the floor against the instruction of the hospitalera, but only after she had retired home for the night!

Gareth