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I started two Caminos on May 13th exactly in St.Jean. Was great both times. Mixed weather, plenty of people, plenty of doomsday talk of not getting beds. But would do it again. Maybe get reservations for Roncesvalles and Zubiri.
I tried to adjust for this with my "additions". Instead of my sub-500g pack, i calculated a 1kg pack (and you can get one of those for a more reasonable price), instead of my 240g sleeping bag i calculated a 640g one... and so on. Maybe not everything 100% correct, but i'd bet one can get around...
I'll chime in with the motion to stay in Roncesvalles for a first camino just because of experiencing this place. (and contrary to Roland i don't have very fond memories of the food)
I added even more comfort items to my pack this year, bringing it up to about 4kg. If i was to add my tent (~700g), a sleeping mat ( ~400g) and a warmer sleeping bag (add ~400g) and maybe a few hundred gramms of utensils for camping that would still put me well below the 6kg mark. Add 500g for a...
For my second Camino Frances i had a vague list of places i might consider for staying the second time around but made the decisions more from how i felt in the moment. I also had a vague list of places i did not stay and might like to stay, but again, i made the decisions on the go. I also have...
On both my caminos i heard of the occasional wave of "stomach bug". Might be a virus going around, might be some food at some place or might be some water fountain not living up to the quality. One can be careful but there is always a chance. I was lucky enough to never catch something, on the...
Uhm... from my memory the beds looked like this pre-renovation already. Really liked the albergue when i stayed there 2022. The airconditioning worked wonders. Bathrooms could have used some update, and i guess they did that now. But all in all a very good albergue and quite cheap on top of it.
I think the forest way, which i took in 2022, was where i hurt my chin muscle. But then it might have something to do that i walked all the way from Orisson to Zubiri on day 2. In hindsight, not the smartest move.
That being said, the forest way is steep. Period. It is not impossible, but i...
To the best of my knowledge there aren't any real bottlenecks between Leon and Santiago. You should be fine. Not that i ever had problems getting a place in albergues, but i decided that it is a lot easier to carry a credit card than a tent and if that rare "just in case" scenario would occur...
Yes, they should have the required supplies to ship something home. No idea how big the office in Viana is, it might be rather small and they might not have everything. If thats the case, you could try Logrono, which in all likelihood has a much bigger post office.
Uhm, that makes me kinda wonder.
I only walked the Napoleon twice, but i have a very strong memory of a sign somewhere (iirc before Orisson) that was saying something like "route open". So i guess there is the option for some "unknown authority" to turn it to "route closed". I might be wrong...
Honestly, with the holy year being over and easter being a month ago, i did not expect the same business this time as we seen in the last (two) years.
I can only speculate what has lead to this.
While having started both times in St.Jean i made very intense friendships in Leon, Foncebadon, La Faba and even Fisterra. So i guess i'd say don't worry to much about that.
Between my 2019 and 2022 CF things had become quite a bit more expensive, i'd say around 30-50%. I guess when comparing 2016 to 2025 this number will be quite a bit bigger.
I second the 50€ a day figure for a reasonably relaxed camino. You can, with some effort, get down to 30€ or even below...
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