Did you have the luxury of a steaming hot bath during your Camino?

[RENSHAW]

In 2003 somewhere close to Palas Del Rei in Lugo I stumbled across a Hostal in the dark. It was the day that daylight saving commenced at the end of October. It had rained ALL day and by 7pm it was dark. At 8pm I squelched into the adjoining bar and ordered a brandy. The young lady asked me if I wanted a room as she was about to close. One Key later accompanied by a bottle of vino and I settled into a quaint en suite room for €15. there was small radiator which must have been running on nuclear power - what a difference to the mysery of outdoors.
And there in the bathroom was a BIG bath. I must have soaked for well over an hour supping ample vino. Man was that some bath , the first in just under a month.

 

[mspath]

Never a bath but the luxury of hot tea!

For example November 2013 at 7 am in El Acebo it was lonely and VERY COLD while waiting for the safety of dawn to continue walking. No other pilgrims had shared the simple Meson albergue dorm. The day before after a good and copious mountain meal in the bar/restaurant downstairs I had taken a welcome hot shower. The water pressure seemed okay but plunked in the middle of the loo floor a large full water bucket with dipper was a surprise. Was this a new decoration in the Japanese bath-house style? I should have known.

By 7 am there was no running, only dipped, water available in the dorm. Thus a very welcome HOT early morning tea was boiled with the invaluable electric coil (the only 'luxury' in my kit); that single cup tasted especially splendid waiting alone in the cold for the new day !

 

[Sheilajg]

The hotel in Viana has a bath in the room. I was hurting that day and stopped early, splurged for a hotel room and when I got into my room, I saw the bathtub! The first thing I did was fill that tub up and lie in it for a soak. I think it healed me!

 

[tomnorth]

When I reached Viana my body was screaming at me that it needed a break. The parochial alburgue was mats on the floor and the municipal alburgue received a lousy review in my guide app, so I decided to check in to a hotel. I soaked in the bathtub for quite some time that night. The next day I felt like a new man. This was the best decision I could have made.

 

[wayfarer]

Hot bath with sea salt in Hotel Norte y Londres in Burgos, pure luxury.

 

[Bradypus]

On the Camino Sanabres. Free outdoor thermal pools in Ourense - right beside the river. Very relaxing after some long cold days.

 

[Happy Wanders QLD]

Left Burgos 2 days ago and my Hotel Fernan Gonzalas bath, enjoyed it that much (Burgos & bath) we stayed for 3 nights.

 

[FLEUR]

2012 at the Posada in Rocesvalles. Having got absolutely soaked walking from Orisson to Roncesvalles my friend and I paid €45 for a twin bedded room en-suite. The bath had no plug but luckily my friend had brought one with her. A hot bath and a good rest in our beds restored our spirits.

 

[SabsP]

First Camino in 2011. Logroño. A single room in rather posh Hotel Murieta ( then 38 € ) . Now I looked again and seems it is 20 € more epxensive.
Ah that lovely bath. And then not having to hurry for being back in before curfew so went to Calle Laurel for some pintxos and Rioja.

 

[Deleted member 39850]

I think I found a few places with baths along the 5 weeks. About once every 10 days or so. But my strongest recommendations for recuperation and repair are to splurge in Leon and in Astorga. In Leon the Paris hotel has a water spa with cold water and hot water treatments. And the Spa Hotel in Astorga (connected to the ruins just a titch outside the main square and near to the municipal) has an even better spa. For tendonitis these two places made it possible for me to complete the journey. Considering how little I spent on the entire journey, those two splurges were more than worth it. I think it was 40 euros in Leon, and 90 euros in Astorga. But i had many nights of donativo, and 10 euro albergues.

And because I walked in the fall when figs were falling everywhere, my food expenses each day were quite small. The typical pilgrim meal in the evening, and maybe 3-4 euros worth of cafe food during the day...
So, yes, there were some fluffy towels, and creature comforts that were remarkable, and more than worth it.

I know there is some question about how it works and whether it works, but I have found kinesiology tape to be indispensable too. I think the Mueller brand is best for stickiness and not causing a reaction, and for staying in place longest. So, again for various tendon problems and IT-band troubles... I highly recommend it.

 

[Kiwi-family]

No.
(The thermal baths at Banos de Montemeyer were barely tepid.)
(The Ourense baths were steaming hot but there were lots of splashing kids so not particularly relaxing - I would go again though)

 

[MTtoCamino]

In the Town of Finnesterre Alburgue Cabo Da Villa after 35 days no breaks. That bath tub was like heaven.
Keith

 

[simeon]

I have just got out of one ! No beds left in the alburges in Leon so that was the perfect excuse it was sooooooooo good.

 

[GreatDane]

Hot bath with sea salt in Hotel Norte y Londres in Burgos, pure luxury.

I stayed there too in early October 2014. No bath salts but that tub and shower did feel fantastic! Very nice and helpful front desk staff. And had a great dinner at the restaurant downstairs.

 

[Gillyweb]

Hot bath with sea salt in Hotel Norte y Londres in Burgos, pure luxury.

Exactly the same hotel when I hit the wall in Burgos. I'd stayed in the Albergue the night before but on waking knew the time had come for a rest day. A fellow pilgrim felt the same and so we approached the hotel around 10am and bless them they let us check in right away. That stopover healed me and set me on my way the next day....I slept half the day and a hot bath has never felt so good.

 

[intrepidtraveler]

Pension Arbidel in Ribadesella on the Camino Norte. It had started to rain earlier in the day. By the time I got to Ribadesella my feet were soaked and I was starting to feel chilled. That bath tub was certainly a welcome sight and put to good use.

In Molinaseca the place I stayed (Le Palais I think was the name) also had a tub. Perfect for soaking tired muscles after the long walk from Rabanal.

 

[HedaP]

Heck yeah! Villalcazar de Sirga. Piping hot!

 

[oursonpolaire]

One of the grave flaws of being a private-accommodation-pilgrim is that one no longer partakes of ecstatic delight in a long hot bath. Don't mistake me; it's still great after a tough day, but it doesn't carry with it the celebratory aspect. (PS-- the bath in the Londres y Norte in Burgos had its taps on the side, so that one might carry on a profoundly spiritual conversation from the other end of the tub).

 

[MTtoCamino]

I have just got out of one ! No beds left in the alburges in Leon so that was the perfect excuse it was sooooooooo good.

So you slept in it?

 

[Angelo]

Yes, I have! Usually in the big cities. After along walk, we would feel like treating ourselves to a luxurious bath in a non-albergue type accommmodation.
But I prefer being in the company of other pilgrims in crowded albergues most of the time.

 

[Shuttle666]

In 2003 somewhere close to Palas Del Rei in Lugo I stumbled across a Hostal in the dark. It was the day that daylight saving commenced at the end of October. It had rained ALL day and by 7pm it was dark. At 8pm I squelched into the adjoining bar and ordered a brandy. The young lady asked me if I wanted a room as she was about to close. One Key later accompanied by a bottle of vino and I settled into a quaint en suite room for €15. there was small radiator which must have been running on nuclear power - what a difference to the mysery of outdoors.
And there in the bathroom was a BIG bath. I must have soaked for well over an hour supping ample vino. Man was that some bath , the first in just under a month.

Yes, this week. Has booked a hotel in Estode (hotel very quiet, so good price) and got to it after a damp morning from A Picota. Mad shaped bathroom, but huge bath sorted me and the laundry, recharged the batteries and continued into Finisterre and out to the lighthouse as the sun went down.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

The only bathtub I remember was in Finisterre. Across the street from the Albergue do Sol e da Lua is the owners residence where there is a room they let out. You share the owners bathroom. I only showered but if I had taken a bath I could have played with their kid's yellow rubber ducky.

 

[hel&scott]

Fully restored Roman Therma on the Vdlp, just outside Merida… Bliss!

 

[RENSHAW]

Fully restored Roman Therma on the Vdlp, just outside Merida… Bliss!

Yeeeeeeeoow! That does sound good .......I can picture it ... I'm inhaling the steam right now.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Not quite camino but close involving walking and hot water.

About three decades ago Peg and I went backpacking in the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park. It was chilly enough to have ice form in the water bottles at night. On day four we took a side trail to a hot water pool. This was the only pool in the park where bathing was permitted as safety came from the cold water stream that flowed into it. We went skinny dipping. We could adjust the temperature by adjusting our position.

Peg had just got her clothes back on when a boy scout troop on horses came by for their turn.

 

[MTtoCamino]

Not quite camino but close involving walking and hot water.

About three decades ago Peg and I went backpacking in the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park. It was chilly enough to have ice form in the water bottles at night. On day four we took a side trail to a hot water pool. This was the only pool in the park where bathing was permitted as safety came from the cold water stream that flowed into it. We went skinny dipping. We could adjust the temperature by adjusting our position.

Peg had just got her clothes back on when a boy scout troop on horses came by for their turn.

People actually make vacations visiting natural hot springs in the northwest some in the backcountry. I see they also are in Spain another thing to research.

 

[kdespot]

A HOT TUB! I did a huge splurge in Astorga... I treated myself to the swanky place that has a spa. I arrived stinky and sweaty, with dirty socks dangling from the exterior of my pack, doubtful that they'd even let me stay there. They did. Dying to get in the spa, I asked about it right away at check in. I was told that I must have a swimsuit, swim cap and a pair of shower shoes. “Do you have these things?” the nice señora at the front desk asked me. “Oh, yes, of course!” I lied and made an appointment to indulge myself 20 minutes after checking in. I had the whole place to myself for as long as I wanted. Since I had no bathing suit, I decided that my birthday suit would do just fine. I jumped into the hot tub and massaged every sore muscle. Then I swam 10-15 laps in the pool, and then back into the hot tub. That special treat was worth every euro and still brings a smile to my face when I think of it!

 

[Juspassinthru]

Hotel Spa Via de la Plata in Astorga. I have to tell you that while enjoying the spa, the windows face east and you get to watch the hot, tired and sweaty Pilgrims walking towards Astorga, over the tracks and up the hill. The whole time thinking, poor suckers, until I sheepishly remembered that I was that poor sucker the day before. Hot shower, tepid shower and cold shower, sauna and a massage. We'd washed our clothes, in a machine, so for the first time on my Camino, I felt clean (and a bit guilty but that passed). Fuel to finish the last 10 days. Some of my Camino friends would sniff like they'd never smelled clean before. The reality passed quickly, the memory has not. I'm laughing now as I write this.

 

[MichelleElynHogan]

On the Camino Sanabres. Free outdoor thermal pools in Ourense - right beside the river. Very relaxing after some long cold days.

Ahhh, now that is something that needs to be set up next to every albergue on every Camino.

 

[Juspassinthru]

Ahhh, now that is something that needs to be set up next to every albergue on every Camino.

I would trade that one day for almost any other day on the Camino, except one very hot night in Logrono. But, that's life, you take the good with the bad. Tired but content, hungry while full, fulfilled yet needy, knowing but curious. Enjoy every minute and every step because the Camino is our life.

 

[Thornley]

Yeeeeeeeoow! That does sound good .......I can picture it ... I'm inhaling the steam right now.

Get yourself onto the Le Puy GR Renshaw and stop in Lectoure , a famous spa town.
All afternoon in this gigantic hot pool with jets.
Next day on air.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

the Marist Fathers just reopened the pilgrim albergue in the Benedictine monastery in Sahagun. Every four- and two-bed room has a bathtub! It´s a 5-euro place, with shared meal, evening Mass and blessing, and a thousand year history of pilgrim hospitality!

 

[Tim Floyd]

We stayed at this place in Zubiri. Gorgeous inside and it had a hot tub with six positions which we got private use. Hot tub and whirlpool was a Godsend after our first few days and the severe descent into Zubiri. By morning we felt good as new.

 

[Albertagirl]

On my last night on the Camino Sanabres, after 50 days of walking the VdlP and the Sanabres, from Sevilla, with only showers to get clean, I stayed at Pension O Cruceiro in Ponte Ulla. There was a huge bathroom attached to my room, with a very large oval bathtub. At first, the water was not very hot. But I heard some hopeful noises in the plumbing and was eventually able to fill the huge tub with very hot water, and soak in it. Heaven!

 

[Bradypus]

Ahhh, now that is something that needs to be set up next to every albergue on every Camino.

I am in Japan on the final night of a two-month visit to walk the Shikoku and Kumano Kodo pilgrimage routes. Now this is a country with a real obsession with hot baths: natural hot springs or plain tap water My favourite was an outdoor bath in a thermal pool made simply by digging a hole in the river bank and letting it fill with warm water rising to the surface. Bizarre because the river itself is cold! For the ideal temperature you dig your hole at the river's edge and then channel as much cold water as you like into the pool then block off the channel. Fun.

 

[MichelleElynHogan]

Fully restored Roman Therma on the Vdlp, just outside Merida… Bliss!

Now, you see, it competely justifies packing a toga. Make it double as a tent?

 

[Paladina]

Heck yeah! Villalcazar de Sirga. Piping hot!
View attachment 36390

Very nice, but it looks not much bigger than the tin bath we used to have in front of the fire when I was a child. Sadly, now we are (no longer) six we could no longer lie down in it.

 

[Martin Cole]

Hotel Spa Via de la Plata in Astorga. I have to tell you that while enjoying the spa, the windows face east and you get to watch the hot, tired and sweaty Pilgrims walking towards Astorga, over the tracks and up the hill. The whole time thinking, poor suckers, until I sheepishly remembered that I was that poor sucker the day before. Hot shower, tepid shower and cold shower, sauna and a massage. We'd washed our clothes, in a machine, so for the first time on my Camino, I felt clean (and a bit guilty but that passed). Fuel to finish the last 10 days. Some of my Camino friends would sniff like they'd never smelled clean before. The reality passed quickly, the memory has not. I'm laughing now as I write this.

I have stayed there too, was fantastic, had a suite (including the bathroom) looking out East, wow, those were the days!

 

[Juspassinthru]

I have stayed there too, was fantastic, had a suite (including the bathroom) looking out East, wow, those were the days!

Nice bottle of wine on the terrace looking towards San Justo wasn’t bad either. When all of this is over, I think I need to do that again. Buen Camino.

 

[SFletcher]

Another vote for Hotel Norte y Londres in Burgos. We reckoned the bathroom was bigger than some of the albergue rooms we had slept in. It was a very welcome and leisurely wallow as the energy levels were depleted after 9 days walk.

 

[henrythedog]

Hot bath with sea salt in Hotel Norte y Londres in Burgos, pure luxury.

Great hotel, facilities and prices still stuck in the 1930’s. Location superb, staff very professional. Highly recommended.