Few questions - advice

[LeJaMa]

Hi there,

I will be walking Camino Primitivo soon and I still have some questions that you could maybe help me to answer. As I would like to avoid to bring unnecessary things with me.

1. I do you guys take fork/spoon/knife with you? Even plate and a cup? I intended to bring only fork-spoon maybe. Let me know how useful it was for you.

2. do I need some clothespins and clothes line with me?

3. Is it enough to have about 200 euros cash, I guess it is possible to pay buy card everywhere.

4. Any recommendations where is the best to stay for the first night in Santander and then in Oviedo? I tried couchsurfing, but it will be probably better to stay in some nice place or already in albergue to get use to the atmosphere for the next days.

Thanks a lot

 

[Pafayac]

1. I do you guys take fork/spoon/knife with you? Even plate and a cup? I intended to bring only fork-spoon maybe. Let me know how useful it was for you.

A knife can be useful (for chorizo, fruits, ham…). A spork if you intend to buy prepared salads. Plate is useless.

2. do I need some clothespins and clothes line with me?

Yes.

3. Is it enough to have about 200 euros cash, I guess it is possible to pay buy card everywhere.

No. Prefer cash. However, you will find ATM in the main towns (not so much on Primitivo…).

 

[David]

Good questions.
1. I always carry a spork .. how to eat a tub of yoghurt or ice cream or tin of beans without a spoon? Plus my Swiss army knife - if you buy 'carry with you' food that needs cutting you need a knife. (mine has a corkscrew too).
2. I always carry a few clothes pegs as they seem to be in short supply - be prepared to 'lose' some. I have never needed a line.
3. Probably - I usually carry 300 and replenish at 100 - top tip - don't trust the next cash machine to be working.
4. Santander - great to get a really good night sleep before starting (my choice) - Absolutely recommend the Hotel Faranda Express, near the train and bus stations. Great clean small rooms with all facilities, wi-fi. tv, en-suite, etc, best hotel price and totally unlimited self-serve great continental breakfast included - pleasant staff too.

Hotel Faranda Alisas Santander | Faranda Hotels

Confort y estilo en el Hotel Faranda Alisas Santander. Disfruta de una estancia cómoda y conveniente en el corazón de Santander, España

www.farandahotels.com

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

@LeJaMa , I walked the Primitivo in July last year.

1/. I carry a sharp knife which I buy in the first supermarket I come across and a teaspoon for yoghurts etc. A spork would be a great substitute. The supermarket salads I bought had a bamboo fork with them however they may not always. No cup or plate necessary.

2/ personally I carry a 6 meter line (very thin, light strong nylon line) and a dozen safety pins. Used multiple times when the Albergue lines were full plus created a line in my hotel room on the two occasions I used one.

3/ I disagree with @Pafayac in that cash used to be preferred everywhere but in my experience it is no longer .
€200 in cash is probably sufficient, worst case as @Pafayac says you can draw more, limited to a few larger towns along the way.

I spent less than 200 Euros in cash for my whole Primitivo. I stayed in a mixture of accommodation including three Donativos and a Xunta (all of which are of course cash only.) I used my card for the rest. I visited a good number of cafes, frequently paying with my debit card. A few places had a minimum spend of 10 Euros. It can be high as 30 euros, however I only once came across that. Anything over 30 euros by law the business owner has to provide for alternative means of payment - however that can be something as crazy as a bank transfer, not really viable for you and I on Camino.

All of the supermarkets I shopped in happily accepted my card.

Some of the 200 euros cash I gave to other pilgrims for my share of a cafe or dinner bill so they could pay with card. Saved them having to go to an ATM for cash.

4/ sorry no, I used a hotel.

It's a wonderful camino, enjoy!

 

[Simperegrina]

good questions

1. I do you guys take fork/spoon/knife with you? Even plate and a cup? I intended to bring only fork-spoon maybe. Let me know how useful it was for you.

I take a spork (spoon, fork, ‘knife’). The ‘knife’ can cut pieces of cheese, bread etc, nothing more, I also take a Sea-to-Summit collapsible cup, which I can use for food as well as drink. No need for a plate.

2. do I need some clothespins and clothes line with me?

I take a few safety pins. Haven’t needed a clothes line.

3. Is it enough to have about 200 euros cash, I guess it is possible to pay buy card everywhere.

200-300. As others have said, cash is needed for some types of transactions.

4. Any recommendations where is the best to stay for the first night in Santander and then in Oviedo? I tried couchsurfing, but it will be probably better to stay in some nice place or already in albergue to get use to the atmosphere for the next days.

Yes, stay in an albergue or hotel. A strangers sofa might not be ideal

 

[J Willhaus]

Like others, I buy a sharp knife in Spain. I carry a spork and a cup I can microwave for instant coffee or soup.

I take safety pins to hang up clothes as they take up less room in my pack.

I use more cash than others as I stay often in albergues that accept cash only and don't take reservations.

 

[markie6]

On odd occasions when I have had too many wet clothes for a day or so I have used a small piece of climbing rope with pegs and safety pins , hung from my backpack to dry as I walked. I'm never bothered about how it looks

yes to the spork.

my top tip is always bringing my own pillow case

 

[HeidiL]

I carry a light plastic bowl with a lid - if I have bought cheese or something like that, I keep it in the bowl, and otherwise, use the bowl to make soup and the lid for a cutting board and plate...

 

[jefferyonthecamino]

Hi there,

I will be walking Camino Primitivo soon and I still have some questions that you could maybe help me to answer. As I would like to avoid to bring unnecessary things with me.

1. I do you guys take fork/spoon/knife with you? Even plate and a cup? I intended to bring only fork-spoon maybe. Let me know how useful it was for you.

2. do I need some clothespins and clothes line with me?

3. Is it enough to have about 200 euros cash, I guess it is possible to pay buy card everywhere.

4. Any recommendations where is the best to stay for the first night in Santander and then in Oviedo? I tried couchsurfing, but it will be probably better to stay in some nice place or already in albergue to get use to the atmosphere for the next days.

Thanks a lot

credit cards... yes and no. some bars and supermarkets may refuse it for small amounts (eg. under 10 euros). always good to have at least 100 euos cash imo. there are atms in all the larger villages/towns.

the municipal albergue in oviedo is fine, maybe your best option.

 

[LeJaMa]

I carry a light plastic bowl with a lid - if I have bought cheese or something like that, I keep it in the bowl, and otherwise, use the bowl to make soup and the lid for a cutting board and plate...

Thanks a lot for this, I was actually wondering about this one too, if I should bring some sort of a plastic box for something. So I will give it a second thought.

 

[J Willhaus]

Thanks a lot for this, I was actually wondering about this one too, if I should bring some sort of a plastic box for something. So I will give it a second thought.

I carry things in my cup (butter pats, individual coffee creamers) so they don't get squished in my pack. If you are at restaurant, they generally give you some kind of takeout container or box for leftovers.

 

[dbier]

Let's see...

I carried a spork and used it occasionally until Melide.
I carried a clothesline; should have carried pins.
I carried 300 Euro...got me almost to Santiago. I had a habit of leaving 5 euros for 2 candles, and 20 for a Mass, plus albergues, meals, and laundry.

I stayed in Hotel Favila in Oviedo, near the train station.

 

[dbeatriceb]

Hi there,

I will be walking Camino Primitivo soon and I still have some questions that you could maybe help me to answer. As I would like to avoid to bring unnecessary things with me.

1. I do you guys take fork/spoon/knife with you? Even plate and a cup? I intended to bring only fork-spoon maybe. Let me know how useful it was for you.

2. do I need some clothespins and clothes line with me?

3. Is it enough to have about 200 euros cash, I guess it is possible to pay buy card everywhere.

4. Any recommendations where is the best to stay for the first night in Santander and then in Oviedo? I tried couchsurfing, but it will be probably better to stay in some nice place or already in albergue to get use to the atmosphere for the next days.

Thanks a lot

I always bring a spoon— mine is a foldable one from someplace like REÍ, because I like to eat yogurt for breakfast and supper. I also carry a few plastic clothespins and an extra pair of shoelaces— the latter I use as a clothesline as needed. I have always carried cash and only used debit cards to withdraw cash from ATMs. But I understand plastic is more widely accepted these days— last time I walked was 2017.