May Day

[marbuck]

Just looked up my diary and the 1st May this year is on a Friday and is a public holiday in France. Will this cause a shortage of accommodation on the Le Puy Camino with a lot of people making use of a long weekend? We will be a week into our walk and using private rooms, at this stage we should be somewhere around St Come d'Olt.

 

[Thornley]

Just looked up my diary and the 1st May this year is on a Friday and is a public holiday in France. Will this cause a shortage of accommodation on the Le Puy Camino with a lot of people making use of a long weekend? We will be a week into our walk and using private rooms, at this stage we should be somewhere around St Come d'Olt.

Too far in to worry mate,
The towns between St Come and Conques have plenty of accommodation.
Having said that people have access to St Come and could quite easily have a 4 day walking holiday.
Many leave their car and return by public transport for the trip home.
From page 14 -22 MMDD you have very good accommodation choices.

The ones starting in Conques at this time will head to Figeac
The ones starting in Figeac on the friday will head to Cahors.

Relax and go and have a beer @ St Bernards

 

[jsalt]

Just looked up my diary and the 1st May this year is on a Friday and is a public holiday in France. Will this cause a shortage of accommodation on the Le Puy Camino with a lot of people making use of a long weekend? We will be a week into our walk and using private rooms, at this stage we should be somewhere around St Come d'Olt.

Hi, yes, the French love their long weekends, and places will get booked up. Either start phoning ahead 2 or 3 days beforehand, or ask in a tourist office if they can help you with accommodation for the next day or day after. I walked in May last year, and most people we met were French ramblers, and were walking for only 3 or 4 days or for 1 week only. They had ALL booked ahead. However, as no deposits are required people often don’t pitch up to claim their bed, and some places start releasing rooms after 6pm. Jill

 

[marbuck]

Hi, yes, the French love their long weekends, and places will get booked up. Either start phoning ahead 2 or 3 days beforehand, or ask in a tourist office if they can help you with accommodation for the next day or day after. I walked in May last year, and most people we met were French ramblers, and were walking for only 3 or 4 days or for 1 week only. They had ALL booked ahead. However, as no deposits are required people often don’t pitch up to claim their bed, and some places start releasing rooms after 6pm. Jill

They may not have charged a deposit last year, but this year times have changed. I have booked 5 days in advance so as to not have the problem of trying to find somewhere to stay and eat over the weekend. We had that problem last year while having a driving holiday in France around this time of year. Out of the five private rooms I have booked, four wanted a deposit. This may not be the case for a dorm bed, but it sure is the case for private rooms which is our preference. But thanks for your reply, it's always nice to have another opinion.

 

[Kitsambler]

The French like to make a long weekend of the May 1st holiday (May Day). Also they like to make a long weekend of the May 8th holiday (V-E Day). And there is a third holiday weekend regularly occurring in May, possibly Ascension (moveable feast, May 14th in 2015) or Pentecost (moveable feast, May 24th in 2015). So in addition to the just-for-the-weekend walkers, there are people who walk the whole week or two. Short answer: May is a very popular month for walking in France. And the French do book in advance, especially the larger walking groups. It's true that not every bed will be booked up mid-week, but the places you want most to stay, will likely be compleat. So I recommend booking your lodgings in advance for the May 1st and May 8th weekends (Thurs through Monday). And practice calling two days ahead for the remainder.

 

[irishgurrrl]

France is trickier as outside of the national holidays it can be difficult to predict the demand on accommodation week on week and there tends to be less accommodation to choose from generally especially when compared to the Camino Frances.

While generally booking a day or two in advance worked for the most part during my April May Camino there were a few occasions where I had very limited or in fact no choice in where to stay. It always worked out ok in the end but it can be risky not to book ahead of time if you are planning to hike to a place with only one or two gites or chambre d'hotes or you will be arriving at a place during a national holiday weekend, hiking groups have most of the beds booked out in advance and the alternative is to hike several kms further when you are already tired.

Fortunately I usually found somewhere to stay and luckily normally didn't have to hike onwards although I may have had to compromise a little on the quality of the accommodation. I did have to hike further once when the place I tried to book was complete (full) a day or two in advance (it was the only accommodation in that area). I knew this ahead of time though so made sure to book somewhere else in the next village.

On the days I realised there were a few groups of French hikers roughly on the same itinerary as me or a national holiday weekend was coming up I just booked an extra day or two in advance. I also asked these groups while chatting over the evening meal about their itinerary/ plans to get an idea of whether or not I could run into accommodation issues further down the trail.

Usually, at least in my experience, the groups are normally groups of friends who hike together a week or two or a few days at a time each year. Almost invariably French, middle aged or retired and fit as fleas!

My advice would be if you already have a good idea of which places you want to stay then book ahead a few days in advance for any of the national holiday weekends or where you find you happen to be on the same itinerary as a group or three of hikers.

 

[irishgurrrl]

P.S. In case you are not aware of this, if you intend to go demi-pension (half board with evening meal included) along the route you will need to book the day before. Its not like Spain where you could often get an evening meal without formally reserving it in advance.

I normally don't bother with guidebooks but for the Le Puy Route the Miam Miam Dodo was invaluable.

 

[naplesdon]

P.S. In case you are not aware of this, if you intend to go demi-pension (half board with evening meal included) along the route you will need to book the day before. Its not like Spain where you could often get an evening meal without formally reserving it in advance.

I normally don't bother with guidebooks but for the Le Puy Route the Miam Miam Dodo was invaluable.

Great advice in both of your posts. As more and more French have come to the realization that they have the means to take a holiday they previously put off, the basic vacation spots are becoming very popular. Wilderness hiking is definitely one of those. During May for the holiday weekend of May Day, V-E Day, Ascension and Pentecost I would definitely recommend a reservation. There are rolling school holidays during the month as well, different for each region of France.

 

[yolanda Mejia]

Great advice in both of your posts. As more and more French have come to the realization that they have the means to take a holiday they previously put off, the basic vacation spots are becoming very popular. Wilderness hiking is definitely one of those. During May for the holiday weekend of May Day, V-E Day, Ascension and Pentecost I would definitely recommend a reservation. There are rolling school holidays during the month as well, different for each region of France.

Biarritzdon do you suggest to call for a reservation to SJPDP, and how to call from USA?

 

[Barbara06]

I confirm that May 1st, 8th & 14th are all public holidays in France, and also May the 25th for many. Also many french employees have to use up their yearly countdown of holidays before the end of May or they lose them so many take holidays for 1, 2, 3 or 4 weeks in May. But no panick, just book 2 or 3 days in advance, there are many gites and hotels along the Puy route.
Also consider that on public holidays, especially May 1st, most groceries, shops, chemist,... are closed

 

[Luka]

I will be walking in May as well. I hadn't realised in advance that May is so packed with holiday weekends...

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31

 

[yolanda Mejia]

I will be walking in May as well. I hadn't realised in advance that May is so packed with holiday weekends...

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31

I will be there the 26th, hope to start the 27th. Buen Camino!

 

[NavyBlue]

Hello,

In addition to these long week-ends, beware of the saturday evenings in the wedding season - May to September, especially in the little towns and nice villages (e.g. Lauzerte) : guests might book gites and chambres d'hôtes ahead and leave less space to hikers and pilgrims.

 

[irishgurrrl]

I will be walking in May as well. I hadn't realised in advance that May is so packed with holiday weekends...

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31

Hi Luka,
hope my post did not worry you but its just something to be aware of. As I said it didn't create any real problems for me on my Camino. It just meant I may have had to book a couple of days in advance and keep an eye on the accommodation situation if I bumped into groups en route.

 

[naplesdon]

Biarritzdon do you suggest to call for a reservation to SJPDP, and how to call from USA?

You should be fine for the 26th, but if you are concerned there are many threads on this Forum that have given advice on various places to stay in SJPdP and most of them list the email address that you can use to make a reservation. The Pilgrim's Office can help you make arrangements the day you arrive as well.

 

[Luka]

Hi Luka,
hope my post did not worry you but its just something to be aware of. As I said it didn't create any real problems for me on my Camino. It just meant I may have had to book a couple of days in advance and keep an eye on the accommodation situation if I bumped into groups en route.

No real worries, thanks! I only have tried to avoid arriving in Le Puy on the 14th of May. I now hope to arrive the 12th. For the rest, we'll see. Que sera, sera.