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Numbers leaving from SJPP in August

NomadBoomer

Active Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Frances ( 2017, 2018,Aug 2023) Vdlp (2018)
I walked my first camino last year and had such a magic time that I walked on the Vdlp in April and will walk the Frances again this year. I walked from St Jean starting September 2nd as I had read that avoided the peak times on the Camino of July and August. However I discovered that is a peak time at the St Jean end of the Camino and there was a bit of an accommodation crunch several times in the first week or two.
I prefer to walk without booking albergues in advance. Does anyone know if leaving two or three weeks earlier in August the numbers starting daily in SJPP are much lower? I live in Australia and are not too worried about chance of hotter weather.
Cheers Paul
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
I forgot to say that the reason I posted was that if August is no busier from SJPP I may be tempted to walk the Portuguese from Porto before starting the Frances in September.
 
I left from St Jean on September 1, 2016. Crowds were large both because it was the beginning of the month and because it was a
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
I would guess August is probably busier than September because of summer holidays in Europe.

The Portuguese Camino is waaaay less crowded than the Frances, maybe you can have a more tranquil walk along there in August before heading to SJPP. Enjoy the food in Portugal, it is even better than in Spain, if such thing is possible :)
 
I forgot to say that the reason I posted was that if August is no busier from SJPP I may be tempted to walk the Portuguese from Porto before starting the Frances in September.
I forgot to say that the reason I posted was that if August is no busier from SJPP I may be tempted to walk the Portuguese from Porto before starting the Frances in September.
Hi I walked both Aug, and April. And I would say Aug was slightly busier and hotter. In August I would start at day break and usually was there in time to get a municipal albergue I don,t think I ever had to go to plan B. My day on route Napolian was 33deg watch ya water.
 
3rd Edition. More content, training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
Just anecdotally tons of people on this forum have chosen to start on the first of September and in the first few days. I decided to start a week earlier at end of August to try to avoid that bunch up. The only issue that I noticed is that flights from North America are a higher cost in August.
 
I would guess August is probably busier than September because of summer holidays in Europe.

The Portuguese Camino is waaaay less crowded than the Frances, maybe you can have a more tranquil walk along there in August before heading to SJPP. Enjoy the food in Portugal, it is even better than in Spain, if such thing is possible :)
Anamya, can I ask which route you took on the Portuguese camino? I have also done the Frances and would be interested in your comments on the differences (topography, road/track surfaces, accommodation etc) Thankyou
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Anamya, can I ask which route you took on the Portuguese camino?

Hi Wazza!
I did the Central Route in April 2017, starting in Porto via Barcelos and Ponte de Lima. I really, really loved it.

- Topography: In general, not too challenging and not too different from the Galician part of the CF. I usually highlight that Alto da Portela felt way more challenging than Cebreiro, imho, but it was one off tough day out of 11 that were tranquil.

- Road/track surfaces: there is more road walking in CP than the same distance in CF. But tarmac is not the issue, it does not happen thaaaat much. Stones are the issue. Sometimes you get kms and kms on stony paved roman/medieval/somewhat new roads. I had no problem with them as my shoes were very comfortable and cushioned, but my husband had almost flat feet by the end of some days. So, yeah, it will vary from person to person, but can be challenging.

- Accomodation: there were plenty of albergues, and also plenty of small inns and hotels that were affordable. We actually stayed in a few casas rurales, when the price of a private room was close to the price of two beds in an albergue. We never had a problem finding a place to stay, in April. The places we stayed also seemed newer than the ones in CF, and we were fine just having a silk liner instead of sleeping bag.

Some other things:

- weather: although the Portuguese were saying "Abril, águas mil" ("April, heaps of water"), we only got sporadic rain. It was not too hot, neither cold, neither humid... it was actually very, very pleasant. Maybe I was lucky.

- Food: Probably the best gastronomic experience of my life, hands down. Plenty, hearty, cheap, delicious. Just tell them you don´t want all the extras (they fill the table with extra bread, olives, etc), or it can get expensive. Try obviously the Port Wine in Porto, plus the Bacalhau (cod fish) and Francesinha (7 meats and cheese sandwich wrapped in cheese and beer gravy). Get also Pasteis de Nata (custard pastries), they give you energy for hours! Try Pimientos (Sizzled peppers) in Padrón and eat at the old tavern under the bridge in Caldas de Reis (we had 1 portion of sardines for both of us... it came with 16 sardines!).

- Language: I can speak Portuguese and Spanish well, which always opens doors over there. But everyone in Portugal seemed to speak at least 3 or 4 languages, it was quite incredible.

- History: Porto is a fantastic city - I spent 2 and half days there before I actually started walking, totally worth it. Barcelos, Ponte de Lima, the border Vaçença/Tui and Pontevedra were my favourite cities, full of historical places to visit.

- Water: there were less water fountais along the way, so I was always refilling my bottle when possible.

I'd also mention that I took the Central route because I lived most of my life near the sea, so the inland landscape and the history interested me more than the seashore. I was also not fond of feeling "the sea breeze" all the time - had lots of it most of my life. although enjoyable, I wanted something different.

In a nutshell, i loved it and really recommend. Feel free to drop a message if you wanna talk about any details! Bom caminho!
 
Hi Wazza!
I did the Central Route in April 2017, starting in Porto via Barcelos and Ponte de Lima. I really, really loved it.

- Topography: In general, not too challenging and not too different from the Galician part of the CF. I usually highlight that Alto da Portela felt way more challenging than Cebreiro, imho, but it was one off tough day out of 11 that were tranquil.

- Road/track surfaces: there is more road walking in CP than the same distance in CF. But tarmac is not the issue, it does not happen thaaaat much. Stones are the issue. Sometimes you get kms and kms on stony paved roman/medieval/somewhat new roads. I had no problem with them as my shoes were very comfortable and cushioned, but my husband had almost flat feet by the end of some days. So, yeah, it will vary from person to person, but can be challenging.

- Accomodation: there were plenty of albergues, and also plenty of small inns and hotels that were affordable. We actually stayed in a few casas rurales, when the price of a private room was close to the price of two beds in an albergue. We never had a problem finding a place to stay, in April. The places we stayed also seemed newer than the ones in CF, and we were fine just having a silk liner instead of sleeping bag.

Some other things:

- weather: although the Portuguese were saying "Abril, águas mil" ("April, heaps of water"), we only got sporadic rain. It was not too hot, neither cold, neither humid... it was actually very, very pleasant. Maybe I was lucky.

- Food: Probably the best gastronomic experience of my life, hands down. Plenty, hearty, cheap, delicious. Just tell them you don´t want all the extras (they fill the table with extra bread, olives, etc), or it can get expensive. Try obviously the Port Wine in Porto, plus the Bacalhau (cod fish) and Francesinha (7 meats and cheese sandwich wrapped in cheese and beer gravy). Get also Pasteis de Nata (custard pastries), they give you energy for hours! Try Pimientos (Sizzled peppers) in Padrón and eat at the old tavern under the bridge in Caldas de Reis (we had 1 portion of sardines for both of us... it came with 16 sardines!).

- Language: I can speak Portuguese and Spanish well, which always opens doors over there. But everyone in Portugal seemed to speak at least 3 or 4 languages, it was quite incredible.

- History: Porto is a fantastic city - I spent 2 and half days there before I actually started walking, totally worth it. Barcelos, Ponte de Lima, the border Vaçença/Tui and Pontevedra were my favourite cities, full of historical places to visit.

- Water: there were less water fountais along the way, so I was always refilling my bottle when possible.

I'd also mention that I took the Central route because I lived most of my life near the sea, so the inland landscape and the history interested me more than the seashore. I was also not fond of feeling "the sea breeze" all the time - had lots of it most of my life. although enjoyable, I wanted something different.

In a nutshell, i loved it and really recommend. Feel free to drop a message if you wanna talk about any details! Bom caminho!
Wonderful, thankyou!
We're looking to go from Lisbon and were thinking of also doing the inland route that you did.
My wife and I are lousy on languages so any problem with English? Also good to hear the alternative accommodation to the alberques is excellent.
Another question - did you use a pack transfer service similar to that on the Frances?
 
did you use a pack transfer service similar to that on the Frances?

Hello again, Wazza!

English will be fine. In Portugal, everyone spoke English (and many other languages), and in Spain, most places that deal with pilgrims and tourists do too. You wont have any issues - but knowing "obrigado" and "gracias" (thank you) always help!

For transport, we sent a pack ahead to Santiago with TuiTrans. They were lovely and our suitcase was waiting for us in the hotel the day we arrived in Santiago. TuiTrans also does daily stages pack transport if you need, from Porto to Santiago. We didn't use them for daily transport, but many other pilgrims did and enjoyed the service: https://tuitrans.com/

Unfortunately I cannot advise on companies doing the Lisbon-Porto part of the Camino. Maybe a search on the forum can help :)
 
3rd Edition. More content, training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
Hello again, Wazza!

English will be fine. In Portugal, everyone spoke English (and many other languages), and in Spain, most places that deal with pilgrims and tourists do too. You wont have any issues - but knowing "obrigado" and "gracias" (thank you) always help!

For transport, we sent a pack ahead to Santiago with TuiTrans. They were lovely and our suitcase was waiting for us in the hotel the day we arrived in Santiago. TuiTrans also does daily stages pack transport if you need, from Porto to Santiago. We didn't use them for daily transport, but many other pilgrims did and enjoyed the service: https://tuitrans.com/

Unfortunately I cannot advise on companies doing the Lisbon-Porto part of the Camino. Maybe a search on the forum can help :)
Thankyou Anamya, greatly appreciated!
 
Anamya, just looked up TuiTrans and they operate all the way from Porto!
 
3rd Edition. More content, training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
Interesting figures from SJPP. Thank you Falcon269.
I elaborated a bit on these and compared with the following:
In Saint Jean Pied de Port, the number of pilgrims recorded in 2017 were 57.295, (58’953 in 2016, 54’647 in 2014 and 54’218 in 2014). Whilst there was an increase of 8% in 2016 compared to 2015, in 2017 this fell to -3% compared to 2016. The main slowdown happened during the summer months from May to September.
In Santiago de Compostela the number of pilgrims, who declared having started in SJPP, were 33’175 in 2017, 33’662 in 2016, 31’053 in 2015 and 29’343 in 2014. There was similarity between the years’ fluctuations: an increase by 8% in 2016 compared to 2015, and a drop to -1% in 2017 compared to 2016.
Comparing the number of pilgrims arrivals in Santiago to the numbers of SJPP, these represented 58% in 2017 (57% in both 2016 and 2015; 54% in 2014)
The monthly numbers, compared to yearly totals recorded in SJPP during the last few years, show a fairly steady trend: April 13%, May 18%, June 14%, July 12%, August 15%, September 18% and October 7%.
Quite different proportions then showed up in Santiago: compared to yearly arrivals, between 2014 and 2017, these were: April 5%, May 16%, June 19%, July 13%, August 12%, September 12% and October 18%.
May be useful for future guessworko_O
 
The first edition came out in 2003 and has become the go-to-guide for many pilgrims over the years. It is shipping with a Pilgrim Passport (Credential) from the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.
Just anecdotally tons of people on this forum have chosen to start on the first of September and in the first few days. I decided to start a week earlier at end of August to try to avoid that bunch up. The only issue that I noticed is that flights from North America are a higher cost in August.
I'm also starting a week earlier on August 25th! Maybe I'll see you in SJPDP then. :)
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
I just finished my glorious camino Frances. Continuing on from my my original post, the numbers were down on my 2017 walk and no need to book anywhere, till Saria. Several hospitalaros commented on July / August numbers being down on 2017.
Saria onwards seemed noticeably busier than 2017, maybe because I was there 2 to 3 weeks earlier.
 

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