Sarria to Santiago - May 2024

[annieroc]

Hi fellow travellers,
We have booked our trip from Sarria to Santiago over 11 days purely to enjoy a slower pace and take in all the scenery.
I am now having some reservations after having read some threads on this site about the amount of pilgrims travelling this section. Of course I am completely aware that this is one of the most popular sections but should I be put off by what sounds like a very touristy populated hike?
We have chosen this trip as we really want to finish in Santiago but have time constraints. It also looks amazingly pretty. We plan to stay at many of the Casa Rurales so we can enjoy a local family's hospitality.
We would be interested to understand what like minded travellers allow for the cost of food, particularly lunch and dinners?
Also just trying to figure out the best way to get to Sarria from Madrid? I assume it is a train?
Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[jcat]

Train schedules can change, but there usually is a 10 am, 1:15 pm, 4:00 pm, and 8:30 pm train from Chamartin Train Station (Madrid) to Sarria. The 1:15 train is direct, and the others require a train transfer at Ourense. Switching trains in Ourense is very simple, a well-marked smaller train station.

 

[Turga]

Of course I am completely aware that this is one of the most popular sections but should I be put off by what sounds like a very touristy populated hike?

There are very different opinions on this matter. See e.g. this thread:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/i-feel-like-i-need-to-update-everyone-regarding-the-camino-frances-and-my-experience.81104/#post-1146027

Buen Camino!

 

[David Tallan]

Turga beat me to it. I really wouldn't worry about crowds, especially in May.

The cost of food is really dependent on how one wants to eat. The pilgrim menu many places offer is the cheapest option - filling but rarely gourmet. It's been a few years since I've walked that section and I expect that prices have gone up, but even accounting for that, I expect if you budget 10-15 euros for a three course meal with beverage you won't find yourself spending more. Next up is the menu del dia - a very similar offering with perhaps less monotonous options for a few euros more. If you want to spend less and are not as hungry, many bars have platos combinados. If you want to spend more you can go a la carte. Then it all depends on how fancy a restaurant you go to.

 

[alkireskweres]

Hi fellow travellers,
We have booked our trip from Sarria to Santiago over 11 days purely to enjoy a slower pace and take in all the scenery.
I am now having some reservations after having read some threads on this site about the amount of pilgrims travelling this section. Of course I am completely aware that this is one of the most popular sections but should I be put off by what sounds like a very touristy populated hike?
We have chosen this trip as we really want to finish in Santiago but have time constraints. It also looks amazingly pretty. We plan to stay at many of the Casa Rurales so we can enjoy a local family's hospitality.
We would be interested to understand what like minded travellers allow for the cost of food, particularly lunch and dinners?
Also just trying to figure out the best way to get to Sarria from Madrid? I assume it is a train?
Thanks in advance for your help.

We just returned from our Sarria to Santiago (we completed the actual walk in 5 days with two overnights in Madrid on either end and one overnight in Santiago). We got the solitude we wanted, but very little was open. We went one day not seeing a single pilgrim and another seeing only one blaze by us at a speed we had no desire to match! I too have heard it is packed in season. We're going to try Tui to Compostela mid- late-October just to avoid crowds again. Thats just what we want not to minimize the joy others get out of meeting others and sharing in the journey.

Food costs were extremely reasonable (but we are coming from the states). We didn't pay for lunches most days as nothing was open (grabbed food at supermarcados - bananas, oranges, made sandwiches and had ziplocs). Our first day we did find a place open that charges 15 euros for a 4-course meal that included a jug of wine and a beer and we at way too much. Dinners you can easily get for that or less as well.

We took a cab from our hotel in Madrid to the Chamartin train station and in to Sarria. There was a problem with the tracks near the end so they transferred us to a bus that took us the last hour.