Single rooms

[Sheila Walsh]

Hello, I am a 69-year-old Irishwoman walking the Portuguese coastal Camino alone for my own well-being, not to prove anything or to follow any "rules." For various reasons I need a private room at night and I need to book ahead. Arriving at 8pm to find no room and lotsa wind and rain (like other posts) would be too much hassle. It has been so difficult to find single rooms for less than €23 that I am wondering if there is a listing somewhere. Surely I'm not the first to do this. I travel a lot and like to use Booking.com but the minimum single occupancy is usually €40. Help!
By the way, I have been using Santiago backpackexpress.com for my luggage transfers and they are great! It's 15kg up to 30km for €7. Mind you, you need to know where you'll be staying, obviously, but that suits me. If I find that I am "running" a little late, I just hop a bus. The freedom to ignore The Plan is great!

 

[Mike Savage]

Sorry I can't help you with accommodations but I do want to welcome you and wish you a Bom Caminho! I really enjoy the walk from Porto to Santiago but do not know of any private rooms in that price range.

 

[trecile]

I haven't walked the Portuguese route, but I stayed in several private rooms on the Frances, and the prices were from 25€ to 50€. I'd say the average was about 35€.

 

[GettingThere]

Hello, I am a 69-year-old Irishwoman walking the Portuguese coastal Camino alone for my own well-being, not to prove anything or to follow any "rules." For various reasons I need a private room at night and I need to book ahead. Arriving at 8pm to find no room and lotsa wind and rain (like other posts) would be too much hassle. It has been so difficult to find single rooms for less than €23 that I am wondering if there is a listing somewhere. Surely I'm not the first to do this. I travel a lot and like to use Booking.com but the minimum single occupancy is usually €40. Help!
By the way, I have been using Santiago backpackexpress.com for my luggage transfers and they are great! It's 15kg up to 30km for €7. Mind you, you need to know where you'll be staying, obviously, but that suits me. If I find that I am "running" a little late, I just hop a bus. The freedom to ignore The Plan is great!

Hi Sheila
Welcome to the Forum! I haven't walked the Camino Portugués, but I've found Gronze a very useful website for Camino accommodation: https://www.gronze.com/camino-portugues for the Portuguese route. If you look at each stage it lists accommodation, both in albergues and hotels etc. Looking through, I can see a few places with single occupancy prices at under 23 Euro, but very few. That does seem a very low price, but you may be lucky in finding others. Some are on booking.com, others may have a website or will provide a phone number for booking. Good luck and bom caminho!

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Buy the Brierly guide book, and book according to your needs with a Portuguese SIM card.

 

[Sheila Walsh]

Hi Sheila
Welcome to the Forum! I haven't walked the Camino Portugués, but I've found Gronze a very useful website for Camino accommodation: https://www.gronze.com/camino-portugues for the Portuguese route. If you look at each stage it lists accommodation, both in albergues and hotels etc. Looking through, I can see a few places with single occupancy prices at under 23 Euro, but very few. That does seem a very low price, but you may be lucky in finding others. Some are on booking.com, others may have a website or will provide a phone number for booking. Good luck and bom caminho!

Hello, Thanks for the tip. I'll try it.

 

[Sheila Walsh]

Buy the Brierly guide book, and book according to your needs with a Portuguese SIM card.

I've never heard of it but will find it and figure out the SIM card part. Maybe for next time. Thanks.

 

[JanickeHS]

Hello, I am a 69-year-old Irishwoman walking the Portuguese coastal Camino alone for my own well-being, not to prove anything or to follow any "rules." For various reasons I need a private room at night and I need to book ahead. Arriving at 8pm to find no room and lotsa wind and rain (like other posts) would be too much hassle. It has been so difficult to find single rooms for less than €23 that I am wondering if there is a listing somewhere. Surely I'm not the first to do this. I travel a lot and like to use Booking.com but the minimum single occupancy is usually €40. Help!
By the way, I have been using Santiago backpackexpress.com for my luggage transfers and they are great! It's 15kg up to 30km for €7. Mind you, you need to know where you'll be staying, obviously, but that suits me. If I find that I am "running" a little late, I just hop a bus. The freedom to ignore The Plan is great!

Hi - I am walking there with a Kiwi friend in august, we contacted Portugal nature trail http://www.portugalnaturetrails.com they have booked rooms for us + luggage transfer. We also used them last year hiking the coast in Portugal. They are great! They pick you up and help you in all ways.

 

[MikeJS]

Try using Airbnb.

 

[trecile]

Hi - I am walking there with a Kiwi friend in august, we contacted Portugal nature trail http://www.portugalnaturetrails.com they have booked rooms for us + luggage transfer. We also used them last year hiking the coast in Portugal. They are great! They pick you up and help you in all ways.

I checked out Portugal Nature Trails, and the cost for 10 nights is 1598 Euros for a single room for one person! That's 160 Euros/per night. Way outside the OP's budget. And that doesn't include the luggage transfer of 280 Euros for the 11 days.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

It has been so difficult to find single rooms for less than €23 that I am wondering if there is a listing somewhere. Surely I'm not the first to do this. I travel a lot and like to use Booking.com but the minimum single occupancy is usually €40. Help!

I'm not sure about the Portugues but on the Frances there are albergues that have single rooms. On occasion, just by luck, Peg and I got a private room at the regular price for two bunks. The albergues are probably not on Booking.com or similar sites but may appear at the albergues listed at the previously mentioned Gronze website. Just mentioning this in case you hadn't considered staying at an albergue.

 

[amorfati1]

Bom Caminho -
i have walked the PC, alone. and sometimes ended up in a single room. by choice or because nothing was available. but less then 23euro's?? rarely. hardly.
That happened twice in a non-albergue setting - One was 20Euros in Ponte de Muge (not available anymore) and the other in Rubieas (spelling?)
in Rabacal as well - also a single room - in a place not quite an albergue, ... run by the turismo bureau? don't remember. I've posted all my lodgings , in three parts, on the sub-forum (in July 2014) - have a read if you like.

I do know though that Hostels (for e.g. in Porto) also had single rooms available.
Also the Hostel in Santarem had single rooms, but forgot the rate...
The most i've ever paid was 60Euros in Ponte de Lima - a treat in an old manor house .... with the hottest bathtubwater south of the arctic circle sorely needed after some days with rain....and too coolish fort his girl here...
Best Wishes
C

 

[JanickeHS]

I checked out Portugal Nature Trails, and the cost for 10 nights is 1598 Euros for a single room for one person! That's 160 Euros/per night. Way outside the OP's budget. And that doesn't include the luggage transfer of 280 Euros for the 11 days.

Oh - that is expensive. I got a better rate, but reserved months ago, I know it is pretty fully booked at that time.

 

[Deleted member 36903]

Hi Sheila, when I was planning to walk the coastal route last year it was clear that the prices were higher than inland because so much of the accommodation is geared to summer holidaymakers. I moved to the central route but stayed at albergues for the most part and when staying in private accommodation, shared with a fellow peregrina I met on the way, which brought the cost down to around 18 euros. From my experience you will struggle to find single rooms in the price range you have indicated, but you might find on arrival at your destination that prices for a room might be negotiated for lower than that offered by booking.com, but then you won't have the certainty you seek of knowing there is a bed for you at the end of your walk.

 

[Jacobus]

Hello, I am a 69-year-old Irishwoman walking the Portuguese coastal Camino alone for my own well-being, not to prove anything or to follow any "rules." For various reasons I need a private room at night and I need to book ahead. Arriving at 8pm to find no room and lotsa wind and rain (like other posts) would be too much hassle. It has been so difficult to find single rooms for less than €23 that I am wondering if there is a listing somewhere. Surely I'm not the first to do this. I travel a lot and like to use Booking.com but the minimum single occupancy is usually €40. Help!
By the way, I have been using Santiago backpackexpress.com for my luggage transfers and they are great! It's 15kg up to 30km for €7. Mind you, you need to know where you'll be staying, obviously, but that suits me. If I find that I am "running" a little late, I just hop a bus. The freedom to ignore The Plan is great!

I have the following booked for June of this year...
Hostal Bellamar Vila do Conde. 15 E per person private double room breakfast included.

Hotel |Rest. Ruas in Pontevedra 55 E double occupancy. (27.50 E per p)

You may be able to meet your requirements by sharing a room. I am 65 and travelling with my daughter this time and there always seems to be a premium attached to single occupancy rooms.

 

[miriamaok]

I've just finished the Portuguese from Coimbra to Santiago. I stayed in a mix of hostels, some with private rooms, albergues and Casa rurales. I usually did my research on booking dot com and Wise Pilgrim. Then I called them or emailed them directly and their prices were often cheaper. I only booked a day ahead. Some good options are the Fishtail Sea House in Matosinhos which had berth like beds with curtains, a lovely quiet lounge and a kitchen. Also the Rossol Albergue in Padron. I stayed in Estabulo Vihanos just past Casa Fernanda in a lovely private room for 25 Euro plus 10 Euro for communal dinner. Hope this helps.

 

[Oppis]

Fellow pilgrims!!! When making reservations, remember to ask for pilgrim price- they mostly are cheaper. Once the director of hotel gave money back in the evening, cause the reception person had not noticed the pilgrim price, can't remember the name of the hotel.
Bom caminho

 

[Gregory Stegman]

Buy the Brierly guide book, and book according to your needs with a Portuguese SIM card.

Without doubt this is the best advise. I walked this last August. If you use bookings.com you will always pay for a double room, not a single room, that is always an issue with this site. Research and call to book ahead. Also ask the hotel where you are staying to recommend a place to stay , most of them will know a cheaper place 20- 25 km away.
Enjoy.

 

[Sheila Walsh]

Try using Airbnb.

Hi, if you are using luggage transfers you can't use Airbnb because the driver needs to know the place and there needs to be someone there all the time, like in a hotel or hostel, to take in the bagge and hand it out the next day. I used one Airbnb in Vila do Conde which was an absolute disaster!

 

[Sainttam]

I'm walking part of the Portuguese from Tui in September. I have a medical problem so as much as possible prefer a room to myself rather tgan sharing. I've used booking.com for some if my accommodation plus Brierly's book and my accommodation for 5 nights is about £130.
Gronze.com is definitely worth using too, I've used it to book accommodation on the Primitivo for next March.

 

[Sheila Walsh]

Hello, thanks for that. The Seminario Menor in Santiago will lower your average. Hotel Rosario, opposite the train station in Padron, is excellent with a cheap dinner, Motel Caldas was great. Good luck!