start walking from Irun at 3pm?

[musicianary]

Hi Fellow Pilgrims,
I will arrive in Irun by train at 2:15 on Friday, June 21 from Barcelona. the Camino Del Norte all the way to Santiago and on to Finisterre. I'll be walkingI'd like to get started walking that day. Here are my questions:
1. Where do I get my credential stamped in Irun? Is it far from the train station?
2. How far should I consider walking that first day, or should I find accommodations in Irun (which, I haven't done and am finding it hard to find cheap accommodations on a Friday night in June).
3. I'm thinking I may hike to Pasajes de San Juan. There is a small municipal Albuergue there called Santa Ana (only 14 beds). DO these fill up fast when they open? Do people simply arrive and stand in line before opening and it's first come first served?
Any other helpful advice?
Thanks for your input!
Dave

 

[trecile]

Hi Fellow Pilgrims,
I will arrive in Irun by train at 2:15 on Friday, June 21 from Barcelona. the Camino Del Norte all the way to Santiago and on to Finisterre. I'll be walkingI'd like to get started walking that day. Here are my questions:
1. Where do I get my credential stamped in Irun? Is it far from the train station?
2. How far should I consider walking that first day, or should I find accommodations in Irun (which, I haven't done and am finding it hard to find cheap accommodations on a Friday night in June).
3. I'm thinking I may hike to Pasajes de San Juan. There is a small municipal Albuergue there called Santa Ana (only 14 beds). DO these fill up fast when they open? Do people simply arrive and stand in line before opening and it's first come first served?
Any other helpful advice?
Thanks for your input!
Dave

I wouldn't expect to find a bed at that time at night at the municipal albergue. I think that your best bet is to stay in Irun or Hondarribia. If you do decide to set out at 3pm, there is a guest house called Casa Txurdin in Pasajes that you can reserve. The contact number for Casa Txurdin is +34685475733 . She's on WhatsApp, which is how I made the reservation. The cost for a private room with shared bath and breakfast was 25 euros.

 

[Jan_D]

Hi Dave!

1. You can get your credencial stamped at the albergue in Irun. It opens at 4pm. It's very central, just a few minutes from the train station. Here's some more info about the albergue. But if this is too late for you, don't worry, you can get your credencial stamped anywhere, even a bar! The tourist information is also a good bet.

2. The albergue in Irun has 60 beds. As you'll be there over an hour before opening time, you should be able to get a bed without a problem (although depending on how busy it is, there might already be a queue when you get there... FYI, as you already seem to know, pilgrims queue up until the hospitalero arrives - you can get times on the Gronze site. Sometimes you need to count the backpacks and compare to the number of beds, to judge whether it's worth waiting, or whether you need to seek alternatives)

3. There is nothing between Irun and Pasajes de San Juan (the path goes along the coastal headland). And this stretch is 17km, starting with a 300m climb... The albergue in Pasajes is first-come-first-served, like all donativos and municipal albergues. As trecile says, it's very unlikely that you'll get a bed, especially as you'd only be arriving around 6-7pm.

So, the long and the short of it is, if you decided to walk straight away, you'd need to book private accommodation, and you'd need to get your stamp somewhere other than the albergue, so that you can hit the trail asap!

 

[VNwalking]

I got a stamp in the kiosk of the train station, on your left as you walk out. That will save you quite a bit of running around.

 

[Holly Mitchem]

I wouldn't expect to find a bed at that time at night at the municipal albergue. I think that your best bet is to stay in Irun or Hondarribia. If you do decide to set out at 3pm, there is a guest house called Casa Txurdin in Pasajes that you can reserve. The contact number for Casa Txurdin is +34685475733 . She's on WhatsApp, which is how I made the reservation. The cost for a private room with shared bath and breakfast was 25 euros.

Thank you for the rec trecile we are at Casa Txurdin as I write!

 

[ManyMiles2Go]

Thank you for the rec trecile we are at Casa Txurdin as I write!

Well, put a "reserved" sign on your bed when you leave, then @musicianary will have a bed waiting on him

 

[spursfan]

It seems rash to start one of the toughest days on the Norte in mid afternoon - much better to stay the night at the albergue in Irun