via de la plata in autumn, albergues open?

[Geniale]

Hi , I walked el camino frances from St-jean-pied-de-port to Santiago twice, first time alone and the second time with my 4 years old daughter. What a adventure it was!, she loved it and walked 70 % of the way. I carried her with a tissu babycarier and all the gear the rest 30 %. This autumn, with a friend (who already walked lots of different camino) and her granddaughter, we would like to walk all together via de la plata. I found this fantastic forum and also this super list of albergues on via de la plata. My question is: are those albergues open in autumn? Also on my previous camino frances, also in autumn, I got away from carriying a big sleeping bag since almost all albergues had blankets. Do albergues on via de la plata keep blanket too? Last question: how is the bed bug situation on the camino? Thank you to all
Geniale

 

[alansykes]

Alcántara and Mortamarta were the only albergues I came across that were closed when I walked in late Nov-Dec 2012.

I didn't carry a sleeping bag and all the albergues I've stayed in had blankets except Zamora (which was almost overheated).

I heard a certain amount of talk about bed bugs but never got bitten myself.

 

[Geniale]

Thank you for your answers, it is helping the decision process. I will read what you wrote about your experience.
Geniale

 

[tindora]

Wow, I am impressed that you managed to carry a four-year-old and all your gear, you must have been travelling really light! We are going to be doing part of the VdlP with our two kids aged 10 months and three, but we have a stroller to push/pull the 3-year-old and luggage.

Last time we did the CaminoPortugues and we brought bedsheets and never used them once, can anyone confirm that bedsheets are available in all the albergues on the VdlP as well? We will not always be following the standard itinerary since we can't really walk more than 20km, and sometimesI see that the albergues have a note of "no amenities".

 

[Geniale]

Hi Tindora, I was indeed travelling light but carrying everything was still heavy. It was a choice, I did not want to have a stroller to think about, plus humans are build to walk and I knew that at 4 years old, my daughter could do this. Obviously we did not walk 30 km everyday. We played all along, took time to discover what the camino had to offer to a child (animals, wild fruits and nuts, trees and flowers, funny sidewalks and playground in cities, etc) lots of pauses,well I am sure you did that also! I know though that asking a child to walk when she is tired is unrealistic, so I would carry her for her afternoon nap.
How was the Camino Portugues? Did you do it all? We were considering this route at the begining but when I read that 75% of it is on asphalt and that there is not a lot of days really "out in nature" we opted for via de la plata. Buen camino with your family.