HOMEBASE: Change accommodation every 4 to 5 days

[phine2017]

Hi. For medical reasons, I need to minimize the number of times I move to a new sleeping location. My idea is to have a home base (hotel or alberge) for maybe 4 nights. Everyday, I would take a bus (or taxi) to the beginning of a stage, walk all day, and then take a bus (or taxi) back to the hotel/alberge. Every 4 days or so I would move to a new hotel/albergue. Has anyone done this?

I will be a solo pilgrim on the Frances and starting in Burgos. This will be my 3rd time to the Camino. I realize that my experience meeting people in the evenings will be different but I am ok with that knowing that my medical condition will not stop me from returning to the camino.

 

[J Willhaus]

Hi. For medical reasons, I need to minimize the number of times I move to a new sleeping location. My idea is to have a home base (hotel or alberge) for maybe 4 nights. Everyday, I would take a bus (or taxi) to the beginning of a stage, walk all day, and then take a bus (or taxi) back to the hotel/alberge. Every 4 days or so I would move to a new hotel/albergue. Has anyone done this?

I will be a solo pilgrim on the Frances and starting in Burgos. This will be my 3rd time to the Camino. I realize that my experience meeting people in the evenings will be different but I am ok with that knowing that my medical condition will not stop me from returning to the camino.

You probably won't be able to stay at the same albergue as usually you are allowed only one night. With a doctor's note it may be possible though. A hotel or Air BNB might be better for this kind of arrangement.

Smaller towns may have restricted bus or train service with maybe only one or two buses per day so you may find it difficult to walk far and get back without a taxi here and there. Or you could rent a car and park then walk ahead then arrange a ride back or walk back to the car going a little further each day?

 

[DoughnutANZ]

Possibly, depending on your condition you could consider hiring a camper van which might be better than hiring a car.

I found https://www.yescapa.com/rent-a-priv...re=Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain&seats=2&beds=2 by googling, they seem to have a good reputation.

 

[Anniesantiago]

It shouldn't be that difficult to find private lodging where you can stay 2-3 nights at a time as you move along the Camino... with some planning I think this is quite do-able. You can then use public transportation when it's available, or taxis or BlaBla Car when it's not.

 

[auburnfive]

Just did a quick trial, there is no problem booking an albergue or any other lodging for 4-5 days on any accommodation available through booking.com. I would guess buses if available might be limited by timetables so taxis would be your more frequent mode of transport.

 

[Rmarkob]

Hi. For medical reasons, I need to minimize the number of times I move to a new sleeping location. My idea is to have a home base (hotel or alberge) for maybe 4 nights. Everyday, I would take a bus (or taxi) to the beginning of a stage, walk all day, and then take a bus (or taxi) back to the hotel/alberge. Every 4 days or so I would move to a new hotel/albergue. Has anyone done this?

My wife and I did something like this a couple of times on our CP in June/July this year. We spent two nights in Porto and two nights in Esposende due to difficulty in finding accommodation in some of the smaller coastal towns at the end of our stages. An added benefit was being able to leave our packs behind so we could carry a lighter load and walk a bit further on the days we were returning to the same lodging. On those occasions we stayed in private rooms in hotels/hostels, so multiple day stays were not an issue. We were close enough to Uber back and forth.

 

[Ronald Boivin]

Just did a quick trial, there is no problem booking an albergue or any other lodging for 4-5 days on any accommodation available through booking.com. I would guess buses if available might be limited by timetables so taxis would be your more frequent mode of transport.

It is not possible to book an albergue on Booling.com even for a few nights. Even with a doctor‘s note ( in my case an ER doctor) I was forced out of an albergue in Burgos on the Camino Frances A similar situation occurred on the Camino Tolosana. Don’t count on albergue support if you have debilitating medical issues.

 

[trecile]

You probably won't be able to stay at the same albergue as usually you are allowed only one night.

It is not possible to book an albergue on Booling.com even for a few nights. Even with a doctor‘s note ( in my case an ER doctor) I was forced out of an albergue in Burgos on the Camino Frances A similar situation occurred on the Camino Tolosana. Don’t count on albergue support if you have debilitating medical issues.

This isn't true of all albergues. Many (or most) private albergues allow multiple night stays.

Public and parochial albergues which usually have a limit of one night generally aren't on booking.com.

Also, the OP didn't indicate that they want to stay only in albergues.

 

[J Willhaus]

This isn't true of all albergues. Many (or most) private albergues allow multiple night stays.

Public and parochial albergues which usually have a limit of one night generally aren't on booking.com.

Also, the OP didn't indicate that they want to stay only in albergues.

Yes, I said usually and probably in my reply. As a hospitalera we did have people with doctors notes and some without one who were sick or injured and stayed multiple days because a doctor was not available in the small town. It is up to the hospitalera only in some cases and in other cases may also depend on the rules of the albergue management. Private albergues may have different policies or may not.

If you are walking every day and returning, you may be required you to take your belongings with you each day (or not). You may or may not be required to que like other pilgrims and see if a bed is available. You may or may not be able to reserve depending on the location. There are just many variables to a question like this--just as there are to many questions on the forum. If you ask about a specific lodging location there may be more specific answers given or you can contact them directly to find out their policies.

I'm glad @phine2017 is looking for a way to do the Camino, but I think we can only give generalities for a question like this. It is a good place to discuss it, but probably only sure answers are available at the specific hotels, hostels, or albergues.

 

[phine2017]

Thank you all for your input and suggestions. I think that I can make this work out. Anything is possible, right?

 

[trecile]

Thank you all for your input and suggestions. I think that I can make this work out. Anything is possible, right?

Yes it is!

 

[oursonpolaire]

I've never encountered anyone trying this, but I would think it workable. As others have pointed out, buses might not have convenient timetables but along the Frances, I think you would find each pueblo has a bus in the morning, and in the later afternoon. If not, there are plenty of taxis making their living by carrying pilgrims hither and yon.

I would think that private accommodation, either in a hostal or a casa rural, would work better than an albergue, particularly if there are medical issues-- I have found that sleep is very important when dealing with such, and that would be easier with private accommodation. You might want to make certain that you have your credencial stamped each day in the pueblo where you finish walking for that day.