Camino Francés March 2024

[desmith]

This is Don Smith. I am an experienced hiker/climber in the states. I may have a break in March '24 and am thinking of doing the Camino Francés then. My concern is accommodations at that time of year. Any thoughts/suggestions appreciated. Thanks

 

[Bradypus]

Most albergues and hostals close over the winter and many reopen during Holy Week or at Easter. In 2024 Easter falls on 31 March. There are usually enough albergues open in winter to make the journey possible but you may find some long stages. I walked from SJPDP to Santiago in January this year. There is an excellent website which lists accommodation open over the winter months which is frequently updated. It should be active again next winter. The accommodation listings on the Gronze website should give a rough idea of what places remain open year round. Once in Galicia it is less of an issue as the Xunta albergues remain open all year.

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[C clearly]

I wouldn't expect any difficulty in finding accommodation on the Camino Frances in March.

 

[desmith]

Thank you!

 

[J Willhaus]

This is Don Smith. I am an experienced hiker/climber in the states. I may have a break in March '24 and am thinking of doing the Camino Francés then. My concern is accommodations at that time of year. Any thoughts/suggestions appreciated. Thanks

Just spoke to an experienced hiker yesterday who came to the realization halfway through that this was a pilgrimage and not a hike. Keep an open mind about that possibility for you, too.

 

[Bradypus]

Just spoke to an experienced hiker yesterday who came to the realization halfway through that this was a pilgrimage and not a hike. Keep an open mind about that possibility for you, too.

For several years if you did a Google search for "camino santiago" then one of the top ten results would always be an article by Francis Tapon: "10 reasons why El Camino Santiago Sucks". Tapon's argument was basically "I like wilderness trails. The Camino is not a wilderness trail. Therefore the Camino sucks." Important to have a clear idea of what you are expecting and what you will find in reality. Nothing about Don's original post suggests that he hasn't already done his homework though. The posts which do raise red flags for me tend to be the ones asking what the campgrounds are like and whether it is advisable to carry an emergency beacon, a satellite phone, or in one very worrying case several years back "mace, a knife or a gun?"