Acces to albergues

[Zofia Carolina]

I was told that many albergues do not take in cyclists or in some you have to wait till around 6 pm to be allowed in, by which time there are no more spaces available. Is this true? And if so where can I find out which oned do take bikers in?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

It is true for municipal and parochial albergues and many private albergues. I have not found reliable information on which ones have what policy. At quieter times, money talks, so albergues will admit bicyclists earlier in the day. My guess is that you won't know until you arrive and ask.

 

[mspath]

I was told that many albergues do not take in cyclists or in some you have to wait till around 6 pm to be allowed in, by which time there are no more spaces available. Is this true? And if so where can I find out which oned do take bikers in?

It is true for municipal and parochial albergues and many private albergues. I have not found reliable information on which ones have what policy. At quieter times, money talks, so albergues will admit bicyclists earlier in the day. My guess is that you won't know until you arrive and ask.

You may wish to investigate the Bike-Lne Service for cyclists on the Camino Frances which lists those albergues which ARE cyclist friendly. See >> http://bike-line.blogspot.com.es/ For example one such albergue where I stayed late October 2010 is at Viloria de Rioja just east of Belorado. Acacio and Orietta have a wonderful refuge for pilgrims and cyclists. They have created this comfortable oasis from abandoned animal sheds; there are 10 bunks in a dorm heated by a wood burning stove. Great showers water you and not the ceiling, walls or your clothes. Wifi is available as is a multilingual library specializing in books by Paulo Coelho. See >> http://www.peregrinando.org/.

Buen Camino,

Margaret

 

[Davroos]

Never had a problem on the VDLP or Primitivo, nor did I ever see a cyclist turned away

 

[Zofia Carolina]

Thank you all for your info. Margaret, I went to http://bike-line.blogspot.com.es/ but my Spanish is not good enough to figure it out where to find that list or how to ask about it in Spanish. Suggestions?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I have seen bicyclists waiting for admittance until 6 p.m. dozens of times, though I have never seen any turned away. I have not walked in the high season, so when albergues are full with walkers, bicyclists should be prepared to move on to other accommodations. With albergues almost every 5 km, it doesn't take long to move ahead (at least that is the theory). In the slack seasons, there may not even be a wait.

 

[mspath]

Thank you all for your info. Margaret, I went to http://bike-line.blogspot.com.es/ but my Spanish is not good enough to figure it out where to find that list or how to ask about it in Spanish. Suggestions?

Zofia,

On the opening page of the Bike-Line site scroll down until you see on the left BIKELINE 2012 - ACTOS Y FACTOS and on the right column a red backed photo of bikers entitled PASAPORTE BIKELINE. Hit this photo and in another tab will download the PASAPORTE or list of all the cyclist friendly albergues of 2011.

Links to other cyclist/camino sites are found at Webs de Interes further down on the right on the opening page of the Bike-Line site. For example here is one in English >>
http://www.bicigrino.info/albergues/cat ... category=3

Hope this helps!

Margaret