Accommodation on the Norte

[eileeninhastings]

Hi, I'm Eileen from Hastings in the UK. I've done the Frances some years ago and the Ingles and Muxia routes before Covid. Am now planning to do a couple of weeks of the Norte out of San Sebastian in April 2024 but finding it difficult to find accommodation. From the hostals I keep getting "not available for your dates" even though I have tried a variety of start dates. Is it too early to book or have many hostals closed? Is anyone else having problems?

 

[trecile]

It's probably too early, especially if you are looking on sites like booking.com.

Are you looking at hostals or hostels? Hostals are small, often family owned hotels, and hostels generally have dorms. Pilgrim hostels are called albergues.
April should be pretty quiet on the Norte. It was fairly quiet when I walked it this year in late May into June. Some of the albergues don't open until June 1st or even later.

I wouldn't anticipate that you will have trouble finding rooms or beds, but be aware that accommodation on the Norte is generally more expensive than the Francés, because the northern coast of Spain is a popular tourist destination, and it doesn't have a very robust pilgrim infrastructure compared to the Francés.

You can find direct contact information on Gronze

Camino del Norte | Gronze.com

www.gronze.com

 

[Tincatinker]

Hi Eileen, I’m the Tinker from Shoreham. It’s highly unlikely that the common booking sites will have any allocations for April next year yet. ( as @trecile has said while I’ve been typing )
And her recommendation of Gronze is a good one. You have plenty of time to deal directly with the people who run those little businesses. Better than with those great big ones that like to make money out of other peoples work
Happy planning

 

[wynrich]

Things may have changed but when we did the Norte in April of 2018 and also April 2019 we had no problem getting accommodations, at least in hotels and such. (We didn't stay in any albergues.) We called the day before, but when we arrived, we were often the only people staying at the place.

 

[jabrown]

Things may have changed but when we did the Norte in April of 2018 and also April 2019 we had no problem getting accommodations, at least in hotels and such. (We didn't stay in any albergues.) We called the day before, but when we arrived, we were often the only people staying at the place.

Same here.

 

[Timhoyte]

Hi, I'm Eileen from Hastings in the UK. I've done the Frances some years ago and the Ingles and Muxia routes before Covid. Am now planning to do a couple of weeks of the Norte out of San Sebastian in April 2024 but finding it difficult to find accommodation. From the hostals I keep getting "not available for your dates" even though I have tried a variety of start dates. Is it too early to book or have many hostals closed? Is anyone else having problems?

Hi Eileen
I don't have any info about acimodation on The Norte, sorry, but just thought I'd say hi, as I'm also from Hastings, and I'm walking on The Frances at the moment. I haven't met many people round Hastings who have walked caminos so thought I'd say hi. This is only my second one.
I Hope you find good and cheap accommodation on The del Norte ,and have a great trip when you go out there next year.

Best wishes
Tim

 

[barryfr]

My wife and I walked del Norte this past April and had no problem finding accommodations. We did not book in advance for nearly a week after San Sebastian. We started booking a day in advance after seeing some people not get into the municipal albergue at Castro Urdiales even though they had been waiting there well before check-in time. That said, we still stayed in some albergues that did not support advance booking and had no problem getting admitted.

 

[eileeninhastings]

Hi Eileen
I don't have any info about acimodation on The Norte, sorry, but just thought I'd say hi, as I'm also from Hastings, and I'm walking on The Frances at the moment. I haven't met many people round Hastings who have walked caminos so thought I'd say hi. This is only my second one.
I Hope you find good and cheap accommodation on The del Norte ,and have a great trip when you go out there next year.

Best wishes
Tim

Hi Tim, hope you are enjoying your walk. I did the Frances back in 2009, I am guessing it is much busier now. More recently (just before covid) I did the Ingles and the route from Muxia to Santiago (via Finisterre) with fellow Hastingers (well, Bexhill really). This time, just planning to do a couple of weeks on the Norte next April/May. Fingers crossed. Buen Camino Tim.

 

[eileeninhastings]

My wife and I walked del Norte this past April and had no problem finding accommodations. We did not book in advance for nearly a week after San Sebastian. We started booking a day in advance after seeing some people not get into the municipal albergue at Castro Urdiales even though they had been waiting there well before check-in time. That said, we still stayed in some albergues that did not support advance booking and had no problem getting admitted.

That is really good to know. Thanks for replying Barry. Buen Camino!

 

[Timhoyte]

Hi Tim, hope you are enjoying your walk. I did the Frances back in 2009, I am guessing it is much busier now. More recently (just before covid) I did the Ingles and the route from Muxia to Santiago (via Finisterre) with fellow Hastingers (well, Bexhill really). This time, just planning to do a couple of weeks on the Norte next April/May. Fingers crossed. Buen Camino Tim.

Hi Eileen, thanks for your message. I had a really good walk thanks.i imagine the French route was quieter back when you did it. I only found it a bit too busy after Sarria really though, and there were stretches before that which were fairly quiet. Having said that I'd like to try a route with less people walking too.
I Hope tou have a good walk on The del norte path next year. Be good to hear your thoughts on it.
Tim