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Accommodation questions

JackyG

Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Portuguese Way September 2017.
French Way May 2018.
Planning some sort of camino for Sep 2019..
Hi all,
I will be doing the start of the coastal route from Porto to Vila de Conde and then back to the interior route up to Rates and onward. I have a couple of questions if anyone can help, thanks in advance :)
1) In general, (walking start of Sep) is it advisable to book accommodation or can you be pretty much assured of a bed somewhere at each of the main stops? I'm not fussy by the way (except for bed bugs!)
2) Do many of them have private rooms? I'm thinking I'll need one at least on a couple of nights maybe after some of the longer days as I'm a very light sleeper..
3) Do many places ake cards as payment or is it just best to bring cash and an ATM card? :)

Cheers, Jacky
 
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Hi Jacky
Maybe book somewhere for the first night then keep flexible? You'll soon get a sense of what works best for you. Municipal Albergue s can't be booked generally, so if you are there early enough there's a good chance of a bed.

A booking app like booking.com. can be handy. This has some of the private albergues on this route and also hotels etc if you want something a bit less communal for a night.

I'd take cash for Albergues, and a card for any more expensive accommodation. Top tip is to take a second spare card in case the ATMs refuse one.

Have a great Camino
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Hi all,
I will be doing the start of the coastal route from Porto to Vila de Conde and then back to the interior route up to Rates and onward. I have a couple of questions if anyone can help, thanks in advance :)
1) In general, (walking start of Sep) is it advisable to book accommodation or can you be pretty much assured of a bed somewhere at each of the main stops? I'm not fussy by the way (except for bed bugs!)
2) Do many of them have private rooms? I'm thinking I'll need one at least on a couple of nights maybe after some of the longer days as I'm a very light sleeper..
3) Do many places ake cards as payment or is it just best to bring cash and an ATM card? :)

Cheers, Jacky
My wife and I did the route you're proposing last month (middle two weeks in May). The numbers may be different in September, so take that into consideration regarding my comments. You can see our itinerary here: https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/camino-portugues-itinerary.48539/#post-522607. We typically try to reach our destination by early afternoon and had no problems finding a bed. After Tui it got more crowded and we began to call ahead in the morning to reserve beds or a room for that evening. I don't recall any albergues having private rooms. We used booking.com if we wanted a hotel-type room, but otherwise used the information in the Brierley guidebook or one many signs along the trail advertising accommodations ahead to secure beds in private albergues. Credit cards are accepted in hotels and restaraunts in the larger cities, but otherwise it's cash only, so bring an ATM with a chip and 4-digit PIN.
Bom Caminho!
 
Is there an english version of this. If so, how do i connect to it? Currently i am in Italy, maybe that could be why it is not in English?

Hi and welcome to the forum @llee527 There isn't an English version of the Spanish Gronze website - but you can always use Google Translate. Buen Camino, SY
 
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[
Hi Jacky
Maybe book somewhere for the first night then keep flexible? You'll soon get a sense of what works best for you. Municipal Albergue s can't be booked generally, so if you are there early enough there's a good chance of a bed.

A booking app like booking.com. can be handy. This has some of the private albergues on this route and also hotels etc if you want something a bit less communal for a night.

I'd take cash for Albergues, and a card for any more expensive accommodation. Top tip is to take a second spare card in case the ATMs refuse one.

Have a great Camino
Thanks a million!
 
My wife and I did the route you're proposing last month (middle two weeks in May). The numbers may be different in September, so take that into consideration regarding my comments. You can see our itinerary here: https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/camino-portugues-itinerary.48539/#post-522607. We typically try to reach our destination by early afternoon and had no problems finding a bed. After Tui it got more crowded and we began to call ahead in the morning to reserve beds or a room for that evening. I don't recall any albergues having private rooms. We used booking.com if we wanted a hotel-type room, but otherwise used the information in the Brierley guidebook or one many signs along the trail advertising accommodations ahead to secure beds in private albergues. Credit cards are accepted in hotels and restaraunts in the larger cities, but otherwise it's cash only, so bring an ATM with a chip and 4-digit PIN.
Bom Caminho!
Thanks so much for all that info, very helpful indeed! And I got the book the other day and it's great :) Look forward to reading your thread! Jacky
 
A selection of Camino Jewellery
Is there an english version of this. If so, how do i connect to it? Currently i am in Italy, maybe that could be why it is not in English?
If you use Google Chrome you can set the default to translate from Spanish to English and even though I use Safari on an I phone I downloaded the google chrome app and have no problem with it.
 
I walked that same route starting mid-September last year, and only began booking ahead once I got close to Santiago and several caminos had converged.

I believe that not all hotels will accept credit cards - the only time I stayed in one, the very first night, it only did cash. It would be safer to presume you'll need cash.
 

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