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My experience exactly Rich1. We are now in Fromista and booking 2-3 days ahead after needing to walk an additional 8 km through two villages with no beds before finding 2 beds several nights ago. Everyone we meet seems to be booking ahead. In addition, we are finding accomm prices seem to be increasing as we walk - good old market forces operating? Or maybe it is normal as we travel further west to pay more? (My first Camino so nothing to compare with.). Still having a great time, just not as spontaneous as expected ( if nothing else, the Camino teaches us that we are better off without any 'expectations'.)Just as a word of warning, the Camino Frances is incredibly busy at the moment.
I did the Camino last year at exactly the same time and had no problem showing up at 4pm and getting a bed.
This year all accomodation is going very quickly usually by 2 or 3 pm. Some even earlier. We have deliberately stayed in the middle of "Brierley" stages so goodness knows what the stage ends are like.
Last year i rarely booked ahead but this year we are having to.
Most definitelySo, the 'bed race' has become a reality?
I just saw this article in the Diario de Leon.
http://www.lacronicadeleon.es/2012/08/2 ... 158808.htm
It describes a construction project to be undertaken by the company Santiago Punto, which is going to build pilgrim accommodations at 64 different points along the Camino Frances and the Camino from LePuy to the border. The accommodations will be rooms with two beds in a prefabricated module, each with private bath. There will be a self-service restaurant, 25 rooms at each place, and a "cyber point" at each facility.
The project is expected to employ 320 people, 60 of them working in the restaurants, 25 in the "Reservation Central," (you can reserve your entire Camino from LePuy in one fell swoop!) and the rest will be working on building the facilities.
Each module will be financed and owned by an individual who lives in each one of the designated stages, perhaps with municipal assistance. The company will then rent the facilities back from each of the owners and operate the albergues.
These modules will be run by the company for 150 days a year, and for the other days of the year, the owners can decide how to use the facilities.
Not quite sure how to react to this.
Yes, but many more beds have been added, many for the 2010 crowds. That left a lot of empty beds for a few years until growth caught up. It has caught up! In 2010 the juntas built temporary accommodations in several of the cities in the last 100 km. They have not done so this year, and the numbers will certainly be above 2010. Next year may see a bit of slackening in demand, but that is not certain. To those with a time machine, I suggest that you go in a previous year...but it appears to have been an issue 15 years ago.
Some of us, myself included, have consistently stated that Pilgrim numbers during this "Year of Mercy" were going to behave much the same way as a formal Holy Year, at least insofar as observant Catholics are concerned. The spiritual benefits are largely identical.
Then there is the increasing "uptake" by commercial travel agencies and organized groups soaking up reservable bed space formerly occupied by solo pilgrims, like me. This pushes single, walking pilgrim more into albergues, than before. The net result is increase daily pressure at places of lodging at virtually everyplace along the Camino, whether at a formal Brierley stage or not. I am concerned that our anecdotal observations are all coming to be facts, and sooner than originally predicted.
Finally, there is just the human phenomenon of more people doing the Camino, relating their wonderment and positive experiences, and inducing more people to do it, whether as solo pilgrims or in an organized tour group. I admit to being very guilty of spreading the good word. But is that wrong?
THAT is the paradox. We are bound to harm the overall Camino over time by our admiration and kind words towards it as an institution. It is like putting too much plant food on a growing plant. We end up killing it with kindness.
All in all, and taken together, what we are seeing is a "snowball" effect of increasing popularity, of at least the Camino Frances, compounded by the effect of the papal-proclaimed Year of Mercy (cum Holy Year). I predict this will continue into the future. I submit it will reach critical mass before the next formal Holy Year in 2021.
By then, the provincial and regional juntas and localities along the Camino Frances had better have a plan sorted for dealing with this increasing wave. The alternative will be large numbers of disgruntled pilgrims, with many saying and writing negative things about their experiences. THIS, in return will have an out-year downward effect on the Camino pilgrim numbers. But the long term damage to Northwest Spain's tourism industry, what there is of it, will have been done. Once this happens, turning it around will NOT be easy.
Learning from prior mistakes, juntas building modern albergues by failing to equip kitchen so they can actually be used is NOT an answer. If you are going to do something, do it right. If you do not want people cooking in junta albergues, so they are compelled to patronize local eateries, do not build-in a kitchen in the first place. Apply the funds towards adding square footage with more beds and more bathroom facilities, or coin-operated laundry facilities.
Within 10 years, if enough quality bed space is NOT added to the Camino Frances, one of two things will happen:
1. People will stay away from this historically popular and central route, this hurts all the villages and towns along The Way; or
2. An enterprising entrepreneur WILL build a network of private albergues to a simple, efficient standard that puts all the extant albergues to shame for standards and value for money. They would be located in small hamlets or villages, now not at any standard daily stage end-point.
I am thinking micro-sized versions of the Dutch-operated Roncesvalles albergue, housing perhaps 30 - 40 pilgrims in single or double private alcoves., with Euro operated rucksack lockers and electrical outlets at every bed space. Place them along the sendas, on leased farm land, in villages or hamlets between the Brierley stages, make them all reservable online (just build an app for that) and provide clean, safe, convenient and customer-friendly overnight accommodations, and watch the profits flow.
Any Spanish farmer who would pass up a predictable, annual rental payment for a hectare or two of their under-utilized or fallow land would be a fool. It is easy and free money for most of them, at least those who are land poor in a faltering economy. Also, I am willing to bet that millennials would prefer staying in a very standard, clean, compact, predictable, affordable, private McAlbergue, to what is currently found on a hit and miss basis now. Whether you agree or not, these 20 somethings ARE the future of the Camino. Build what they expect, and they will come...
If I could obtain the venture capital, I would already be on the ground developing this accommodation model. The business model is easy. The political model for obtaining local permission and acceptance is a little more difficult, but not insurmountable with the correct approach. I have developed that approach, but as is the case with most good business ideas, it exists solely in my head for now. I am many things, but stupid ain't one of them. If anyone out there wants my ideas, write me a private communication and we can discuss terms.
There you go. What was predicted, IS HAPPENING. I am surprised that it is happening sooner than I (and others) thought it would. However, it is developing along the lines I (we) thought it would. First the private, reservable lodging is oversubscribed, then albergues at the Brierley stages are oversubscribed, and lastly even the off-stage albergues and hostals are being fully occupied. AND IT IS ONLY MID-MAY!
Watch what happens once the universities empty for the summer break. At the very least, I hope the local juntas start to lighten up on ad hoc camping along the route. Because that is the only accommodation many late-arriving people will find this coming summer.
For me, personally, if my doctors determine that I am able to continue walking the Camino, I will plan to do my future Caminos on alternative Camino routes, plan my Camino for off-months (the autumn is starting to appeal to me), and seek more clever ways to adapt and overcome this developing problem.
We have yet to meet anyone who is doing this because it is a Holy Year. We are Catholic and have been planning this for way before it was declared a Holy Year. We see very few pilgrims at Mass on Sundays, Catholicism is pretty dead in Europe - we see church after church closed and few priests left to take care of the few who still do attend. Person after person have told us that there are more Americans on the Camino this year than in the past but we don't have any idea.Some of us, myself included, have consistently stated that Pilgrim numbers during this "Year of Mercy" were going to behave much the same way as a formal Holy Year, at least insofar as observant Catholics are concerned. The spiritual benefits are largely identical.
please do report back,i am heading out the 2nd week of june and dont want to book ahead if i can avoid it, only going for a short time and prob will start in pampalona this time,so look forward to seeing how you find things, have a great time,I am starting from SJPdP next week and already trying to book a few days ahead. I will have a tent as well and will report back on camping availability, particularly within the grounds of Albergues.
... We will reevaluate when we reach Leon. We may just go home from there.
We will reevaluate when we reach Leon. We may just go home from there.
bed race a reality and there goes the spirit of the CaminoRich , It could be that you moving with a 'rouge wave' of pilgrims. It would be interesting to know what the situation is like a few days before and after you.
So, the 'bed race' has become a reality?
No, please. Let's leave those routes the way they are. Or try the Salvador and risk the skock of how hard it is, how little service it has, as well as limited socialising.What about switching to another Camino? The Salvador/Primitivo come to mind. Buen Camino whatever you decide, SY
No, please. Let's leave those routes the way they are.
Honnestly... yes. Let it implode and regroup,mand call this a sad period for it.And in exchange we let go the CF to pieces? SY
I'd like to hear how the tent worked out when you complete the Camino. I only saw one tent from St. to Burgos last year, but have thought of taking mine. Buen CaminoI am starting from SJPdP next week and already trying to book a few days ahead. I will have a tent as well and will report back on camping availability, particularly within the grounds of Albergues.
Beds not being open even if they are available, people being told to keep walking even if they havd reservations if their attitude is not a pleasant one.There are so many other routes that the "pressure" would be nicely distributed. And I have no idea whatsoever what you mean with "I really am getting a kick watching the people in Portugal,set boundaries for pilgrims, not letting people stay at their albergues just because they could." SY
Naawww Bernie! Stick to your plan although in August it is so hot that in Pamplona the grass turns brown. It can get blazing hot in Navarra or the Meseta for that matter. I had great fun sleeping in my tent some of the time - I could snore to my heart's content. There was the small problem of getting going in the morning packing a tent away as well. Up until that time I had only ever walked in spring and autumn but beware the heatwave. During my August Camino a few years back there was no chance that one could start out at 8 and finish at 3 - I finally understood why pilgrims leave at 5am.I'm planning on walking mid August but reading these post make me think i might postpone until sept.
Naawww Bernie! Stick to your plan although in August it is so hot that in Pamplona the grass turns brown. It can get blazing hot in Navarra or the Meseta for that matter. I had great fun sleeping in my tent some of the time - I could snore to my heart's content. There was the small problem of getting going in the morning packing a tent away as well. Up until that time I had only ever walked in spring and autumn but beware the heatwave. During my August Camino a few years back there was no chance that one could start out at 8 and finish at 3 - I finally understood why pilgrims leave at 5am.
My tent just below Alto Perdon overlooking Pamplona.
View attachment 26058
View attachment 26057
This was just the start , it got hotter! At 7 in the evening one expects the temperature to cool down ........ uhuhhhh! Just enjoy Bernie , the rest will happen itself.
T2andreo,
Re your "enterprising entrepreneur" see this 2012 post by Laurie.
As we used to bemoan in NYC Landmarks Commission "there goes the neighborhood" !
I finished my Camino today. I thought that I would provide a slightly different perspective on the volume of Pilgrims. I stood in line for about an hour and 40 minutes to get my Compestela. That seemed to me like an awfully long time. I think that there are a lot of Pilgrims out there.
September is a great time to walk. The European holiday season is over, the real heat has diminished, and there is little chance of prolonged rain.
Regards
Gerard
I am checking, both in fascination and horror, the daily arrivals here http://peregrinossantiago.es Yesterday the numbers reached 900+ Buen Camino, SY
Where are you seeing the daily figures? If I go to statistics and try to select May it tells me I can only see the statistics for the previous month.
Lol, no secret service here, just scroll down the home page and it says "On Wednesday 370 pilgrims arrived in Santiago
LAST UPDATED: TODAY AT 14:14"
just under the map. It gets updated twice daily as far as I can see ;-) Buen Camino, SY
Ivar booked that for you because you're a Moderator (oh woops another Camino rumour started)
So if there are 300 beds available, and 900 pilgrims show up, what are the other 600 doing to sleep?
We have a budget of $3200 for the two of us for 40 days, so $300 hotel rooms are out of the question for us.
Is Luis the 80s footballer from PALMA MAJORCA still there - such a nice chap.I'm not sure why but I've had no problems at all. I don't get up before daylight and take my time having a second breakfast and sometimes lunch along the way. Today I left Pamplona about 8am and rolled into Punta La Reina an hour ago (4pm). I had no problem getting a bed at the Padres Reparadores Albergue.
So if there are 300 beds available, and 900 pilgrims show up, what are the other 600 doing to sleep?
We have a budget of $3200 for the two of us for 40 days, so $300 hotel rooms are out of the question for us.
So if there are 300 beds available, and 900 pilgrims show up, what are the other 600 doing to sleep?
We have a budget of $3200 for the two of us for 40 days, so $300 hotel rooms are out of the question for us.
Dear all,
I really nead some advise....
I am leaving tomorrow for the South of France, starting to walk this Friday. I am recovering from a burn-out, so I have some nervous issues and also know that on good days I will be able to walk a lot on the bad ones no....
So, I planned to start walking from Saint Jean Pied de Port to Orisson to take it easy on the first stage, but this seems no option now.
(For those who want details: I did make a reservation by mail and got no answer, then called and they tell me just now that they are fully booked (and also very unfriendly and not willing to help on the phone :'( )
I also have read your messages here about how busy it is now on (the first part of?) the camino and I am really worried. If there is one very thing that really makes me nervous it is not being sure to have a place to rest. (of course)
I am not bound to any date and I just want to walk, let's say a month and see where I can get. For some reason I'd like to stay on the Camino Frances. Maybe I have to change my plans and take a bus, and start from somewhere else, maybe where its' less crowded after the Pyerenees? Logroño? Or change to the North Route?
Can you give me any advise?
Thanks a million.............!
Dear all,
I really nead some advise....
Simple wall tents that are used by the military or by outfitters would fill the overflow need in many of these places. Shower tents could be set up just as easily. The question is will the land owners think of this..Thank for the link, but it appears to have "gone down Route 404..." It is not there any longer. But, point taken. Some enterprising Spanish firm got the jump on me. But, I note that article was from nearly four years ago, the year BEFORE I did my first Camino. I am accustomed to things happening slowly in Spain, but four years? Does anyone have updated information on this development initiative?
I think it is not a mater of "IF" someone standardizes and "Disneyfies" the Camino Frances. Rather I submit it is a question of when, and what the final reality will be. It can be done in a subdued, yet modern approach (better), or it can have twin "Golden Arches" (very bad IMHO). I do not mind being "scooped." But, as a peregrino who is in it for the duration (of life) I do have concerns about the final product, if any.
Based on my many informal discussions over several years along the Camino with hospitaleros(as), lodging proprietors, and cafe owners, I well understand the local political dynamic in play here. The folks with small places of lodging do not want further competition, of any kind. Increasing bed space means (to them) that they might have a bed go vacant because there is an adequate or excess supply. As business persons, they prefer a tight housing market. This makes perfect sense from their perspective.
The hospitaleros just want clean, safe, affordable beds for all comers. A private albergue owner would likely think in a similar fashion as the hostal owner. But the municipal albergues frequently are the choice of last resort. That is why many municipalities sometimes revery to using mats on athletic facility floors for overflow lodging. A good "plan B," if funds could be found (always the rub), would be to expand locker room bathroom and shower facilities in these sports centers, and obtain added matting to provide to pilgrims affected by the coming surge over this summer, and beyond.
The "sweet spot" is the area between these two competing camps. However, and I would be willing to bet that, the original 2012 initiative resulted from the problems experienced in the last formal Holy Year in 2010. THAT is NOTHING compared to what will be seen by 2021. The officials in Sanitago are informally bantering about annual volumes in the 400,000 range.
Clearly more pilgrim lodging must be identified and developed as soon as possible, but certainly well before 2021. But, in addressing this coming "bunk gap," I do believe that there is a combination of NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) syndrome, and gentle but perceptible business self-interest. I stop well short of calling this behavior greed or selfishness, because I do not think it actually is.
Honestly, if I ran a small, family-owned privater albergue or hostal, I would likely feel and behave the same way. I would likely attend local town and area junta meetings and speak in opposition to added competition. If "all politics are local "(quoting the late US Speaker of the House Thomas "Tip" P. O'Neill from Boston, MA), this behavior is normal and to be expected of any small business person.
On the other hand, being the analyst that I was and remain, as that small business owner, I would also be looking at cost-effective options for adding more affordable bed space for surge times. This is a realistic response to the coming surge.
Perhaps a new out-building, expansion "bunkhouse" with bathroom facilities that can be operated only seasonally? Or, perhaps I have a large enough attic space above my hostal or private albergue, that could be converted into the overflow bed space at a reasonable cost. While I would have to seek building permits and maybe local permission for renovations or limited expansion, such an approach would likely fall short of the highly public scrutiny that a developed building a chain of standard properties in direct competition would foster...
...just some thoughts.
Hola Kristel
I think a good advice right now could be not to read to much on the forum about how busy the Camin Frances is right now.
It will, of course, make anyone new to the Camino nervous and maybe not so rightfully.
It sounds to me that you have decided to spend some time walking and contempletating about your life.
Good.
The Camino may be the perfect place for that. Many pilgrims have statet that their Camino changed their life somewhat. Maybe it will also have some profund impact on your life
If you have your backpack almost ready, then you are ready.
Make your way to Saint Jean and take it a day at the time.
Go slow the first week and get a feel for what you have begun.
As suggested in other posts, you can opt for the lower route, Valcarlos. It is certainly a splendid walk, and as you will meet many pilgrims you will get and share information about places to stay the upcoming days.
Do not stress yourself to much about this right now, is my suggestion.
If indeed you feel that things are difficult on Frances, you have 3-4 days walking before you enter Pamplona.
From there you can take a bus to Irun and walk the Norte or skip ahead on Frances or just stay some days and think about what you want to do. You say you have the time, so use it and enjoy your time in Spain.
There is no race unless you choose to enter one.
As you write you are nervous that you may not have a place to sleep for the night.
I firmly believe that it is very rare that pilgrims do not have a place to sleep.
The locals are very friendly and often arrange temporary sleeping quaters or even drive pilgrims to places to sleep, as well as many pilgrims 'team up' with fellow pilgrims they do not know and share a double room in a hostel or hotel.
You write that you burned out and now you are taking action by walking which will change your life.
That is inevitably.
So remember the most important for you right now: relax, walk in your own pace, smell the fresh air, eat good food, make friends with strangers, be friendly, be excatly who you want to be and allow yourself to simply be walking the camino as millions have done the last 1000 years. I think it is a perspectiv that most people could benefit from experiencing.
I hope this helps.
Everything flows
Flow with it
Buen Camino
Lettinggo
And those on an inexpensive yet luxurious holiday!Simple wall tents that are used by the military or by outfitters would fill the overflow need in many of these places. Shower tents could be set up just as easily. The question is will the land owners think of this..
Everything flows... yes this helps!
Thank you very very much, I will try the Valcarlos route then.
I'm not sure why but I've had no problems at all. I don't get up before daylight and take my time having a second breakfast and sometimes lunch along the way. Today I left Pamplona about 8am and rolled into Punta La Reina an hour ago (4pm). I had no problem getting a bed at the Padres Reparadores Albergue.
That is amazing. Yep off season will be best this year!Today, May 18, some 907 pilgrims registered at the Santiago pilgrim office before 20:57.
Yikes
Probably because early to midweek are usually the low-points of the week, and weekends are materially higher to produce the average. In this case, the low point is approaching last year's average.I just have to ask this: why do you find it amazing that 907 pilgrims were registered at the Santiago pilgrims office yesterday, ie. May 18, 2016?
In May 2015, they registered 31 078 pilgrims, that is 1002 per day on average.
We are on our 5th and last camino .I am sitting in Carrion de los Condes. Two albergues here were full by 2pm. The other two are mostly full. We have had to book ahead two or three days but have occasionally found private alburgues already booked solid two days out.
There is no solitude anywhere. The meseta was more a matter of crowd control than contemplation. Yes , there are more organized groups with bus support than were here in the past but the overall majority are regular pilgrims.
This is not a happy situation. I felt so badly the other night when we were waiting to check into a private alburgue and two women were turned away crying for they did not have a reservation.
General rule of thumb, make reservation or find a bed by 1300. We will reevaluate when we reach Leon. We may just go home from there.
NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!Jimb01930:
Switch to the Salvador in Leon and then jump to the Primitivo in Oviedo. They are both great Camino's.
Ultreya,
Joe
Early May 2014 arrival it simply did not seem there was that many pilgrims no bed issues ever, no big groups. Room in the cathedrals. Nothing to suggest those numbers per day.I just have to ask this: why do you find it amazing that 907 pilgrims were registered at the Santiago pilgrims office (May 18, 2016)?
In May 2015, they registered 31 078 pilgrims, that is 1002 per day on average.
In May 2014, they registered 27 354 pilgrims, that is 882 per day on average.
907 pilgrims does not seem to be extraordinary for a day in May.
Dear all,
I really nead some advise....
I am leaving tomorrow for the South of France, starting to walk this Friday. I am recovering from a burn-out, so I have some nervous issues and also know that on good days I will be able to walk a lot on the bad ones no....
So, I planned to start walking from Saint Jean Pied de Port to Orisson to take it easy on the first stage, but this seems no option now.
(For those who want details: I did make a reservation by mail and got no answer, then called and they tell me just now that they are fully booked (and also very unfriendly and not willing to help on the phone :'( )
I also have read your messages here about how busy it is now on (the first part of?) the camino and I am really worried. If there is one very thing that really makes me nervous it is not being sure to have a place to rest. (of course)
I am not bound to any date and I just want to walk, let's say a month and see where I can get. For some reason I'd like to stay on the Camino Frances. Maybe I have to change my plans and take a bus, and start from somewhere else, maybe where its' less crowded after the Pyerenees? Logroño? Or change to the North Route?
Can you give me any advise?
Thanks a million.............!
To put those numbers in perspective: 907 is very manageable. The day we arrived in Santiago (Sept 4, 2014) there were 989 - and we had no problems getting beds in pilgrim albergues during the last week of our walk (granted, we usually stopped walking about lunch time). When we got to Santiago we stayed at the Seminario Menor in a large dorm which was nearly empty - it was almost spooky how quiet it was.Today, May 18, some 907 pilgrims registered at the Santiago pilgrim office before 20:57.
Yikes
What a difference a month makes. I was in Azura on April 18. I was the only pilgrim in an albergue with 36 beds. I left Burgos on March 30 and arrived in Santiago on April 20. I never saw a full albergue. Of course, there is a reason for this. There were many cold, rainy, windy, and muddy days.Just as a word of warning, the Camino Frances is incredibly busy at the moment.
I did the Camino last year at exactly the same time and had no problem showing up at 4pm and getting a bed.
This year all accomodation is going very quickly usually by 2 or 3 pm. Some even earlier. We have deliberately stayed in the middle of "Brierley" stages so goodness knows what the stage ends are like.
Last year i rarely booked ahead but this year we are having to.
I think your analysis is a spot on match to the anecdotal information on the ground. I tend to agree that this Jubilee Year is not going to cause the full-fledged spike of a Jacobean Holy Year, in part because the holy doors are open everywhere, and in part because the last Jubilee Year was barely more than normal growth. In the end, the numbers will prove it, or disprove it.I was just about to post once more, one of my theories about this sudden surge this May, Koilife!
Easter was very early this year. . . .
I finished my Camino today. I thought that I would provide a slightly different perspective on the volume of Pilgrims. I stood in line for about an hour and 40 minutes to get my Compestela. That seemed to me like an awfully long time. I think that there are a lot of Pilgrims out there.
Well....if we do manage to get away this year, we most probably walk the Camino de Invierno!I think your analysis is a spot on match to the anecdotal information on the ground. I tend to agree that this Jubilee Year is not going to cause the full-fledged spike of a Jacobean Holy Year, in part because the holy doors are open everywhere, and in part because the last Jubilee Year was barely more than normal growth. In the end, the numbers will prove it, or disprove it.
But, going on the assumption that there really won't be that big an overall volume spike throughout the summer compared to last year, perhaps this would be a good time to stop redirecting people on to the Salvador and Primitivo. After all, those are planned for my Camino, and I should be able to walk my Camino my way. Right?
This is great advice!!!@kristeL unless you have a special and personal reason to walk the Napoleon walk the Valcarlos instead. Stop in the lovely Albergue in Valcarlos where Kanga encountered only 2 other pilgrims a few nights ago. Its a beautiful walk and a gentle-ish introduction to the Camino. Plan short days and be prepared to walk a little farther.
Buen Camino
This is great advice!!!
The primitivo is very busy also. I have taken to booking private accommodations ahead in the morning as those seem to go fast and I am walking alone. The albergues can't be counted on. I am a slow walker and stop to look a lot and prefer that to getting someplace early. So, I would be careful about recommending the primitivo though it is probably better than the Frances. Good luck to everyone.What about switching to another Camino? The Salvador/Primitivo come to mind. Buen Camino whatever you decide, SY
If the alburgues are full, will tent camping be a realistic alternative? It has been recommended to me and I am thinking about bringing mine for Sept/Oct camino. I have gotten conflicting information about tent camping on the camino. Some indicate it is fairly easy and other info suggests it is not tolerated well at all.I'd like to hear how the tent worked out when you complete the Camino. I only saw one tent from St. to Burgos last year, but have thought of taking mine. Buen Camino
daniel
Welcome, and may you have a wonderful Camino.Hello all,
This is my first post. I arrive in Madrid on June 8th and begin my walk (I think from Burgos) on the 9th. This thread scared me and I prebooked a few places (nights 2, 3, and 4). Should I book them all? Even the small towns are filling up this far in advance. Some folks on here aren't having any problems, others the opposite. I like the idea of a pillow and private shower or tub, but I also like the idea of meeting interesting folks which the albergues seem to promise. This 47 year old, solo, first timer needs some good advice.
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