Albergues and bag taxi along the Invierno

[Alissa_on_the_camino]

Hello! Have found some great information here about the Invierno thank you !,. But I'm still still puzzled about accommodations and also the bag taxi.
I read that there is not a lot of choices for accommodations, ( for what it's worth I'm going in September ) , And I just wanted to confirm If that is the case or not.
Whether it be albergues or hotels .

Also, are bag taxis running ? Running for some legs ?

I did the primitivo in 2019 and am thinking it's going to be a very different experience ! Thanks for any info in advance...

 

[trecile]

I found this

Manuel Ángel of the Bar Mar / Casa Mar in Sobradelo has just begun a bag transport service along the Camino de Invierno. It works much like Jacotrans on the Camino Francés: call him the day before with pick up and delivery locations and include €6 per stage delivery fee. I got a multi use tag from him. I'm now looking forward to (or at least not dreading) the upcoming 30+ km stages. Tel 988 335 106.

Also Correos says that they provide pack transfer by request on the Invierno.

Rucksack transfer on the Camino de Santiago

Correos transfers your rucksack, suitcase or luggage along the Camino de Santiago stage by stage

www.elcaminoconcorreos.com

For accommodations check Gronze.
It's only in Spanish but if you use the Chrome browser it will automatically translate to English or the language of your choice.

Camino de Invierno | Camino de Santiago | Gronze.com

El Camino de Invierno es el trazado jacobeo que une Ponferrada con Santiago de Compostela pasando por el valle del río Sil y la Ribeira Sacra. Se trata de una gran variante meridional del Camino Francés que evita las cumbres del Cebreiro, y que por tanto resulta más asequible en invierno, como...

www.gronze.com

 

[C clearly]

I read that there is not a lot of choices for accommodations

Yes, that is true for some sections, but you only need one bed at a time! There are enough so that you can plan stages of reasonable length. I would advise making reservations a day or so in advance, so that the albergue/hostal operators can be prepared and you can have confidence.

What resource (guide book or app) are you using? I think that Gronze.com is generally quite up-to-date.

For information about bag transfer, see this thread. In post #8 there is a photo of the contact information for Manual at Bar Mar in Sobradelo.

 

[ebrandt]

Whether it be albergues or hotels .

Also, are bag taxis running ? Running for some legs ?

Hi Alissa, We mostly did the Invierno last June. You can check out my Live from the Camino thread here. Some caveats about our walk: We were recovering from Covid when we started and skipped the first stage to Las Medulas. We also ended up having to take a second rest day and took the train from San Clodio to Monforte de Lemos. My husband also injured his knee so we were doing short stages and we took a cab from Diomondi to the top of the river canyon before Chantada to avoid the big up and down to the Rio Minho.

I made little guide before we left with our planned route based on the info I got from Gronze and from the Forum Guide (which is very good) and other sources. It is here. I updated it with notes about the walk when I posted it last August. We had a phone with us and used WhatsApp a lot, but we really tried to stay as tech free as we could so the paper guide was handy. I could only post a .pdf, so if you want the Word version which you can revise -- message me your email and I'll send it to you.

All this is to say that there are plenty of options along the route and you can make it work even under adverse conditions! And it is a very beautiful route. We walked the Primitivo in 2015. Regarding difficulty, I would say the two routes are comparable. The lodging options are a combo of pensions and albergues. We relied on the info in Gronze for contacts -- it was great. We never had issues and did not book more than a day ahead at most. The advice to contact places either the day before or morning of the day you will arrive is good e3ven if you aren't booking -- these places are not busy and even the albergues can be used for other purposes. You don't need to worry about this in Galicia because the albergues are staffed by paid folks.

Regarding Manuel Mar and bag transport. We used Manuel. He was very reasonable and reliable but he doesn't always communicate the complete info you might like the first time -- but he always responds to your WhatsApp messages. He will transport your bag from Ponferrada to Santiago. We found that he does not like email and responds much better to WhatsApp. If you want to use his service for the entire route, he will ask your itinerary and where you are staying in advance. He has a bag tag system that will ask you to fill in the entire itinerary on the tag. Don't worry about this. We changed our itinerary several times and were able to easily WhatsApp him and make the changes. Don't feel that you must stick to whatever planned itinerary you give him initially.

Also the Xunta albergues in Galicia do not accept bag transport. Manuel will deliver your pack to a bar or restaurant in the town where he has made prior arrangements. We did not realize this and had to hunt down our bags the first time this happened. (He told us that the plan would work but not that he counldn't leave our bag at the albergue!) And one time the place he used did not open early enough for us. (We left our packs at a different bar and WhatsApped him the location -- no problem). So if you plan to stay in a Xunta albergue just make sure to pin him down in advance about where he will deliver your bag. I really don't want to make it sound like he is not reliable -- he is. His is just a very small operation and these were very minor glitches.

I will add that we ran into a French pilgrim who was using Correros -- they were charging alot -- I think I remember 25 euros a day (last summer Manueal was charging 6 euros per day, per pack). And they do not transport on Sunday. After we talked to her, she switched to Manuel for the rest of her walk!

Buen Camino,
LizB

 

[Alissa_on_the_camino]

Thank you so much everyone for your replies and sharing such invaluable information . I'm going to look at all the links that you shared and also sign up for gronze. I'm thinking I'll buy the brierley guide also !

 

[trecile]

. I'm going to look at all the links that you shared and also sign up for gronze.

You don't need to sign up for Gronze unless you want to participate in their forums or leave a review.

 

[AnneMarie1]

Hi Alissa, We mostly did the Invierno last June. You can check out my Live from the Camino thread here. Some caveats about our walk: We were recovering from Covid when we started and skipped the first stage to Las Medulas. We also ended up having to take a second rest day and took the train from San Clodio to Monforte de Lemos. My husband also injured his knee so we were doing short stages and we took a cab from Diomondi to the top of the river canyon before Chantada to avoid the big up and down to the Rio Minho.

I made little guide before we left with our planned route based on the info I got from Gronze and from the Forum Guide (which is very good) and other sources. It is here. I updated it with notes about the walk when I posted it last August. We had a phone with us and used WhatsApp a lot, but we really tried to stay as tech free as we could so the paper guide was handy. I could only post a .pdf, so if you want the Word version which you can revise -- message me your email and I'll send it to you.

All this is to say that there are plenty of options along the route and you can make it work even under adverse conditions! And it is a very beautiful route. We walked the Primitivo in 2015. Regarding difficulty, I would say the two routes are comparable. The lodging options are a combo of pensions and albergues. We relied on the info in Gronze for contacts -- it was great. We never had issues and did not book more than a day ahead at most. The advice to contact places either the day before or morning of the day you will arrive is good e3ven if you aren't booking -- these places are not busy and even the albergues can be used for other purposes. You don't need to worry about this in Galicia because the albergues are staffed by paid folks.

Regarding Manuel Mar and bag transport. We used Manuel. He was very reasonable and reliable but he doesn't always communicate the complete info you might like the first time -- but he always responds to your WhatsApp messages. He will transport your bag from Ponferrada to Santiago. We found that he does not like email and responds much better to WhatsApp. If you want to use his service for the entire route, he will ask your itinerary and where you are staying in advance. He has a bag tag system that will ask you to fill in the entire itinerary on the tag. Don't worry about this. We changed our itinerary several times and were able to easily WhatsApp him and make the changes. Don't feel that you must stick to whatever planned itinerary you give him initially.

Also the Xunta albergues in Galicia do not accept bag transport. Manuel will deliver your pack to a bar or restaurant in the town where he has made prior arrangements. We did not realize this and had to hunt down our bags the first time this happened. (He told us that the plan would work but not that he counldn't leave our bag at the albergue!) And one time the place he used did not open early enough for us. (We left our packs at a different bar and WhatsApped him the location -- no problem). So if you plan to stay in a Xunta albergue just make sure to pin him down in advance about where he will deliver your bag. I really don't want to make it sound like he is not reliable -- he is. His is just a very small operation and these were very minor glitches.

I will add that we ran into a French pilgrim who was using Correros -- they were charging alot -- I think I remember 25 euros a day (last summer Manueal was charging 6 euros per day, per pack). And they do not transport on Sunday. After we talked to her, she switched to Manuel for the rest of her walk!

Buen Camino,
LizB

Just a caveat that the albergue in Villavieja (about halfway between Ponferrada and Las Médulas) is NOT staffed. You are supposed to call ahead to the ayuntamiento (number in Gronze), and they give you the door code. There’s no one there, AND there’s no food for miles around, so they advise bringing food from Ponferrada. There are some stores and bars in the tiny places before then, but they’re not reliably open. So it really is best to haul the food from Ponferrada. It’s a steep ascent, so plan carefully. The albergue is wonderful, though! Old schoolhouse wonderfully revamped. Comfortable mattresses and top and bottom sheets, blankets, nice showers, incredible views out all the windows, space heaters, Wi-Fi, nice sitting areas, washer and drier, well equipped kitchen. Just a wonderful space.

 

[Robo]

Just a caveat that the albergue in Villavieja (about halfway between Ponferrada and Las Médulas) is NOT staffed. You are supposed to call ahead to the ayuntamiento (number in Gronze), and they give you the door code. There’s no one there, AND there’s no food for miles around, so they advise bringing food from Ponferrada. There are some stores and bars in the tiny places before then, but they’re not reliably open. So it really is best to haul the food from Ponferrada. It’s a steep ascent, so plan carefully. The albergue is wonderful, though! Old schoolhouse wonderfully revamped. Comfortable mattresses and top and bottom sheets, blankets, nice showers, incredible views out all the windows, space heaters, Wi-Fi, nice sitting areas, washer and drier, well equipped kitchen. Just a wonderful space.

I had the whole place to myself a month or so back.
It was wonderful.
I took enough food for dinner and breakfast.
It was one of the best equipped Albergues I've been in.

 

[Robo]

Hello! Have found some great information here about the Invierno thank you !,. But I'm still still puzzled about accommodations and also the bag taxi.
I read that there is not a lot of choices for accommodations, ( for what it's worth I'm going in September ) , And I just wanted to confirm If that is the case or not.
Whether it be albergues or hotels .

Also, are bag taxis running ? Running for some legs ?

I did the primitivo in 2019 and am thinking it's going to be a very different experience ! Thanks for any info in advance...

I finished the Invierno about 3 weeks ago.
Loved it.

Sorry, I don't know about bag transport.

But accommodations are 'sufficient' at this stage.
I wanted to stick to 20 km days, so it meant going slightly off Camino as times, and being flexible with the type of accommodation available. Sometimes you'll have the choice of only one place. And you might be the only person there

You might find these of interest.

I have a daily blog HERE with video.
and a daily picture gallery HERE:

 

[AnneMarie1]

I had the whole place to myself a month or so back.
It was wonderful.
I took enough food for dinner and breakfast.
It was one of the best equipped Albergues I've been in.

I arrived and found one other pilgrim there, a woman from the Netherlands who hadn’t called ahead and didn’t know to bring food. She’d solicited help from the attendant at the castle to get in. Boy, was she glad to see me arrive with pasta and sauce and oatmeal for breakfast! We’ve dovetailed elsewhere since then, too. Shared a pensión room in Las Médulas.