Albergues blankets available now?

[Paul the carer]

I am getting my packing together for my Camino start on the 2nd May 2023 and wondering what to take. Please can anyone let me know if the albergues are providing blankets now as it will save me packing a sleeping bag. I am taking a warm sleeping bag liner already.

Thanks in advance for any info you can provide.

 

[Bradypus]

There is no simple yes/no answer - some albergues are providing blankets and others do not.

 

[Paul the carer]

Thanks for the info

 

[SabsP]

I really would take a light sleepingbag with me.Like @Bradypus writes it can be hit and miss.
Also I would not be sure about the hygiene of some blankets.
I wrote on another thread that aside from bedbugs also scabies unfortunately is making a reentrance in Europe.

 

[mspath]

As Tincatinkar posted in another recent thread on blankets there something very comforting in slipping into your own bag and liner every night. That way you know that you are within your own "dirt" and not directly exposed to what others may have left.

 

[Ianinam]

In the albergue of Roncesvalles we do not have blankets.
And in albergues where you find blankets, you never know when they were washed the last time ...
So bring your own lightweight sleepingbag.

 

[Paul the carer]

This is true and did know about scabies, thanks for your info.

In the albergue of Roncesvalles we do not have blankets.
And in albergues where you find blankets, you never know when they were washed the last time ...
So bring your own lightweight sleepingbag.

Thanks, I have packed a small sleeping bag

 

[Marbe2]

We bring lite 3 season sleeping bags even though we usually stay in private bedrooms that do have blankets on the beds. We remove the blankets from the beds, check the beds, make sure the sheets were changed (you can tell) and then put our sleeping bags on the bed.

Even if I am in a fine hotel in the USA. (without a sleeping bag), I also take off the spreads, and blankets off the beds and adjust the temperatures accordingly.
Bed spreads are full of germs!

I am highly allergic to bed bugs and so I am very careful about where I rest.

 

[Portach]

I am getting my packing together for my Camino start on the 2nd May 2023 and wondering what to take. Please can anyone let me know if the albergues are providing blankets now as it will save me packing a sleeping bag. I am taking a warm sleeping bag liner already.

Thanks in advance for any info you can provide.

I walked Salamanca to Santiago in April some years ago. In one albergue on the 20something of April there were no blankets provided, the proprietor
loudly proclaiming that it was summer. In others the single blanket provided was woefully inadequate for the chill. I would now prefer to carry a light sleeping bag that’s not needed than suffer cold nights. Others might be happy to risk the occasional uncomfortable night.

 

[Anniesantiago]

In May I would definitely take a sleeping bag.

 

[Jodean]

Walked the Camino Frances last spring and all of May, it was still quite cold at night as well as in the morning. Like others have said, it is nice to have your own sleeping cocoon. Perhaps toss a blanket on top, but have seen a lot of blankets that I would not want to have on my bag or sleep with. This goes for sheets too.

 

[Former member 92300]

Some do. Some don't. Those that have them - blankets are not washed frequently.

I always recommend brining your own. Even in summer I have had cold nights.

If you stay solely in private rooms - they almost always provide blankets.

 

[DJwalKing]

I wish I'd read this post before I walked in 2016. I didn't take a blanket or sleeping bag and there were a couple times when I regretted it.

In addition to what's already been posted, another thing to note is that if you do decide to wing it and use albergue blankets, be sure to ask for one, and ask early. They won't just give one to you, and they don't have an unlimited number. I nearly froze to death in a parochial albergue in Pamplona in early May. I got back too late to get a blanket (they had all been distributed) and it was beyond cold inside.

I also got chewed out by the hospitaliera at an albergue in the mountains. She was incensed that we were asking for blankets.

 

[Vacajoe]

Currently serving at the Canfranc Pueblo albergue on the French Way through Aragon. We have blankets AND heat!!!! Which is a good thing because it’s snowing outside