Albergues currently closed in Santiago.

[TheLostPhotographer]

Haven't searched for this news, but thought I'd post anyway just to be sure. There are no albergues currently open in Santiago. The Semanario is closed for refurbishment until April 2009. The San Lorenzo albergue is just closed. There is apparently a new albergue on it's way, but it's way behind schedule (if at all - very secondhand info).

Monte do Goto is allowing pilgrims Four nights stay at €3/night to compensate. 3KM walk from the center of Santiago, or last stop on a number 6 bus at 90 Cents. Every 20 minutes apparently. I waited about 45 minutes for the first bus to show. Monte do Goto is open until 11PM (and later if you're very quiet).

 

[KiwiNomad06]

I stayed in Monte de Gozo and can recommend it there. We had thought we would walk right into Santiago on July 4th, but the weather really packed it in, and it was so misty on top of Monte de Gozo we could barely even see the path ahead, let alone find the albergue. So we decided to stop there and walk in the following morning. It turned out to be a great choice, especially as we met a lot of people we had walked with at various times who had decided to do the same thing.

The facility at Monte de Gozo is enormous, but surprisingly it all felt quite 'homely'. The hospitalero we struck on arrival, Manuel, was very welcoming. And the spacious rooms were divided off into eight bed sections (4 bunks). There were good laundry facilities on site. There was a restaurant, but we were there when zillions of young soccer players were in other parts of the site, and eating there wasn't pleasant. I would suggest bringing your own food to prepare in the small kitchen, or eating in Santiago itself.

Next morning we walked 4km into Santiago with the luxury of day packs only, having left our big packs behind at Monte de Gozo. We caught the bus back later in the day, complete with our Compostelas. There was a bus timetable on the office wall at Monte de Gozo - there are fewer buses on the weekend, especially Sundays, so it was helpful then to know when they were due.
Margaret