August 2018?

[gamblerqza]

Hello guys,

At risk to go over the same string I wanna ask you, does somebody has made camino del norte in the past summer of 2017 year? I'm wondering is it too crowded at that time?!
I've been read a few posts here that sometimes you've need to book the place in albergue in advance, because of the touristic season in August. I really prefer a quiet version of that camino experience, however I'm not able to do it in different time of the year. One more question, in your opinion what is the shortest period I'll be able to reach Santiago?

Thanks beforehand!

BR,
V.

 

[Lavdrum]

I walked part of Camino del Norte beginning in Irún on June 22nd 2017 and finishing in Avilés on July 11th. I stayed in the municipal pilgrim Albergues everywhere, you cannot book these in advance. The only place I saw major pressure on the accommodation was in Pobena, there was a long queue by 2pm and only about 35 beds. Some pilgrims slept out in the garden as the place was full by about 3pm. There did not seem to be any other accommodation in that village.
There were far more pilgrims on this Camino than I had anticipated but not crowded. It is very beautiful and getting more popular all the time.

 

[gamblerqza]

I walked part of Camino del Norte beginning in Irún on June 22nd 2017 and finishing in Avilés on July 11th. I stayed in the municipal pilgrim Albergues everywhere, you cannot book these in advance. The only place I saw major pressure on the accommodation was in Pobena, there was a long queue by 2pm and only about 35 beds. Some pilgrims slept out in the garden as the place was full by about 3pm. There did not seem to be any other accommodation in that village.
There were far more pilgrims on this Camino than I had anticipated but not crowded. It is very beautiful and getting more popular all the time.

Thanks for the info, Lavdrum! It's useful!It's good to know that accommodation in the summer is still acceptable. I'm a little bit sciptic that in August the situiation should be different. It is a peak of the summer season and a lot of people goes to the seaside, that is my misgiving. May I ask you is the average distance you've did per day? I've got limited time and trying to figure out what is the optimal distance I can walk per day.

 

[Lavdrum]

I walked about 25 or 30 kms. each day. The stages up to Bilbao from Irún were quite arduous-a lot of up and down terrain. I walked before the peak holiday season in Spain which is August so you will probably find more competition for beds. However the Norte infrastructure is developing fast so there will probably be new private Albergues available this year which did not exist last year. The weather was very nice for walking- never above 25 centigrade. Also there was little or no rain-it rained one day and slight drizzle on a couple of other occasions. Enjoy, it’s so beautiful!,