Avoiding Easter crowds 2022

[BarbaraW]

We are hoping to complete our Camino, from Burgos to SDC, in April/May 2022. Having got deeper into our seventies since our our pre-pandemic first stage, it'll be a slow walk - 6-8 weeks. We hope to walk all the way, carrying our own light as possible packs. Which means that we are likely to be in Spain over Easter. When we walked in autumn 2019, we loved staying in albergues and the flexibility of not booking ahead.

My friend and I have both experienced Semana Santa in Spain, and this time we would like to avoid the crowds and expensive accommodation needing pre-booking..

We'd welcome advice from experienced pilgrims on how best to do this. We are thinking that we should try to avoid big towns and to stay in the "between stage" places during Semana Santa. Or is it likely to be very busy absolutely everywhere?

 

[C clearly]

Just being "in-between" might not be enough. While a walking pilgrim may think they are a safe distance from a city, many visitors will have cars and can stay 30 km from the popular cities. So you will want to be truly away from the most popular places, particularly for the two weekends at each end of Semana Santa.

Having said that, you might still have good luck with a fairly large non-reservable albergue in a popular city, since it will be first-come first-served.

I would avoid anywhere in the last 100 km during that 10-day period, unless I had reservations.

 

[henrythedog]

Over Semana Santa you’re caught between the larger towns and cities which attract visitors for the procesiones and the considerable number of Spaniards and other peregrinos who have a week’s holiday and choose to Camino.

Book your accomodation and don’t expect to be on your own, IMHO. Semana Santa gets progressively busier up to and including Easter Monday.

Planning to arrive in Santiago, or even to travel the last 100Km on the Camino Frances, would be to invite significant crowds.

 

[Anniesantiago]

Book now.
I'll be in Manresa for Semana Santa and we've booked already.
I've been in Spain several times before during Semana Santa; once in Madrid (WOW!) and once in Sevilla (WOW!); and another time in Granada/Cordoba (WOW!). I'm getting excited just thinking about it!

What we found was that even the small villages were full b/c everybody went home for the holiday!

 

[henrythedog]

Book now.
I'll be in Manresa for Semana Santa and we've booked already.
I've been in Spain several times before during Semana Santa; once in Madrid (WOW!) and once in Sevilla (WOW!); and another time in Granada/Cordoba (WOW!). I'm getting excited just thinking about it!

What we found was that even the small villages were full b/c everybody went home for the holiday!

Annie - go to Malaga for Semana Santa at least once. I’ll take your WOW and raise you one! The crowds are much less oppressive, but the atmosphere and proximity to the procesiones- which are more ‘intense’ than either Sevilla or Madrid in my experience - is quite amazing. There’s not the corporate pre-booked-seats aspect which prevails elsewhere; it’s all in the (narrow) streets where the tronos fit with inches to spare. In Sevilla the tronos tend to be carried from underneath and have something of a ‘hovercraft’ appearance. In Malaga it’s a huge community effort. Quite extraordinary; especially in the early hours of the morning.

 

[Saint Mike II]

As reported above Easter is a very special time for virtually all Spaniards. This Easter (April 14 (holy Thursday) through to the Monday after Easter Day (Sunday April 17) many business places will be closed and accommodation will be tight. Your might need to plan well ahead and book accommodation - even consider staying two nights in one of the larger towns. The festivities might well be worth your time to enjoy.

 

[good_old_shoes]

Since most of the advice that was given was to "book now", I'll try to balance that out a bit ;-).


I've walked during semana santa without booking ahead. It was quite busy with lots of Spaniards walking, but I still always got a bed at the first albergue I walked into. Never payed more than the usual albergue price. Same for the last 100km that year. That was some years ago, but even back then there was a lot of talk and anxiety about "not getting a bed because of the crowds". For me at least it wasn't a problem at all.

If you walk short days, arrive early at the albergues, and use simple "first come, first serve" albergues that can not be booked in advance, you probably have got the best chance of getting away without making reservations. Look for older albergues with little to no luxury. There should still be at least a few with "no reservations, only walking pilgrims, carry your own backpack" rules. Those at least won't be booked out months ahead by the booking.com crowds.

Of course, it's Covid times now and everything is different. But there are enough reports of people who managed to walk without or with only some days of reservation even during these special times. If you want to be sure, make reservations for your first and last night, for the bigger cities and the last 100kms at least a few days before you get there. Many people will walk next year, it will be busy, so some planning is certainly wise. But booking ahead months before seems a bit excessive to me, especially when you want to sleep in albergues and not private rooms.


Just another opinion of course. I haven't walked in Spain during pandemic times, so maybe I'm just naive. But I do plan to walk next year, and certainly won't book before I get there.

 

[Kathar1na]

We are hoping to complete our Camino, from Burgos to SDC, in April/May 2022.

Whereabouts are you planning to be during Semana Santa in 2022, especially on Thursday, Friday and Saturday? Next year's Semana Santa will be in a Jacobean Holy Year, and few of us have walked during such a combination of factors. In particular, I would be very wary of any predictions about accommodation in non-bookable albergues in Galicia, given these circumstances ... whether it's "no problems" or "huge problems".

 

[Anniesantiago]

Annie - go to Malaga for Semana Santa at least once. I’ll take your WOW and raise you one! The crowds are much less oppressive, but the atmosphere and proximity to the procesiones- which are more ‘intense’ than either Sevilla or Madrid in my experience - is quite amazing. There’s not the corporate pre-booked-seats aspect which prevails elsewhere; it’s all in the (narrow) streets where the tronos fit with inches to spare. In Sevilla the tronos tend to be carried from underneath and have something of a ‘hovercraft’ appearance. In Malaga it’s a huge community effort. Quite extraordinary; especially in the early hours of the morning.

Maybe next season! I'd like to walk that Malaga route again. I gave up early when the olive trees overtook my sanity, but maybe with a walking partner, it would be better. The first part of it was quite beautiful and Malaga itself was an amazing place!

 

[Thomas1962]

On samana santa most of the albergues are open again. It is a feast for Spanish people. Most of them celebrate with big parties in towns, a few will do a camino. My experience is that there is no need to book albergues, as long as you stay in the pilgrimsalbergues. Avoid the bigger places where albergues might take people on their holidays.

 

[trevorcc]

We are hoping to complete our Camino, from Burgos to SDC, in April/May 2022. Having got deeper into our seventies since our our pre-pandemic first stage, it'll be a slow walk - 6-8 weeks. We hope to walk all the way, carrying our own light as possible packs. Which means that we are likely to be in Spain over Easter. When we walked in autumn 2019, we loved staying in albergues and the flexibility of not booking ahead.

My friend and I have both experienced Semana Santa in Spain, and this time we would like to avoid the crowds and expensive accommodation needing pre-booking..

We'd welcome advice from experienced pilgrims on how best to do this. We are thinking that we should try to avoid big towns and to stay in the "between stage" places during Semana Santa. Or is it likely to be very busy absolutely everywhere?

I walked over Easter in 2018, I stopped in between recommended stages, and had no problems as there were few walkers and the locals who I enjoyed walking with and talking to were mostly only on the road for a week. Thinking of doing it again in 2022 and I am in my 70's , the small towns and villages had wonderful Easter masses.

 

[Jodean]

Decided to see the Pamplona processions on Good Friday, so booked a bed. Lucked out there as most places were booked!
Looking at reserving in Puenta La Reina for Easter Sat. but not sure about Easter Sun. and Mon. if reserving is a must in the following towns.
Any experience there?

 

[good_old_shoes]

Looking at reserving in Puenta La Reina for Easter Sat. but not sure about Easter Sun. and Mon. if reserving is a must in the following towns.
Any experience there?

I just had a look at my old credential to be sure. I was in Cizur menor on good friday, Puente la Reina on easter saturday, in Estella on sunday and Los Arcos on monday.

Got a bed in albergue Roncal in Cizur Menor, the padres reparadores in Puente la Reina, the parroquial in Estella and the Isaac Santiago albergue in Los Arcos, all without reservation. But that was in 2015, and not in a holy year after a pandemic. Also I didn't mind in which town or albergue I ended up for the night, other than that I preferred municipals and parroquials if possible.

If you want to be sure to have a bed in a certain town booking is probably a good idea. Especially if you want a private room in a pension or hotel or want to stay in a certain albergue! Some of the places I stayed in back then seem to be closed for pandemic reasons still. Who knows what it will be like next year.

Happy planning and buen camino

 

[Ron Cesvalles]

Other than possibly Sarria to Santiago you will find Easter very quiet on the Camino.

 

[Esperanza]

Hi Barbara,
My husband and I are probably going to walk the same route at about the same time, but we are planning to avoid the Easter situation (whatever it may be) by starting after Easter, in mid to late April. I don’t want to be walking in very hot weather. We’re figuring it’ll take us 4-6 weeks, so we’ll finish before it gets too hot, but even if you take a bit longer, mid June is still nice.

Just tossing that out there as an option no one else has mentioned. Whatever you decide, buen camino to you.

 

[Entrenous]

Hi Barbara,
My husband and I are probably going to walk the same route at about the same time, but we are planning to avoid the Easter situation (whatever it may be) by starting after Easter, in mid to late April. I don’t want to be walking in very hot weather. We’re figuring it’ll take us 4-6 weeks, so we’ll finish before it gets too hot, but even if you take a bit longer, mid June is still nice.

Just tossing that out there as an option no one else has mentioned. Whatever you decide, buen camino to you.

I also plan on doing this although my start dates will 18th / 19th April....... hoping to avoid the crowds..

 

[BarbaraW]

A belated thank you to all who replied. As it turns out my walking companion is needed for grandparent duties over Easter, so we have decided to leave the UK in the week after Easter and will hope to start walking round about 22 April. But who knows after two years of postponements. We should probably have made a dash for it last autumn (though in our 70s we don't do much dashing!)

 

[Oxford Alice]

I'm starting from Roncesvalles on the 6th of April, so will be walking during Holy Week. I'm booking what I can, based on past experience, and plan to arrive in Santo Domingo de Calzada on Saturday the 16th so that I can spend Easter in that beautiful town. I'm staying at the parador for 2 nights. Whoop whoop! I can go day-by-day after that, but I feel more confident if I book the first nights ahead of time.

 

[NateDenver]

Hi Barbara,
My husband and I are probably going to walk the same route at about the same time, but we are planning to avoid the Easter situation (whatever it may be) by starting after Easter, in mid to late April. I don’t want to be walking in very hot weather. We’re figuring it’ll take us 4-6 weeks, so we’ll finish before it gets too hot, but even if you take a bit longer, mid June is still nice.

Just tossing that out there as an option no one else has mentioned. Whatever you decide, buen camino to you.

Well I may see you there. I am planning on flying out of boston around the 14th of april, taking my time, 2-3 days, to get to SJPDP and starting midweek after everything is over. Around the 20th. Hoping the crowds have mostly gone home by then. I will happily experience easter week in france and maybe next year in spain. Just not major holiday crowds for my first camino.

 

[Esperanza]

@NateDenver
Hi Nate! We’re starting a few days later but from Pamplona, so you are right; we just may see each other on the way. I have experienced Semana Santa several times in Europe and Mexico. It can be really fun, but I feel no need to include it in my Camino this time. Welcome to the forum and buen camino to you!