SoydeIndia
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- Time of past OR future Camino
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Starting April 3 or 4 this year, and NOT planning to book anything ahead other than the first night.
Thank you RJM, this sets my mind at easeStart walking in late May/June to avoid cold weather (maybe the occasional chilly morning or evening is all). Pre book in Pamplona and Santiago. The rest of the Way, no worries.
So you will book.Starting April 3 or 4 this year, and NOT planning to book anything ahead other than the first night.
Yes, that one night, so that makes one out of 30ish nights ;-)So you will book.
My ratio for not booking! Maybe a happy medium if we average it!so that makes one out of 30ish nights
The problem may be that you hope the camino will conform to you rather than the other way around.ideally I would like to complete the walk with minimal prebooking. At the same time, I am not likely to get up at 5 am to walk, it's more likely that I am on the road at 7.
You can't always get what you want. It is easier to change what you want than what will be offered. There are strategies for easily getting a bed. Get up early. Stop early. Stop in midpoint towns. Reserve. It is not wise to reject ALL the possibilities. Don't reject the life preserver because you want a lifeboat.
I'll start as a firsttimer this year in May and decided not to prebook - except for SJPdP, Orrison & Roncevalles.
After that, I'll just walk with no booking ahead.
Should I find that there are bedraces and I cannot handle it well, then I can still change my mind and book my next accommodation either the day before or the same morning before starting to walk.
But I sincerly hope this will not be necessary, because I would like to stay as free as possible and stop wherever it suits me exactly that day.
The problem may be that you hope the camino will conform to you rather than the other way around.
You can't always get what you want. It is easier to change what you want than what will be offered. There are strategies for easily getting a bed. Get up early. Stop early. Stop in midpoint towns. Reserve. It is not wise to reject ALL the possibilities. Don't reject the life preserver because you want a lifeboat.
April will be less busy than May, with the exception of Semana Santa.
And of course it will be chillier.
But it's a lovely month to walk, and the sun is not up until 7-ish anyway.
I'd say (based on having walked the Frances in both months) book your first night and go from there, without boxing yourself in by over-planning. Even in May when it was pretty crowded, I didn't book and was fine - but made a point of staying in towns that were between the popular stopping places.
Expect anxiety about this (if that is your tendency), but see if you can just let it be there and take the leap anyway. One of the great lessons of the Camino is how we tend to be enslaved by fear. And how unnecessary it is, in the end.
Buen Camino!
Let me know how it goes, Alex. Buen camino!
Thank you for the update, Alex! I think I'll aim for April-May myself and see how it goes!Aww, nearly forgot to reply here!
It went very well for me this year. I did book in advance on the same day on few occasions when I knew I would be quite late on that day (after 5 in the evening) or when I wanted some specific and nice place to stay. I did it by phone for private albergues and for somewhat more upscale accommodation I did it via booking.com
Ooops, me too.Aww, nearly forgot to reply here!
I finished around two weeks ago, and indeed it was busy. I didn't pre-book anything though except for Santiago (and even that changed last second because of an issue with the hostel upon arrival). I only found two albergues to be full my entire Camino, and both were in the same town; a very large tour group booked them. There was a pensión available though so it worked out. If you're more comfortable pre-booking, you could try doing it in the mornings. I tried to keep things fairly open in case I needed to stop earlier than expected, etc.I will be curious to see how this goes for you,. I am looking at September, which i hear is busy. Don't know as much about Spring.
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