Bivvy Baging from Le Puy to the Santiago, Is it possible?

[Fint71]

Hello All,
Next year i hope to use my Rab Ridge Raider Bivvy bag on the trek from Le Puy to Santiago. Any advice from people who have done this would be a great help. Not at all worried about comfort, tough as ould boots me but i do need advice on the best places to set up camp in France and Spain. Thanks in advance.

 

[Kitsambler]

As a start, I believe Miam Miam Dodo includes campgrounds in the listings. That would be formal campgrounds, though. Perhaps you're looking for the informal sort?

 

[trinni]

Hey fint,

afaik "bivouacer est permis" in France. I have had no problems with sometimes setting a tent for the night in 2008 -- though wasn't mine. Your bivvy of course is gonna be much more stealth. Just keep your eyes open for nice spots to stay the night . In smaller places you might want to try to talk with the maire if you cannot avoid being seen -- it is a 50:50 then, at least this is what I experienced.

Would love to take the pilgrimage from Puy to Santiago once more -- next time I'd take a hammock, a tarp and a down quilt with me... and more lightweight stuff.

All the best!

 

[Caminando]

Hello All,
Next year i hope to use my Rab Ridge Raider Bivvy bag on the trek from Le Puy to Santiago. Any advice from people who have done this would be a great help. Not at all worried about comfort, tough as ould boots me but i do need advice on the best places to set up camp in France and Spain. Thanks in advance.

Great idea!

You dont need advice on where to camp if you're stealth camping; you only need an eye to read the land for that private place where you will have peace to sleep, and where nobody knows you're there. I dont know about your bivvy bag, but I had to attach a sort of mosquito net to the entry to mine, not so much for mosquitos but for ants, which wander in, then you roll on them, then they bite. Otherwise theyre fine clean insects and no problem.

In order to be able to sleep well on bumpy or rocky ground , I sometimes carry a hiker's lightweight airbed.

 

[newfydog]

You'll be fine. I camped in the middle of one of the most photgraphed Roman bridges on my first trip. I set up late, left early, left no trace and no one complained, or really, even saw me.

I've since found I'm not so tough and would rather take in the bars and restaurants of the towns, so I travel differently, but in my early years I camped all over France and Spain without one negative incident, and many good encouters with the locals. As a courtesy to others, time your stay according to how public your location is.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I encountered a hand-made sign leaving Sarria that said, "Please wake at 9," and had an arrow pointing out into the grass! Some stealth, unless the English was for concealment. It is hard to imagine that anyone cared.

 

[robertt]

Next time, I'm taking an ultralight tarp and bug-bivy that work with trekking poles. It's not for every night, but I love having the option.

I saw many good camping spots on the Le Puy route, both official and unofficial. A young French lady I met in my gite in Cahors uses a hammock frequently on the GR. It's not even a hammock tent!

I find that wilderness camping in Oz is more regulated than Camino camping. If I leave the site spotless and don't make fires (I have a very light little Trangia which I swear by) there shouldn't be any probs. If anyone tells me I can't camp somewhere...I can't camp there!