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Book dinner in advance or not?

W

Walking Mad

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
SJDP to Burgos Sept 2018
Hi all
I booked two wks solo walking from SJDP to Burgos starting 8th Sept next! I went through a company and have organised for accomodation and dinner in most of my stops! what I would like to know is should I amend this and only select dinner option booking in places where there is no choice of places to eat or am I wasting money booking dinners in advance at all? Was afraid i might arrive at accommodation and be told they are fully booked for food! First timer..
 
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Hi there, Walking! Welcome to the forum!

It is perfectly normal to be a bit apprehensive of what will be available and what not. But don´t worry, there are plenty of places to eat in Spain, and food is pretty good!

If you can choose dinner solely for places with no options, I'd go for that. One of the beauties of the Camino is to enjoy meals with people you meet along the way, or maybe by yourself. some of the cities have such nice restaurants and bars - and depending on what you had to eat along the day, you may not want a full meal at night.

After a few days on the Camino you kinda notice that you eat because you are hungry, not because it's time to eat. So, imho, booking the meals in advance cuts a lot of flexibility and can be a bit of a waste. food is cheap and plenty in most parts of the camino, you should not have a problem finding options.
 
I wouldn't book meals ahead, except maybe places where there aren't any other options. I wouldn't want to be stuck the whole way with whatever the tour company chooses for restaurants. And as mentioned, you will probably want to eat with the people you meet along the way, cook together sometimes, eat very light sometimes due to a heavier meal earlier in the day, etc. There is a lot of food available on the Camino. And even in places where there aren't any options other than what the alberque or other type lodging offers, they pretty much figure that they need to have enough food for all of the guests so you can let them know when you check in.
 
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I would look at the location of the accommodations that have been booked for you. I have walked the Camino Frances three times and most of the people booking with tour groups were staying off the Camino or out of town. If you are staying in town, I would try to mingle with other pilgrims and wouldn't book dinner, but if you are in a Casa Rural out of town you might not have options without transportation.
 
Years ago stopped at the albergue in the church at Hornillos. Right across the street was a small restaurant/cafe/bar run by three sisters, two as servers the other in the kitchen - a place called Casa Manole. That time not a lot of options in Hornillos so I crossed the street for dinner only to be told that one must book, first sitting full come back later. Two Riojas ---maybe more---with fellow caminantes the bar and the second sitting began. Two of the five options were done so I chose the meatballs-Spanish meatballs being something I like very much. I received a plate with probably 20 meatballs since the sister cooked everything fresh daily and would not save anything. Ate a much as I could, put the rest in a bag for tomorrows lunch sandwich and went off stuffed with a grand feeling that there was no need to book.
 
I rather believe in not booking ahead. And actually feel it is really not necessary for meals. Looking back at my Camino one of the big, big experiences was setting off at dawn and not knowing at all what lay ahead, where I would stop, where I would find food. I am someone who likes to organize travel, so this was a big step for me outside my comfort zone and it created the situation I needed for the experiences with which I returned. In my opinion! Oh, and then the couple of times I booked accommodations ahead because I heard someone saying there would be no room, I almost always regretted it because on arriving I would see another place that I would rather have stayed and wished I had just left it alone.
 
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PS One should never say a disparaging word concerning the Camino. The Albergue Municipal in the church in Hornillos is not remembered as being one of the better places I stayed then. A bit over-populated, encouraging the pilgrim to get to know his/her fellow pilgrim too well, a place which had not yet heard that cleanliness is next to godliness. There were not to many other options then. We survived.
 
It used to be first come first served but some groups would get in early and try and spend the whole evening in there. At least there's the shop on the way in so you can picnic.
 
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The furthest ahead I ever booked a meal was when checking into an albergue and being asked whether I wanted to partake of a communal meal there that evening. That generally required booking and I was happy to do so.
 
My sis and I decided to walk our 2nd to last day from Padron to Teo. Short but we wanted to be fresh going into SdC. I booked a room in what I thought was Teo. Turns out it was in Insua, waaay off the Camino. Like 8mi and a taxi ride. We found this out from the hospitalerio who called our taxi. Her hostel looked very nice and clean, quiet. Wish we could hv stayed there but I would hv been charged for a no show at the B&B. Which by the way was fabulous Argo da Gandarela. Booking.com moral of the story is really no need to book ahead.
 
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My bride and I just walked into Santiago on June 15 from St. Jean. We too worked through a company that secured our accomodations every night, 35 of them. Except for the larger cities, all of our rooms in the pueblos were in small, charming, family owned and operated hotels. Hospitality was superb. I'd say 95% of those little places had dinner, "menú del día" or peregrinos meal, usually for 10-12 euros. Plus breakfast was always included.
If the hotel didn't offer dinner, there were other nice little cafes or restaurants to find a meal (and menú del día).
We never made a dinner reservation, was never necessary. Worked out just fine.
BTW, we're both in our 60s and have some minor "needs" that a private accomodation is more conducive for us.
 
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