Booking ahead/bed availability WWYD?

[sjf]

I'll be walking a short Camino (5 days) starting October 10. I would love to go longer but this is all the time I can take off from work.

I had made the decision that I would start in Lugo and walk the primitive to the Frances, then on to Santiago. I wanted to get the experience of the quieter Primitivo, and I love Roman history so the walls of Lugo are a draw for me. I've started to worry about beds and bookings, so I booked in to an albuerge in Lugo for the first night. Great.

Only I can't find anything for the second night until Melide. It's a 50km walk, about half of the total route

What do I do? There's limited accommodation on this Camino. I could probably manage the 50km, but it's a lot more than I was planning to walk. I'm fairly fit and active, but would prefer stages that are more like 35km, not 50.

I think I have 3 options: go anyway and take a chance that I'll be able to find something in one of the small towns along the way, choose a different route and prebook (Sarria start for the Frances), or plan for a much shorter first day and walk only 18km to an earlier town with accommodations (which seems like a waste of a day when I'll want to walk a lot more).

I'm disappointed and worried about accommodations now. When I planned this camino, I deliberately picked a time when the worst of the crowd was supposed to have died down so I could avoid stresses like this. It seems like this year there are many more pilgrims than anticipated and the infrastructure just isn't there for us all.

What would you do? Are there any other options? I don't want to reschedule the whole trip because I've been looking forward to it, but I'm worried that i won't have anywhere to sleep at night. What happens to pilgrims who can't find beds???

 

[Bradypus]

I think that it is unlikely that the albergues between Lugo and Melide will all be full at that time in October. Are you worried because you have been unable to find places that accept advance bookings? There is a private albergue at Ferreira about 26km from Lugo which should be open then - https://www.alberguesdeferreira.com/?lang=en - and a Xunta albergue (open all year) that does not accept advance bookings about 6km further on at As Seixas. Have you looked at the Gronze website which lists a lot of possibilities in this section? I find it hard to believe they will all be full in mid-October. https://www.gronze.com/camino-primitivo

 

[trecile]

Where have you been looking for accommodations? Many (most maybe) of the smaller places are not online. I haven't walked the Primitivo, but I would be very surprised if you weren't able to find a bed in the small towns. I walked the Frances in July and August, and didn't really book ahead until after Sarria, though many people that I met didn't book ahead and they found beds.

 

[peregrina2000]

I'll be walking a short Camino (5 days) starting October 10. I would love to go longer but this is all the time I can take off from work.

I had made the decision that I would start in Lugo and walk the primitive to the Frances, then on to Santiago. I wanted to get the experience of the quieter Primitivo, and I love Roman history so the walls of Lugo are a draw for me. I've started to worry about beds and bookings, so I booked in to an albuerge in Lugo for the first night. Great.

Only I can't find anything for the second night until Melide. It's a 50km walk, about half of the total route

What do I do? There's limited accommodation on this Camino. I could probably manage the 50km, but it's a lot more than I was planning to walk. I'm fairly fit and active, but would prefer stages that are more like 35km, not 50.

I think I have 3 options: go anyway and take a chance that I'll be able to find something in one of the small towns along the way, choose a different route and prebook (Sarria start for the Frances), or plan for a much shorter first day and walk only 18km to an earlier town with accommodations (which seems like a waste of a day when I'll want to walk a lot more).

I'm disappointed and worried about accommodations now. When I planned this camino, I deliberately picked a time when the worst of the crowd was supposed to have died down so I could avoid stresses like this. It seems like this year there are many more pilgrims than anticipated and the infrastructure just isn't there for us all.

What would you do? Are there any other options? I don't want to reschedule the whole trip because I've been looking forward to it, but I'm worried that i won't have anywhere to sleep at night. What happens to pilgrims who can't find beds???

Hi, sjf,
You've gotten some good advice in the posts from trecile and bradypus. And I echo their opinion that is extremely unlikely that all is full, especially since, as @Bradypus points out, the two municipal albergues don't even take reservations.

Gronze shows all the options in Ferreira and As Seixas https://www.gronze.com/etapa/ferreira/melide If it's a private room you are after, the Albergue A Nave has them.

So, I would say you absolutely shouldn't worry, but if you are considering changing routes, consider the Ingles. No Roman ruins, but it is a "full" camino, goes through some nice places, particularly Betanzos and Pontedeume, and doesn't put you onto the Frances. I do love the Primitivo, but I think its real charm and magic are well before Lugo. And as you point out, after two days from Lugo you are on the Frances anyway!

In any event, do not despair, you have options and will find places to sleep no matter which route you choose! Buen camino, Laurie

 

[Tia Valeria]

A slightly short stage would give you the albergues at San Roman de Retorta, between Lugo and Ferreira and about 20kms from Lugo. It is a good first stage day out of Lugo IMO.
The Albergue O Candido can be booked and does (pre-ordered) meals. It has rooms or dormitory accommodation. The municipal albergue is just next door.

 

[sjf]

Thanks. Ok, I'll stop worrying, and I'll trust that there will indeed be something before I get to Melide.

I did want to see part of the Frances, so I would like to stick to my original route, unless it involves sleeping outside

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Sobraado de los Monxes is in between the two, and it's a fabulously moldering stone pile with monks still chanting the hours inside. They have a rather damp albergue, as well as nice rooms in the hospederia upstairs. I was there in July, and it was a high point in my walk from Lugo.

 

[Juanma]

Hi all. Sorry to say, but Albergue A Nave has closed for the season on September 30th. Pilgrims can stay with us in our other albergue (Ponte Ferreira), or at the rural house with private rooms nearby, Casa da Ponte. Best wishes!

 

[Kiwi-family]

Sobraado de los Monxes is in between the two, and it's a fabulously moldering stone pile with monks still chanting the hours inside. They have a rather damp albergue, as well as nice rooms in the hospederia upstairs. I was there in July, and it was a high point in my walk from Lugo.

Are the green arrows sufficient to get you to the fabulously moldering stone pile or would you take a map?

 

[Rebekah Scott]

you can follow the green route out of Lugo -- it starts out wonderfully, following the river, then a babbling brook lined with old water-mills. But then it kinda loses itself. You're never really LOST, everyone finds his way to Friol, but if you're traveling with children, not good. It's best to follow the regular marked route. Both end up at Sobraado on the second day.