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Try Gronze.com and consider taking it as it comes.
I had a hard time finding anything in SJPdP (pension), and we’re having to walk to Burgette, not Roncesvilles due to lack of availability there too. Zubiri I could find nothing, and had to settle for Lasarronia. Pamplona was ok. My wife and daughter join us in Leon, to walk the rest of the way, and they were having a hard time on that end as well to book the first few nights. It’s a greater challenge than I thought.
It's a vicious circle at work. People have heard/read online about accommodation shortages in May and so book well in advance. Which means that those places which allow reservation months in advance are soon fully booked. And people who can't book in advance then post in places like this about the accommodation shortage....
If you really want private space, something else to look at if there are a few of you, is apartments. Easier to find in bigger towns, they have good facilities, and often multiple bedrooms. On a per bed basis, I found them not too badly priced.
Covid hasn't helped matters either. Quite a few places closed permanently during the lockdown periods and have not reopened. Perhaps in time they may or will be replaced by new albergues/hostals. In the meantime bed numbers are still reduced and early signs are that this will be another very busy year as large numbers of pilgrims return to the Caminos after all the travel restrictions of the past couple of years. A double blow.
It is more challenging because you are also limiting yourselves to privates and small dorm rooms. I am willing to bet Roncesvalles has plenty of room in their huge Albergue. Have you checked? It isn’t on a booking website - you reserve on its private website. But it is true that Roncesvalles does not have many private rooms. Have you also checked the larger dorm rooms in SJPDP? Now - Zubiri does fill up their reservable beds so that doesn’t surprise me. As does Orisson/Borda.
Thank you, that is helpful. We plan to do a mixture of albergues and pensions. We do want the full camino experience. We'll keep the apartment idea in mind - hadn't considered that.
It will be very difficult to get reservations now in certain areas. As others have indicated, you probably won’t find much available if you are trying to book private rooms at the beginning and end of-the camino. But in contrast, to what others are writing,… I have found, in peak season when the booking sites are full, most often, there Is not availability when I contact the accommodation directly. In order to “make things work”, be flexible. Consider alternate Locations, use buses or taxis to transport you to your base. Maybe find a central location on stages and taxi to the beginning, then walk back,etc. it is not ideal, of course.
Burguette is a cute little town!
Thanks for the suggestion. I checked Posada Roncesvalles yesterday and again today. It said the same thing - 'This property has no availability May 26-27'. So, perhaps they may be not listing anything on bookings.com, or they are indeed sold out. You checked for the weekend - we need a spot in Roncesvalles on the Friday night (May 26th). My search continues!
As I said, I checked availabilities on La Posada’s own website and own booking system:
laposada.roncesvalles.es
As stated by Kathar1na - try their website directly. If not - I highly recommend booking in the big albergue that night so you don’t have to walk beyond Roncesvalles when you are exhausted from the first day. Better to get rest in a larger albergue than push beyond if you are exhausted - as many of us are that first day. After Pamplona it should be easier to find private rooms - but be flexible is at all possible.
I didn't know that San Nicolás had any private rooms. That's not indicated on Gronze or on their website.
alberguesannicolas.com
I haven’t stayed there. I wrote asking if they had ´una habitación para dos peregrinos’, and they replied yes and confirmed a reservation. Perhaps when we arrived it may have turned out to be dormitory beds. I guess my point was that it’s easy to contact accommodation directly. It does look very nice. We are hoping to be on the Frances in November so might stay there if they’re open
I understand.I haven’t stayed there. I wrote asking if they had ´una habitación para dos peregrinos’, and they replied yes and confirmed a reservation. Perhaps when we arrived it may have turned out to be dormitory beds. I guess my point was that it’s easy to contact accommodation directly. It does look very nice
I am starting my Camino in Astorga at the end of April, and it has not been easy to make reservations. I am mixing albergues and private rooms as the last resource. I am also trying to stay in off-stage towns, and contacting directly the hospitalero which may take a day or two for them to return your email or whatsup text. I have heard many comments in this forum about how the number of pilgrims has increased this year, reason to reserve in advance since I am walking solo.
I found the best way is to send the Albergue an email requesting a check in and check out dates and have used google translate to translate in Spanish. Make sure you give them you phone no as well.
I'm not very surprised it gets overlooked. There was a post recently from someone who was finding difficulty booking a few days after Easter and had not even considered that Easter might be a factor in the problem. If you can just overlook Easter then not thinking about Whitsun is child's play!
Have you looked at Airbnb’s for lodging?
I’ll second the Mountain Shuttle. We used this service in 2018 and it worked out wonderful.I think you w
It will be very difficult to get reservations now in certain areas. As others have indicated, you probably won’t find much available if you are trying to book private rooms at the beginning and end of-the camino. But in contrast, to what others are writing,… I have found, in peak season when the booking sites are full, most often, there Is not availability when I contact the accommodation directly. In order to “make things work”, be flexible. Consider alternate Locations, use buses or taxis to transport you to your base. Maybe find a central location on stages and taxi to the beginning, then walk back,etc. it is not ideal, of course.
You can use a shuttle in bring you back to SJPdP if you want to split that first stage.
The Mountain Shuttle
An help for the walk from St Jean pied de port to Roncesvalles.
Every morning and afternoon, a shuttle runs from St Jean pied de port to go to La Croix Thibault, passing by the “Route Napoleon”. You can choose your stop according to your physical capacity and your desire.
Why to use it ?
- You think that you can’t walk the whole stage from St Jean pied de Port to Roncesvalles. This service shorten this stage.
- You want to walk this stage in 2 days, but the refuge of Orisson is fully booked, or you would prefer to sleep in one hotel of St Jean pied de Port instead of Orisson. You can Go & Back with us. Day 1 : you walk from St Jean pied de Port to the Virgen of Orisson. At 14h40, we pick up you there and we go down to St Jean PP. Day 2 : at 08h30, we transport you back to the Virgen and you can walk to Roncesvalles.
Walking the Camino Francis 20+ years ago the idea of booking accommodation never occurred to me. It just was not necessary. And walking the R de la P with my wife at that time we found ourselves the only pilgrims at refuges on most of the 42 stages.
I agree that 20+ years ago there was rarely any need to reserve accommodation on the Frances. It never crossed my mind to do so on my first two Caminos either. But I think you are wrong about France and tents. There are many pilgrims who rely on gites and similar accommodation and do not carry a tent.
It was only 7 years ago that I walked my first Camino, and I only made a reservation at Orisson - it didn't occur to me that I would need to book anything else.
Yeah, I did it 22 years ago, and it seems to be a whole different thing now. I'm doing it again this year (soon!) and am trying to keep an open mind about how all things evolve, etc. but I admit I'm a little worried that I'll be disheartened by what it's become, and it'll ruin my memory of what the Camino is.
I was the same back six years ago on my first Camino I only had Orrison booked , I do have to admit that I was a lot younger and faster. Most days we were first at the municipal Albergue, these days I’m not as fast and have pre booked most of my accommodations.
And start before the Easter rush like you must have done! I walked the Camino Frances in January this year. Certainly there were cold days and a couple of wet ones but I was very lucky with weather. Mostly dry and bright. Some long days because of the limited number of places that were open. No luggage transfers. A surprising amount of company - including many Korean pilgrims who seem to favour winter as a time to walk. A beautiful experience. Like going back 30 years but with much better accommodation!
I think there might be more people (vs. 5 years ago) booking outside the albergues because of concerns about Covid. I am hoping all these people who've booked have the courtesy to cancel out as soon as they know they won't be making those distances, so others can have the spaces. (Or maybe they'll just plan to bus/taxi to wherever they the reservation?) This is a whole different ballgame than it used to be. We'll see...
I think it might have depended on the season or day? We walked from SJPdP starting in mid Sept. of 2015. I started booking 2.5 months before we went and had a very difficult time making reservations. Luckily, we were able to eventually book The Hotel Roncevalle after someone else likely cancelled. There were no rooms to be had in. Zubiri. So we made the second day quite short then walked to Larrasoana, for accommodations, to a place … I would not stay in again. Almost every town up to Burgos, including small towns, like Ages, where I got over 40 bedbug bites, were full occupancy, including bunks. There is only so much capacity…..specially for private rooms.
When I walked from Le Puy prior to covid, there were several rural gîtes that offered camping, and people camping there. But as you say, most were relying on gîtes rather than camping, especially in the towns.
We didn't book before we went except for SJPdP. Anything can happen on the Camino and frequently does meaning you may not make it to a pre-booked accommodation. Part of the experience is staying in albergues with others, making friends, sharing experiences of blisters, sore knees etc and generally becoming part of the Camino. Yes, an occasional night with sheets and towels and a room for 4 is a luxury that should be enjoyed. It's an adventure, let it happen. Buen Camino.
