WriterChantal
Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Plan to Walk the Camino in July/Aug of 2016
For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
Hello Chantal. I am not sure which Camino you plan to walk but I guess you mean the Frances ?
I have no experience with camping, but I know there have been some threads on camping before, so you may want to search them for any tips. Be aware though that you can stay in most albergues for app 6 euro per night, so I do not know if budget reasons outweigh the burden of carrying a tent here.
As for food. On the Frances, many albergues have a kitchen (including pots and pans) where you can prepare your own meal. In your case, it would be good to check beforehand which albergues have kitchen facilities, and which ones have not. In most villages there are grocery stores where you can buy the essentials. I am not really sure which other advice I can give on this, but let me know if you have any further specific questions.
As for budgets in general. To give you an idea, my daily budget is usually 30 euro per day. This includes staying in the albergue, usually eating out for a pilgrim's meal (app 10 euro), and I have breakfast and lunch usually in bars, and several beers and coffees per day in bars. I guess you can easily manage on 15 - 20 euro per day by staying in albergues & buying all your food in stores, and restricting yourself on coffees and other drinks in bars.
Hope this is helpfull. Marc.
I have been reading and planning to walk the Camino for about 3 years now. I really want to do this! But I'm pretty much the working poor, it so hard to even afford a plan ticket much less take 4 months to walk the Camino. So, I'm trying to get my costs down as low as I can.
I would like to:
1. Buy food from grocery store as much as I can and prepare or eat cold
2. Camp as much as I can for free.
Can anyone give advice for the two things above? Where is good? When is good? How? Any negative things you've experience with these two things? Any safety advice?
I think what they mean is that a pilgrim meal can be a lot of food, no matter who you share with, family or Camino folk. I find that communal cooking is the cheapest way to go. Cook for yourself and you might as well eat out. But if ompne buys pasta, the other tuna and tbe third a tomato or two you'll do well on a budget.
Just yesterday I purchased my ticket from Calif. Through Orbitz. The cost of the ticket and one hotel night in Madrid was $300 less than the airfare alone. Nothing says you have to use the hotel, but I will use it when I get back to Madrid the day before my flight home. Brings the Camino cost way down.
Bien Camino.
My opinion:
Stay in albergues. It is the best way to rest, sleep, shower, wash clothes, prepare and eat food, socialize, get new walking friends, etc. It is a big part of the Camino experience. It will also greatly reduce the weight of your backpack, thereby making you less vulnerable to injuries, and ease each day's walk.
Cook in the albergue kitchens. Find other people to cook food with, sharing cost. You will make many friends that way. You can easily come down to 3-4 Euros/person for full dinner, including wine. Buy all your food in local groceries: It is very cheap.
Stay away from buying too much in bars during walking. Fill up your water bottle(s) from wells/fountains. They are marked "Potable" (drinkable) or "No potable" (Not drinkable). Water is good in Spain.
Buen Camino (and planning)!
Pretty much what Alex said.
I'd stay in albergues and eat food from the tiendas that you cook yourself.
There are a LOT of great options for picnic foods as well as cooking.
Along the route, also, you can buy JUST what you need - ONE egg or TWO slices of cheese, etc.
If you want the occasional Spanish meal, choose the Menu del Dia instead of Menu del Peregrino.
It is cheaper and more food and better, in my opinion. It is offered mid day.
Here are some blogs I did on the food:
Breakfast: http://caminosantiago2.blogspot.com/2011/08/eating-on-camino-santiago-coffee-and.html
Lunch and Dinner: http://caminosantiago2.blogspot.com/2011/08/lunch-on-camino-santiago.html
For breakfast, there are wonderful pastry options, you can buy eggs and boil them in the albergue, or just have bread, cheese, and jam.
For lunch, see the blog - lots of cheap options. Same for dinner.
As far as camping, I've camped quite a bit. If you're going in hot weather, consider a lightweight tarp or screen tent that you can set up with your poles.
But honestly, with the money it takes to buy that, you could just stay in Albergues where you can cook and save cash.
I'm not sure where you live (forgot to look) but I think the best place to fly in is Madrid. From there you can get an inexpensive bus to Pamplona or SJPP or you can just start walking. The Madrid route is wonderful and less traveled and meets up with the Frances about two weeks away.
Have fun planning and have a wonderful Camino!
Annie
I kind of have an aversion to staying in the albergue's beds. So that may also influence my decision.
But I did not know about some things I am really learning for you guys:
1. kitchens you can use in the albergue's. Excellent point!
2. the listing of the albergues on the main page shows some very reasonable prices. ( I thought 15 euros was the cheapest, but I see many 5's. That is a great price)
3. I could tent camp (2 lb tent) right next to *some* albergue's and use the restroom/kitchen and give them a donation of 8/10 euros. (best of both worlds)
4.I could get together with other pilgrims and share the cost of meals. Would be fun to try diff cooking styles. But then again, every now and then, the peregrino dinner is still not expensive. I've written down this: Menu del Dia.
Keep them coming friends, you are soothing my worrywort mind!
Thank you!
I've always used priceline and find the prices are around the same. But I didn't think about the cancellation policies. Did find 1242.00 on skycanner. Not bad at all.Did a price comparison yesterday and sent examples in pm and found skyscnner.com the cheapest from the location Writerrchantal is coming from...did same dates and found orbitz more expensive by $17.. difference being Orbitz offered free cancellation before 10th October this year .8 days time.
It won't be possible to stay " outside" many of the Albergues in a tent as a lot of them are in towns or built up areas.
Why pay 8-10 € ? And stay outside.
It's not always safe too. Items do get stolen and the weather is not always brilliant...
I've always used priceline and find the prices are around the same. But I didn't think about the cancellation policies. Did find 1242.00 on skycanner. Not bad at all.
I have been reading and planning to walk the Camino for about 3 years now. I really want to do this! But I'm pretty much the working poor, it so hard to even afford a plan ticket much less take 4 months to walk the Camino. So, I'm trying to get my costs down as low as I can.
I would like to:
1. Buy food from grocery store as much as I can and prepare or eat cold
2. Camp as much as I can for free.
Can anyone give advice for the two things above? Where is good? When is good? How? Any negative things you've experience with these two things? Any safety advice?
I agree with grocery stores. I walked the Norte/Primitivo last Oct/Nov and had been warned of the lack of services, but found no problems if I planned ahead. I did occasionally eat the menu del dia or pilgrims menu, and cooked or ate cooked food in albergues even more rarely.
Fruiteria- sells fresh and sometimes dried fruit
Panaderia- bakery
I seriously bought 3 carrots for less than 25cents one evening. Bread could also be found for a very low price.
Canned tuna, bags of olives, cheese, Maria biscuits (round cookie crackers), chocolate, yogurts, packages salami/lunch meats. All added to the bread and fruit. And didn't necessarily need to be cooked.
I also bought instant coffee packs and chicken bouillon for those days I needed something warm in the morning or evening. Albergues didn't always have well equipped kitchens, but it helped to be able to boil water.
And supermarkets also have the prepared food section. Empanadas are neat or veggie pies -sort of- and you can buy them by the slice or as a whole one (1-3€). We would sometimes split one between a few pilgrims.
You can also cut some cost by not drinking alcohol or coffee, unless you get a pilgrim meal and it comes with it. There were days I spent more on coffees than food!
Picnics and communal meals are some of my favorite memories of my Camino.
Unfortunatley this will not sustain you as you will be walking 7 or 8 hours a day. You will need proper meals.This is exactly the kind of thing I had hoped for. To me, a peach or apple, carrot and wedge of cheese sounds fresh and delicious simple meal. I will be splurging on coffee. That's just a fact of life.
I didn't include all of my plans. I had planned to make it a longer trip, going to Ireland and France doing some genealogy work. But I've scuttled that. The Camino is enough. But No, not four weeks. I'm not in THAT good of shapeI'm going to guess you didn't mean 4 months, but 4 weeks?
Okay. Please let's try to think things through here a little bit. I did not say this would be the only thing I would eat. Please give me some credit for common sense! Carbs and protein are needed.Unfortunatley this will not sustain you as you will be walking 7 or 8 hours a day. You will need proper meals.
HAH! you are crazyHere is my low-budget tomato soup recipe:
-Find a nearly empty bottle of ketchup in the albergue's fridge.
-Top up with really hot water from the tap.
-Shake vigorously for 30 seconds.
Serve with bread & water.
Sunday/luxury version:
Put in a good handful of macaroni and a boiled egg (peeled) before shaking.
Add an extra slice of bread.
PS: Taken from a cook book for bachelors...
Oh - and there are always leftover bits and bobs in albergue kitchens. It is good form to leave stuff that won't travel or is too heavy and then the next people in can use it up. Folk are really good at sharing too.
I really am getting the message that the tent is really not needed and may be more of a burden. Plus the fact that I have to use a cpap. It's really becoming obvious that tent sleeping is just not feasible. Like the @vgen5122 said , buy some earplugs!Unless you are a superfit hiker better to cycle if you carry a tent, and better to camp on the quieter Camino routes where there are less albergues anyway. You soon get used to albergue sleeping, the nights are very short and you are up and out again before you realise... I was dreading the communality as I live in a very rural area with total darkness and silence at night - but it turned out to be a real treat - I loved it, even the monumental snoring..!
I met a guy on a small budget at an albergue near Finisterra and he spent less than 10 euros a day - staying in donativo albergues and eating bread and beans from a jar... He also walked around in baggy white underpants but I don't recommend that!
The good thing about a budget is that you only have that much a day to spend - once it's gone - it's gone, so that kinda enforces you to stick to it!
Chantal,Hello Chantal. I am not sure which Camino you plan to walk but I guess you mean the Frances ?
I have no experience with camping, but I know there have been some threads on camping before, so you may want to search them for any tips. Be aware though that you can stay in most albergues for app 6 euro per night, so I do not know if budget reasons outweigh the burden of carrying a tent here.
As for food. On the Frances, many albergues have a kitchen (including pots and pans) where you can prepare your own meal. In your case, it would be good to check beforehand which albergues have kitchen facilities, and which ones have not. In most villages there are grocery stores where you can buy the essentials. I am not really sure which other advice I can give on this, but let me know if you have any further specific questions.
As for budgets in general. To give you an idea, my daily budget is usually 30 euro per day. This includes staying in the albergue, usually eating out for a pilgrim's meal (app 10 euro), and I have breakfast and lunch usually in bars, and several beers and coffees per day in bars. I guess you can easily manage on 15 - 20 euro per day by staying in albergues & buying all your food in stores, and restricting yourself on coffees and other drinks in bars.
Hope this is helpfull. Marc.
Darn tasty ever wonder how many calories it takes to chew octopus?Just learned that octopus offers 30 grams of proetein per 100grams of cooked meat. Same for calamari. May have to start cooking calamari on the Camino as it's inexpensive and available in the larger grocery stores.
Very often there will only be a few people staying. Sometimes you can have a place almost to yourself. I personally would not go down the tent route. It won't save you money in the long run as your knees feet and an uncomfortable nights sleep will reap any financial benefitsThat's why I put **'s around some. I know that it will not be all. And of course, it's a case by case base. And I also would take into account the larger the city, the safer it is inside.
It have stayed in hostels here in the U.S. , met some nice people, but the noises, the body sounds, smells, stickinest of the breathing... just becomes too much sometimes. That's when the tent ( again only 2 lbs total) becomes handy.
and like I said, not all the time, but cut costs by doing it some of the time.
Through this thread, I've pretty much decided against the tent route.Very often there will only be a few people staying. Sometimes you can have a place almost to yourself. I personally would not go down the tent route. It won't save you money in the long run as your knees feet and an uncomfortable nights sleep will reap any financial benefits
Through this thread, I've pretty much decided against the tent route.
It is called "The calling of the Camino". It is for real.But mostly, I feel compelled by something I can't put my finger on.
I really think I'm going to work on my kit and start doing some walking in weekends. Test things out.If you do decide to have a go at the "ask to sleep in the garden" idea, I would suggest that you do not borrow and do not bring a sleeping pad. You will need one if you sleep out but I have heard many times that this is the item most often relegated to the the donation box. I know that I only carried my sleeping pad for the first four days and then donated it to an albergue -- where it had plenty of company. If you keep asking for a few days and one does not come your way, you can always buy one in the next big city if you still like this plan once you have your feet on the ground in Spain. On the other hand, if you borrow one before you leave, you are pretty much stuck with carrying it, whether you still want it or not.
I really think I'm going to work on my kit and start doing some walking in weekends. Test things out.
I wish, was never served one.Free tapas are common on the Primitivo and much of the Norte.
1) Stay flexible, creative and tolerant. The less money you've got, the more you need to be able to adjust to the circumstances and/or take things as they are. Remember the Camino saying „the tourist demands, the pilgrim thanks“? So true.
I wish, was never served one.
I will never forget the first time I was given one. Hospital de Obrigo, in the morning. My feet were killing me and I walked into a bar. Ordered a cafe con leche and proceeded to removed walking boots to replace them with Croc sandals which were at the bottom of my backpack. Coffee appeared witha peice of toast and scrambled eggs. I thought the lady was feeling sorry for me. To thank her for her kind gesture I ordered a second cafe con leche. It also appreared with a peice of toast, with jam this time. I did not order a thrid cafe con leche or I would still be thereReally?.
We got a tapa every time we stopped and had a drink of any kind....coffee, water, Aquarius, Coke...everything
It was almost laughable at times. I was with my grandsons and they would get a kick out getting a piece of bread with a sardine on it with their soda.
Many bars in Spain will often give you a few tapas with your drink it's quite traditional. I'm not quite sure why they do it but I think that there may be a slight obligation to buy a second drink or tempt your tastebuds sufficiently to perhaps order something more substantial either way it's a lovely and welcome unique gesture for all Peregrinos to enjoy...make mine a "Canya" ( not sure about the spelling ...a small beer !!I ordered a can of coca cola at the bar across the street from the church in Mansilla de las Mulas and surprisingly I got tapas, it was a slice of bread with a chunk of tortilla.
Good for you for the weight loss and your willingness to train. But please, don't sweat the speed and distances. Truth is nothing you can do at home will compare to what you will do on the Camino. In Spain you will walk in uneven tractor tracks that will slow you down, in slippery rock and will have to jump over or contour mud puddles. You will also be walking day after day after day. Just get used to walking with your bag and shoes to make sure they fit well, and perhaps build up arm strength so that you can use your poles properly therefore putting less stress on the legs. Really, never mind the time. It is not a race, in particular since you said you'll be doing short distances on the Frances which will allow you to find a bed. Just enjoy the scenary and every foot step. FYI, my average is 3km an hour, including my brief coffee breaks.Okay. I just did 1 km with just 10 lbs of weight (could only find two hand weights) in 14mins 34 secs. Rough estimates for right now would be 4km's an hour, 20 km for five hours of walking. Today's date is 10/07/15. Next goal is to get it up to 20 lbs but keep my time. I will give myself through the end of the year for this goal.
plus note, my jeans kept sliding down as walking.45 lbs lost since July
Okay. I just did 1 km with just 10 lbs of weight (could only find two hand weights) in 14mins 34 secs. Rough estimates for right now would be 4km's an hour, 20 km for five hours of walking. Today's date is 10/07/15. Next goal is to get it up to 20 lbs but keep my time. I will give myself through the end of the year for this goal.
plus note, my jeans kept sliding down as walking.45 lbs lost since July
I am hoping to walk my first Camino by 2017, and am also worried about finances.. i am learning by reading your thread.. i cannot offer you any practical advice about loding, but i can regarding your need for portable food.. try carrying a quantity of jerky..beef, turkey, whatever suits your fancy.. i do not know if it is a common food item over there, so you may have to bring it from home.. jerky packs quite a protein punch and is, of course, light and easy to pack... easy to munch on multiple times a day as you need it. Also consider dehydrated fruits, nuts, and other nutrient rich goodies.. hope this helps.Okay. Please let's try to think things through here a little bit. I did not say this would be the only thing I would eat. Please give me some credit for common sense! Carbs and protein are needed.
I am a gastric bypass person, so my meals are smaller and more. I will have to carry food with me to eat along the way. As I do now, I will eat 5 to 6 times a day about 8 oz of food plus supplements and protein powder mixed with my food.
I just didn't think that was needed to mention in my post. The point I was making is: by supplementing buying cooked meals with purchased items at a market and carry it with me whenever I get to a store.. Things that do not need to be cooked to eat and share cost with other pilgrims. This will cut the costs down.
Noone makes cured meats better than the spaniards, so my recommendation is to pass on breaking the law by importing meet into Spain from the US and enjoy the high quality, locally made specialties.I am hoping to walk my first Camino by 2017, and am also worried about finances.. i am learning by reading your thread.. i cannot offer you any practical advice about loding, but i can regarding your need for portable food.. try carrying a quantity of jerky..beef, turkey, whatever suits your fancy.. i do not know if it is a common food item over there, so you may have to bring it from home.. jerky packs quite a protein punch and is, of course, light and easy to pack... easy to munch on multiple times a day as you need it. Also consider dehydrated fruits, nuts, and other nutrient rich goodies.. hope this helps.
I am hoping to walk my first Camino by 2017, and am also worried about finances.. i am learning by reading your thread.. i cannot offer you any practical advice about loding, but i can regarding your need for portable food.. try carrying a quantity of jerky..beef, turkey, whatever suits your fancy.. i do not know if it is a common food item over there, so you may have to bring it from home.. jerky packs quite a protein punch and is, of course, light and easy to pack... easy to munch on multiple times a day as you need it. Also consider dehydrated fruits, nuts, and other nutrient rich goodies.. hope this helps.
I have been thinking about what Tyrrek suggested back on Oct. 2, about making crafts and selling them to raise money. Here is a photo of a hand tied rosary someone gave me at the Pilgrim's Mass in Santiago. You could learn to tie these and sell them before you embark on your Camino and while you are on your Camino.
New
A lovely idea for someone to make. I bought a shell necklace from someone on the beach at Finisterra, a lovely reminder every time I wear it...
oh dear - it's taken me 7 years to learn how to 'quote' .... and still not perfectly!
Buen Camino
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?