Cost of walking Camino Frances

[Siom]

Hi,

Planning to walk the Camino Frances route starting from SJPdP next Sep/Oct. Like to know how much it cost for the duration of the walk, e.g. food and accommodation? Need to work out a budget as currency conversion is not to my advantage

Thanks.

 

[RobertS26]

Here was my experience last year:

Cost of albergues: 8 - 15 Euros a night.
Cost of food: 10 - 20 Euros a night.
Cost of beer and wine: 10 Euros a day
Misc. Costs each day: 0 - 10 Euros.

 

[Green Tortuga]

Cost of food: 10 - 20 Euros a night.

Wow! You must eat really well on the trail every night! =)

If the budget is a problem, it's definitely possible to do dinner for a lot less than that. I probably averaged about 10 euros per day on food.

Alburgues are pretty cheap, but for those who like to camp, it's not difficult to camp between towns if you're willing to carry a little extra gear. And the views of the Milky Way are better. ;o)

-- Ryan

 

[wayfarer]

I know someone who did it on €20 - €25 a day, he cooked for himself a lot and stayed in municipal albergues. I pushed closer to €50 but we used private rooms in private albergues when we could and we ate, drank and tipped well along the way. The choice is yours.

 

[Koidream]

We spend an average of € 50 a day, that is for 2 persons.

 

[Al the optimist]

The true cost of the Camino? Not being to settle into everyday life afterwards!

 

[Rafael Vallejo]

Coming from Canada. Wanting to know if there are people strating out from Sarria on Oct 29th? Let me know so we can meet up.
Gracias.

 

[Mark Lee]

You could probably do it on 30 euros a day.

 

[Gabe]

I spent about 35 euros per day walking for 30 days from SJPDP. You can do it cheaper if u want to cook most meals but I ate out all the time. I did not feel like cooking after walking 30 km! Count on an average of 10 euros a night for the albergue, 9 euros for a pilgrims menu and the rest for coffee, breakfast, snacks and painkillers of course A rough total for the entire trip? I would plan on about 1,200 Euros + your flight cost. That is what I spent anyway!

 

[naplesdon]

My experience is budgeting 30 Euros/day and then discover by the time I reach Santiago I have spent 50! That included the bottle of wine I bought in Ponferrada that I shared with Mark Lee.

 

[donalomahony]

€30 - €40 a day will do it, staying in Albergues, eating out and having a few coffees and drinks.

Preparing and sharing meals will cut down costs as will walking through Burgos, Leon and Astorga, all of where I blew the budget!

I found Santiago is getting more expensive.

That said the cities are beautiful...

 

[Mark Lee]

My experience is budgeting 30 Euros/day and then discover by the time I reach Santiago I have spent 50! That included the bottle of wine I bought in Ponferrada that I shared with Mark Lee.

Ha ha...
And that was some damn good wine (and damn good paella), Don. Muchas gracias. If we cross paths again on the Camino, I'll buy the next bottle.
Yeah, I ended up spending over any budget I had set for myself, too. I made more frequent visits to Mr. ATM than I expected to, ha ha.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Here was my experience last year:

Cost of albergues: 8 - 15 Euros a night.
Cost of food: 10 - 20 Euros a night.
Cost of beer and wine: 10 Euros a day
Misc. Costs each day: 0 - 10 Euros.

10 Euros for alcohol? I don't get it. Why bother teaching your brain and heart to connect to the ground, the light, to drink this much. And I don't just mean this about you in particular, but the more I read on this forum the more I wonder about people bashing "Turigrinos" yet making drinking a highlight of their walk.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

I spent about 35 euros per day walking for 30 days from SJPDP. You can do it cheaper if u want to cook most meals but I ate out all the time. I did not feel like cooking after walking 30 km! Count on an average of 10 euros a night for the albergue, 9 euros for a pilgrims menu and the rest for coffee, breakfast, snacks and painkillers of course A rough total for the entire trip? I would plan on about 1,200 Euros + your flight cost. That is what I spent anyway!

I think Gabe is giving you a good idea of what to expect. But do keep a buffer in case you injure yourself and need to spend an extra day here and there and buy meds, although they are really inexpensive (voltaren pills for example, the gel not so much). Honnestly, coffee is what I find to be the item that gets me off track: 1.30 euros, twice (2 coffees) adds up. It's a lovely warm drink, and even more importantly a reason to stop and to socialise, but if you are on a tight budget it will make a difference.

Traveling solo I have found that after you have bought a barra of bred, a banada, a tomate, a can of tuna and yogourt at the local grocery store, you might as well eat a pilgrim's meal. In larger cities invest in the lunch for that price and have a snack for dinner.

Also, please, do not look at albergues with donativos as albergues that are free. They can only stay open for those who truly need a little break if others give in relation with what they can give and receive. Often you will want to give more in this places than they would have charged you, but then again, they offer added value -most of the time that is ;0)

 

[Thengel1]

In the spring of 2013 I budgeted 35 Euros a day and had little difficult sticking to it (well, not counting the nights I splurged on private accommodations - 8 days out of 34). Were it not for my unfortunate addiction to agua con gas , I probably would have managed 30/ a day.

Just remember when budget to allow for the unexpected. You can wash your clothes by hand, but if it is raining all day, taking advantage of a washer/dryer may seem like a good idea. Or, if you come down with the flu or something, not only will you have to stop (I tried walking while sick one day, not a great idea in retrospect - 8.5 km took me about 7 hrs.), but if you are contagious, obviously ethically you can't stay with other pilgrims, which means extra costs.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

the more I read on this forum the more I wonder about people bashing "Turigrinos" yet making drinking a highlight of their walk.

It is an obsession with some; like snoring or how much water others carry, it is best not to fret about it!

 

[marbuck]

We enjoyed our Camino so much that when we got home I made a conscious decision not to add up what it had cost us. You cannot put a value on walking the Camino, it's priceless.

 

[Mark Lee]

10 Euros for alcohol? I don't get it. Why bother teaching your brain and heart to connect to the ground, the light, to drink this much. And I don't just mean this about you in particular, but the more I read on this forum the more I wonder about people bashing "Turigrinos" yet making drinking a highlight of their walk.

Ha ha......
"Highlight"? Doubt it. Just enjoying the good wine and beer Spain has to offer. Besides, sometimes it can help one " connect to the ground".
So carrying a combo corkscrew/bottle-opener in my pack was bad?

 

[susanawee]

The true cost of the Camino? Not being to settle into everyday life afterwards!

That is the best answer I've read Al....love it...smiles.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

It is an obsession with some; like snoring or how much water others carry, it is best not to fret about it!

Hello Falcon,

On my last stroll on del Norte, from San Sebastian to Llanes, I had the displeasure of losing three nights of sleep due to people rolling in the albergues in the middle of the night completely sloshed: in Deba, Bilbao (that was even being sick, almost making it to the loo) and, of all places, the little town of Hasas (also sick on the stair landing to the rooms).

While it's nice not to have a curfew, not having an hospitalero on site keeping an eye on things has its drawbacks. In Bilbao it actually got quite scary because this person was trying to use a lighter to find things in her backpack. Could have set the place on fire. So at 4:30 am I decided to leave the albergue, prefering to walk along the docks of Bilbao in an idustrial zone on my one than to stay any longer in the albergue. Between a rock and a hard place ...

With more and more people walking the Camino, I can't help but wonder if this is not going to become more and more common and ruin things. That's why I don't like seeing the Camino being talked about as if cheap alcohol is one of its perks. We all enjoy the wine they serve with lunch and an afternoon beer, but the wine is included in the price of the meal and a beer is 40 centimos. And even if you don't get your wine with your meal, a decent bottle that will not make you blind will cost you 3 euros or so.

Off my soapbox ;0)

 

[Saramago]

50 Euro per day, including incidentals, staying in albergues, eating well - not including any transport or a hotel stay. For one person, traveling solo. Better to over-budget, than under-budget, and be pleasantly surprised if less is spent. Buen Camino!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

losing three nights of sleep due to people rolling in the albergues in the middle of the night completely sloshed

That is where the obsession about talking about drinking becomes behavior that impinges on others. I only take the obsession in stride. The rude behavior, I look for a solution.

 

[naplesdon]

Hello Falco

Off my soapbox ;0)

Hopefully very soon !
We all do our Caminos in a very personal way and being preached to about our deportment is not necessary.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Hopefully very soon !
We all do our Caminos in a very personal way and being preached to about our deportment is not necessary.

Between the drunks putting the rest in pilgrims, the garbage along the way, I wonder how long it will take for this wonderful infrastructure put at our disposal will remain? If we want it to go on, we must use it responsibly.

And no, "We all do it our way" is not an acceptable answer.

Show some respect for the history, it's meaning, what it means to others walking, to the people who donate time and money for us to be able to have this experience. You do not have the right to take people hostage and to ruin one of the most wonderful human experiences on earth. Otherwise, very soon, noone will want to be responsible for algergues they volunteer to keep going. Just wait to see the insurance cost go through the roof, the rules and regulations for running them becoming more drastic. And we'll all have to stay home, or pay B&B prices to stay in safe places, where rest and others will be respected.

 

[Mark Lee]

Between the drunks putting the rest in pilgrims, the garbage along the way, I wonder how long it will take for this wonderful infrastructure put at our disposal will remain? If we want it to go on, we must use it responsibly.

And no, "We all do it our way" is not an acceptable answer.

Show some respect for the history, it's meaning, what it means to others walking, to the people who donate time and money for us to be able to have this experience. You do not have the right to take people hostage and to ruin one of the most wonderful human experiences on earth. Otherwise, very soon, noone will want to be responsible for algergues they volunteer to keep going. Just wait to see the insurance cost go through the roof, the rules and regulations for running them becoming more drastic. And we'll all have to stay home, or pay B&B prices to stay in safe places, where rest and others will be respected.

You know, in the two Caminos (Frances) I walked, both during the summer. The height of pilgrim season, I simply did not see that many pilgrims getting overly intoxicated and bad behavior coming from the intoxication. Yeah, on a couple of occasions there were drunken peregrinos trying to get in the albergue I was in after being locked out after curfew, but it just wasn't that big a deal. They gave up after banging on the door a few times, and life went on. I saw some younger pilgrims smoking weed outside of one albergue. Not that big a deal. They were polite, young men. Heck, if I was their age again I might have took a toke myself. Again, not that big a deal and I never heard any hospitalaros complaining. I probably saw way more local Spanish intoxicated than peregrinos.
I understand, nobody likes an obnoxious drunk. Believe me, I know. I was a copper for many years. I dealt with drunks constantly, but I'm sure a small percentage of peregrinos getting drunk while doing the Camino will in no way cause albergues to shut down or people from volunteering along the Camino.
People will be people. That's just the way it is, and the Camino is only going to get more popular. Just look at the numbers.
I got pretty pissed myself in Pamplona on my second Camino this summer, but that doesn't mean I don't respect the history of the Camino or my fellow pilgrims.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I saw some younger pilgrims smoking weed outside of one albergue.

Use is decriminalized in Spain for those over 18. Sale is not. I am not sure how those two reconcile. Cultivation is illegal.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

You know, in the two Caminos (Frances) I walked, both during the summer. The height of pilgrim season, I simply did not see that many pilgrims getting overly intoxicated and bad behavior coming from the intoxication. Yeah, on a couple of occasions there were drunken peregrinos trying to get in the albergue I was in after being locked out after curfew, but it just wasn't that big a deal. They gave up after banging on the door a few times, and life went on. I saw some younger pilgrims smoking weed outside of one albergue. Not that big a deal. They were polite, young men. Heck, if I was their age again I might have took a toke myself. Again, not that big a deal and I never heard any hospitalaros complaining. I probably saw way more local Spanish intoxicated than peregrinos.
I understand, nobody likes an obnoxious drunk. Believe me, I know. I was a copper for many years. I dealt with drunks constantly, but I'm sure a small percentage of peregrinos getting drunk while doing the Camino will in no way cause albergues to shut down or people from volunteering along the Camino.
People will be people. That's just the way it is, and the Camino is only going to get more popular. Just look at the numbers.
I got pretty pissed myself in Pamplona on my second Camino this summer, but that doesn't mean I don't respect the history of the Camino or my fellow pilgrims.

Thank you Mark Lee for your response.

 

[Siom]

Thanks all for the reply. I got a better idea about the average cost (typically between 30 - 40 Euro). Thanks for the tips too. Start saving and loading up on the Euro when the opportunity arises.

 

[david g]

I just figure to budget more than you think you'll need. (It's always more pleasant to find you have money left over, than not enough.) Plus, you don't want to have a budget so close to the bone that it keeps you from doing the little "extra" things that can add so much to your Camino experience.

 

[Siom]

I just figure to budget more than you think you'll need. (It's always more pleasant to find you have money left over, than not enough.) Plus, you don't want to have a budget so close to the bone that it keeps you from doing the little "extra" things that can add so much to your Camino experience.

Yup...will pinch where required and splurge where desired

 

[Lars Bo - Denmark]

Hi there every one!
Nice to see all the different answers - and people!
I agree - the costs depends of your person and your manners.
I think 30 € pr day is a minimum, 35 € pr day was my costs for alberges - food - drinks 2014 and 40 € pr day will be my next camino.
Buen Camino, and respekt for all ways to do the way! With and without alkohol and wine/beers!
;-)

 

[p.saffrie]

Hi,

Planning to walk the Camino Frances route starting from SJPdP next Sep/Oct. Like to know how much it cost for the duration of the walk, e.g. food and accommodation? Need to work out a budget as currency conversion is not to my advantage

Thanks.

Hi,
I'm a little crazy because in the year of preparation it costs me about 1300,- euro on gear. With traveling/parking/hotel costs to get there (and come back) & a 1000,- Camino money it all adds up yo a total of 2645,15 euro.
I was a little suprised myself to.

 

[Tammi Murray]

Hi,
I'm a little crazy because in the year of preparation it costs me about 1300,- euro on gear. With traveling/parking/hotel costs to get there (and come back) & a 1000,- Camino money it all adds up yo a total of 2645,15 euro.
I was a little suprised myself to.

I'm curious, what gear did you invest in for 1300 euro?

 

[Siom]

Hi,
I'm a little crazy because in the year of preparation it costs me aboute 1300,- euro on gear. With traveling/parking/hotel costs to get there (and come back) & a 1000,- Camino money it all adds up yo a total of 2645,15 euro.
I was a little suprised myself to.

Exclude air tickets, right? or it shd be cheaper for you coming from Europe

 

[Siom]

Hi there every one!
Nice to see all the different answers - and people!
I agree - the costs depends of your person and your manners.
I think 30 € pr day is a minimum, 35 € pr day was my costs for alberges - food - drinks 2014 and 40 € pr day will be my next camino.
Buen Camino, and respekt for all ways to do the way! With and without alkohol and wine/beers!
;-)

Hi lars, i've allocated €30/day. Now i need to make sure i can live the basics on the camino

 

[Anniesantiago]

If you are on a budget, you can easily do it on 20 euros per day for food.
There are great picnic options all along the trail.

 

[Istvan_Pamplona]

Here you can make your own calculation easily with this practical Cost Calculator tool:

http://www.caminoteca.com/index.php/cost-calculator.html

Buen Camino!

 

[p.saffrie]

I'm curious, what gear did you invest in for 1300 euro?

Just a few examples; Fjallraven trousers 2 x 145,- Osprey backpack 160,- Sleeping Bag & zelfinflate matras 220,- Softcell jacket 130,-, merino wool shirts, quick drying towel, etc etc. The costs I have is off course my own choise to go for the best equipment.
After years spending in the Woods and mud, I like to pamper myself with this.

 

[p.saffrie]

Exclude air tickets, right? or it shd be cheaper for you coming from Europe

No air tickets, I'll be driving to France

 

[SYates]

Just to counterweight things a bit (sorry @p.saffrie ) expensive doesn't always equal good. I walked 3,000+ kilometres with two 20 Euro walking trousers bought at a discounter and they are still in tip-top shape and good to go for another walk. Shoes and backpack, I agree, quality has its price, but clothing, and even sleeping bags, can be purchased at much lower prices for the same quality. Sometimes you pay an 'extra' for the brand name and not so much for the quality. Buen Camino! SY

 

[p.saffrie]

Just to counterweight things a bit (sorry @p.saffrie ) expensive doesn't always equal good. I walked 3,000+ kilometres with two 20 Euro walking trousers bought at a discounter and they are still in tip-top shape and good to go for another walk. Shoes and backpack, I agree, quality has its price, but clothing, and even sleeping bags, can be purchased at much lower prices for the same quality. Sometimes you pay an 'extra' for the brand name and not so much for the quality. Buen Camino! SY

No problem, you are absolutely right. It's not about the gear and one can make it as extensive as one's want.
For me it was the fun of more than a year preparation in reading and gathering gear. But if I should loose the stuff I would still carry on walking.

 

[Robo]

Interesting responses ......... and great advice as always.

For someone who plans to stay in Casa Rural, B&B, small Hotel etc, ( I have my reasons) What would you budget?

The prices I see on websites like Booking.com are relatively high. I have budgeted e40 / night. Too high, too low?

 

[SYates]

Single rooms start at around 25 Euro, doubles start at around 40 Euro, normally breakfast is included BUT it might be served later then you would like. Buen Cmino! SY

 

[Robo]

Single rooms start at around 25 Euro, doubles start at around 40 Euro, normally breakfast is included BUT it might be served later then you would like. Buen Cmino! SY

Many thanks. So my budget will be ample. I can't imagine anyone serving breakfast later that I would like. I'm a great fan of 'Brunch'

Perhaps I could start a new trend? Rather than join the rush for beds and start at the crack of dawn..... Start after brunch and see if I can find my bed by sun down....

But who knows, maybe I'll become an early bird? I suspect so....

 

[naplesdon]

Here was my experience last year:

Cost of albergues: 8 - 15 Euros a night.
Cost of food: 10 - 20 Euros a night.
Cost of beer and wine: 10 Euros a day
Misc. Costs each day: 0 - 10 Euros.

I totally agree with Robert. I find at the end of the Camino I have spent more than 50 euros/day. I stay in casa rurales from time to time to escape the dormitory lifestyle in the albergues, I like to eat well and avoid the places that serve pilgrim meals like the plague, love a few beers and sharing a bottle of wine with friends at the end of the day and don't forget if you use a service like Jacotran from time to time it costs 7 euros. It all adds up!

 

[DeadFred]

Hi,

Planning to walk the Camino Frances route starting from SJPdP next Sep/Oct. Like to know how much it cost for the duration of the walk, e.g. food and accommodation? Need to work out a budget as currency conversion is not to my advantage

Thanks.

I budgeted $50/day ... occasionally I exceeded when I had a layover.