Cost to walk?

[HPalola]

I am at only the beginning stages of consideration, but am very intrigued by the idea of having days and days of "think time". What a blessing that would be! My first question is: How much should I budget to walk the Camino from sjpdp to Santiago (The French Way), not including transportation cost to get to the start point and back.

Thanks for any insight you're willing to share.

 

[naplesdon]

I budget 30 euros and spend between 50 to 60/day. That's me because I love to eat well , I love my wine and I love having beers in the afternoon sun with my fellow walkers. There are some great links on this forum to understand your cost and how to keep them under control, if that is your objective. I splurge every week or so at wonderful places with beds and meals from heaven. Enjoy!

 

[mspath]

I have always walked the CF in late autumn/winter. My daily costs for each past camino average 33 to 35 euros. I usually stay in inexpensive pilgrim albergues; only once in February 2006 a private albergue in Navarette, then the only albergue open, was there an extra nominal charge for heat. However heat and electricity are expensive in Spain so do be prepared to pay a supplement when asked.

Beside breakfast I generally eat one simple meal each day using the common Menu de Dia available throughout Spain; at roughly 12€ this costs a bit more than a standard three course Peregrino Menu (Pilgrim Menu) for 8€ or 9€. but provides MUCH better quality and choice. Some hospitaleros provide delicious dinners; communal meals at Eunate, sadly now closed, and Granon have always been memorable feasts. Although marked donativo or pay what you wish, be sure to give generously so that others who are less fortunate can also eat.

In cold weather periodic bar stops throughout any walking day are necessary for a warm seat, coffee, hot chocolate or fresh orange juice and the loo. In Léon hot chocolate is so thick that the spoon almost stands in the cup. Served with freshly made crullers it is a delicious, caloric treat and fuel for trekking! For another delicious pick-up try freshly squeezed zumo naranja or orange juice. No champagne has ever tasted better!

In those albergues which offer kitchens many pilgrims for either dietary reasons and/or to cut costs prepare their own meals; except in emergencies I generally don't. Nevertheless I always carry basic rations since the only shop or bar in town may NOT be open! My basics include tea bags, packets which make a cup of soup (even including croutons), firm cheese, small sausage, simple cookies and some chocolate. Often these same ingredients serve as a predawn breakfast hours before any Spanish bar would dream of opening!

Happy budgeting and Buen Camino whatever season you may walk,

Margaret Meredith

 

[Arn]

Hi, welcome to the Forum.
I can see that you already have some very solid and sage advice.
On my first Camino in 08', I budgeted 3€ per km walked. That has gone up a bit and my distance per day has dropped a bit.
As mentioned, if your "got to haves" are legion...so will be the costs.
Buen "a cervezas in the afternoon" Camino.
Arn

 

[GerryDel]

I was spending somewhere between 35-50 euro a day depending on where I stayed and what I ate. I understand that some have gotten by with as little as 25 euro a day, but I didn't try to limit my budget in any way.

 

[Felipe]

As for the minimum... I walked some years ago with a young peregrina that we (we were more or less an informal group) discovered was in a restricted budget, about 20e daily. This implied to her careful planning (preferably donativo or parochial albergues), looking for places with cooking facilities, carrying some food supplies from one stage to the following, and forgetting about a mid-morning cafe con leche, or a "social night" with fellow pilgrims. It was March, so cold, rainy, and you can't save on food under this kind of weather. Everybody tried to aid her discreetly, but she was anyway under some stress about the issue. So, I think (with my limited experience) that this was the minimum, and the cost of life has gone up last years in Spain.
I personally estimated 30e for the basics, with extras some days (medicines, museum tickets, very occasional splurges on a good restaurant in big cities). I chose a mix of public and private albergues, had menu peregrino o del día, and stopped every day a couple of times for a coffe and madalenas.
As for France or Germany, it is more expensive -I'd add 15-20e to my basic budget.

 

[Bajaracer]

€7-10 for the albergue, I still gave the same for donativo albergues. Food and drink will be your biggest expense, €3-5 for breakfast, €5-7 for lunch, and €10-13 for dinner, it can add up quickly if you eat out for every meal. If you go shopping at the supermercado and cook meals in the albergue kitchen when available, can bring your expenses down, especially if you team up with several pilgrims for communal meals, it can cut it down to less than €4 per person compared to spending €10-13 for a pilgrim meal.
I had ice cream most every day, sometimes twice in a day, drank and ate what I wanted, I'd say I averaged around €35-40 per day

 

[Kiwi-family]

I just walked for two months with four children. They - believe it or not - did NOT eat less than me, and cost just the same at albergues. However, the fact that we cooked for ourselves (and usually two to six others each night as well!) most of the time and stayed in low-end accommodations (pricewise) meant we ended up spending on average under 15 euros each per day. This included icecream almost every day;-) I don't drink coffee (though we would frequently stop for pastries on the Frances route) and I'm not fond of wine either - athough that did change a bit if the word Roija was involved;-) If you can team up with another couple of pilgrims, you can get the makings of a good meal for under the price of one pilgrim meal.
If I were to walk alone I can see I could easily spend 30 euros a day without trying.

 

[Houlet]

For anyone one a tight budget a cost cutting measure would be to either walk faster or for more hours per day.

Greater Daily Milage = Less Days = Less Cost.

 

[Anniesantiago]

Here is how I figure the cost:

http://caminosantiago2.blogspot.com/2014/04/figuring-cost-of-camino.html

 

[Pat58]

This may help: http://caminoteca.com/index.php/cost-calculator.html

 

[HPalola]

Thank you to everyone for all your fantastic ideas and suggestions! WOW! This has ramped up my excitement and forwarded my start date -- not sure I can wait 3 years to do it now!

 

[sjhannes]

I am at only the beginning stages of consideration, but am very intrigued by the idea of having days and days of "think time". What a blessing that would be! My first question is: How much should I budget to walk the Camino from sjpdp to Santiago (The French Way), not including transportation cost to get to the start point and back.

Thanks for any insight you're willing to share.

At LEAST 35 Euro/day

 

[FlechaCadaDia]

I guess I'm a cheapskate, but I think you can get by pretty inexpensively on the Camino. Just like anywhere, buying food from a little tienda or grocery is going to be a lot cheaper than going to a restaurant. It can be tempting to get a nice 9-12 euro meal at a restaurant--but baguettes are less than a euro. Get one of those, a couple pieces of produce, some cheese or meat, and you've got a simple meal (or two) for under 4.

 

[tyrrek]

When calculating, remember to subtract what you would spend at home anyway. I find it much easier to justify going on Caminos by adopting this 'net cost' technique.

 

[bystander]

I have a set budget on a daily basis of what I can afford for me, personally, at home, as against what it costs to support our home and family, and I intend (most of the time!) to stay, on camino, inside those limits!
However I am frail and prone to weaknesses and temptations.........!

 

[Arn]

I have a set budget on a daily basis of what I can afford for me, personally, at home, as against what it costs to support our home and family, and I intend (most of the time!) to stay, on camino, inside those limits!
However I am frail and prone to weaknesses and temptations.........!

When my lovely wife was still alive, I tried the "...Frail...weaknesses...temptations" line.
It's a good thing I was faster than a speeding bullet (from the old Superman TV show).
Arn

 

[Alyssa]

For reasons I won't go into, I didn't watch what I spent at all.

Excluding airfare, I spent $65 (U.S.) / day for everything on my trip including all transportation to and from the camino (train from Madrid to Pamplona, bus from Santiago to Pamplona, bus from Pamplona to Madrid), all pre- and post-trip accommodations (one night in Corazon Puro pre-camino, one night in Madrid post-camino), and everything on the camino (which included eating just about every meal at a restaurant and staying in albergues but not worrying about staying at the least expensive ones).

Given that I didn't watch what I spent, I imagine that it wouldn't be at all difficult with a budget to keep it to under 40 Euros per day on the Camino.

 

[jpflavin1]

I am at only the beginning stages of consideration, but am very intrigued by the idea of having days and days of "think time". What a blessing that would be! My first question is: How much should I budget to walk the Camino from sjpdp to Santiago (The French Way), not including transportation cost to get to the start point and back.

Thanks for any insight you're willing to share.

HPalola:

First there are several threads on this subject. Some with daily breakdowns. I would recommend you read through them.

That said, your cost are going to depend on how you want to walk your Camino. If you stay in Municipal Albergues, eat a light breakfast, lunch, Pilgrim meals (less if you do your own cooking) and light snacks. You can easily live on 30 euro's.

Change that to Private Albergues and cost will rise to about 40 euro's.

Hotels and restaurants, the cost could be 50 euro's or more.

These estimates do not include any transportation costs.

Everything depends on how you walk your Camino.

Ultreya,
Joe

 

[Luminaria]

Here is how I figure the cost:

http://caminosantiago2.blogspot.com/2014/04/figuring-cost-of-camino.html

This was great, Annie! Thank you.

 

[supersullivan]

From a reply to a similar question a couple of days ago:

Hi Jenny

Welcome to the forum, there are various threads relating to expenditure elsewhere but just to give some early indication: if you are intending to stay in pilgrim hostels ( albergues ) then municipal albergues typically cost €6 per night, privately run albergues run from about €6 to €12, several private albergues will supply a communal dinner with costs ranging from about €6 to €10. Municipal albergues will usually have a kitchen area to cook a meal but knives, forks, plates etc. can be lacking so if intending to self cook regularly then perhaps bring a lightweight set. Villages and towns with cafe/bars/restaurants will usually have a dinner pilgrim menu available for a typical cost between €8 and €10. Breakfast for most will consist of coffee/ juice and toast with butter and jam/marmalade usually between €2.50 and €4. Lunch can run from about €5 to €7 unless you want to eat picnic style when you should be able to eat well for €3 to €5. That should give you a fair idea of the likely minimum daily costs but if you factor in a couple of short additional breaks on long/ very hot days then another €4 to €6 for cold soft drinks/beers would be reasonable. Private albergues will often have a private bedroom ( twin/ double ) available for between €20 to €30. If intending to use small hotels from time to time then rooms are charged per room rather than occupant so a twin room will range from about €25 upwards with the large towns/ cities usually a bit dearer.
Highly recommended to carry just 4/5 days of ready cash and use a debit card to top up cash in the larger villages/ towns.

Buen camino

Seamus

 

[Wanderer64]

Always budget for the costlier scenario to give yourself flexibility. I wasn't sure I could handle staying in shared albergue accommodations the entire way because I'm a very light sleeper and a very introverted, private person. I budgeted as though I'd be staying in cheap hotels the entire 30+ days, about 50-80 Euro per day. I also wasn't sure I'd do the CF in under 35 days, so budgeted for 45 days in case of injury, extra rest days, or the unexpected. I did end up completing it in 32 days and lodged about half the time in albergues. I used the extra money I'd budgeted to take fantastic side trips to Granada, Madrid and Barcelona after my Camino!

The issue of budget involves so many factors, many of which boil down to personal preference and expectation. But I agree with all the very good advice above with respect to the ballpark figures.