Days of Rest

[David243]

Hey everyone!

I'm relatively new to posting on this board, but I have been reading on here for a while planning for my journey next year with a couple of my family members (from SJPdP to Santiago/Finisterre).

I'm doing some real generic planning (leaving things more open-ended), but I'm interested to know in advance what some people's favorite places to rest for a day are. Whether it's for scenic beauty, history, culture, art, etc., where would you recommend stopping off for a day to just simply enjoy and take in the local offerings? We plan to rest about 1 day a week, so it would be great to know from people's experiences where to shoot for these days of rest.

Thanks everyone!
-Dave

 

[Deleted member 3000]

You can only stay one night in most albergues, so rest days are often in the locations where you can check into a hostal, usually about 25 Euro single, 30 Euro double. There are a lot of interesting medium sized cities like Estella, Najera, and Villafranca del Bierzo, but the larger ones like Santo Domingo de Calzadas, Logrono, Burgos, Leon, and Ponferrada have plenty to do during the day. Detailed information can be found in guide books and the internet.

 

[tyrrek]

Hi Dave

As Falcon says, the larger places have more options for places to stay and things to do. Some of the smaller villages really have nothing to do, so the only thing you could do on a rest day is go for a walk, which kind of defeats the purpose!

You'll become part of a 'Camino family' and will probably find yourself wanting to stay with your group. I'd say the best place to have a rest day is where/when the others also want to rest (apart from injury in which case it's all about you).

Buen Camino!

 

[robertt]

As someone who rests scandalously - walk days are a break from rest days for me - I wish I'd stayed an extra night in Najera. It was just small enough and just big enough, if you know what I mean. (A bit like Lectoure on the Le Puy route, another ex-capital that's kept a bit of tone over the centuries.)

 

[Thornley]

Exactly my thoughts Robert.
Don't know why but have this urge to take the 42-44 days with no more than 20km/day.
We really delayed finishing the Le Puy route and had a wonderful time.
Thinking back to 07 the first part of Frances was a blur compared with all the others since.
Will appreciate it when its deserted later this year.
David

 

[jeffnd]

You can only stay one night in most albergues, so rest days are often in the locations where you can check into a hostal, usually about 25 Euro single, 30 Euro double. There are a lot of interesting medium sized cities like Estella, Najera, and Villafranca del Bierzo, but the larger ones like Santo Domingo de Calzadas, Logrono, Burgos, Leon, and Ponferrada have plenty to do during the day. Detailed information can be found in guide books and the internet.

If a town as multiple albergues, are you allowed to go to another one the next day?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I have never tried! If you don't have a sello from the first one, who would know?

 

[tyrrek]

If a town as multiple albergues, are you allowed to go to another one the next day?

Hi! If it was allowed I think it would be down to the discretion of the individual hospitalero and depend on how busy it was etc. My walking partner asked that question in Burgos this year and the answer was a fairly firm 'no', with the explanation that 'albergues are not hotels'.

You will always have your pilgrim passport stamped in albergues, so they'll know where you've walked from that day.

If you're ill or injured I imagine the response would be much more accommodating, but in that case you could probably just stay in the same place anyway.

Buen Camino!

 

[sulu]

If a town as multiple albergues, are you allowed to go to another one the next day?

It seems this may depend on when you are walking. I walked March/April and some people stayed 2 nights in the Albergue in Burgos, some went from the Convent to the Municipal in Leon. I think the latter may be impossible now, I think there is a post saying the municipal is closed. Certainly, in the low season, some of the private albergues allow a second night.
Sue

 

[David243]

Thanks so much everyone for the input so far! I definitely do not mind paying the extra amount to spend a second night in a hostel or something of the like. It definitely sounds like in some of these mid-sized to larger cities it will not be difficult to find a private room somewhere in order to sight see and chill out for a day. Although we are planning on where we want to stop off for a day, we will all be completely open-minded to stopping in other smaller towns that catch our eye, or even if we are just too tired to go on and need a day of rest no matter where it is.

I can't wait!!

 

[tyrrek]

Yes, any place large enough to interest you will have plenty of reasonably priced alternative accommodation. I'm thinking of places like Estella, Sahagun etc.

Buen Camino!

 

[wayfarer]

I was advised to keep rest days to a minimum but to walk shorter days instead when you feel tired. Having said that I took a rest day in Burgos and a rest day in Leon and I can tell you the muscles had stiffened up and complained loudly when I started off again. All in all I found that the short days worked best for me, but I would still stop in Burgos and Leon if (or when) I was to do it again. Beautiful cities.

 

[texastrekker]

i met a woman (age 66) who did the camino last year who took a rest day at least once a week (sometimes < a week) and followed the stages in Brierley's book and highly recomended that. she also trained 6-8 miles a day with her pack for months before doing camino.

her stops were in these towns at hotels NOT alberques----(with her comments & distances between rest days)

st jean - start
logrono - good----102 miles
castrojeriz - ok ---103 miles
leon (2 rest days--lots to see)- good ---88 miles
villafranca - ok ---82 miles
portomarin - good ---61 miles
santiago ----59 miles

she did not feel rushed, stayed in private alberques exc for rest days which were at hotels which she highly recommended.
she said she had no physical difficulties at all and i am sure all her pre-training helped.

i plan to follow something similar but as falcon says--we can always take a taxi if needed.

on another note--when i was first researching how to do the camino i found a company --MACADVENTURES --and they had rest days at--
burgos
leon
santiago

the comment was if you take too many rest days you may lose your "camino family" who might not be stopping.

always something to consider

 

[Deleted member 3000]

the muscles had stiffened up and complained loudly when I started off again.

Since that now applies to me every time I get up, months after finishing the Camino, I know the feeling! However, having walked every day, but sometimes short days, and having taken complete rest days, for me, they do not compare. The rest day is therapeutic, while the short day is just a mild rest. It certainly depends on the individual. My recovery time is measured in days, while my sons' recovery time, say from a marathon, is hours! Do what works best for you. The anecdotes, like this one, only tell you what works for others.

 

[wayfarer]

the comment was if you take too many rest days you may lose your "camino family" who might not be stopping.

always something to consider

This is quite true texastrekker and I did indeed loose a few "camino friends" because of the rest days but met some new ones as well. Have caught up with most of them again on Facebook.

 

[nellpilgrim]

Yep I generally needed the days rest rather than a shorter walking day.
Another nice stop over is Santo Domingo de Calzada and you can make the detour to San Millan (Suso & Yuso) and Cana which are all lovely places to see. We walked though as we were sharing one little pack between 3 it felt fine.
Actually on my first CF I used rest days as cunning excuse to stay in a hotel or hostal :twisted: Now I'm old and shameless and will have racked up quite a number of luxury joints (well 2-4 bed rooms en suite with sheets & towels provided-everything is relative after all!) across Germany, Switzerland,France & Spain by the time I eventually get to SDC.

 

[tyrrek]

I can tell you the muscles had stiffened up and complained loudly when I started off again.

I find that if I stop for more than 10 minutes! After a km or two all is usually well again.

Buen Camino!

p.s. Good point about short days rather than rest days. Each to their own.

 

[Sagalouts]

I found that once I was in my stride it was difficult to stop walking, I have taken rest days in Burgos and Leon but found it strange being a tourist for the day.
plus because you have to be out of the Alburgues early your then stuck like a lemon wandering about with your backpack waiting to book into a hostel/hotel-the only way round this for me was to book into a hostel/hotel for two nights,or book into a nice place first leave later in the morning and then stay in the local albergue-most open 12-2pm this will give you plenty of time to rest up and wander round the town.
I always stay more than one night in Santiago and Finisterre
but what I did find on my first Camino was that all my plans went out the window once I started walking
Ian

 

[steinhoj]

Take rest days in the big cities! I regret only doing so in Leon. The nice thing about Leon is that it has a municipal and a religious auberge. We stayed in the municipal one the first night (no curfew, dorm-style rooms) and the religious one the second night. No one questioned us.

 

[annakappa]

what I did find on my first Camino was that all my plans went out the window once I started walking
Ian

Absolutely! I couldn't agree more.
When we did our first Camino, we made great plans regarding interesting stopovers - none of them happened. Now, when we walk, we almost shun the cities, happy to get out into the countryside again. Anne

 

[pstok]

We stayed in a little farm house at Portos ( ask at the Cafe) and then we took a side trip to Vilar Das Donas. Well worth the stop.

 

[siseale94]

I took one rest day in Leon and enjoyed it immensely. Leon is beautiful and easy to get around in. Usually I tended to move through the large cities as quickly as possible, maybe stop for lunch but then move on. However, Leon captured me and I'm glad it did.

 

[marysol]

how funny is that people talk about their “rest” day based on the things to “do” that major cities could offer. Then why not call it like it is: a tourist day. If you really want to take a proper rest day you will prefer smallest towns, where you can actually ...rest!

 

[VNwalking]

Very good point. marysol, and one that annakappa and a few others have already mentioned. BTW, there's another thread running right now about resting/touristing. Might be interesting to see what responses you get there.
I have to say that I would have liked more rest on my one quiet day in Burgos, but as the albergue is closed between 8 and 2 I had to go out (it was a freezing cold snowy day in March). If staying in an albergue, that's the same no matter where one takes rest--whether in a big city or the smallest hamlet. A hotel allows better rest.

 

[whariwharangi]

plus because you have to be out of the Alburgues early your then stuck like a lemon wandering about with your backpack waiting to book into a hostel/hotel-the only way round this for me was to book into a hostel/hotel for two nights,or book into a nice place first leave later in the morning and then stay in the local albergue-most open 12-2pm this will give you plenty of time to rest up and wander round the town.

Having to be out of the albergue without having a place to leave the pack was a major discouragement.

The 'rest' days I did take involved making like a tourist and all that wandering around looking at the sights left me more tired than if I had continued walking.

I stayed at a hotel in Estella ... on All Saints Eve ... the noise from the streets was as if there was a riot going on and it kept on till 2 AM ... Not a rest at all.