Differences in where to stay

[nancyk]

I did the Camino from O'Cebreiro last Sept and would love to walk the whole Camino someday before I'm too old. I'm 65. What really confuses me though is the difference between an albergue, hostel, pension and pensions. Can someone enlighten me please. By the way, I love this site and learn so much from you folks..........thank you.

 

[sillydoll]

Paradores
High class, luxury hotels in castles, monasteries, palaces and other historic buildings.
Hotels
1 to 5 star hotels - most with dining facilities.
Hostales
A little down scale from Hotels – these are graded according to a three star system - only a few have dining rooms
Pensiones
Marked with a “P” on a sign; there are many more pensiones than Fondas and they are generally offer more up-market accommodation than the Fondas.
Fondas
Marked with a white “F” on a blue sign the fondas are small inns, most do not have en suite bathrooms or any luxuries.
Hostels
Spain has about 200 youth hostels, most of which are members of the Red Española de Albergues Juveniles (REAJ).
Casa Rural
These include country houses, B&Bs, cottages and apartments. Accommodation ranges from simple and homely to upmarket luxury.
Albergue del Peregrino
Also known as refugios, refuges, pilgrim shelters, albergues - are places for pilgrims (not tourists) to sleep overnight whilst on their pilgrimage

 

[Anniesantiago]

Hey Nancy! You have a good 20 years or so before you are "too old" to walk the Camino! I can't tell you how many pilgrims I met who were in or approaching their 80's! :lol:

 

[skilsaw]

Nancy, if you've walked O'Cebreiro to Santiago, then you should have a pretty good understanding of what the Camino is about. If you did it as part of an organized tour and did a combination of busing and walking, then you are in for a great enriched experience.

Don't wait. Plan to do it, God willing, next year in either May, June or Sept, Oct. You want to miss the crowding that occurs in July and August.

Best wishes for whatever you decide.
David

 

[nancyk]

Thanks everyone - this was helpful. And I appreciate your encouragement to walk the whole Camino next year and that age shouldn't be a barrier.
Nancy

 

[camino-david]

Hi,
I am walking the Camino right now, with two days to go to Burgos. DO NOT WORRY ABOUT YOUR AGE. There are plenty of retirees of your age walking, also I am 79 (admittedly the oldest I have seen). The two most important things in my opinion for older people - have good fitting boots that are a snug fit (I have no foot problems, not even blisters, but at least 50% of walkers do), and take it slowly at first and don´t try to do the stages that John Brierley writes in his book. Start with 10km or so and work up to 20 - 25km. Good luck with your planning. David

 

[nancyk]

David - thanks for the encouragement. I did walk 120 miles to Santiago last Sept without any blisters. I slathered Vaseline on my feet everyday. Gotta admit though walking the whole way is scary but.........................it keeps calling to me.
Nancy

 

[CaroleH]

David . .. hi, great to hear you are going so well. So pleased for you and look forward to hearing more. Totally agree with you about the boots . . . must fit well. When trying and buying, wear the exact socks you will wear on camino, and imho don't just buy boots that are one or two sizes bigger as is sometimes recommended here.

Your second point about starting slowly we also agree with whole heartedly. We usually try to make our first day's stage/etapa about 14 km or less, and find the feelings of achievement and 'elation' at surviving that are a great boost for the following days. I will always remember how elated I felt at the end of the first day of our first camino, the vdlp. It was such a 'high', and it blew away the doubts, well most of them, and we knew this 'thing' was achieveable.

Nancy . . . you can do it . . . . go for it!
Buen camino. Carole

 

[Smith123]

Hi guys,

Whenever we do a pilgrimage, we always like to have a place on the journey where we stay in a nice hotel (I know some people will think that it's cheating, but everyone has their own style)! On the Camino de Santiago we stopped off in Logroño at a nice hotel to experience the amazing Rioja wine and pinchos on Calle Laurel. I can't quite remember where we used to book the hotel, I think it was something like http://www.logrono-hotels.com or something similar, because it had a lot of special offers. Anyway, it was a very good price, considering the quality of the hotel we stayed at. What a great time we had there, especially as it was during the festival of San Mateo so there were parades in the streets and everybody had such a great time. Sorry to ramble on, just thought if my advice could help somebody, I should share it. Leon is also a really great place on the route. We're thinking about doing it again sometime.

 

[crackmrmac]

Hi Nancy, I hope one is never too old for this lark. I like to think I could manage 40 days of long distance walking sometime in the future.
No matter the route, you can sleep under the stars or in a 5 star hotel.
Let us know how you get on.

Buen Camino.

 

[Felipe]

I am not sure, but at 65 you are probably an average member of this forum....
@sillydoll basically covered it. I'd only add that in my experience, "fondas" are rather modest restaurants. Some may have rooms for rent (the Camino provides to them, too), but not necessarily.

 

[Bradypus]

Since the original post is dated September 2010 the author will have aged a little since then. Still not too late though. One of the most memorable encounters of my current Camino was Christopher: an English gentleman in his early 70's who began in St Jean a little anxious about his ability. As someone who walked with him up and down the Alto do Perdon - and had to be quick about it to keep up - I'd say he had nothing to fear!

 

[SYates]

I am not sure, but at 65 you are probably an average member of this forum....
@sillydoll basically covered it. I'd only add that in my experience, "fondas" are rather modest restaurants. Some may have rooms for rent (the Camino provides to them, too), but not necessarily.

And the reason you revived this 6 year old thread is? *Puzzled* SY

 

[Felipe]

Sorry, I did not notice the date...I suppose I saw a "like" in the timeline.
But the underlying reason probably is a need to idle away instead of dealing with more pressing (but quite boring) issues...