charliemurphy
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- Time of past OR future Camino
- Frances
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Where are you starting? September is usually a busier time starting in St Jean so you may want to book the first few days to Pamplona. After Pamplona things spread a bit. If you are starting further along like in Burgos or Leon the September wave from St Jean won't impact you as much.Hello all,
I begin my first Camino adventure on August 31 where I will do 17 days of the Camino Frances.
I am wondering whether or not I need to book albergues in advance or is it truly ok to just walk to an area an hope to find a bed on the day?
Thank you for all your help!!
Wording is important.I am wondering whether or not I need to book albergues in advance
Related to this subject, I have made reservations for the first 4 nights at Orisson, Roncesvalles, Zubiri and Pamplona, do I need to call or email to confirm these reservations before arrival?
I walked in October 2017 and i am sure details have changed markedly since then. But ...I am wondering whether or not I need to book albergues in advance or is it truly ok to just walk to an area an hope to find a bed on the day?
Hi, are you able to advise if Roncesvalles is going to go back to its policy of only allowing one floor to be reserved or if the current policy will be retained?You will be starting in the busiest period of the Francés. During the first two weeks of September hundreds of pilgrims leave SJPdP daily and we always have a lack of 50 - 100 beds in Roncesvalles everyday; sadly enough we have to send people away with taxis to the next villages, sometimes even to Pamplona. So if you want to be sure of a bed: make your reservations for SJPdP, for Roncesvalles, for Zubiri and even for Pamplona. After that bottleneck the crowds will spread bit by bit and it may become easier to find a bed.
sadly enough we have to send people away with taxis to the next villages
What the graph doesn't make obvious is that the Camino Frances is 800klms long and typically takes 5 to 6 weeks to walk.September is THE busiest month for pilgrims starting from St Jean Pied de Port.
Here's a graph from the last pre-Covid year.
View attachment 130163
Yes, I agree.What the graph doesn't make obvious is that the Camino Frances is 800klms long and typically takes 5 to 6 weeks to walk.
This means that it can be busy in St. Jean at the same time that it is not busy further along the way (as evidenced by @JanusDT ) while being very busy in Sarria.
The other thing that the monthly graph hides is that the two peak waves in May and September are very narrow and typically only two weeks wide.
I've done both, booked ahead by a day, and just winged it.Hello all,
I begin my first Camino adventure on August 31 where I will do 17 days of the Camino Frances, starting from SJPP.
I am wondering whether or not I need to book albergues in advance or is it truly ok to just walk to an area an hope to find a bed on the day?
Thank you for all your help!!
No, unfortunately there is no more a limit to the amount of reservations. This is up to the Colegiata, we, hospitaleros, have no influence on the reservation system. I've seen 180 reservations last May; this means the whole Aterpea albergue (the renovated building with 183 beds) was nearly fully booked. There are also 32 beds in the 'winter-albergue' and some 30 beds in the sótano (the cellar) which makes a totaal of 245 beds.Hi, are you able to advise if Roncesvalles is going to go back to its policy of only allowing one floor to be reserved or if the current policy will be retained?
Also, how many beds are currently held back for walk in pilgrims?
Oh my! This is great! I am not a huge fan of Roncesvalles, it's kinda a pilgrim factory IMO. Now the people are great and the staff is friendly, its scale is just... um big.The last time I walked the Camino Frances I took the route through Valcarlos, instead of the Napoleon, spent the first night in the very comfortable albergue in Valcarlos and ate fabulously well in the local restaurant, and the second night walked through Roncesvalles to Burguete, which is only a kilometre down the road. I stayed in the Hostal Burguete. Which Hemingway famously mentions in his book "The Sun Also Rises" and where he is reputed to have written much of the book. I did not need to book the Valcarlos albergue, or the Hostal Burguete, as I arrived at both quite early in the day.
I was hospitalero for several months 2015-2019. The place had been open eighteen years when I first arrived and had almost never accepted reservations. They stopped because all too often, the person never showed up and they turned people away while there were still empty beds. Other places had a similar problem. In 2017, started trying out "Sure, we'll hold a spot for you UNTIL las cuatro de la tarde. If you arrive after that, it might not be available."I begin my first Camino adventure on August 31 where I will do 17 days of the Camino Frances, starting from SJPP.
I am wondering whether or not I need to book albergues in advance or is it truly ok to just walk to an area an hope to find a bed on the day?
I did notHello all,
I begin my first Camino adventure on August 31 where I will do 17 days of the Camino Frances, starting from SJPP.
I am wondering whether or not I need to book albergues in advance or is it truly ok to just walk to an area an hope to find a bed on the day?
Thank you for all your help!!
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