Do we need to pre-book on the Camino Frances

[Kam Wong]

Hi again

We will start walking our first Camino after September 20. Do we need to reserve any more accommodation on the route?
We have already at Orisson and Roncesvalles online. We do not know how well we can walk and so how do we reserve on the route? We will carry a cell phone.
Where is a must place that needs reservation? We both are "slow" walkers and probably will not get to a public aubergue anytime before 2 pm (even we start at 7 am). Any suggestions? Private aubergue?
Thanks so much

Anjulia and Kam

 

[Deleted member 3000]

The crowds will be thinning by the end of September, so you do not NEED to book ahead. However, if you want peace of mind, you can call a day ahead. Municipal albergues generally do not take reservations. Private albergues and hostales will.

 

[Anniesantiago]

Personally, I would book SJPP, Roncesvalles, and Santiago.
The rest of the way should be fine in September.

 

[giorgio]

Late september at seven o'clock in the morning will still be dark.....

 

[trecile]

Personally, I would book SJPP, Roncesvalles, and Santiago.
The rest of the way should be fine in September.

Of course you'll have to wait until you are close to Santiago to book it. A couple of days ahead should be fine. And I'll put in a plug for the please I stayed - Hotel/Albergue LaSalle. I had sent a suitcase ahead to Santiago from SJPDP using the Express Bourricot service, and Hotel LaSalle provides the storage facilities there, and offers a discount to those who used the service. I phoned them about 5 days before I arrived in Santiago at a very busy time - the beginning of August, and had no trouble getting a room. I had only booked for one night, because I was planning to start walking to the coast the next day, but my plans changed, and they were able to accommodate me for another day. I also stayed there for two nights following my Muxia/Finisterre walk, making that reservation just a couple of days before I arrived.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Hi again
We both are "slow" walkers and probably will not get to a public aubergue anytime before 2 pm (even we start at 7 am). Any suggestions? Private aubergue?
Thanks so much

Anjulia and Kam

Hello to both of you,

To make things less confusing for you, as you seem to be a bit off in your camino terminology:

Albergues can be municipal, parochial, but also private. These are dorm type, with a few of them offering a few individual or double rooms, for an extra fee.

Then there are pensiones and hostales, more along the lines of B&B or what we call in French an auberge.

So you can stay in dorm type places which are private, and which can be reserved ahead of time.

 

[Felipe]

I walked in late September/early October. No problem in general, but I had some inconvenients in Leon (San Froilan feast -beware!) and Portomarin (a big group of cyclists). Both times the hospitalera took the phone, made some calls and got us a bed (in the suburbs, in Leon, in a hostal, in P.). I never met a pilgrim saying that s/he had not found a place to sleep. If you don' t want to worry about this, make reservations just one or two days before.
This time I stayed mostly in private albergues, so I can't tell you about muni or parochial ones.

 

[Saint Mike II]

Hola @Kam Wong; fully agree about booking for St Jean; Orisson; Roncesvalles. If you are intending to stay an extra day in Pamplona you might need to book there. From there on you should have no problems. I would recommend rest days in Burgos & Leon so you might want to book those extra nights - 2 days ahead should be OK (unless there is some festival). I stayed Le Salle in Santiago - not bad for the price, but its a bit out the city centre!

 

[trecile]

Hola
[QUOTE="Saint Mike II, post: 548154, member: 20994"]Hola [USER=72786]@Kam Wong; I stayed Le Salle in Santiago - not bad for the price, but its a bit out the city centre!

I mentioned LaSalle, because though it is a bit out of the center, they did have rooms/beds during a very busy time. I knew one guy who couldn't find a room in Santiago, and walked back to Monte de Gozo.[/USER][/QUOTE]

 

[Anniesantiago]

Of course you'll have to wait until you are close to Santiago to book it. A couple of days ahead should be fine. And I'll put in a plug for the please I stayed - Hotel/Albergue LaSalle. I had sent a suitcase ahead to Santiago from SJPDP using the Express Bourricot service, and Hotel LaSalle provides the storage facilities there, and offers a discount to those who used the service. I phoned them about 5 days before I arrived in Santiago at a very busy time - the beginning of August, and had no trouble getting a room. I had only booked for one night, because I was planning to start walking to the coast the next day, but my plans changed, and they were able to accommodate me for another day. I also stayed there for two nights following my Muxia/Finisterre walk, making that reservation just a couple of days before I arrived.

I like staying in the pilgrim rooms at San Martin Pinario, right across the street from the Cathedral - and almost everyone knows when they will be leaving Santiago, so it's not difficult to book ahead. It may be easier to book a hotel.

 

[trecile]

I like staying in the pilgrim rooms at San Martin Pinario, right across the street from the Cathedral - and almost everyone knows when they will be leaving Santiago, so it's not difficult to book ahead. It may be easier to book a hotel.

But not everyone knows when they will arrive to Santiago.

 

[Anniesantiago]

But not everyone knows when they will arrive to Santiago.

We could just go back and forth forever about this, couldn't we?

I book Santiago every year because no matter how many days I walk, I do know what day I arrive in Santiago and what day I'm leaving. But that's me.

I am now booking a trip for for June 2018 and am finding many places booked up already, so for ME, booking ahead is important, especially in Santiago.

Just a couple of days ago, someone posted that pilgrims in Santiago were having a LOT of difficulty finding beds.

I prefer not to have to worry about that.

 

[Kam Wong]

Thanks all.
We have booked at SKPDP for 2 nights on September 19 and 20. But cannot get one at Orrison on the 21. Asking if we can stay at Gitr Kayola instead. Paid deposit for 2 beds at Roncesvalles for Sep 22.
The worst is to stay in SJPDP FOR extra night before walking