- Time of past OR future Camino
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We arrived in Roncevalles on Easter Sunday 2019 and were surprised by the LACK of pilgrims! You should be fine given that everyone will have returned home on April 10.
We were surprised since we had heard the rumors that they’d be no beds for late-arrives, Mass would be packed, dinner would be impossible to get, etc. Instead, even the latecomers had a place to sleep, food to eat, and a spot for the blessing. The lack of pilgrim crowds is relative, but we thought they’d be a lot more than the capacity for the village to handle (Zubiri had this problem, actually). From Somport in mid-April? It’ll be a ghost town!Easter Sunday 2019 was April 21st. That day was full house, with 216 pilgrims in the albergue.
Be ready for possible snowy weather (or clear skies and sun!) as that region is in transition during mid-April. If the road gets closed at the pass, you can start walking from Canfranc Estacion. Also, definitely plan to stay at the donativo in Canfranc PUEBLO, a newer facility just starting it’s third year. I hear it has the best hospitaleros on the Camino...or so we like to think when my wife and I are volunteering there!Many thanks to all of you who took the time to share with me your experience of Easter on the CF. From what I have read, I feel confident that 11 April is a good time to start out from Somport.
I've walked 2x over Semana Santa, once to Santiago, and once on the Meseta. It slows down after Easter, by comparison, bigger villages and cities will likely have processions leading up to Easter, which is something I found worth experiencing, if not as elaborate as in Southern Spain. Can get very loud at night. I stayed at the main albergue in Leon on Good Friday, the last procession began and ended there, went on all night. The Monday after may or may not have holiday closures. More crowded from Sarria, though admittedly, I haven't been in Navarra during Holy Week. Things change, but I will second that in the past more Spaniards tend to start in Roncesvalles vs SJPP, in general.A question to those who have experience of pilgrim habits and statistics on the Camino Francés.
God being willing, I hope to walk this spring to Santiago along the CF, starting out in mid-April from Somport. I am trying to choose a "good" date for my departure.
Would I be correct in thinking that Easter is a time when many pilgrims set off from SJPdP? Would I also be correct in hoping that if I were to arrive at Puente la Reina a week after Easter I could avoid the "wave" of pilgrims who had left SJPdP just before or immediately after Easter Sunday and so have an easier time finding accommodation? Easter Sunday this year is 9 April, I plan to start in Somport on Tuesday 11 April and would probably arrive in Puente la Reina a week later on Tuesday 18 April.
I have checked out previous threads about Easter, but they are mainly about Holy Week, processions, etc..
Thanks for your comments!
I think many pilgrims who have a short time often do the last bit to end up in Santiago for Easter. It might pick up in SJPP after for people trying to avoid that rush. I've walked for Lent before from Pamplona to Santiago, and for Easter, also Pamplona to Santiago, but was in Astoria for Easter that time. Crowded in Mansila de Las Mulas and Leon, but otherwise not that busy.A question to those who have experience of pilgrim habits and statistics on the Camino Francés.
God being willing, I hope to walk this spring to Santiago along the CF, starting out in mid-April from Somport. I am trying to choose a "good" date for my departure.
Would I be correct in thinking that Easter is a time when many pilgrims set off from SJPdP? Would I also be correct in hoping that if I were to arrive at Puente la Reina a week after Easter I could avoid the "wave" of pilgrims who had left SJPdP just before or immediately after Easter Sunday and so have an easier time finding accommodation? Easter Sunday this year is 9 April, I plan to start in Somport on Tuesday 11 April and would probably arrive in Puente la Reina a week later on Tuesday 18 April.
I have checked out previous threads about Easter, but they are mainly about Holy Week, processions, etc..
Thanks for your comments!
Si! Carrion des Condes, April 15 last year, fantastic and movingI've walked 2x over Semana Santa, once to Santiago, and once on the Meseta. It slows down after Easter, by comparison, bigger villages and cities will likely have processions leading up to Easter, which is something I found worth experiencing, if not as elaborate as in Southern Spain. Can get very loud at night. I stayed at the main albergue in Leon on Good Friday, the last procession began and ended there, went on all night. The Monday after may or may not have holiday closures. More crowded from Sarria, though admittedly, I haven't been in Navarra during Holy Week. Things change, but I will second that in the past more Spaniards tend to start in Roncesvalles vs SJPP, in general.
I think many pilgrims who have a short time often do the last bit to end up in Santiago for Easter. It might pick up in SJPP after for people trying to avoid that rush. I've walked for Lent before from Pamplona to Santiago, and for Easter, also Pamplona to Santiago, but was in Astoria for Easter that time. Crowded in Mansila de Las Mulas and Leon, but otherwise not that busy.
I can say, from experience, that Semana Santa is a crush on accommodations well outside the last 100 k. I had to walk short sections from Logrono to Belorado, without reservations, in 2017.I imagine that this wave will be much more focused on the last 100km. Although it is common for many albergues to open for Easter, I would not consider it a wave for the majority of the Camino as any boost in numbers will only last a week, whereupon the domestic pilgrims return to work.
I was on the Meseta,. Between Boadilla and Astoria in 2017 for Semana Santa, I must've timed it right. I got into Leon early on Good Friday, and got a bed, but later in the day the city was packed. I was late getting to Carrion de Los Condes on Palm Sunday, I got one of the last beds in the albergue but it was after 6 pm.I can say, from experience, that Semana Santa is a crush on accommodations well outside the last 100 k. I had to walk short sections from Logrono to Belorado, without reservations, in 2017.
Right, but what I was trying and failing to express is that it is a local wave.I can say, from experience, that Semana Santa is a crush on accommodations well outside the last 100 k. I had to walk short sections from Logrono to Belorado, without reservations, in 2017.
I walked from SJPP in 2010, arriving in Pamplona on Good Friday. I didn't know about the 'Easter wave', and so rather than avoiding it, I was enjoying the company of many enthusiastic Spanish pilgrims. Many seemed to leave at Puenta la Reina, and from Los Arcos to Sarria, it was a very different experience. I suspect if you do as you are planning, there will be fewer people on the CF.Would I also be correct in hoping that if I were to arrive at Puente la Reina a week after Easter I could avoid the "wave" of pilgrims who had left SJPdP just before or immediately after Easter Sunday and so have an easier time finding accommodation?
If I had the fortune to be on the Camino Frances for holy week, I would not miss the processions in Leon. If I had the fortune to be in Spain for holy week, I would not miss the processions in Sevilla. But that is just me.
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