@GaryAus would you recommend a winter camino? And enjoy the sunshine now you are home!
Kanga, it was fantastic. We (2 Australians walking together) had the Camino virtually to ourselves. I know the weather is a lottery, but the weather was just glorious. Most days 6-12 degrees, and coldest morning about -6 degrees coming out of Burgos and again O'Cebriero in the snow. Only 5 days of rain in 33 walking days. We saw beautiful sunny days, a few rainy days, almost no windy days, and got to walk through fresh snow. No mud anywhere and the Meseta dry. Visibility in the main excellent with only a couple foggy days. Only once did we get to our planned stopping point for the day to find nothing open, and had to walk on.
Walked with only 10-15 other pilgrims each day, mostly Europeans and South Koreans, and really only saw them at food and coffee stops and at the end of the day. But they were a great bunch, and we got on well. I'm sure I will walk again with some of them in the years ahead, and we have agreed to stay in touch. Saw no other Australians the whole time. Albergues and hostels generally open everywhere (at least one in every town) but food on some days hard to come by if the Bars were closed. But that was rare. We stocked up on muesli bars and apples for such eventualities.
I would wholeheartedly recommend a (early) winter Camino, at least the
Camino Frances with its established infrastructure. I couldn't imagine doing it in summer with thousands of others, and walking in the heat. With a bit of planning, Albergues and food were fairly easily managed. Websites and Apps were invaluable and wifi generally available for free at bars and Albergues, so everything operated from our mobile phones as we worked out where to aim for each day. The Christmas lights going up in each town as we progressed was also pretty special.
I will eventually post a detailed journal for others, but I absolutely can recommend a winter Camino and can't imagine a better time of year to do it.