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Fully booked Albergue de Peregrinos (Roncesvalles)

tomas.on.the.road

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Camino Francés in May 2018 .. Coing soon ..
On Sunday my girlfriend and I are going to start our Camino and we have just found out that Albergue de Peregrinos is fully booked as their reservation system don't accept any other reservations.

I really don't want to stay first night after crossing the Pyrenees without a shelter. Is it possible that albergue has some more beds for people without accommodation or are there any other options besides booking a regular hotel?

Thanks
 
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Some don't make it, there may have been cancellations, some may not show up for other reasons. I would still stop at the aburgue and see if there is room. You might have to wait until 6:00 pm, or whatever the cutoff is for the Alburgue to hold a reservation.

There are several other villages near to Roncesvalles that have lodgings. Booking.com can help. If the hotel in Roncesvalles is also full, then a taxi to Burgette or Espinal will get you to a place to stay at those locations. The next morning, you can take a taxi back to Roncesvalles if you wish to start the next day's walk from there.
 
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Their website is reporting one bed available for the 29th & the same for the 30th and over 50 for the 1st May.

I guess that reflects the generality of people starting their "Holidays" at weekends.

Go via Valcarlos and then walk on to Espinal, Zubiri or Larrasoana the following day and you may find yourselves avoiding the weekend surge.
 
This weekend is 'un puente', in other words a long weekend. I have just finished watching the Spanish news and everybody is on the road, going everywhere, to take advantage of the next 4 days holiday! Remember also that the Spaniards mainly start their Pilgrimage in Roncesvalles and rarely SJPP! There will be a lot of people walking over this weekend, notwithstanding the very dismal weather forcast! ( I've just watched the Spanish weather forcast too)!
 
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On Sunday my girlfriend and I are going to start our Camino and we have just found out that Albergue de Peregrinos is fully booked as their reservation system don't accept any other reservations.

I really don't want to stay first night after crossing the Pyrenees without a shelter. Is it possible that albergue has some more beds for people without accommodation or are there any other options besides booking a regular hotel?

Thanks
We had a simiar experience on the May Day holiday weekend previously. Lots of people arriving in Roncesvalles by bus to start their walk. In 2014 the new albergue filled, when we arrived we got the last few beds in the old albergue that they opened.
 
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I am fairly confident that they only allow like 20% reservations and the rest are walk up only. I’ve stayed there in May and July. Both times seemed like if you arrived by 2-3 you were good. But both times didn’t see pilgrims turned away later.
 
I understand that the albergue in Roncesvalles does hold back beds for those who walk in without a reservation. (which used to be just about all pilgrims)


Not my experience at 6 pm last September. We were turned away in the rain and found an excellent Casa Rural with private rooms and great food only 2 km away. Wish I remembered the name, but there were several to choose from.
 
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Not my experience at 6 pm last September. We were turned away in the rain and found an excellent Casa Rural with private rooms and great food only 2 km away. Wish I remembered the name, but there were several to choose from.
I'm not saying that everyone who walks in without a reservation will get a bed, but that all the beds are not available to reserve, as was reported here:
It's explained on their website but in various different places so not immediately obvious: they have about 60 beds on the first floor that can be booked in advance and about 120 beds on the second and third floor that cannot be booked and are allocated on a first come first served ba
 
On Sunday my girlfriend and I are going to start our Camino and we have just found out that Albergue de Peregrinos is fully booked as their reservation system don't accept any other reservations.

I really don't want to stay first night after crossing the Pyrenees without a shelter. Is it possible that albergue has some more beds for people without accommodation or are there any other options besides booking a regular hotel?

Thanks
Hi Thomas
On Sunday my girlfriend and I are going to start our Camino and we have just found out that Albergue de Peregrinos is fully booked as their reservation system don't accept any other reservations.

I really don't want to stay first night after crossing the Pyrenees without a shelter. Is it possible that albergue has some more beds for people without accommodation or are there any other options besides booking a regular hotel?

Thanks
Hi Thomas,
In Roncesvalles in this moment there are 240 beds for pilgrims but only 70 for booking. When they say it's full, is only for 70 beds. The other beds are for pilgrims without reservation. Don't be afraid start your Camino quiet. BUEN CAMINO
 
I am a newbie and this info is for other newbies regarding booking the BIG Algergue in Roncevalles. I just now (April 28, 2018) booked 1 bed, plus dinner and breakfast for the night of May 14. This Albergue is referred to by several different names which was confusing to me but each different name still had the same pictures of the place. I've also noticed the variety of names for the same city/Village/Town through out the Camino when checking things out on various mapping programs. To book online, first Turn off your automatic translation (Google Chrome) on your browser. Pull up the website and then in the top right corner of the albergue's website, click on the language you prefer. Then, in the middle of the page is a large purple circle with print inside that is not translated...it says "Haz tu reserva aqui". You need to click on that to start your reservation. If you allow your browser (google chrome) to do the translation you will not be able to complete the registration and payment process. When you get to the payment by credit card page, don't try to translate it. There are only 3 fields you need to populate, 1st is your credit card number, second is the the 2 digit month and the last 2 digits of the year your card expires and the third is your security code. My transaction did not go through due to my credit card company's assumption it was fraud, thus they declined to pay but sent me an instantaneous email where I replied immediately to them, with a click, that it was ok. I had to start the whole process all over again which only takes 30 seconds the second time through and the transaction went through and I received a receipt on line (downloadable as a pdf) and via email. The website of the BIG albergue in Roncevalles is: http://www.alberguederoncesvalles.com As others have already stated, it has roughly 180 beds, 60 on each of the 3 floors. The first floor 60 beds are available for reservation, the remaining 120 beds on floors 2 and 3 are walk in only, they cannot be reserved. Apparently there is an overflow facility (the old Albergue no longer used except for high traffic periods) that is put into service when needed. On this forum a few days back, a pilgrim who had evidence of payment for a reservation showing only the transaction on her credit card and funds removed from her bank account had to pay again for her bed and meal. From her description of the experience, the Albergue requirement for proof of reservation is the confirmation email they send out to you after making your reservation. On that thread, several others with advance reservations for their upcoming Camino said they had not received email confirmations when they booked their bed/meal. To avoid an unhappy surprise, have a hard copy of that email or have access to it on your smart phone.
 
Last edited:
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Their website is reporting one bed available for the 29th & the same for the 30th and over 50 for the 1st May.

I guess that reflects the generality of people starting their "Holidays" at weekends.

Go via Valcarlos and then walk on to Espinal, Zubiri or Larrasoana the following day and you may find yourselves avoiding the weekend surge.
'-


Hello, I too am having trouble making a reservation. CC is cleared, but at the final confirmation page I get a denial. Wondering if full? Tincatinker, where do i see beds available? Looking for 2 on 17/6/18. Thanks all for information!
 
Hi Thomas

Hi Thomas,
In Roncesvalles in this moment there are 240 beds for pilgrims but only 70 for booking. When they say it's full, is only for 70 beds. The other beds are for pilgrims without reservation. Don't be afraid start your Camino quiet. BUEN CAMINO

This is very good to know.
I am having so much trouble getting a receipt for my payments.
Can you help me? I sent you a private message.
Annie
 
I have stayed there 3 times during the height of the pilgrim season. Every time got there in the mid-afternoon and every time there were beds available. No problems.
Future pilgrims reading this thread, worry not. :)
 
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Not my experience at 6 pm last September. We were turned away in the rain and found an excellent Casa Rural with private rooms and great food only 2 km away. Wish I remembered the name, but there were several to choose from.

That is a tough thing when you've made that walk. However, that doesn't contradict what was said about there being only a percentage of beds held for reservations, and the rest of the beds being open for walk-ins. In your situation, all the available beds for walk-ins had already been taken. Given that you arrived fairly late, compared to when most pilgrims tend to arrive in Roncesvalles, it is not completely unexpected.
 
'-
Hello, I too am having trouble making a reservation. CC is cleared, but at the final confirmation page I get a denial. Wondering if full? Tincatinker, where do i see beds available? Looking for 2 on 17/6/18. Thanks all for information!
The website tells you how many beds are available when you commence the booking process. You cannot book a bed that is not available. There seem to be at least two beds available on your desired date. I haven't booked them. The issue may be with your credit card, your credit card provider, your auto-translation on your computer or it may be the gods telling you to go via Valcarlos.
 
The website tells you how many beds are available when you commence the booking process. You cannot book a bed that is not available. There seem to be at least two beds available on your desired date. I haven't booked them. The issue may be with your credit card, your credit card provider, your auto-translation on your computer or it may be the gods telling you to go via Valcarlos.
Thank you for fast reply Tincatinker. I still am unable to see beds, so makes me think browser issue-not loading completely or something. CC should be OK, but isn't, so is probably the Gods telling me as you say. Thanks!
 
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@RJM, I am puzzled. I happened to notice that you say in another recent post that you walked the Frances "never in mid-May". So that doesn't make sense to me. The SJPP/Roncesvalles section of the Camino Francés has two peak seasons: early to mid-May and early to mid-September.

About 60,000 pilgrims stay annually in Roncesvalles (2016 figures) so yes, nearly everyone gets a bed there. A few hundred don't. The SJPP pilgrims office counted 470 (!) pilgrims on a single day - 30 April 2018 - who passed through their office for advice and a stamp. 1st of May peak period. Roncesvalles (albergue, hotels etc together) does not have that many beds at this moment in time. The next major blip will be the Whitsun weekend. 17 June 2018 will be less busy.

I can't see on the website how many places are left on a particular date. What one can do, is enter a request for the maximum number of people allowed for one booking - 15 persons - and if the majority of the 70 bookable beds are already booked (out of 200+ beds in total), the system will indicate how many are left, e.g. on 19 May 2018 which is the Saturday before Whitsun Sunday this year, only 8 bookable beds are currently left.
Wow....you are quite the detective. Researching and referencing my past posts, lol.
My staus at the albergue at Roncesvalles were in June twice, July once and August once (keep that for later reference ;) ). June through August sounds pretty peak season to me.
My main point was that I always got a bed there without reservations or any prior planning. In fact I never made the decision to stay there until I arrived. Never had a problem and I just don't want future pilgrims to get concerned too much about it after reading posts listing statistics and tales of throngs of pilgrims marching over the pass. Just walk with no worries. It isn't a job.
 
Not to worry. The Camino exists to accommodate pilgrims. If Roncesvalles is full there will be taxis eager to take you to the next alburge that has room. A number is us arrived late after "R" was full. There were taxis shuttling groups of us to the next alburge. The driver checked with the alburge to make sure there was room. He charged us €2 a person for the ride. Turned around to get another group.
 

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