• For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here.
    (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation)
  • ⚠️ Emergency contact in Spain - Dial 112 and AlertCops app. More on this here.

Search 69,459 Camino Questions

Heat in Albergues in 2022 - Do I need sleeping bag?

Time of past OR future Camino
Frances16, Norte/Finis18,Olvidado (Bonar)19,Norte2
Planning a trip on the Del Norte in September/October 2022. With the geopolitical fuel price situation as it is would you expect to need a warm sleeping bag, or would a 500 gram liner work as it has in the past?
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Not to sound incredibly cheeky but...that is ages from now (predicting the war and a fuel crisis, pfft.) As many of us like to post about the weather. Stick your finger out the window in the morning and you will know which way the wind is blowing. It has been one of the warmest spring times in Pays Basque this year until the horrible snow storm last week.
 
Join our full-service guided tour and let us convert you into a Pampered Pilgrim!
I know it is too soon to tell, but I am scheduled to travel in less than 2 months so will have to make some decisions this spring. I'd love it if people would keep me posted!
I'll keep you posted, I'm not sure how...can you follow people on this forum? I'm the coldest person on Earth. I only brought a sleeping bag liner, then I see "snow" on one of the threads and immediately got goosebumps. I'll let you know how I go with the liner and the average temperatures. I hope I haven't made a mistake leaving the sleeping bag behind lol.
 
I'll keep you posted, I'm not sure how...can you follow people on this forum? I'm the coldest person on Earth. I only brought a sleeping bag liner, then I see "snow" on one of the threads and immediately got goosebumps. I'll let you know how I go with the liner and the average temperatures. I hope I haven't made a mistake leaving the sleeping bag behind lol.
To follow someone is easy. Just put your cursor/mouse over the photo of the person you want to follow. A box will appear and at the bottom you will see follow/ignore/start conversation. Click on follow and it is done! I doubt even my mother who was the coldest peson on earth before you were born would be ok on the CF in June at night!
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Planning a trip on the Del Norte in September/October 2022. With the geopolitical fuel price situation as it is would you expect to need a warm sleeping bag, or would a 500 gram liner work as it has in the past?
I am scheduled to start walking in from Leon on April 25. I share the concern about the availability of heat given the cost of energy. I tend to be cold no matter what but have managed the Camino in the past with a liner and down blanket. Froze two nights but managed otherwise (this was Sept-Oct). Can anyone say what the heat situation is right now?
 
What kind of liner do you have that weighs 500g? Is it down? Fleece? Or just a very heavy "sheet" material of some sort? I don't know, since the material matters - I have a down sleeping bag that weighs 450g and paired with a silk sleeping bag liner 104g should be enough for me. Down is much better at insulating than other "lightweight" materials. And I would bring that at a minimum year round - high gas prices or not! I learned my lesson from an unseasonably cold June/July Camino.
 
Very light, comfortable and compressible poncho. Specially designed for protection against water for any activity.

Our Atmospheric H30 poncho offers lightness and waterproofness. Easily compressible and made with our Waterproof fabric, its heat-sealed interior seams guarantee its waterproofness. Includes carrying bag.

€60,-
Planning a trip on the Del Norte in September/October 2022. With the geopolitical fuel price situation as it is would you expect to need a warm sleeping bag, or would a 500 gram liner work as it has in the past?
I have stayed in dozens of municipal albergues in spring and fall Caminos and never remember being cold . Often hot , when you have 30-40 pilgrims snorting away, it like a cow barn everybody gives off heat . I always bring a very light bag and an attached pillow case
 
The important question is: Do you want to be sure you'll be warm at night? If yes, then bring adequate gear (or stay at hotels where heating and blankets are provided).

If you're not sure what's adequate / whether a liner will be enough or not, bring a sleeping bag. Worst case scenario? You'll have to open it if it's too warm.

If you know from experience you're a very warm sleeper and a liner is enough during the season and at the altitude you'll be walking, that's great! Less weight in your pack.

But otherwise, a liner only can be a recipe for some miserable nights. Don't rely on other people's experience in this case - a warm sleeper staying mainly in private albergues with blankets will swear that a liner is enough even in early spring and late autumn, while a cold sleeper staying at municipals with no blankets will feel like freezing to death many nights during that time.

Wanting to save weight is understandable, but the 300g more of a sleeping bag vs a liner is very little - you won't really feel that difference in your pack. But you will certainly feel the difference between the liner and the sleeping bag at night, especially if you're a cold sleeper. That small amount of weight saved does not make up for cold nights spent shivering and tossing and turning without enough sleep.

I'm a cold sleeper, if it wasn't obvious, and have been cold even in summer *with* a sleeping bag. No way would I walk with a liner only, even in summer, and certainly not in spring or autumn!
 
Down bag (90/10 duvet) of 700 fills with 180 g (6.34 ounces) of filling. Mummy-shaped structure, ideal when you are looking for lightness with great heating performance.

€149,-
I just finished walking the Via de la Plata and San Salvador in March, and Primitivo in early April, where I spend consecutive 37 nights over the distance of about 1200 km. The conditions in albergues should be more or less similar to del Norte in October - but me, with a few notable exceptions I was almost always cold, I almost always wished I had a better sleeping bag (not a cheap summer decathlon sleeping bag) and except for the last 100 km, there were almost never more than 2 or 3 or sometimes 4 people in a usually big dormitory room. That's typical for off-season, non-Frances Camino during pandemic (yes covid may be back in the fall). Very often you have a big room with a small heater just for yourself, and heating almost always is on timer, which means it goes on for maybe 2-3 hours in the evening and goes off completely at night. When you go to bathroom at night, your teeth chatter. And heaters are turned off at night not only in albergues, but also in cheaper private rooms (those 30 euros and under). Well in private albergues and pensions you have blankets, but you don't spend 100% of time in bed, right? You want to do your chores, hand-wash your clothes, take a shower, shave your face if you are a man, make some food, eat it, socialize if there is another pilgrim (s) and if you are in a cold, cold place all those things are just not fun.

Oh and I forgot to say that hand-washed clothes don't dry at night in cold albergues. That's rather obvious.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Well having been caught out twice (i never learn) once on the portugese in March 2017 and this March on the via de la plata . Unheated Accomodation and 5 degrees at night i will always err on the side of caution .
good luck on the Norte in Oct i hope its warmer but given the bizarre weather patterns i wouldnt bet on anything these days .
 
To be fair I must admit that my perception of cold may be a bit different because I lost about 10 kg of body fat while walking my long Camino - so basically I lost all the protection that fat tissue gave me when I was starting from Seville. I think it is an important factor to consider if you are going for a month long Camino like el Norte. But if you lose 10 kg of body fat, then no harm in replacing it with a good 1 kg sleeping bag, you can buy it on the way when you already got rid of some unnecessary body weight :) of course it doesn't apply to people who don't have this protective tissue when they start their Camino :)
 
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.

Most read last week in this forum

Hi all! I walked the Le Puy to Roncesvalles route last spring, and now I am thinking of Arles to Compostela on the Norte in the fall. I have many questions. I have downloaded the WP Norte App. I...

❓How to ask a question

How to post a new question on the Camino Forum.

Forum Rules

Forum Rules

Camino Updates on YouTube

Camino Conversations

Most downloaded Resources

This site is run by Ivar at

in Santiago de Compostela.
This site participates in the Amazon Affiliate program, designed to provide a means for Ivar to earn fees by linking to Amazon
Official Camino Passport (Credential) | 2024 Camino Guides
Back
Top