Jamie Y. Mo
A lifelong learner and wanderer
- Time of past OR future Camino
- CF (May-July/2017) PC (May-July/2018) and more...
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Could anybody give me some hints/advice of my concerns?
Hi Jamie K, welcome back!
It looks as though you have set your heart on Le Puy route, but France IS expensive, and it will probably cost you twice as much as the Camino Francés.
The cheapest gites (albergues) that I stayed in on Le Puy route were 11 euros. That was in only three different places, and none included breakfast.
Compare that to Spain, where many albergues are 6 euros.
Expect to pay on average between 12 and 20 euros a night in France.
On the other hand, cost-wise, Portugal is similar to Spain.
It is nowhere near as busy as the Camino Francés, in fact, for me, there are just the right number of people.
Lisbon to Porto is very quiet, you’ll meet just a handful of people. After Porto the Central Route may be quite busy in May/June, but if you take the Coastal Route, it will be much quieter.
My recommendation for you is Portugal, but whichever you choose, Bom Caminho or Bon Chemin!
Jill
Hi Jamie K, I have walked the Frances and Portugues and am going to be walking the Le Puy this year (2018). I would not necessarily recommend the portuguese route for scenery compared to the frances. Plus the portuguese route is way flatter (almost completely flat) and is on a lot of pavement. I also had a lot of trouble on the last 150 km of the Portuguese to find space in the albergues as EVERYONE booked in advance (which really disgusts me as it kills that camino vibe I knew from the Frances). I never EVER had any trouble finding a place to sleep on the Frances. I've read many articles saying you can also camp (with a tent) on the Le Puy which is going to help me train for the PCT. The scenery and peace are what are attracting me most for the Le Puy. Buen camino
Thanks for the reply.Demi Pension (half board) costs around €30 to €40 in a gite, as a rough estimate. For that you will get a bed (bunk beds are rare) a 3 to 5 course meal almost always amazingly excellent, loads of wine, breakfast. The only other money you need to spend is on lunch (I don't eat a lot for lunch) and coffee etc. Unless you have your bag transported.
The few places I stayed that did not do Demi pension were around €14 to €20. A couple were donation type.
Demi pension was a communal type affair and very enjoyable, and I speak next to no French.
Stay on farms for home produce (cheeses, yoghurt etc)
Regional food and produce from the area/owners garden is everywhere.
I took about a month to walk it, but 2 months means more great food and a more relaxed pace.
Hello everyone,
I haven't visited this website since July, I think.
Today is a NYE.
Wish all of you a healthy and productive year to come.
OK. I had my first Camino (FC) in May and June. What can I say.. it was unspeakably great..
I'm thinking of going to my second Camino, perhaps next May.
I was thinking of trying different season but I think I would still like to go in May once again before trying different things in my next Camino.
I think May is a good time for me as May is spring after a long and harsh winter in Canada and I would like to just go and shake off my frozen body and mind while walking.
I have met a few people while walking France Camino who were walking from Le Puy. I was not quite familiar with all these different Camino routes then so Le Puy was one of the unfamiliar, far-sounding wonderland to me then.
But now after having come back and have done an extensive research, in my own term, about Camino, I now have some sort of ideas about where is where.
I am still debating between Le Puy and Portuguese route though.
One of my friends who did both recommended Le Puy than Portuguese because Le Puy is quieter and more peaceful and beautiful.
According to her, Portuguese route is kinda crowded.
Well, I have also some other things to consider; time and money.
I found FC is cheaper than I thought. Crowd was, well, endurable. I had no reference to compare then as it was my first Camino but to think back now then, yes it got crowded at some points but I got along alright.
But since this is my second Camino I would like to have rather quieter route.
In that regard, Le Puy should be better. But what I'm concerning is that it is in France, which I suppose things can be quite expensive than Spain and I have no idea how much it can be expensive.
Time-wise, I think I might be able to manage 2 months (Le Puy to SJPP) to spare to walk if I feel like but it adds up the expense and I cannot ignore that..
Could anybody give me some hints/advice of my concerns?
Also, if you walk Le Puy route, where do you fly to and how do you get to Le Puy?
Thank you so much.
I finished the Camino Portugues starting from Lisbon in November. I didn’t really enjoy it, yet a lot of people speak highly of it. I’m planning walking the Le Puy Route in September. I’m looking forward to some spectacular scenery.Hello everyone,
I haven't visited this website since July, I think.
Today is a NYE.
Wish all of you a healthy and productive year to come.
OK. I had my first Camino (FC) in May and June. What can I say.. it was unspeakably great..
I'm thinking of going to my second Camino, perhaps next May.
I was thinking of trying different season but I think I would still like to go in May once again before trying different things in my next Camino.
I think May is a good time for me as May is spring after a long and harsh winter in Canada and I would like to just go and shake off my frozen body and mind while walking.
I have met a few people while walking France Camino who were walking from Le Puy. I was not quite familiar with all these different Camino routes then so Le Puy was one of the unfamiliar, far-sounding wonderland to me then.
But now after having come back and have done an extensive research, in my own term, about Camino, I now have some sort of ideas about where is where.
I am still debating between Le Puy and Portuguese route though.
One of my friends who did both recommended Le Puy than Portuguese because Le Puy is quieter and more peaceful and beautiful.
According to her, Portuguese route is kinda crowded.
Well, I have also some other things to consider; time and money.
I found FC is cheaper than I thought. Crowd was, well, endurable. I had no reference to compare then as it was my first Camino but to think back now then, yes it got crowded at some points but I got along alright.
But since this is my second Camino I would like to have rather quieter route.
In that regard, Le Puy should be better. But what I'm concerning is that it is in France, which I suppose things can be quite expensive than Spain and I have no idea how much it can be expensive.
Time-wise, I think I might be able to manage 2 months (Le Puy to SJPP) to spare to walk if I feel like but it adds up the expense and I cannot ignore that..
Could anybody give me some hints/advice of my concerns?
Also, if you walk Le Puy route, where do you fly to and how do you get to Le Puy?
Thank you so much.
Thanks for the helpful info.Jamie
I did the same thing. In 2013 I walked from O'Cebriero to Santiago and caught the Camino Bug. In 2014 I began from Le Puy and over these last few years have made it to Condom, a week at a time (with the full Camino Primitivo in 2017). I plan on finishing up the Le Puy this year. The Le Puy route is my favorite. It is gorgeous, but more expensive than Camino Frances. The prior estimates are accurate. It is also very hilly until Cahors. There are fewer gites along the way than on the Frances and greater distances between them. Reservations are recommended, even if a day or two in advance. It will be busy, but not terribly crowded, up to Conques and less so after that. I've walked it in May/June and in September. Both are fine, but go later in May, if you can, as there are a lot of Holidays that first week in May. If you leave from Le Puy the third weekend in September you can also attend the most outrageous Medieval Festival I'm sure you will ever see. It's in Le Puy around Sept. 20 or so, and is Mardi Gras meets Burning Man at the Renaissance Faire. You'll need a day to recover before starting out.
You will not be disappointed choosing this route.
I found the Domaine Savauge most memorable and La Rose de l'Aubrac in Finieyrols delightful.
We flew to Paris, took the train to Lyon and another train to St. Etienne and then took a bus from the St. Etienne station to Le Puy.
[QUOTE="
beds fully made, unlike Spanish albergues who only offer a contour sheet and pillowcase, plus a random blanket, at least most of the time. .
We did both the Portuguese (2016) and Le Puy (2017) routes. I see that most people prefer the scenery of Le Puy, but we enjoyed the Portuguese more. (To be fair, we did have excellent weather in Portugal and very not excellent weather on Le Puy, so that might have colored my opinion somewhat.) But, we also went along the coast as much as possible instead of the interior, so we experienced beautiful seascapes and beaches.
With as much time as you're allocating, if you decide to do the Portuguese, I'd recommend starting in southern Portugal (Sagres) on the Rota Vicentina - it's absolutely gorgeous and was the highlight of our Portuguese trip! It's very uncrowded - there were days when we saw, at most, four or five other hikers. Good luck!
Thanks for your reply!
Wow. I just looked up Sagres because I didn't know where it was. It is the very bottom of Portugal. I would love to walk as long as possible but I have some questions though.
1. How long did it take for you to walk from Sargres to Santiago?
2. Are there albergues as well from Sagres to Lisbon? (since not many people walk that way..), if not, how much on average did you spend on lodging? (I would rather want to pay similar to what I used to pay on FC or less)
3. I'm planning to go in May. Do you think it will be nice weather-wise from there, in general?
Thank you! and Buen Camino!
1. Here’s a day-by-day of our itinerary. Notice that there were some days where we took buses or trains – this was due to reading our guidebooks and determining that some sections were better left unhiked. Also, there are officially two more stops on the Rota Vicentina, but we needed to be in Lisbon on the 3rd, so we had to forego them. I recommend the Fisherman's Trail on the RV - it's spectacular!
View attachment 38772
2. We stayed in B&B’s, AirBNB’s, locally owned hotels, etc from Sagres to Lisbon (I’m old enough and have enough money so I don’t need to share a room with 20 other people). Some recommendations I can make are for the Arrifana Retreat in Arrifana, and the youth hostel in Almograve (if you want that hostel experience). So, long way of saying you might pay more than on the CF, but you can probably find some very reasonable places if you look.
3. As you can see we started at the end of May. We had great weather the entire trip, with rain only on one afternoon. No guarantees, of course, but I think May would be fairly nice.
Just wondering why not fly directly to Lyon?Jamie
I did the same thing. In 2013 I walked from O'Cebriero to Santiago and caught the Camino Bug. In 2014 I began from Le Puy and over these last few years have made it to Condom, a week at a time (with the full Camino Primitivo in 2017). I plan on finishing up the Le Puy this year. The Le Puy route is my favorite. It is gorgeous, but more expensive than Camino Frances. The prior estimates are accurate. It is also very hilly until Cahors. There are fewer gites along the way than on the Frances and greater distances between them. Reservations are recommended, even if a day or two in advance. It will be busy, but not terribly crowded, up to Conques and less so after that. I've walked it in May/June and in September. Both are fine, but go later in May, if you can, as there are a lot of Holidays that first week in May. If you leave from Le Puy the third weekend in September you can also attend the most outrageous Medieval Festival I'm sure you will ever see. It's in Le Puy around Sept. 20 or so, and is Mardi Gras meets Burning Man at the Renaissance Faire. You'll need a day to recover before starting out.
You will not be disappointed choosing this route.
I found the Domaine Savauge most memorable and La Rose de l'Aubrac in Finieyrols delightful.
We flew to Paris, took the train to Lyon and another train to St. Etienne and then took a bus from the St. Etienne station to Le Puy.
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