Miam Miam Dodo

[biloute]

I have both the Le Puy route and Camino Francés books from 2014. I'm planning another Camino, possibly for 2018, and was wondering if these books would still be sufficient for planning and budgeting purposes (which places my husband and I would like to stay and prices) or should I purchase the latest editions? How much have things changed?

 

[Kitsambler]

Speaking for the Le Puy route only: there is some change from year to year. The route gets re-located, some new gites open, some close, some existing ones have new ownership so the contact information changes. Add that to the trend of closing food shops in the smaller towns, and after four years, the info in MMD would be outdated.

Say, 20% of the info would be outdated. Sure, you could get along on the 80% that was correct, but then there's the possibility of that nasty surprise just when you were counting on something being available. Also, there are typically current copies available in the tourist offices and gites along the way. As long as you don't expect the old editions to be current, and are willing to roll with the punches, you could use them for general planning.

 

[biloute]

Thanks

 

[GreatDane]

We ordered the 2017 Le Puy books last week (from a US vendor). They won't arrive for a few more weeks, think they are being sent from France rather than being on the shelf. So keep your eyes open for 2018 editions and order as soon as you see them!

 

[biloute]

Are prices still about the same? Generally 12-15€ for a bed and 15€ for the evening meal? I mostly just want accurate information so that I can budget, because we need to know how much we'll have to save before we can actually go on the trip.

 

[biloute]

I just looked the guides up and noticed the one for the Le Puy route is now in 2 parts, 3 if you count the variants. Is there that much more detail than before? No option of having them combined in one edition?

I also saw that you can get a separate map. It looked nice, with parts highlighted according to difficulty. Has anyone had a chance to look this over in person, perhaps use it? Did you like it, and would it be worth getting when we go?