No pilgrims for 3 days

[Samarkand]

I'm doing my pilgrimage on the CF right now (photos and a diary later). From Pamplona we had a group of 12-15 people meeting at the same albergues. I haven't seen a single pilgrim since I left Estela. That's 3 days ago. I don't mind staying all by myself in an albergue (El Cantaro in Navarrete was amazing for just 10€), but it's weird. On the plus side, being by myself means I get a whole bottle just for me with my pilgrim's menu.

Have you experienced that?

 

[Mark Barnes]

That sounds great to me, but I bet you will see people soon. I envy you being on the Camino now. Enjoy!

 

[Samarkand]

That sounds great to me, but I bet you will see people soon. I envy you being on the Camino now. Enjoy!

Well, start now! I can testify it is NOT crowded over here...

 

[Bradypus]

On my first Camino Frances that was standard - I probably met fewer than 30 pilgrims in total over the 800km. Still normal on some of the less-walked routes. I met 5 pilgrims in 20 days on the Via de la Plata in winter just a year ago.

 

[pelerine]

I'm doing my pilgrimage on the CF right now (photos and a diary later). From Pamplona we had a group of 12-15 people meeting at the sa.e albergues. I haven't seen a single pilgrim since I left Estela. That's 3 days ago. I don't mind staying all by myself in an albergue (El Cantaro was amazing for just 10€), but it's weird. On the plus side, being by myself means I get a whole bottle just for me with my pilgrim's menu.

Have you experienced that?

Several times on the Norte in September 2010. On the Salvador several times in June 2016i. On the Torres I was the only pilgrim for two weeks and then together with my daughter alone for another week in June 2017.

Have never walked the CF, thinking it might be too crowded, so I might consider the CF before or after the summer months.

Anyway buen camino to you - with a few pilgrims to share the albergue and the bottle!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I'm doing my pilgrimage on the CF right now (photos and a diary later). From Pamplona we had a group of 12-15 people meeting at the same albergues. I haven't seen a single pilgrim since I left Estela. That's 3 days ago. I don't mind staying all by myself in an albergue (El Cantaro in Navarrete was amazing for just 10€), but it's weird. On the plus side, being by myself means I get a whole bottle just for me with my pilgrim's menu.

Have you experienced that?

Yes, every winter Camino.

 

[jsalt]

On the plus side, being by myself means I get a whole bottle just for me with my pilgrim's menu.

Have you experienced that?

Hi, yes, and when there are two of you, one orders red and the other orders white, and you still get a bottle just for yourself .

 

[Bradypus]

Hi, yes, and when there are two of you, one orders red and the other orders white, and you still get a bottle just for yourself .

I do like your line of reasoning

 

[nycwalking]

Winter 2014, there were times I was alone in an albergue.

 

[RJM]

Yes, I have been alone in an albergue even during a busier Camino Frances month.
It is a bit odd when that happens. The hospitalero bids you good night, leaves and there you are alone, in a room with rows of empty bunks. Found it a bit spooky in a couple of albergues, but generally I am tired from walking all day and sleep comes easily.
The plus side is having the bathrooms to yourself. A couple of times I took a shower in the morning as well, before I left. That was nice.

 

[Albertagirl]

In the fall of 2017 I spent several nights alone in albergues on the VdlP. In one case, it was a large municipal albergue. But there was a private albergue in town and everyone else stayed there, perhaps driven away from the municipal by rumours of bedbugs, of which I saw no signs.

 

[David Manzo]

On the Camino Portugués last June we saw no more than a dozen people per day starting in Porto.

 

[lt56ny]

I finished the Norte about Nov 2 last year. After the Camino turned south from the sea pilgrims began to vanish. Until the last 100k I was alone or at most there were 3 or 4 in an Albergue. But I can remember at least 4 nights alone. I am pretty sure this number is higher. There were more days then that that I never saw a pilgrim on the Camino as I walked.
It is what it is. Just eat, sleep and walk. That’s why we are all there anyway. Enjoy it because it goes too fast.

 

[Athena Atterdag]

I walked the Francés to Ponferrada and then the Invierno between Christmas and Epiphany. On the Francés, there were 15 to 20 other pilgrims every night in the same albergue as myself (mostly the same people, of course), but from the moment I left the Francés at Ponferrada, I haven't met any other pilgrim until almost at the steps of the cathedral in Santiago. From a Facebook group dedicated to the Invierno I knew that there were other pilgrims one or two days ahead of me and one or two days behind me, but we didn't meet.

I knew that the Invierno would almost certainly be a solitary walk, but after A Laxe, where it merges with the VdlP, being alone in albergues did feel a bit weird!