NomadBoomer
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Frances ( 2017, 2018,Aug 2023) Vdlp (2018)
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I started from SJPP September 2nd 2017. There were huge numbers walking. The first week or two, lots of alburgues even whole villages got full. There was definitely a bed race and lots of people were booking days ahead.
This year I chose to come a little earlier thinking many people wait until September. I started two weeks earlier on August 22nd in SJPP. In burgos now. There have been significantly less people than last year. No one I know of has any problems getting beds. Hardly anyone is booking ahead. This means that the walk feels much more relaxed to me.
I suggest people planning to walk early September 2019 consider coming a few weeks earlier if they can.
Yes, the alternative caminos are "picking up speed". However, the Frances until Sarria is consistently seeing lower numbers (-4%). Y-t-d these were similar to those in 2011 in 2012.[...] If more pilgrims start to spread away from the Camino Frances and the final Sarria to Santiago segment, it could push back the time when the Frances arrives at 'peak pilgrim' and cannot handle more traffic.
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Nooooooooo! I walk in July/August and I love the Camino being empty. Shhhhhhh, don’t say anything!I started from SJPP September 2nd 2017. There were huge numbers walking. The first week or two, lots of alburgues even whole villages got full. There was definitely a bed race and lots of people were booking days ahead.
This year I chose to come a little earlier thinking many people wait until September. I started two weeks earlier on August 22nd in SJPP. In burgos now. There have been significantly less people than last year. No one I know of has any problems getting beds. Hardly anyone is booking ahead. This means that the walk feels much more relaxed to me.
I suggest people planning to walk early September 2019 consider coming a few weeks earlier if they can.
I confirm the Sarria to Santiago stretch this year was VERY BUSY. I found it horrendous and I usually don’t mind the crowds I encountered before (2012, 2013, 2016). My walking friend thought it was worse this year than during the last Holy Year.Yes, the alternative caminos are "picking up speed". However, the Frances until Sarria is consistently seeing lower numbers (-4%). Y-t-d these were similar to those in 2011 in 2012.
The Sarria - Santiago lap of the Frances saw numbers increased by 11% compared to last year, and now represent DUBBLE the numbers of 2013. That's not counting pilgrims joining from other caminos (like the Primitivo) who are recorded as their original point of departure.
Gives to think indeed.
I hope that numbers on the Invierno will rise exactly because of the rise on Sarria-SdC stretch.What @NomadBoomer says is very much in line with reports I have been reading on Spanish news websites in the past couple of months. It does look as if numbers (or at least the proportion) of those walking the earlier stages of the Camino Frances are dropping even as total numbers arriving in Santiago continue to increase. More people walking only the Sarria to Santiago section or choosing other routes altogether. Growth continues rapidly on the Portugues and the Ingles in particular.
Yes, the alternative caminos are "picking up speed". However, the Frances until Sarria is consistently seeing lower numbers (-4%). Y-t-d these were similar to those in 2011 in 2012.
The Sarria - Santiago lap of the Frances saw numbers increased by 11% compared to last year, and now represent DUBBLE the numbers of 2013. That's not counting pilgrims joining from other caminos (like the Primitivo) who are recorded as their original point of departure.
Gives to think indeed.
http://www.aucoeurduchemin.org/statistiques-des-pelerins/But also here, the statistical information, as it is being kept in SJPP, and if available, is not known to exist (to me).
I confirm the Sarria to Santiago stretch this year was VERY BUSY. I found it horrendous and I usually don’t mind the crowds I encountered before (2012, 2013, 2016). My walking friend thought it was worse this year than during the last Holy Year.
Also lots of people in tears at the end of the day as there was no room at the inn. I was told that - unlike during the Holy Year - no other accommodation was made available until ALL hotels, hostals etc were full. And even then, it needed 26 pilgrims awaiting accommodation to open say, a school hall....
I have no idea if this is true but the tears were real....
From St Jean p de Port though, it was EMPTY. I have plenty of photos that show it but won’t bore you with them.
Ps: I walked from 11 July to 11 August.
I've done 10 Caminos and I have only one Compostela. OK, two, because the second one was Pro Vicario.I'm confused. This says 50k people a year when most other sources show 300k people in 2017??
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