place to sleep

[runboyrun]

If I start walking the Camino del Norte at the beginning of September, is booking a place to sleep useful and/or necessary in advance?

 

[peregrino_tom]

If I start walking the Camino del Norte at the beginning of September, is booking a place to sleep useful and/or necessary in advance?

This is one of those questions that can only be answered by opinions. And opinions will vary..
What is pretty clear is that early September is a very popular time to start the camino from Irun.
So most pilgrim accommodation that is available then is likely to be filled to capacity or near-capacity.
Reasonable costing pilgrim accommodation is likely to be booked well in advance - check a few samples on Gronze for places where you think you'd be likely to stay.
Not all accommodation is bookable in advance. But 'walk up' options are becoming quite limited on the Norte - so again, check for these on Gronze, look at bed numbers etc and decide if you think you are likely to arrive in good time ahead of others to snag a bed.
IMO if you walk at a really popular time you have to be prepared to do one or more things like - plan and book accommodation advance, get up sufficiently early and walk sufficiently fast to win the bed race, pay more for hotel accommodation (often expensive at the touristy locations on the Norte), focus on staying calm and not get stressed by any setbacks, such as other people taking accommodation you'd hoped to have for yourself! Being focused and calm might also mean spending a lot of time systematically going through accommodation options online and on apps, and might also mean taking a taxi to somewhere off the camino if you find there are no options around you and you don't want to spend the night out of doors.
The odds are that it will be very busy, but no-one knows for sure - 'pilgrim bubbles' or days where there are few pilgrims walking occur naturally and no-one really knows when this will happen - except that weekends and Mondays are often the busiest days for people to begin from an accepted start point. So starting mid-week could be a helpful strategy.

 

[barryfr]

As Tom says, it differs for every individual. In my own case, my wife and I walked the Norte in April/May, so another "shoulder" season. We did no pre-booking the first week other than San Sebastian, and ran into no issues finding a place to stay. However, we witnessed people getting turned away from the municipal albergue in Castro de Urdiales and decided to book ahead when possible. Typically we would book for the next day because by then we would have a good idea of how far we wanted to go. Toward the end, we booked several days in advance because we knew accommodations would be more crowded. Sometimes our destination was an albergue that took no advanced reservations and we never had a problem getting a bed, although those were typically days we got an early start or walked a more moderate distance. There was only one time that we were told an albergue where we tried to book was full, and in that case we were able to find a perfectly good accommodation in the same neighborhood.

 

[RickyBGood]

I’m offering my novice advice as this is my first camino. I’m starting August 27 from San Sebastián. For a myriad of reasons, but mainly, starting in late august, I booked accommodations for the initial 14 days —as a script. This assured me that I had a place to sleep which is critical to a long camino. My budget increased but to me it’s worth it. When starting an endeavor of this size, I always want to minimize as many obstacles as possible (knowing that I control nothing in life) so maybe you want to book a couple of days at the beginning to get started on the right foot. Then shift your plans as you move along. Hope this perspective is useful. Rick

 

[Dennis Pack]

I'm returning to my camino in September, and have no plans to book anything more than a day ahead if I feel it is necessary (like I might arrive late). I just try to arrive early at my destination ... worked fine last time.
Buen Camino

 

[DeansFamily]

We've plenty of caminos under our belt pre and post covid (last one Roncesvalles to Finisterre starting 3rd March this year) and we plan to start at Santander early September to get a few miles up whilst walking to Oviedo to meet up with Camino Family and walk the Primitivo again. Having walked the Norte from Hendaye in April 2018 I notice on Gronze that many of the albergues never reopened after Covid, and am quite surprised at the lack of pilgrim accommodation now available. I'd love to hear any comments on the issues facing other pilgrims along the Norte currently.

 

[Shefollowsarrows]

We’ll (me and 2 other ladies-USA & Belgium) will be starting the 1st out of Irun. We have booked 2 weeks in advance except Deba and Guemes. All refundable if plans change. Going forward we will probably book 1 or 2 nights in advance. We want to enjoy it and know we have a place for 3 when we arrive. Buen Camino!!

 

[runboyrun]

We’ll (me and 2 other ladies-USA & Belgium) will be starting the 1st out of Irun. We have booked 2 weeks in advance except Deba and Guemes. All refundable if plans change. Going forward we will probably book 1 or 2 nights in advance. We want to enjoy it and know we have a place for 3 when we arrive. Buen Camino!!

I arrive in Irun on September 1st and start my Camino on September 2nd. Maybe we'll meet.
Buen Camino!