pre booking

[Maria Sjöberg]

Hi,
Last year we ended our Camino early, mostly due to the fact that I had "shin splints" This I put down to the fact that we had to walk 42k on our second day because we could not find anywhere to stay. Every place we tried was pre booked!!!!!! We managed the first 250k but it was getting hard to find places that were not pre booked. It's a very different picture to the first time we did it in 2011, where pre booking was unheard of. My question is :-

How busy is it right now ?

We have the opportunity to re start next week and would welcome up to date info on the need to pre book.
To be honest I don't want the hassel, it certainly detracts any desire to walk the Camino Frances again.

Many thanks,
Ken & Mia

 

[Deleted member 3000]

There are about 1,300 arrivals per day on average, so it is busy, but only half as busy as the worst of August! Booking has become the new normal during the busy times. September is still a somewhat busy time.

 

[Juspassinthru]

In May-June this year, we booked 1-2 days ahead, it was part of our afternoon routine but was never a hassle. A couple places on the Meseta were a little harder and after Sarria as well because as we were finishing up, schools in Spain were finishing so there were a lot of school groups. If you can go off peak, the problem probably goes away. Buen Camino.

 

[GettingThere]

Hi,
Last year we ended our Camino early, mostly due to the fact that I had "shin splints" This I put down to the fact that we had to walk 42k on our second day because we could not find anywhere to stay. Every place we tried was pre booked!!!!!! We managed the first 250k but it was getting hard to find places that were not pre booked. It's a very different picture to the first time we did it in 2011, where pre booking was unheard of. My question is :-

How busy is it right now ?

We have the opportunity to re start next week and would welcome up to date info on the need to pre book.
To be honest I don't want the hassel, it certainly detracts any desire to walk the Camino Frances again.

Many thanks,
Ken & Mia

Hi Maria
We have just walked from Roncesvalles to Pamplona over the past few days and it is indeed very busy. All accommodation in every town has filled early. Saturday night we were in Zuriáin and seeing people who had been turned away at Zubiri and Larrasoaña. The pre-booking thing is a bit of a circular situation - people are booking ahead which means there are few if any non-booked beds in each place, so you therefore need to book ahead (unless you are prepared either to taxi to the nearest town with beds, or to sleep outside - not recommended the last few days as it's been raining a lot!) So it really depends on your ability to keep walking possibly for many more kilometres, or to stop quite early to get beds in non-bookable municipal albergues, or book. We have booked a few days ahead and for me personally that gives peace of mind about one aspect of the Camino. Allowing me to worry about other things like how to get around the enormous mud puddles on these narrow paths!!! Loving it really...

 

[Cambridge Pilgrim]

We pre-booked (only ever the day before) a few times this year in August. In reality, rather than detract from our experience, it enabled us to really enjoy those days, take our time, knowing we had a bed for the night.

There are two mindsets: flexibility vs security, so ultimately you have to decide which matters most to you. Perhaps just booking one day ahead at most is the middle ground?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

The pre-booking thing is a bit of a circular situation - people are booking ahead which means there are few if any non-booked beds in each place, so you therefore need to book ahead (unless you are prepared either to taxi to the nearest town with beds, or to sleep outside - not recommended the last few days as it's been raining a lot!) So it really depends on your ability to keep walking possibly for many more kilometres, or to stop quite early to get beds in non-bookable municipal albergues, or book.

It has become a lesson on flexibility! Pilgrims will have to adjust to the Camino because the Camino is not going to adjust to them! It is better to accommodate change than complain about it (generally; I am not commenting on any specific post).

 

[Jonas]

Status august 29. to september 11. Burgos to Astorga is not busy at all. After Astorga pretty busy, but still some free beds

 

[jmcarp]

When we walked the CF in 2013, the only place we had a problem finding a bed was in Zubiri--tour groups had pre-booked every private albergue in town, forcing all the remaining pilgrims to scramble for what was left. We were lucky to get into town early enough to at least secure a space on the floor of the former gymnasium at the municipal albergue, but I'm sure that many of those who arrived later in the day were forced to wander down the way to the next town or the next. From what I've been reading here on the forum, that scenario is becoming more and more common. For us in 2013, it wasn't until we reached Sarria that we began to experience the bed race, and we actually did pre-book a couple of nights as we approached Santiago.

Is there an answer to this issue, given the surge in numbers even in the short four years since we walked? Does it make economic sense to open more albergues since no one knows for sure if the current surge in pilgrim numbers is a short-term phenomena or not? Can we somehow limit the pre-booking by tour groups? (After all, if you or I owned a private albergue or casa rurál, wouldn't we be eager to increase our profits by ensuring we had all our beds booked?) Are we to some extent guilty ourselves because after we complete the Camino, we go home full of enthusiasm and tell all our friends how great it was, how (relatively) easy it was, how inexpensive it is--thereby encouraging more pilgrims/walkers/adventure tourists the next year?

I encourage everyone to go back and read or re-read @Rebekah Scott's address on the future of the Camino to the 2017 American Pilgrims on the Camino annual gathering. It is posted here at https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/the-future-of-camino-hospitality.46772/. As @Tincatinker said in that thread, "I heard the clear bell ring in your voice as I read that. Whether peal or toll remains for us all to discover."

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Does it make economic sense to open more albergues since no one knows for sure if the current surge in pilgrim numbers is a short-term phenomena or not? Can we somehow limit the pre-booking by tour groups?

Everyone is welcome to try to open an albergue. Many would say "good luck." Red de Albergues has a unified set of standards, but each operation is responsible to its own policies. For decades, there have been advocates of a single system. It probably will not happen. Even the juntas have a hard time with uniformity. It is a shaky enough business that Galicia has/wants to subcontract it. Local inhabitants, many of whom do not benefit from pilgrims, resent their tax dollars being used to subsidize pilgrims. The only real solution is for pilgrims to stop complaining, or even proposing solutions that benefit themselves without actually contributing to a solution. It is easy to fill a job jar with things each of us want; it is much harder to empty the job jar by doing it by oneself!

Even the Ditch Pigs have a pretty small crew when they do cleanup...

 

[Maria Sjöberg]

Thank you all for the input, it seems the Way has changed a great deal since the last time we walked it. We had a fantastic time in 2011, totally disconnected from the mobile phone and wifi, we could walk as far as our bodys let us and never had to worry about having to find a bed for the night. I know nothing stays the same, and I also know that you can not plan your Camino, as the Camino has its own plan for you. I understand that pre booking can free you to enjoy the journey but on our first Camino it was unheard of. For us the freedom of being dis-connected is important, I guess the way ahead for us is to take a tent or try another route that is less busy.

Thanks again & enjoy your Way

 

[Deleted member 3000]

try another route that is less busy.

Even that has become difficult. It might work on the minor caminos that do not end in Santiago, but the Ingles, Portugues, Sanabres, and del Norte have all become quite busy and generally lack the infrastructure found on the Camino Frances. The routes in France are less crowded, but it is necessary to book in advance in most places in France. The Via de la Plata is not busy until Ourense. The Camino Aragones is quiet and nice, but short. Good luck choosing.

 

[David Tallan]

My son and I walked last summer in July and August (the busiest time, I believe). I booked ahead in Roncesvalles and Zubiri for piece of mind. I don't know whether we would gave had trouble otherwise. After that we had no problems until Triacastela where we had to try a few places before we found one with beds. We booked ahead a night or two after that. We did tend to start and finish relatively early to avoid the heat of the day rather than walking until the late afternoon, though.

 

[Casafamilia]

hello everyone, I find this a very interesting thread. We live on the Camino between Palas de Rei and Melide. We are not an albergue/pension, but we have space for guests. Since we are not in the guidebooks yet (this is our first year) and not on Booking.com (we are not a business) most people that come here have found us by simply following our Casa Familia sign on the camino or by hearing about us on Facebook. Most of them have started walking (long) before Sarria and tell us they never book and always had a place to stay. And usually these are not the pilgrims that start walking at 6am already. So, I just wanted to share with you that it is still very well possible. And often pilgrims are very surprised by the nice places they discover along the way. Heidi

 

[marigold]

Hi,
Last year we ended our Camino early, mostly due to the fact that I had "shin splints" This I put down to the fact that we had to walk 42k on our second day because we could not find anywhere to stay. Every place we tried was pre booked!!!!!! We managed the first 250k but it was getting hard to find places that were not pre booked. It's a very different picture to the first time we did it in 2011, where pre booking was unheard of. My question is :-

How busy is it right now ?

We have the opportunity to re start next week and would welcome up to date info on the need to pre book.
To be honest I don't want the hassel, it certainly detracts any desire to walk the Camino Frances again.

Many thanks,
Ken & Mia

I walked to Logrono and came back a week ago. Yes, it was very busy and people did pre -book. Someone I met walked 30 k one day and couldn't find anywhere to stay when she arrived. Last time I walked was 2011 too - yes it's different in that everyone uses phones to book, and there were quite a few big groups travelling together (with a guide). But it's still the camino, and still feeds the soul!

 

[suzq]

About to leave on my first camino. I started getting nervous about the whole thing about a week ago which I have heard is common, but reading this has got me extra anxious, and to be honest, pretty disappointed. I didn't know all this pre-booking business was going on and as a result I did not do much (any actually) research to book ahead beyond the first night. I'm so disappointed. I thought that was part of the beauty of it all to not do that type of thing. It's like people getting up early to secure their favourite chair by the pool at resorts but on a more serious scale. I can't fathom walking so far and not having anywhere to sleep and having potentially to add another 10k to my walk to find somewhere else. Don't know how well I'm going dobyet the first few days to feel secure booking ahead. I fear my days will now be spent in a panic getting to places by race walk. Kind of spoils the spiritual aspect of the walk.

 

[trecile]

My son and I walked last summer in July and August (the busiest time, I believe).

In my very limited experience of walking the Camino Frances twice, last year the end of August and September, and this year from July 4 to mid August, I found the Camino to be noticeably less busy during July/August than late August/September until I reached Sarria, then it was much more crowded with school and church groups, etc. It's true that more Compestelas are awarded during those summer months, but I believe that many, if not most of those pilgrims receiving Compestelas during that time are walking just the last 100 km or so.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

beyond the first night

One day at a time is all you need in most cases. Calling ahead is to save you walking around at the end of each day. Let your phone do your walking, not your feet. A few phone calls is not a major interruption for me. Just take it in stride like so many things you will have to take in stride while striding. Cafes may be closed. There may not be a place for food when you are hungry. You may run out of water. The path may be muddy, or the rocks slippery. In the end, everything will be fine!

 

[SusanH]

Hello Heidi!!!

 

[long trails]

Carry a tent as an emergency. It's possible to get them as light at a 600ml bottle of coke.

Takes so much stress away, means you can lie in and not rush to the next town like the rest of the herd.

 

[marigold]

About to leave on my first camino. I started getting nervous about the whole thing about a week ago which I have heard is common, but reading this has got me extra anxious, and to be honest, pretty disappointed. I didn't know all this pre-booking business was going on and as a result I did not do much (any actually) research to book ahead beyond the first night. I'm so disappointed. I thought that was part of the beauty of it all to not do that type of thing. It's like people getting up early to secure their favourite chair by the pool at resorts but on a more serious scale. I can't fathom walking so far and not having anywhere to sleep and having potentially to add another 10k to my walk to find somewhere else. Don't know how well I'm going dobyet the first few days to feel secure booking ahead. I fear my days will now be spent in a panic getting to places by race walk. Kind of spoils the spiritual aspect of the walk.

About to leave on my first camino. I started getting nervous about the whole thing about a week ago which I have heard is common, but reading this has got me extra anxious, and to be honest, pretty disappointed. I didn't know all this pre-booking business was going on and as a result I did not do much (any actually) research to book ahead beyond the first night. I'm so disappointed. I thought that was part of the beauty of it all to not do that type of thing. It's like people getting up early to secure their favourite chair by the pool at resorts but on a more serious scale. I can't fathom walking so far and not having anywhere to sleep and having potentially to add another 10k to my walk to find somewhere else. Don't know how well I'm going dobyet the first few days to feel secure booking ahead. I fear my days will now be spent in a panic getting to places by race walk. Kind of spoils the spiritual aspect of the walk.

Hi, try not to be nervous about it. I've found that reading posts before you go often makes you worried, but once you start it's all fine. Being on the Camino is entering into your own personal journey. You may have some difficult times but it all works out perfectly in the end. Maybe pre book the first few nights, but after that you should be fine. There are lots of new albergues now. Buen Camino - enjoy it!

 

[Rad]

To ease my mind I just went to booking.com and sampled many towns on my route and could book ahead one day in everyone of them. Did not try to same day book, but I bet it's possible.