- Time of past OR future Camino
- Camino Frances: SJPP to Santiago 2011
Camino Frances: Le Put to SJPP 2014
El Norte: (2016)
For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
I know from some gîte owners, and my own experience, that bookings are heavy this year in both April and May ... and into June. There is plenty of accommodation available overall but not necessarily private rooms cf. the small dormitories. You could just wing it and hope for the best but, given the timing, I would be very inclined to reserve ahead to at least Figeac OR Cahors [as Lorayne has done]. Le Puy to Conques is the busiest section which complicates things at the start.I hiked the Le Puy route in 2014 and reserved one night in advance. Dorms were fine for me and I was rarely skunked. This year I am bringing two friends who are uncomfortable with dorms and also want to be unconstrained in travel distance and reservations beyond a day or two. I booked our first week to help us get started and some places were complet. I am wondering if anyone knows if accommodations are abundant enough to allow us to just book a day or two ahead or if we need to try and book all the way through. Because we are mid-60's with some infirmities I am trying to keep to around 15-20 km per day. We leave Le Puy April 27 and are allowing almost six weeks. I am headed off on an auxiliary trip in a week so I am trying to sort us out before departing. Thanks!
As you are vegetarian that is another reason to reserve ahead, aside from everything else, although more and more gîtes are now catering for vegetarians and vegans. It is not absolutely essential to reserve ahead on the Le Puy route [and plenty of hikers don’t] but given all the circumstances incl. age, infirmities, dietary requirements and timing, I would strongly recommend it ... and in french too if you dareThanks. Great info. I will discuss options with my friends. I hiked SJPP to Santiago and Norte and never booked ahead, but with the gites in France I always booked the day before since I am a vegetarian and did not want to offend by not eating all the offerings. It seemed this year that since I had a bit of a struggle booking the first week that others have likely booked the whole route and waiting until we are uncertain of wifi to try and book a day ahead might be really challenging.
«Les valises de Saint Jacques» is the name of the new luggage transport company ... I have reserved with them out of Moissac to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port ... I hope that they do well ...I ended up booking through the end of our trip to sjpp and we just arrived on monday. In some places there was little available so my friends adapted to dorm life. One friend was plagued with foot issues the entire trip due to too much weigh in her pack and ill fitting boots (despite my best efforts to prepare her). To deal with this, she took the transport some days that delivers bags and also sent half of her pack ahead on other days. Reservations lock you into an itinerary but transporting pack or self is a way to make it work. Different companies provide the service and the gite owners can advise. She was quite happy with the service the last week that is not Claudine but something like Saint Jacques,,,,,I forget. He is just starting up so she wanted me to mention them in the forum. Bonne route!
Yes they really went out of their way to help her and they had staff that spoke english, more or less.«Les valises de Saint Jacques» is the name of the new luggage transport company ... I have reserved with them out of Moissac to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port ... I hope that they do well ...
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?