Reservations?

[Tom Smith]

How necessary is it to have reservations at the Alburgues? And is that possible?

 

[wayfarer]

Welcome Tom. The private albergues will take reservations, the municipal ones will not I believe. If it is very busy when you are walking then sometimes it is necessary to reserve.
Buen Camino.
Edit:
You can download the latest up to date list of all albergues from the link below.
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...lbergues-on-the-camino-frances-in-one-pdf.10/

 

[Deleted member 3000]

This site tells you which albergues take reservations:

www.gronze.com

 

[C clearly]

How necessary is it to have reservations at the Alburgues? And is that possible?

It is only necessary during busy times, and it is hard to predict that. If you read around on this forum you will find a lot of different experiences. Without knowing your route or your planned month, it is very hard to answer. It also depends a lot on your personal style, whether certainty is important to you, and whether you are flexible in how far you can walk.

As mentioned, municipal and paroquial albergues generally don't take reservations, but private albergues often do. And there are many casas rurales (B&Bs), hostales (small hotels) and other accommodations that do take reservations. You can use any of the usual reservation sites to find them.

 

[clearskiescamino]

I agree with a lot of the above. If you were to reserve before starting your Camino, your day will not be as flexible as you may have wished. If you want to reserve, do so the night before.

 

[pagespan]

I had reservations this year from Sarria to Santiago and found them to be completely unnecessary. None of the albergues were full, and I ended up staying at places that were not as nice as the municipal albergues just because I had a reservation.

 

[Allan Morris]

I did the Camino Frances in 2009 and 2011. I found I did not really need reservations until about Sarria and in the big cities. First, I walked in late August and September to give you a time frame. Second I generally felt I wanted a Pension or Hostal in the big cities so I could get a good nights sleep. The walk from Burgos to Hontannas is a long day and often quite hot. From Sarria to Santiago we were competing with the "tourist and student organized" pilgrims for spaces so again ended up looking for a Hostal or Pension. This because the albergues quite often were noisy with Spanish student groups who were generally just having a good time. I will walk again this year in late August and September. I have planned my route and booked a mix of hotals and pensions in the cities and from Sarria to Santiago by using Booking.com and paying the price of being able to cancel or modify my dates up to 24 hours prior to my expected arrival date. This gives me piece of mind but also the option of changing things if that is required. Last, I have also booked a few private albergues in the busier towns with a request for a lower bunk because I am just a few months shy of 70 years old and find those top bunks just a bit more difficult than they used to be.

Buen Camino

 

[Hot_n_tot]

On a slightly different note, our September walk from Le Puy to Conques is only part of a 2 month holiday in Europe. For the remainder of our trip, in Hungary, Czech Republic, Germany, France and Spain, we will be travelling by train. Do you think it is necessary to purchase a Eurail pass in advance or simply purchase tickets from stations. This option I guess would be more expensive but provide a greater amount of flexibility.