Rest days on Camino Frances and booking ahead

[Kezzaann]

Hi, My friend and I are walking the Camino this year between June 15th and August 8th. My planning and preparation are well under way and my excitement is building. I am currently looking at bookings and rest days. We are walking from Burgos to Santiago with 2 days in Burgos and 2 days in Leon for sightseeing. I have a couple of questions and would love some of your experience to assist me in my decision making, Thanks in advance:
I would love some recommendations on which places are the most interesting, picturesque etc for a rest day between Rabanal del Camino and Santiago De Compostella.
In regards to accommodation we will be using a mix of Hotels, Pensions and Albergues. The Hotels I have booked through booking.com and plan to email Pensions and Albergues.
I am wanting to book accommodation ahead as am a bit nervous about just turning up.
Is it possible to book at the Albergues and are there any Albergues with single or double rooms?
Thanks so much for your collective wisdom!,
Cheers Kezzaann

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Is it possible to book at the Albergues and are there any Albergues with single or double rooms?

Only a few have private rooms. Private albergues may take reservations. Check gronze.com to see which ones do.

Buen camino!

 

[james walter purdum iv]

the only problem with booking ahead is that it forces you to get there...i walked in sept and had no problems finding accommodation. if the hostal was full i upgraded to a double or a hotel. but i was free to stop when i felt like it rather than pushing that extra 5km to my booked room.

 

[BrienC]

We were covering about 40km per day and regularly ended our days after 4 or 5 p.m. This was in July. Had no problem finding lodging options. Sometimes the municipal allergies were full, but unless you are on a tight budget, you may want to stay elsewhere anyway. This discussion comes up ofter and most veterans suggest not sweating it and stay flexible.

Buen Camino

 

[james walter purdum iv]

We were covering about 40km per day and regularly ended our days after 4 or 5 p.m. This was in July. Had no problem finding lodging options. Sometimes the municipal allergies were full, but unless you are on a tight budget, you may want to stay elsewhere anyway. This discussion comes up ofter and most veterans suggest not sweating it and stay flexible.

Buen Camino

40kms is aggressive...i liked 30km a day

 

[rometimed]

I suppose that's due to the 2016 holy year rush? very few places I would see turning up being an issue.

 

[Bradypus]

40kms is aggressive...i liked 30km a day

Why "aggressive"? If someone is fit enough to walk that distance and still enjoy the experience how does that threaten or intimidate? Seems a legitimate choice to me.

 

[BrienC]

40kms is aggressive...i liked 30km a day

To each their own. However, next time, I plan to stick to 20-25km per day and spend more time exploring.

Cheers,

 

[november_moon]

For me, getting over the nervousness about just turning up and finding a bed was part of my Camino - learning to let go, let things happen, and gain the confidence that it really would be ok.

So on our Camino, I booked a room our first night and then let it just unfold after that - it was great and always worked out well. A couple times when we wanted a hotel room and there was a large enough town coming up, I got on booking.com at lunch time and made a reservation for that night.

This flexibility allowed us to adjust our pacing to suit the day, our mood, the weather, what others we were walking with had decided to do. Sometimes you just feel like walking more and other times you really feel like stopping before you thought you would that day.

 

[auldies]

So on our Camino, I booked a room our first night and then let it just unfold after that - it was great and always worked out well. A couple times when we wanted a hotel room and there was a large enough town coming up, I got on booking.com at lunch time and made a reservation for that night.

This flexibility allowed us to adjust our pacing to suit the day, our mood, the weather, what others we were walking with had decided to do. Sometimes you just feel like walking more and other times you really feel like stopping before you thought you would that da

So hoping it works like that for us too.
Nervous but excited with anticipation of how it will all unfold.

 

[scn]

We really liked the flexibility of choosing a destination a day at a time and either showed up or called ahead the night before. The majority of the time (June and October 2015) we stayed in double rooms. If you search: hotels on this site - - you should be able to find a spread sheet I posted tonight of recommendations and comments from a bunch of pilgrims, including us. It's a pretty primitive spread sheet, but you might find it useful. Buen Camino!

























1

 

[Lachance]

We really liked the flexibility of choosing a destination a day at a time and either showed up or called ahead the night before. The majority of the time (June and October 2015) we stayed in double rooms. If you search: hotels on this site - - you should be able to find a spread sheet I posted tonight of recommendations and comments from a bunch of pilgrims, including us. It's a pretty primitive spread sheet, but you might find it useful. Buen Camino!

I like your work! Excited as I spotted some I've booked on a quick scan. Can't read it properly on the ipad but will definitely download to a real computer. Muchas gracias.

 

[scn]

Thanks!

Regarding how far to book ahead: due to weather, pace, illness, and injury, we would not have been able to maintain a schedule with pre-booked lodging all the way through the Camino. For us, we could only predict our destinations a couple of days out.

At the beginning, we made a booking 3 or so weeks ahead for (2) rooms for several nights in Leon, where we met up with our sons. We misread the cancellation policy and were unable to cancel. We had not been able to keep up the pace we planned (I caught the flu) and we had to skip pretty far ahead (bus, taxi, train) or lose $600.

We also used booking.com as a resource, but found that a significant number of worthwhile places were not listed.

(By the way, you should be able to print the spread sheet on (3) legal sheets – front and back.)

Buen Camino!

 

[james walter purdum iv]

Why "aggressive"? If someone is fit enough to walk that distance and still enjoy the experience how does that threaten or intimidate? Seems a legitimate choice to me.

5km an hour is a brisk walk...so 8 hours without a break or even a moment to consider the views or the steep ascents and descents just seems more of an exercise routine than a spiritual journey...one woman did it in 18 days..bravo

 

[Anemone del Camino]

I would be bored out of my mind spending 2 days in Burgos and Leon and never thought any place the CF takes you through is really interesting enough to soend lots of tome in when I am in Camino mode. I mich prefer doing shorter days along the way in terms of getting rest. This being said, I am in love with Rabanal and could walk around, and aroind, and aroind, that village for days and days, it just tugs at my heart. Even its bees I love.

 

[james walter purdum iv]

I would be bored out of my mind spending 2 days in Burgos and Leon and never thought any place the CF takes you through is really interesting enough to soend lots of tome in when I am in Camino mode. I mich prefer doing shorter days along the way in terms of getting rest. This being said, I am in love with Rabanal and could walk around, and aroind, and aroind, that village for days and days, it just tugs at my heart. Even its bees I love.

i agree....i like the singleness of purpose which is traversing the 500 miles to santiago...

 

[Bradypus]

5km an hour is a brisk walk...so 8 hours without a break or even a moment to consider the views or the steep ascents and descents just seems more of an exercise routine than a spiritual journey...one woman did it in 18 days..bravo

I quite often walk 35-40 km days on camino. Along the way I usually stop several times for coffee, a beer or a snack. Or simply to talk with other pilgrims or chance encounters on the way. When there is the opportunity I will take a long lunch break and enjoy a leisurely menu del dia - preferably with a generous dose of vino tinto. If a church or museum or something else of interest catches my eye I will stop and visit it. I do not feel that my day is a forced march or exercise routine. 5km/h is my natural walking pace in most circumstances and 35km is a comfortable distance for me without undue strain. I walk longer daily stages than many others simply by walking for more hours each day - not by forcing my body excessively. So I usually aim to arrive at an albergue in early evening rather than mid-afternoon. One of the reasons why I prefer to walk on less crowded routes and in quiet seasons. Perhaps it is the result of long practice but I find that I can appreciate the scenery and reflect on spiritual matters at least as clearly while I walk as when standing still. Perhaps more so: the repetition and rhythm of walking acting like a mantra or a rosary in stilling the mind and allowing me to appreciate time and place more clearly. I understand that many people would find nothing in a 40km day but pain and frustration. I would certainly never suggest it as the norm or an ideal to aim for. All I would ask is that you remain open to the possibility that others may find genuine pleasure and deep satisfaction in choices other than your own.

 

[james walter purdum iv]

I quite often walk 35-40 km days on camino. Along the way I usually stop several times for coffee, a beer or a snack. Or simply to talk with other pilgrims or chance encounters on the way. When there is the opportunity I will take a long lunch break and enjoy a leisurely menu del dia - preferably with a generous dose of vino tinto. If a church or museum or something else of interest catches my eye I will stop and visit it. I do not feel that my day is a forced march or exercise routine. 5km/h is my natural walking pace in most circumstances and 35km is a comfortable distance for me without undue strain. I walk longer daily stages than many others simply by walking for more hours each day - not by forcing my body excessively. So I usually aim to arrive at an albergue in early evening rather than mid-afternoon. One of the reasons why I prefer to walk on less crowded routes and in quiet seasons. Perhaps it is the result of long practice but I find that I can appreciate the scenery and reflect on spiritual matters at least as clearly while I walk as when standing still. Perhaps more so: the repetition and rhythm of walking acting like a mantra or a rosary in stilling the mind and allowing me to appreciate time and place more clearly. I understand that many people would find nothing in a 40km day but pain and frustration. I would certainly never suggest it as the norm or an ideal to aim for. All I would ask is that you remain open to the possibility that others may find genuine pleasure and deep satisfaction in choices other than your own.

this is not a personal attack on 40km a day wakers...it's just a reply to a thread to those who are first time camino pilgrims who are trying , like we all did, to try and plan in our hearts and physical bodies our time frame to do the camino....i leave this thread at that...