sleep in a tent

[alessandro]

Hi everybody,

I thing to walk "Camino Frances" in July 2015 (I come from Verona Italy). I'm start from SJPD and I would like to arrive to Finsterre.
I know there is a problem to find a bed in an albergue (there's anyone who called in albergue to books a bed...I think "this is not a really pilligrim".
So....I asked you if there is a possibility to sleep in a tent outside albergue and if there are anybody who do it.
Can I use the albergue to cook or wash and but no sleep?

Thanks in advance,

Alex

 

[Deleted member 3000]

So....I asked you if there is a possibility to sleep in a tent outside albergue and if there are anybody who do it.
Can I use the albergue to cook or wash and but no sleep?

Some albergues allow pilgrims to set up tents, but many albergues are in urban or town settings with no suitable place for a tent. Most albergues will allow campers to wash and cook, but they probably will charge a fee about the same as the charge for a bed.

Buen camino!

 

[evanlow]

Some albergue in big cities has no place. As long as there are playing living around, I don't think they would like that. Also if the albergue has beds, isn't it easier to just stay there?

Is it the money or just for yourself to live like this?

I know a pilgrim that uses the albergue to take a shower but walks a little further in the evening for camping quietly.
Also another pilgrim that camps a few days then albergue for one day. Both of them carry lightweight cooking stove.

 

[alessandro]

Some albergue in big cities has no place. As long as there are playing living around, I don't think they would like that. Also if the albergue has beds, isn't it easier to just stay there?

Is it the money or just for yourself to live like this?

I know a pilgrim that uses the albergue to take a shower but walks a little further in the evening for camping quietly.
Also another pilgrim that camps a few days then albergue for one day. Both of them carry lightweight cooking stove.

I do not want walk (or run) to find a bed. In July I think there is a fear to remain without it, so wake up early ect, ect....I want a pilligrim much slow. What about it?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

There are a lot of strategies for always finding a bed. This year, July has been more difficult than in past years, and August looks even worse. The pilgrim cannot control the camino. You can do the camino your own way, but only within the constraints that exist at the time one walks. In the winter you can get up at 10 a.m. and walk until 7 p.m. and always find a bed. In August, other pilgrims stop at 2 p.m., and albergues may be full by 3 p.m. You can resent it, but you have to live with it. You can stop early with the other pilgrims. You can walk shorter stages. You can reserve ahead. You can start at 4 a.m. You can stay in hotels. You can camp. You can stop in small villages instead of the regular end points. You can take taxis and buses back or forward to places with beds. You can walk a quieter camino.

You have lots of choices, even the choice to be angry all the time because the camino is not in your control, but the better choices you make, the easier the camino will be.

Buen camino.

 

[Arn]

Another option for tenting are the Fire Stations in some towns. They are very pilgrim friendly.

 

[Margaret Butterworth]

Perhaps we could start a list of Camino towns which have a camping site. Castrojeriz springs to mind. Here there is an albergue within a spacious camping site, which also has chalets for rent.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Godesalco has camping in these places:

Localities
Espinal
Puente la Reina
Estella
Logroño
Navarrete
Nájera
Santo Domingo de la Calzada
Burgos
Castrojeriz
Carrión de los Condes
Sahagún
Mansilla de las Mulas
León
Villadangos del Páramo
Hospital de Órbigo
Rabanal del Camino
Villafranca del Bierzo
Palas de Rei
Monte del Gozo
Santiago de Compostela

 

[obinjatoo@yahoo.com]

I camped in a few spots. It depends on what your standards are and the intention. I would not to think of trying to camp in some of the major cities although as I recall, there was a large locked courtyard at the Municipal in Burgos that I think one could set a tent up in.
I am carrying a lightweight shelter this time around just because I can AND it generates such interesting and strong responses on this forum. I'm also taking on one or two slightly more remote routes. I'll try to keep folks posted about the camping scene. I think as the French route becomes more and more popular, it may a real viable option.
Have fun and Buen Camino!

 

[jmcarp]

A hospitalero in Galicia told me that the Galician government licenses albergues for a certain number of people, and when they fill up, they're not supposed to accommodate others, even camping on the lawn. I can't vouch for this as being true or not, or for the enforcement of it -- just passing on what I was told. That said, it is not uncommon to see pilgrims -- especially younger ones -- sleeping in parks or in the porticos of churches or other public buildings.

 

[whariwharangi]

Hi everybody,

I thing to walk "Camino Frances" in July 2015 (I come from Verona Italy). I'm start from SJPD and I would like to arrive to Finsterre.
I know there is a problem to find a bed in an albergue (there's anyone who called in albergue to books a bed...I think "this is not a really pilligrim".
So....I asked you if there is a possibility to sleep in a tent outside albergue and if there are anybody who do it.
Can I use the albergue to cook or wash and but no sleep?

Thanks in advance,

Alex

I hike with tent and camp on trails often. I walked the camino and stayed in albergues. I did consider what it would be like to find camping places along the way. Certainly its possible to find places to camp, however usually those places would be on private land and would not be appealing places to stay except in circumstances when the albergues were not available or full. Rest stops were usually in deplorable condition with garbage and human waste. Most of the farm fields in Galacia were given to livestock and even the camino was sometimes covered in manure. The camino is not set up for camping. Perhaps there are other routes more amenable to hiking with a tent ... such as the Appalachian trail for instance.

 

[november_moon]

This is *slightly* off the topic of camping along the Camino, but relates to your comment about whether someone who books a spot at an alberque is really a pilgrim or not. There are a lot of ways to put your pilgrimage together and what works for you may or may not work for someone else. Everybody needs to choose what works for them personally because the Camino is a very personal journey. My recommendation is not to worry about the choices that other people make for their pilgrimage - whether or not they are real pilgrims because they do X or don't do Y. Everybody is on a different journey - thousands of people physically following the same route, but everybody is on a different internal Camino.

 

[xin loi]

in May 2014, there were about 12 tents set up in the park at SJPJP. Met several people camping out and some did set up a tent in Albergue yards. I was told by several campers that there is a "guide" that indicates locations of both campgrounds and farms that allow camping along the Camino. Can not recall if they said the camping guide was on the internet or if it is a book. Also, a lot of young people try to camp out without a tent at least one night every week. There are also old stone huts along the Camino that people slept in; recall 7 of them that looked like guard posts at the intersection of 3 valleys--we thought they might be the homes of the 7 Dwarfs

 

[Russell51]

Falcon 29th thank you for the list of towns. Now all I will have to do is find the local camp sites.

 

[stratophile]

@Russell51
I can provide some details on most of the campgrounds in the towns on Falcon's list:

### Espinal ###
Albergue Camping Urrobi
http://www.campingurrobi.com/
42.972884 , -1.351969
Not actually in Espinal — about halfway between Burguete and Espinal.

### Puente la Reina ###
Camping El Real
http://www.campingelreal.com/
42.670942 , -1.823392

### Estella ###
Camping Lizarra
http://www.campinglizarra.com/
42.657266 , -2.016331

### Logroño ###
Camping La Playa
http://www.campinglaplaya.com/
42.471087 , -2.454752

### Navarrete ###
Camping Navarrese
http://www.campingnavarrete.com/en/
42.416213 , -2.551772

### Nájera ###
Camping El Ruedo
I don't have much detail about this one in my database. It's located south of the Camino, just before you cross the river.

### Santo Domingo de la Calzada ###
Camping Bañares
http://www.campingbanares.es/
42.442598 , -2.916495

### Burgos ###
Camping Burgos
http://www.campingburgos.com/
42.341786 , -3.657522
This isn't actually in Burgos - it's a few km to the east of the downtown area, south of the Camino

### Castrojeriz ###
Albergue Camping Camino de Santiago
http://www.campingcamino.com/
42.291041 , -4.131703

### Carrión de los Condes ###
Camping El Edén
42.335627 , -4.604448

### Sahagún ###
Camping Pedro Ponce
42.370869 , -5.041860

### Mansilla de las Mulas ###
Apparently there is a campground called "Camping Elsa" but I don't have any details on it in my database.

### Hospital de Órbigo ###
Has a municipal campground
42.466918 , -5.881251

### Monte del Gozo ###
Ciudad de Vacaciones Monte do Gozo
http://www.cvacaciones-montedogozo.com/EN/home.html
42.886806 , -8.493236
Note: The website doesn't mention camping, but it is available. Email them to inquire.

### Santiago de Compostela ###
Camping As Cancelas
http://www.campingascancelas.com/
42.889442 , -8.524195

I have notes on additional campgrounds but I haven't organized them yet. If you want, check back with me in a few weeks and I should have everything sorted and in a usable format.

 

[Kanga]

Very helpful list @stratophile . Now, if I could have one for the Norte and Primitivo....

 

[Bajaracer]

Rest stops were usually in deplorable condition with garbage and human waste. The camino is not set up for camping.

Pilgrims have been walking this route for hundreds of years, and they've been relieving themselves on the side of the road for just as long.
That area beyond that tree line that looks like a great place to camp, that is a big latrine field too.

 

[RENSHAW]

Here is my tent in the secure garden at the Albergue Peregrinos de los Padres Reparadores in Puenta la Reina. I was charged the normal rate but as a snorer I requested this option. I was a pilgrim just like any other in the Albergue. An actual camping site costs a lot more in general. Note the open poncho used to strengthen the tent and add to waterproofing. It did rain that night , it absolutely chucked it down but I remained dry.

One thing that was not in my favour the following morning was that the cleaner wanted me out of there at the same time as all the other pilgrims which made it difficult folding up a wet tent.

Below that pic are some other exotic locations.( Moving slightly away from the original subject)

On a rather sad note , almost any nice spot along the way had been used extensivly as a toilet.




Overlooking Pamplona on the Alto de Perdón




Just outside Naverette , bending the rules a bit here - there was a good drinking water fountain.



A forgotten picnic spot overlooking Ventosa . What a camping spot?! It was here where I was challenged by a very large wild boar.

 

[David]

Opinions are very strong on here. Some say no to using a tent. I think that they like rules. Some say yes.
I like the tent option.
Two tips - a free-standing tent means you can put it up on hard ground, like a church porch, without pegs
and, a green one is better than an orange one as it is harder to see.

Buen Camino!!!

 

[Jo Jo]

We walked July 3 to August 9 (SJPP to Finisterre). That time of the year, my experience was that you want to start walking very early (by 6am) to beat the heat. Personally, I could not walk much more than 25km before my feet started screaming (and blisters started forming). If you leave that early, you will be where you are going to be by 1pm, just in time for lunch. There were plenty of beds that time of day, and plenty of time to get your washing to dry on the clothes line in the afternoon. The only time we had trouble finding a bed was one day where we laid out in the shade for most of the afternoon and then tried to walk a few more kms in the evening. An experiment we did not repeat.

I'm an old backpacker and have the best and lightest tents and tarps for camping out, but I would not do it on the Frances. The albuergues are too plentiful, convenient, and cheap, and the weight and logistics of carrying a tent and finding legal camping spaces is not worth it.

Buen Camino.

 

[Stacy08]

Should be able to find a camping spot in most towns and the albergues usually let you use their facilities for a fee. Easier to stay in the dorm, but if all the beds are full it will be nice to have a second option.

 

[Al Aeckersberg]

My wife and I are looking at doing the Camino (French) this summer. We would like to tent as much as possible and stay in a hotel every 4th or 5th night. Is there a list of Albergue that allow tenting along the route?

 

[mspath]

Check out the posts/links in these earlier forum threads.
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/can-i-camp-outside-the-albergues.39461/

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/sleeping-outdoors.47698/

 

[alessandro]

My wife and I are looking at doing the Camino (French) this summer. We would like to tent as much as possible and stay in a hotel every 4th or 5th night. Is there a list of Albergue that allow tenting along the route?

I walked the Camino in July 2015. No reference to any albergue that allow sleep in a tent. I had sleep in my tent for 9 night to 27. I had sleep in a garden of albergue and in a forest but along the way there aren't any information to use tent. I say you, instead, that along the Way it's permitted to stay in a tent only in a private garden (house, hotel, albergue, ect.) but you can also hide in a wild country

 

[whariwharangi]

I walked the Camino in July 2015. No reference to any albergue that allow sleep in a tent. I had sleep in my tent for 9 night to 27. I had sleep in a garden of albergue and in a forest but along the way there aren't any information to use tent. I say you, instead, that along the Way it's permitted to stay in a tent only in a private garden (house, hotel, albergue, ect.) but you can also hide in a wild country

So you carried 2 or 3 kilos of tent for use one third (1/3) of the nights.