Charles, Just one other point about staying in O'Cebreiro first off. You will need to walk up the hill to get there, as Simon suggests, if you want to stay in the albergue there. They were strictly applying 'priority' in this albergue when I was there last year. Walkers got in straight off, and cyclists had to wait until the evening before they were allowed to check in. By then it was full. There was a Spanish family group who arrived- two women and four teens- by taxi, as their starting point was to be O''Cebreiro. They ended up sleeping outside the albergue, being too low in the priority queue, (and other accommodation options on the mountain seem to be quite expensive.) It was a cold night for them, and they weren't really prepared for the cold.
The good news is, they survived the cold night and made it into Santiago the same day we did- and they were so very happy about it!
Margaret