Summer (July/August) Along the Camino del Norte (2023): Public Albergues and Sleeping Outside

Hello!

First time poster, long time lurker on this forum. I'm planning on hiking the Camino del Norte in July/August. I have been reading a lot of older posts, but wanted to make a newer one for this year!

I have seen a lot of posts about some of the public albergues along the first part of the Camino are either closed, or inundated with tourists during the popular tourist season. I understand the second part is a bit unavoidable, but can anyone give current information about the public albergue situation from San Sebastian to Santander? I had planned to start in San Sebastian, as I've heard just incredible things about the town, but it seems quite expensive and like there's no public albergues right now!
For reference, I have been on Gronze, but a lot of the hostels seem to be 20+ euros (which is out of my budget).

Second, I really love sleeping outside (my bedroom at home most of the time is a screened in porch!), so especially if the public albergues are sold out, does anyone have suggestions for church porch steps/secluded beaches/other good stops along the way to plan for staying outside. I have read some of the sleep outside conversations already, but nothing about the Norte specifically. If anyone has any to share that they would rather not post on the public forum, please feel free to message me

Thank you!
Elise

Luka said:

Hi @dilemma1118 welcome to the forum! I think the Norte in high season on a tight budget is tricky. I am not surprised that most private albergues in the bigger towns/cities are over €20 for a bed. You could try sleeping on the beaches (check how far the water gets with high tide), but officially that isn't allowed. And because there will be campervans and tourists everywhere, I wouldn't be surprised if the police is around quite a lot. Some church porches will be big enough for sleeping and staying dry, but a lot of them won't. And again, I am pretty sure that isn't allowed either.

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Thank you for your insights! I was really excited to do that route, but may end up changing with that in mind. I'm now thinking about doing a couple days along the camino del norte at some of the main locations I wanted to see, then jump down to the camino frances. Do you think the public albergues would be more reasonably priced on the frances, or should I expect higher prices everywhere during this time?