The towels in albergues?

[JacekSmak]

Hi!
What about the towels? Do I have my own or I can "rent" one i every albergue?

 

[crackmrmac]

Bring a lightweight travel towel with you. Wherever you get a fresh one provided you will feel like a king. Renting is expensive. Enjoy your planning.

Buen Camino.

 

[Bradypus]

Bring your own. Most albergues do not supply them. Many people choose to carry microfibre towels which are lightweight, low bulk and dry quickly.

 

[JacekSmak]

Thanks, I will bring one with me

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

Hi!
What about the towels? Do I have my own or I can "rent" one i every albergue?

Bring your own towel, lightweight , the quickly drying kind.
Wish you well and a Buen Camino, Peter.

 

[Lydia Gillen]

I bring two face clothes and a well washed teatowel. After |I shower I wipe as much water as I can from my body with my hands,. Then I wring out the face cloth I have been using and dry myself with it. ,It usually takes about 5 wring outs. Then I dry myself with the second face cloth. Then if necessary I use the teatowel. It is always necessary the days I wash my hair.

 

[MichaelSG]

I bring two face clothes and a well washed teatowel. After |I shower I wipe as much water as I can from my body with my hands,. Then I wring out the face cloth I have been using and dry myself with it. ,It usually takes about 5 wring outs. Then I dry myself with the second face cloth. Then if necessary I use the teatowel. It is always necessary the days I wash my hair.

I do the same except without the second face cloth or tea towel. It's smaller and lighter than towels and easy to clip onto a backpack if it is still wet when setting out.

 

[dalstonmarra]

I agree with the facecloth Idea.I had tried it after I left my towel in an Albergue.Although I only had the one cloth it did the job well enogh to get back in my clothes.Two would be a good idea.Tried it last night after my weekly bath with two facecloths.

 

[Stephen F.]

Microfiber is the way to go. I carry one the measures 19" x 38" (1m x .5m) It weighs 129 g including its carry sack. gets me completely dry and dries really fast.

 

[Ahhhs]

I carried a very small travel towel last year. It weighed nothing and took up no space and I hated it. I was envious of other women wrapped up in their warm towels after showering. I bought a much larger travel towel for this year's Camino. It still doesn't take up much more space than a couple of washcloths but will be a lot more convenient. Showering in some of the albergues is a bit sketchy and I will be very happy to be warm and dry.

 

[Anniesantiago]

I use a well worn terry towel, cut in half these days.
I tried microfiber - felt like it just smeared the water over me, didn't absorb it.
I tried making my own undyed muslin towel. That worked pretty good!
I tried a cotton towel someone gave me - worked good as well.

But my favorite remains the old threadbare, thin, lightweight terry towel.

 

[GreatDane]

I have the lightest microfiber I could find for the size I wanted, the "PackTowl Ultralight Towel". My XL (50x27") only weighs 83gr. Before I used it for my 2014 trip I threw it in the wash every load and line dried. Softened up very nice and helps in absorption.

 

[CatherineAnn]

My sister went to a fabric store and bought a length of lightweight linen. It weighs almost nothing, dries fast, and works really well. Microfiber to me was as useless as you know what on a boar!

 

[Mark Lee]

Both the packable, quick-drying microfiber and linen type cloth towels both would work well. Only reason I use the micro-fiber is because I spent 20 bucks on one, and dammit I'm going to use it.
Actually it has done double duty as a pillow cover. It's one of the larger sizes.
Personally I wouldn't bring anything resembling in texture, fabric and weight a conventional bath towel. Just plain too heavy and would definitely be a nightmare to try and get dry on the cloudier, moister Camino days.

 

[Maxie]

Love my Paktowl holds 10x its own weight in water and can be wrung out like a sponge . when I'm camping I wipe off all the dew and any condensation from the tent with my towel, wash myself with a wet wipe then have a nice cold rinse off with fresh dew water. If the sun is rising and the view is spectacular, beats any 5* Hotel.

 

[Saint Mike II]

Hi!
What about the towels? Do I have my own or I can "rent" one i every albergue?

Normal practice is to bring your own - there are a number of light weight ones you can buy at any outdoors shop. Some of the private albergue do offer a towel hire service - usually for one Euro. Its often a good option if your towel has not had time to dry properly or is in need of good wash. Good luck

 

[Lance Chambers]

Hi!
What about the towels? Do I have my own or I can "rent" one i every albergue?

I'd take your own. Never saw towels for rent anywhere.

 

[Kanga]

I've not seen towels provided at albergues myself. I always take a tiny microfibre one (which I hate). I was at a local camino meeting last night and one pilgrim regaled us with a story of how he lost his towel but found his cotton hat a perfectly adequate substitute.

 

[mspath]

For years my camino towel has been an old-fashioned cotton seersucker dishtowel! Banal but absorbent and lightweight, it also dries quickly after use.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Do I have my own or I can "rent" one i every albergue?

The nature of albergues is closer to tents than it is hotel rooms! Nothing is provided (in general); no soap, no towel, no linens, few kitchen implements, shared facilities (sometime coeducational), close sleeping quarters, little privacy, no security, noise, lots of roommates, etc. The general attitude of hospitaleros is that they owe the pilgrim very little. If you expect service, you will almost always be disappointed. However, I have almost always found friendliness and encouragement. A pilgrim day lasts six to eight hours; a hospitalero day lasts about sixteen. Your hosts will understand what you are going through, but their supply of sympathy will be small. They see thousands of pilgrims in much the same condition each year, year after year, and expect to find courage, not demands for service. It may not be an American business model, or even a hotel business model, but it is a model that has existed for decades. It is not likely to change. A pilgrim gets a lot for his 5-12E, so I suggest approaching it with gratitude.

 

[Mark Lee]

The nature of albergues is closer to tents than it is hotel rooms! Nothing is provided (in general); no soap, no towel, no linens, few kitchen implements, shared facilities (sometime coeducational), close sleeping quarters, little privacy, no security, noise, lots of roommates, etc. The general attitude of hospitaleros is that they owe the pilgrim very little. If you expect service, you will almost always be disappointed. However, I have almost always found friendliness and encouragement. A pilgrim day lasts six to eight hours; a hospitalero day lasts about sixteen. Your hosts will understand what you are going through, but their supply of sympathy will be small. They see thousands of pilgrims in much the same condition each year, year after year, and expect to find courage, not demands for service. It may not be an American business model, or even a hotel business model, but it is a model that has existed for decades. It is not likely to change. A pilgrim gets a lot for his 5-12E, so I suggest approaching it with gratitude.

Spot on.
Amusing when someone has negative comments about an albergue that costs 5-10 euros a night. Heck, some beers in restaurants in the US cost anywhere from 5-6 bucks.

 

[SaraB]

I was debating this myself for quite a while. I think I will actually go with the linen idea.

 

[BrienC]

Love my Paktowl holds 10x its own weight in water and can be wrung out like a sponge . when I'm camping I wipe off all the dew and any condensation from the tent with my towel, wash myself with a wet wipe then have a nice cold rinse off with fresh dew water. If the sun is rising and the view is spectacular, beats any 5* Hotel.

This one's perfect. I like my PakTowl. I bought a large one years ago then cut it into three different sizes, for various uses, smallest being the most minimalist. And, I've used these same towels for years now. Very durable--as well as the advantages mentioned by Maxie.

 

[kelleymac]

I've not seen towels provided at albergues myself. I always take a tiny microfibre one (which I hate). I was at a local camino meeting last night and one pilgrim regaled us with a story of how he lost his towel but found his cotton hat a perfectly adequate substitute.

Traveling in Zimbabwe many years ago, I wore a long knit cotton skirt. The skirt doubled as a towel and worked very well, and it was dry by the morning.

 

[oldman]

I have always use one face cloth to dry at home and on the Camino I clip it on my pack to dry as I walk. I have carried a large microfibre towel on my first Camino and used it as an extra cover on cold nights but only once as a towel, last year I got a small one in Decathlon but found the face cloth from Ikea was much better.
oldman

 

[jennyb]

First Camino I used a microfibre towel and found it useless!
Second Camino I used a toweling nappy. What a brilliant item that proved to be! Lightweight, right size, totally absorbent and quick drying!
Walking on the VDLP in September was very hot so I used it over my hat to keep the burning sun off my face - walking from south to north, the sun was fierce in the morning. Looked like a proper nana with this nappy hanging off the side off my hat, but I'll use it again
I also had a sarong which was used as a sarong (relaxing in the afternoons), a scarf and head wrap in colder weather, a pillow case and/or sheet when necessary, cover up from the shower, and a towel.

 

[HeidiL]

I use a very small microfiber towel. When I wash my hair, I wrap it in my big, square wool scarf, which I then drape sosmewhere over my bunk to dry at night.

For beginning walkers, note that most of us are only showering in the evening. We assume that feet that haven't dried completely will be more prone to blisters, and most of us want to get out and on the road, not stand in line in the bathroom in the morning.

 

[Bajaracer]

A microfiber terry towel might work for those that want a full sized towel and not slimy like other microfiber towels.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001GXRY9A/?tag=casaivar02-20

 

[Bumpa]

My sister went to a fabric store and bought a length of lightweight linen. It weighs almost nothing, dries fast, and works really well. Microfiber to me was as useless as you know what on a boar!

Just discovered this post as I was searching for towel info. I am starting out of SJPDP on April 13th and have a booking at Orisson for the first night. Looking forward to meeting kindred souls. My question concerns linen as a drying agent as I find my synthetic travel towel just seems to push the moisture around on my body as opposed to drying.

Do people feel a) Linen does a good job of drying your body and b) drys itself relatively quickly. Thanks in advance for any thoughts