- Time of past OR future Camino
- Francés, Norte, Salvador, Primitivo, Portuguese
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September has become the most popular month to start from St Jean Pied de Port. A couple of years ago I remember reading accounts of 400+ pilgrims per day setting out from SJPdP, and the statistics from the Pilgrims Office in St Jean bear this out.
I snipped a couple of charts
View attachment 100687
View attachment 100688
As you can see, 11,064 pilgrims started their Camino from SJPdP in September 2019. If they were divided evenly throughout the month that's 369 pilgrims per day! But according to this chart (I don't know which year it's from) the first week of September is especially popular!
View attachment 100689
The idea that you will avoid crowds by going in September is not true at all. The summer crowds on the Camino tend to be only in the last 100-150km or so.
Yes, it will be interesting to see what happens this year, and in the next several years. I have a feeling that this September will probably be the busiest month of 2021, based on the fact that it's historically a popular month and that this year it's just far enough out from things opening up that the people who are waiting to see how the next few months go will feel more comfortable. And also based on chatter on this forum and various Camino Facebook groups.I'm wondering how these numbers look post pandemic for this fall and next. As someone not planning to be one of the first to dive back in the numbers in general for the whole year will be fascinating to me.
Plus there may well be a backlog of people who would have started in 2020 or earlier this year. Add to that the fact that many accommodation providers have gone out of business or are operating under restrictions that limit capacity and things could get very tight. Incidentally, it is reckoned that in Mediaeval times there would have been between 250000 and 500000 pilgrims a year (and they walked both ways), so not a new problem.Yes, it will be interesting to see what happens this year, and in the next several years. I have a feeling that this September will probably be the busiest month of 2021, based on the fact that it's historically a popular month and that this year it's just far enough out from things opening up that the people who are waiting to see how the next few months go will feel more comfortable. And also based on chatter on this forum and various Camino Facebook groups.
Great to see the black and white. When I do the Frances again, I just may choose July and pace myself in the heat.September has become the most popular month to start from St Jean Pied de Port. A couple of years ago I remember reading accounts of 400+ pilgrims per day setting out from SJPdP, and the statistics from the Pilgrims Office in St Jean bear this out.
I snipped a couple of charts
View attachment 100687
View attachment 100688
As you can see, 11,064 pilgrims started their Camino from SJPdP in September 2019. If they were divided evenly throughout the month that's 369 pilgrims per day! But according to this chart (I don't know which year it's from) the first week of September is especially popular!
View attachment 100689
The idea that you will avoid crowds by going in September is not true at all. The summer crowds on the Camino tend to be only in the last 100-150km or so.
I am hoping that 9/31-10/15 ish will be a good time for the Le Puy- Cahors. It is really a weighing of weather and crowd numbers. Then it’s off to Ponferrada for the Invierno into Santiago... I think as long as I don’t get drenched every day, I should be comfortable and not too crowded... but, I could be entirely mistaken! This is a very unusual yearYes, it will be interesting to see what happens this year, and in the next several years. I have a feeling that this September will probably be the busiest month of 2021, based on the fact that it's historically a popular month and that this year it's just far enough out from things opening up that the people who are waiting to see how the next few months go will feel more comfortable. And also based on chatter on this forum and various Camino Facebook groups.
Very good info mi amiga. I started about October 24, 2019 and I can tell you theSeptember has become the most popular month to start from St Jean Pied de Port. A couple of years ago I remember reading accounts of 400+ pilgrims per day setting out from SJPdP, and the statistics from the Pilgrims Office in St Jean bear this out.
I snipped a couple of charts
View attachment 100687
View attachment 100688
As you can see, 11,064 pilgrims started their Camino from SJPdP in September 2019. If they were divided evenly throughout the month that's 369 pilgrims per day! But according to this chart (I don't know which year it's from) the first week of September is especially popular!
View attachment 100689
The idea that you will avoid crowds by going in September is not true at all. The summer crowds on the Camino tend to be only in the last 100-150km or so.
Incidentally, it is reckoned that in Mediaeval times there would have been between 250000 and 500000 pilgrims a year (and they walked both ways), so not a new problem.
They were a pretty tough lot back then. They didn't have nice, friendly helpful forums (or fora as they would have correctly construed it in Latin) and being mostly illiterate they wouldn't have been able to read them anyway, so I imagine returning pilgrims being regularly ambushed for information about routes, accommodation etc. Have a look at the Codex Calixtinus, you can find it on the net. The bits about the pilgrimage are fascinating. My favourite is about the rascally ferrymen.That's a good point dick bird.
What was I thinking? that they returned by train, bus or plane as we do.
I never thought about them returning by foot.
I bet some of them didn't either until after arriving in Santiago de Compostela.
Imagine departing in September, arriving in October, departng again in late October and walking home during the winter. Brrrrrrrrr!
I did the MOOC, too, and I know, btw, that it is not reckoned that in Mediaeval times there would have been between 250000 and 500000 pilgrims a year. Whether this statement is regarded as true was even one of the questions in the test and I got the answer right the first time.As you say, mspath, many indeed did not return. I discovered recently via the Universidad de Santiago's MOOC that the Hospital de los Reyes in Santiago had a special dormitory for orphans who were raised, educated and later employed by the Hospital.
Mea culpa. I am a naughty student. But there were a lot of pilgrims, whatever the exact number. I don't think many pilgrims stay in the Hospital Real nowadays. It is very expensive.I did the MOOC, too, and I know, btw, that it is not reckoned that in Mediaeval times there would have been between 250000 and 500000 pilgrims a year. Whether this statement is regarded as true was even one of the questions in the test and I got the answer right the first time.
I and a few hardy MOOC souls also ploughed through the text of all the articles of the Hospital Real's founding charter of 1590, most of them not dealing with pilgrims specifically. It is my understanding that the orphans section of the Hospital Real de Santiago de Galicia served mainly for caring for orphans from the town and the region. There are a few articles with instructions about how to proceed when a pilgrim dies during his/her stay in the pilgrim's dormitories or in the rooms for the sick in general, so numerous pilgrims did indeed die in Santiago and were buried there. Many had been ill before the start of their pilgrimage and had hoped for physical cure in the Cathedral.
But that was then and now the former hospital with its former pilgrims accommodation is a hotel and we can stay there against payment. But first we have to pass through Roncesvalles and Zubiri and so on and find a bed for the night there.
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