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When everything is going well I will see you in Santiago.April and May ARE very good times to walk the Camino, even the Frances. In my repeated experiences, there is a lot of rain and fair amount of light snow at higher elevations.
But you MUST avoid the period of 10 days to either side of Easter Sunday. This includes Semana Santa / Holy Week and Easter Week.
Fundamentally, this is because for that two-week period, most universities are closed at least part of the time, and most European countries have national holidays on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Monday. So, if you toss in a handful of personal or holidays off from your job, one can easily do a week to 10-day portion of a Camino. This is a very popular option.
As a result, there is a short-term surge in Camino use in parts of late March, April, or sometimes even into the beginning of May. It all depends on when Easter Sunday (Julian Calendar) falls that year.
This date phenomenon produces a pronounced "pig in the python" effect at this sliding two-week time. As the Sunday date for Easter slides around, you must plan ahead.
Also, and just for reference, the annual "pilgrim season" unofficially starts each year with Semana Santa or on Palm Sunday. From there we are off to the races until October...
For example, I Googled "when is easter in 2020?" The answer came back immediately... Sunday 12 April, 2020.
Hence, I fly from Miami to Sevilla on 22 April, arriving 23 April to start the Via de la Plata... or at least the first portion of it, soon thereafter. I plan to be walking for maybe three weeks, then spend a week or so reconnecting with friends and colleagues at Sanitago before flying home on 18 May.
Parenthetically, the Pilgrim Office at Santiago, is OPEN on Easter Sunday. It ONLY ever closes on Christmas Day and New Years Day.
The 'hip seasons" of April and May are great times to walk the Camino as long as you think, and plan ahead. I always try to get off the Camino by the second week of June, as the universities worldwide let out and Camino usage surges through the end of August, and even into September. This past season, the seasonal surge did not abate until the very end of October.
I hope this helps.
You can see the number that leave from SJPdP in the statistics.no way of separating by month the ones who've walked five days from the ones who started in France
Have you found the stats for starting points by month, Falcon? I'd love to see those. They'd let you build a hotspot map of the camino, month-by-month.You can see the number that leave from SJPdP in the statistics.
If you subtract the ones who started in Sarria from the number who walked the Camino Frances, you can get a feel for the numbers that join part way. The data does allow you to identify the short and long walkers, even their exact starting points. What does not show in the numbers is the time lag -- those walking the last five days of June show up in the July numbers. Those who start from SJPdP in June show up in July. You could refine for the uncertainties if you want, but it seems like a lot of work!
When everything is going well I will see you in Santiago.
I'm voluntering again till May15th. this time with Marianne.
No, sorry, but there's no 'must' about it! Semana Santa came partway through two of my caminos, and I enjoyed every bit of the experience, both times - increased numbers notwithstanding.But you MUST avoid the period of 10 days to either side of Easter Sunday. This includes Semana Santa / Holy Week and Easter Week.
I left SJPP on 31 Mar last year and only had a problem getting a room on maundy Thursday, I had intended to stay in the village just before Astorga, but I had to break my rule of not stopping in large towns, because all the rooms were full because of the festival in Astoria. I still got a bed in a 4 person room at the first albergue in Astorga. We arrived at 16:30 and there were still plenty of places. I think a lot of peopl panic and book places when it is not needed. At all other times the Albergues were half full. In sarria I even left one albergue to check in to one across the road because after returning at 21:30 the room was full of screaming teenagers. I just walked across the road and got another bed.April and May ARE very good times to walk the Camino, even the Frances. In my repeated experiences, there is a lot of rain and fair amount of light snow at higher elevations.
But you MUST avoid the period of 10 days to either side of Easter Sunday. This includes Semana Santa / Holy Week and Easter Week.
Fundamentally, this is because for that two-week period, most universities are closed at least part of the time, and most European countries have national holidays on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Monday. So, if you toss in a handful of personal or holidays off from your job, one can easily do a week to 10-day portion of a Camino. This is a very popular option.
As a result, there is a short-term surge in Camino use in parts of late March, April, or sometimes even into the beginning of May. It all depends on when Easter Sunday (Julian Calendar) falls that year.
This date phenomenon produces a pronounced "pig in the python" effect at this sliding two-week time. As the Sunday date for Easter slides around, you must plan ahead.
Also, and just for reference, the annual "pilgrim season" unofficially starts each year with Semana Santa or on Palm Sunday. From there we are off to the races until October...
For example, I Googled "when is easter in 2020?" The answer came back immediately... Sunday 12 April, 2020.
Hence, I fly from Miami to Sevilla on 22 April, arriving 23 April to start the Via de la Plata... or at least the first portion of it, soon thereafter. I plan to be walking for maybe three weeks, then spend a week or so reconnecting with friends and colleagues at Sanitago before flying home on 18 May.
Parenthetically, the Pilgrim Office at Santiago, is OPEN on Easter Sunday. It ONLY ever closes on Christmas Day and New Years Day.
The 'hip seasons" of April and May are great times to walk the Camino as long as you think, and plan ahead. I always try to get off the Camino by the second week of June, as the universities worldwide let out and Camino usage surges through the end of August, and even into September. This past season, the seasonal surge did not abate until the very end of October.
I hope this helps.
Yes. Go to the month and year, and look next to the Precedencias graph. It shows the number that started at particular cities.Have you found the stats for starting points by month, Falcon?
Terry, any of your favorite quintas, casa rurals, pensions and/or 2, 3 and 4 star hotels you can pm me about that you particularly liked and can suggest please?On the other hand all of my three Caminos were in February - I found the Portuguese route very flat, food better and not crowded at all in February. I am from Maine so as long as it was above freezing in the morning and getting up to about 50 F by noon I was happy. I also did not stay in the crowded albergues, choosing quintas, casa rurals, pensions and 2, 3 and 4 star hotels instead to insure a good night's sleep.
Terry, any of your favorite quintas, casa rurals, pensions and/or 2, 3 and 4 star hotels you can pm me about that you particularly liked and can suggest please?
Thank you! Yes, this is interesting.Yes. Go to the month and year, and look next to the Precedencias graph. It shows the number that started at particular cities.
Ah this is fantastic. For some reason it wasn't working for me on the English version of the site, but I switched to the Spanish one and you get nice interactive pie charts now. Great news - muchas gracias!Yes. Go to the month and year, and look next to the Precedencias graph. It shows the number that started at particular cities.
A worthwhile project for which many will be grateful I'm sure. If you could, it'd be good to express some idea of growth in numbers because all your numbers will be changed by the Holy Year. Pilgrim numbers are expected by the church to approach 600,000 that year but personally I think the vast majority of the growth will be religious people walking the final 100k for the compostela, and there won't be that much of an increase in the more far-flung areas or the routes less travelled such as the Norte or the via de la plata.an interactive camino heat map showing how busy each section is during the Year
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