Walking Camino Frances with two teens and wife - Costs

[Yodapsy]

In late June I will be starting the Camino Frances with my wife and two teen kids. We have to be careful with finances and wondering how much we can expect to spend per day for the four of us. We plan to stay in Albergues or whatever will be the cheapest method. Are there some ways that we can save money or lower costs as a family? We will be starting around the 27th of June and hope to finish around the 25th or 26th of July. We are also interested in meeting other families who may be planning to start around the same time.

 

[scruffy1]

That's not an easy question to answer. Times are hard in Spain and money is scarce, prices rising. You can try to stay only in donativo/donation albergues where the accepted and expected payment has been 5 Euro each probably more these days since these wonderful people do not open their doors for a profit however they are not going to starve to death for pilgrims either. Two problems, the donativo albergues fill up early meaning you may have to stop sooner than planned, adding time and days to your itinerary. They usually have small kitchen facilities but many people will be in there with you preparing their dinner-often fun but just as often not. Pilgrims menus for dinner run anywhere from 8 Euro to 12 Euro each with the average price pushing 12 and beyond so I hope you really like your own pasta and rice. Plan well since in the smaller places meat fish etc found in the local tienda may be only frozen no problem if there is a microwave in the kitchen but don't count on it,-bread is fresher and tastier off the honk/honk bread trucks you will meet all along the way but also more expensive.. Plan well is the key, figure your meals ahead of time to buy the needed essentials, make your own bocadillos for lunch and you should be all right.

 

[scruffy1]

PS Wine!-In Israel we say wine was given to mankind to bring happiness to one's heart. Wine is good all along the way but do spend that extra 2 Euro for a better wine since it is a shame to pay cheaply for something which you can't drink. Best cheap wine may be found in Navarra and in Galicia.

 

[mspath]

In late June I will be starting the Camino Frances with my wife and two teen kids. We have to be careful with finances and wondering how much we can expect to spend per day for the four of us. We plan to stay in Albergues or whatever will be the cheapest method. Are there some ways that we can save money or lower costs as a family? We will be starting around the 27th of June and hope to finish around the 25th or 26th of July. We are also interested in meeting other families who may be planning to start around the same time.

Yodapsy,

For further answers to your questions be sure to read the many posts on the Forum by Kiwi-family. For example >> http://www.caminodesantiago.me/board/el-camino-frances/topic15628.html. They walked the CF last summer as a happy group ranging in age from 6 to 80! Their Forum postings provide a rich account of preparation, concerns and the walk itself. They also have a fascinating separate blog http://blogs.bootsnall.com/kiwifamily/.

See also this Forum topic about walking with children http://www.caminodesantiago.me/board/miscellaneous-topics/topic7428.html.

Good luck in your research and Buen Camino to all!

Margaret Meredith

 

[Kiwi-family]

In comparison to other travelling we have done as a family where numbers meant discounts, the Camino was a bit different. Everyone had to pay for their bed - even when two kids shared one bed, they both had to pay! Whereas we could buy six plates of food in SE Asia and call it a meal, we ate much more after walking - the restauranteer at Triacastela could not believe the six year old ate her entire first plate, second plate and dessert all unassisted (nor could we, but it had been a long-for-her day, over 20km!)
As far as accommodation goes, municipal albergues and parochial donativos are the cheapest. Even with a large group we managed to stay in them most days. We had to take one pension due to the municipal being full (at 15 euros each it was three times the average cost of other nights, but that was the cheapest alternative)...and serendipitously chose not to stay in the municipal in Sarria - the alternative was 8 euros each, but money well spent because it had a great kitchen. Still cheaper than camping in New Zealand!

Food is where you'll save the most. Even a cheap pilgrim's dinner is 6 euro. We could cook for all eleven of us and usually a few hangers-on too for......let's see.....2 bags pasta, 3 jars tomato sauce, chorizo, a couple of bags of olives, cheese, spinach, loaf of bread, melon for dessert....all for under 15 euros (remember that feeds a dozen people). When there were no utensils in the kitchens (most of Galicia) we ate lots of bread and cheese and salami and fruit for lunch and dinner. Or empanadas and a salad. Breakfasts we found it easy to get yoghurt, fruit and a couple of bags of cereal (that we would never buy at home!! full of chocolate but good energy). Some albergues provided a breakfast of bread and coffee and biscuits (but we'd have found that to be a bit of bread overload if we'd eaten like that every day and didn't mind that we did not stay at too many places like that!)

 

[Yodapsy]

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far! This is really helpful. It sounds like making our own meals will help save a lot on costs. On our budget, we should be able to cook some meals ourselves and eat at restaurants when the kitchens are more crowded. My biggest worry is food costs and it is good to know that there are alternatives to eating in restaurants. Kiwi-Family, my mouth was watering just reading about the meals you made on the Camino! We should be able to follow a similar strategy with lodging staying in the donativo albuergues when possible and then choosing more expensive options when the donativos are full. Scruffy 1, being fans of a good glass of wine, we will not skimp here, but will likely choose to have wine less often, so that when we do, we can get a decent bottle! BTW, what would be the average cost of a decent bottle of red on the camino?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

follow a similar strategy with lodging staying in the donativo albergues

Please remember that donativo does not mean free! They have lots of bills to pay! :wink:

 

[Kiwi-family]

As falcon points out, remember to DONATE at a donativo;-) We found most of the municipal albergues we stayed at were 5 euros each (which is just as cheap). Sometimes we had to walk a shorter distance than we could have managed in order to choose the cheap option.....this site would have been useful if we'd known about it before going (can't vouch for the accuracy of it except to say that in retrospect it looks good):

http://www.gronze.com/camino-de-santiag ... ergues.htm

 

[ffp13]

, but will likely choose to have wine less often, so that when we do, we can get a decent bottle! BTW, what would be the average cost of a decent bottle of red on the camino?

Wine in Spain is cheap! I was able to get a reasonable quality ( 'clean-skin' local produce ) for around 2euro, many bars and restaurants provide a bottle of wine with the three course pilgrim menus of the day at a cost under 10 euro.

 

[Lydia Gillen]

Further up this thread it has been suggested that €5.00 is the expected and accepted donation in a donativo albergue. I truly feel that this is not an acceptable amount, when you consider that you get a roof over your head, hot showers, a bed, usually an evening meal and often a light breakfast next morning. You also must remember such things as electricity charges, water charges, insurance and renovation costs. Last but not least the hospiladeros are such wonderful people, the kindest and most caring people under God's sun and just meeting them is such a blesssing

There is no such thing as a free lunch. someone somewhere is paying.

Think of what you would pay for similar treatment in your own country and if you can't be generous at least be "just" in what you donate.

If people are mean in what they donate the time will come when Donativos will be forced to close down and that would be such a pity as they encapsulate all that is best on the Camino

 

[fortview]

The private albergues we stayed in cost between 5 and 10 euros, so they are also an option.
The wine is all good drink Rioja in Rioja, and Bierzo in Bierzo, and you can't go far wrong!
One of the best bottles we had was sold in the albergue in Ventosa. It was the local wine, and cost 3 euros.

 

[scruffy1]

Don't want to argue with Lydia Gillen but I have never been offered a free dinner in a donativo-the good people always counted noses of those who wished to participate in the communal meal, participate meaning help cook and clean up then divided the cost between us all, never much but some small addition.
Wine for 2 Euro? Might be good but don't count on it. 3 Euro might be good but don't count on anything not produced locally as mentioned above. Stay local and pay just a little bit more Best? Ah a problem but one that is fun to solve.
In Santiago there is a marvelous market go visit and often! Go early bring your camera and be ready to bring back a large basket full of goodies. Santiago is deservedly famous also for seafood, fish and shellfish. The market is full of any ocean-goer with or without a shell you can think of at prices cheaper then the supermarket and 1/4 of the price in restaurants. The very best wine? the white Albariño!!! expensive but you made it to Santiago splurge-Godello is the poor mans Albariño a very good wine in itself and half the price very good as well.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Think of what you would pay for similar treatment in your own country

Private albergues are trying to make a living for the owner/operator. Donativo places are run by volunteers, generally, and are trying to make the cost of the operation -- water, power, and consumables. With the least expensive hostel in the U.S. at $30, and the cheapest motels at $50, paying that amount would be completely inappropriate for a pilgrim who is trying to minimize cost.

Energy costs are so high in Spain that a clothes dryer now is typically 5E. Most hospitaleros will talk you into using the drying lines if the weather is good because they think the charge is obscene, but quite necessary. In that vein, showers, cooking, and heating are probably the largest expense. There is virtually no incremental cost of a bed or mat. So a family might look at its impact; if self-catering, make an allowance for the power used to cook, count the showers to be taken, and the overall lighting and heat. For some of them the cost is no greater for five than for one.

Once you have done the complex mental calculation, you will probably arrive at 5E for the first person, 4E for the second adult, and 3E for young children, all plus the cost of any meal you decide to eat. If you simplified the math, 5E each would be appropriate, the same that you would be paying at places with a set fee!! You should not feet guilty about accepting the hospitality that is being offered. They do it because they want to, and if children help out with some chores, they will earn their reduced donation. If you willingly opened your abode, what would you expect to receive? That, too, would be a good donation.

No one is resented except the obvious freeloaders out for a cheap vacation who leave nothing. If you are outfitted in $1,000 of high tech gear they will spot you!

 

[Kiwi-family]

Only one donativo place we stayed in offered a meal as part of the "service" and so we paid a higher amount accordingly. The kids also did the dishes;-)

 

[Yodapsy]

We appreciate all of the advice and reminders that it is ok to be frugal but not "cheap" on the Camino. All of the tips on wine are great as well. Right now I am trying to find a way to bring some of these tips along without adding weight to our packs. We are lucky to have Decathalon stores here in Beijing. Gear is much cheaper at this European outdoor chain than you can get it in the U.S.!

 

[newfydog]

You have gotten some good advice--

I'll second drinking Rioja and Albarino. And add, be sure you appreciate wife. I know some really expensive ones.

 

[ffp13]

Don't forget the corkscrew!!! The Spanish have not yet accepted the use of screw top bottles of wine, many I time I have walked around the Albergue looking for a corkscrew.

If you own a corkscrew people will seek you out! And offer you a drink in return

I must remember to take my own advice next Camino

Frank

 

[ffp13]

. And add, be sure you appreciate wife. I know some really expensive ones.

But they are worth it

 

[Yodapsy]

My Swiss Army Knife has a corkscrew. Now I just need to remember to put it in my stowed baggage and not my carry-on!

 

[dorkings]

Marion Marples ,secretary of the Confraternity of St James in london ,has a detailed cost breakdown from an Australian pilgrim who walked the Camino Frances "on a budget" in around 28 days. This may help regards Robin Dorkings

 

[Pieces]

I think I stayed on 4 or 5 places that i remember where the food AND stay was donativo all before Leon...

but as had been pointed donativo does not equal free, but then again in some of them it does mean that you donate if you can and take a little money if you are in need to, so....

 

[scruffy1]

Time to raise a delicate subject-20 people in an albergue, all sharing the same showers, bathrooms, kitchen, common room, great camaraderie, you go to mass together you eat you sleep together, come morning and you go in for your morning... well...constitutional...and there is no toilet paper-anywhere! Plan well and be like a good scout - always Be Prepared!
S

 

[ffp13]

.and there is no toilet paper-anywhere! Plan well and be like a good scout - always Be Prepared!
S

This is very common, lots of pilgrims will take extra paper for the day, thus it isn't long before it is all gone. . My early morning cafeconleche is essentially a bathroom break, the bathroom in a bar is not for pilgrims, it is for customers, therefor I will always buy something if I use there conveniences. A plastic zip bag with paper is always in my pack, but where possible I avoid imitating the bears)
( most of the litter that I have seen on the way it T-paper, maybe they should make the stuff green in colour so it isn't so obvious behind almost every bush along the way)

 

[Pieces]

i heard about the toilet tissue issue also befor I left for the Camino, strangely I hardly ever fond this to be a problem...

on the other hand i DID find that some albergues were VERY tight when it came to making sure there was a spare roll anywhere to be found....

 

[Yodapsy]

We are used to this issue in Beijing! :cry: There is never any toilet tissue in public places, so we always carry small packets of tissue with us. The packets are less than the size of a wallet and a little thicker. We will bring some of these with us when we start and hopefully be able to buy some on the way. These are much more convenient than a big roll!

 

[ffp13]

We are used to this issue in Beijing!

That's why most of the cars parked on side streets have a roll or two on the dash! It's not to demist the windscreen, LOL .

Hopefully the little packs are waterproof