Walking Guides and Accommodations - First Timer

[GuyA]

Hi,

I am planning on walking from Le-Puy-en-Velay to Finisterre and would appreciate assistance in a few areas based on your experiences.

Walking Guides

I have seen names like Alison Raju, Ben Cole / Beth Davies, John Brierley associated with walking guides. Do you favour one particular guide and if so why? Is a walking guide even necessary or does one simply "follow the arrows"?

Accommodations

I am looking to stay in Bed & Breakfast, small hotels etc. and would like to hear from you as to particular web sites that would be helpful or even better obtain actual accommodation recommendations based your Camino experience.

Thanks for taking the time to read my basic questions and also thanks for sharing your personal thoughts to help me out.

GuyA

p.s. I also posted this on the The LePuy Route and Santiago to Finisterre and Muxia boards. If this was improper sorry in advance

 

[sillydoll]

Best, light guide from the Confraternity of St James: http://www.csj.org.uk

You could have all your accommodation pre-booked: Find companies here:
http://amawalker.blogspot.com/2009/12/2 ... amino.html

The annual “Guía oficial de hotels” published by the Instituto de Turismo de España is available from most bookstores or contact your local Spanish Tourist Board. http://www.spainbookers.com/
1 to 5 star hotels can be found throughout Spain. Most hotels have seasonal price structures and cost will depend on the time of year you travel.

 

[ranthr]

Hi!
Best guide on the Le Puy route is The Miam Dodo guide and the Alison R.guide. I carried them both last autumn, but cut out the pages that was general and threw away pages after passing. Brought copies of maps on the French part, but never used them. On the Spanish part Brierleys map book is brilliant. I had walked there twice before and knew I really did not need a guide.In France I found places on http://www.chemindecompostelle.com and mailed them to book before leaving home. Stayed mostly in small hotels, CH and places like that a bit more unsocial than the gites.
Had in fact booked places to sleep for my whole trip through France. Many of the people I met In France said it was difficult to get a place to sleep and started booking days ahead. Of the few gites I stayed at I must mention The Poudally a days walking before Cahors. Beautiful place, nice rooms and a pleasant dinner in the evening. The Lascabanes after Cahors was very good as well. Stayed at the Hotel de la Vallee in Espeyrac and payed 40 euros for a room and demi-pension with a very good dinner. In Conques I stayed at the Castellou a very nice place. If you go to Romieu Le Convent de Romieu has very good single rooms as well as beds in common rooms. They had strict rules to controll for bedbugs as well. Hotel de la Paix in Air sur A`dour, your own room with breakfast for 15,33. The kommunal gite in Arzacq has single rooms as well. Dinner was not a great happening but for 35 euros ok. I did not like Le Domaine du Possible 4 km before Eauze where i stayed one night, and the hotel du Commerce in Navarrenx was not werth the cost. The night before I stayed at a nice hotel in Maslacq, hotel Magouber. All the places in France I booked demi-pension, and that was good to me because it was not easy to get meals everywhere if you did not order it.

In Spain it is much easier to get a place to sleep when you arrive, unless it is a holy year, but I will recommend the Posada in Roncesvalles if you do not want to share a room with a hundred other pilgerims. I have stayed in the refugio a couple of times, but last year I had booked at the Posada. Arrived to a heated room after a rainy day over the mountain and that was great. I would also recommend the hotel in Akkareta a few hundred metres after Larrasoana instead of the albergue there. It is really basic.And the hotel is really beautiful. It is of course a question of cost but also a question of company where you stay. On my first camino I stayed at the refugio all the times which was more social.On my next camino I stayed half / half at refugios and hostals and after walking from Le Puy last year I got used my own room and tried to get a room in Spain too. It was never a problem.
Randi

 

[GuyA]

Sil,
Randi,

Many thanks for your quick replies and great information. You have given me a lot of very practical info which is will be very helpful as I plan and dream of my Camino.

Merci,

Guy