Walking in January

[rvperrier]

For many reasons, I have only the first 2 weeks of January to walk from Porto to Santiago. I have checked the temperatures which range above 10 degrees C (warmer in Porto). I am Canadian and that doesn't concern me, but it rains 30% of the time and tends to be windy. I always walk with an umbrella and find them a life-saver in rain (a strong one, held carefully, can tolerate most wind). My back pack has a built in rain cover and I will bring a second one.
My main concern is having enough open accommodation and places to eat.
Does anyone have advice, suggestions. Write even if you think I am crazy.

 

[KariC]

I'll be curious to see what others who have walked in January post - I did it almost exactly a year ago, so it was still "in season." There were hotels and restaurants used by locals almost everywhere along the way, so while you may not get albergues, I'm sure you could find somewhere. The one exception to this is if you choose the variante espiritual - there may not be anything between Combarro and Vilanova, and that's quite a trek. Normally the stages of that variante are Pontevedra > Armenteira > Vilanova, but I don't know if there's anything in Armenteira besides the albergue. Learned the hard way there's no lodging in Ribadumia.
Bom caminho!

 

[WGroleau]

For many reasons, I have only the first 2 weeks of January to walk from Porto to Santiago. I have checked the temperatures which range above 10 degrees C (warmer in Porto). I am Canadian and that doesn't concern me, but it rains 30% of the time and tends to be windy. I always walk with an umbrella and find them a life-saver in rain (a strong one, held carefully, can tolerate most wind). My back pack has a built in rain cover and I will bring a second one.
My main concern is having enough open accommodation and places to eat.
Does anyone have advice, suggestions. Write even if you think I am crazy.

There are always places to eat in a town of more than a thousand. And some albergues do stay open year round. I met a peregrina suiza in Burgos mid-January with light snow still on the plaza mayor.

 

[Magnara]

I don't know that route but we walked the CF in January. Although hardly any albergues were open (especially between Christmas and the festival of Tres Reyes - the Three Kings - on 6 January, when the children get their "Christmas" presents.) The Spanish tend to close up and go on holidays during those two weeks, but we never were unable to find a bed, although you will need to budget more as you will probably need to stay in cheap pension-style hotels and B&B accommodation. And the same goes for food - less menu del dia, more cheap restaurant fare. But you won't sleep in a park or go hungry. We would head for a bar and ask about who had rooms in town. After a warming drop it always worked out fine.