Walking in Mars 2015

[petzar]

Hi!
I have never walked the Camino and wonder how it is to walk it in early spring "late februari and mars"?
How cold is it?
Are all... or most of the aburgies open and so on?
Thanks for Help/Peter

 

[Deleted member 3000]

How cold is it?
Are all... or most of the aburgies open and so on?

Parts will be cold, so be prepared. Parts may even be impassable because of snow. There will be enough open albergues, but the ones in small towns may be closed, so you may have to walk between the major stops. You can get the official open dates from gronze.com or http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/ but the information is not completely accurate. Call ahead each day if you want to be certain. The owners do not sit around all winter waiting for the occasional pilgrim to show up! They may close spontaneously without announcing the closure.

Buen camino.

 

[JohnMcM]

Hi!
I have never walked the Camino and wonder how it is to walk it in early spring "late februari and mars"?
How cold is it?
Are all... or most of the aburgies open and so on?
Thanks for Help/Peter

Hello Peter,
You may not have found this list on the forum yet. It has the albergues for the Camino Francis and many contact details. It may help you if you want to contact them personally.
Buen Camino

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...lbergues-on-the-camino-frances-in-one-pdf.10/

 

[jamesw3435]

Hi!
I have never walked the Camino and wonder how it is to walk it in early spring "late februari and mars"?
How cold is it?
Are all... or most of the aburgies open and so on?
Thanks for Help/Peter

I start march 3rd maybe ill see you out there

 

[Paul_L]

We will be starting mid February, a family with 5 kids (and 4 adults). I expect you'll pass us at some stage, probably early on. We are giving ourselves until the second week of April to finish. Slow and steady. Can't wait now, feels like a dream. It's hard to believe it is going to happen.

 

[marbuck]

It will be cold. We started mid April and we had some horrible days. So be prepared, especially if you have kids with you.

 

[Paul_L]

We are used to cool weather (cold for Australia, we live in the Snowy Mountains, but whilst we consider -6 overnight cold, I know that is nothing for some people!), and have prepared with layers, waterproof outer shell, inner merino with light jumper and/ or thermals (which doubleas pyjamas if we don't wear them). One concern is sleeping arrangements. We have down sleeping bags and silk liners, which we've used for cold weather camping. I'm not keen on carrying four of them though. (Mine, my wife's and the two little ones, my wife will have the carrier, which we will share).

 

[Deleted member 3000]

We have down sleeping bags and silk liners, which we've used for cold weather camping.

In February indoor temperatures may be the same as outdoor temperatures; albergues are expensive to heat, and hospitaleros try to keep costs low. By April the weather may be pleasantly warm, and albergues are geared up for the "regular" season. You probably won't want or need the sleeping bags. Two solutions come to mind. First, use a baggage service each day to move the heavy stuff. It will cost 4-7E per bag per day. The downside is that you have locked in your destination for the day when you tell the baggage service where to take your bag(s). If you have guessed wrong, though, you can always catch up to your bags in a taxi. Second, once the weather has warmed, mail your heavy stuff to Santiago.

Creative minds may find more solutions; your basic dilemma is walking in two fairly distinct seasons, one cold, one temperate.