what if you cannot reserve/do not find a bed

[ackab]

Hello everyone, I have been lurking around for a while and found loads of great info, thank you, amazing forum.

Kind of worried about this reservation problems thing, what if I find myself unable to reserve because of full booking. Will I have to sleep outside? Any "horror stories"?

Also, how many days in advance should I plan to reserve a place in orisson and roncesvalles? Planning to stop in Orisson as I am really not used to walking that much with a sack. Hope that I can slowly build up the required fitness level by taking it easy on the first few days of the journey.

Any thoughts? Thank you in advance for your replies!

 

[Deleted member 67185]

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

Make your reservations as soon as you know your days for arrival at both locations. Waiting increases the possibility of having no beds available, especially at Orisson.

What do you do if you arrive and alburgues are full? First: Seek alternative lodging at local hotels, casa rurals, hostels, hostals, etc.

Second: If EVERYTHING is full, then go to a bar and have them call a taxi for you. Take the taxi to the next town, spend the night at lodging there. The next morning you take a taxi back to where you stopped the day before, and continue walking.

Also, use strategies like avoiding ending your day at Brierley's Guide's end stages; stop at a village BEFORE or AFTER a Brierley stage.

Booking.com or hotel.com can help identify and reserve places to stay for the next evening, if you find that things are really crowded and a problem with finding a place to stay..

 

[Peligro]

You should also take a picture from time to time of the taxi advertisements along the Camino to have with you in case anything happens and you are not in a town. Different people advertise in different areas so the same number will not work for the whole length of the Camino.

 

[NorthernLight]

If everything is full, consider accommodations OFF the camino. A town just off the trail may have good options. Most folks don't want to go even a few hundred yards off the marked trail, leaving many possibilities for the more adventurous.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Sit down, have a drink at the local bar. Ask the barkeeper or the local guys in there for help. Often there's a spare room upstairs they can put you in, or their Aunt Leandra can put you in the guest room. This doesn't work well for big groups, however.
Another shocking possibility is the classic pilgrim backup option: bed down on the church porch. Locals may see you there and take pity on you. There is no hot shower or massage service, but you are at least out of the rain. In rural areas, at the right time of year, you can bed down on a big stack of hay bales. (I've done this, with a couple of friends. Not a great night's sleep, but it makes for a good story later on.)
If worse comes to worst, contact the police. They will grumble, but they will find a place for you if you make enough noise.
(yes, I slept one night in a jail cell. It was nicer than some of pilgrim albergues I've experienced...)

 

[Telboyo]

After you have been walking a week or so you will have an idea of how far you can walk each day, if the trail is busy I suggest you start looking for accommodation 1 or 2 villages before you reach your daily walking limit.

 

[dougfitz]

When I walked with my wife in 2016, I booked ahead most days after Pamplona to ease her mind that we would have a place to stay when we arrived. There were a couple of places where it was difficult to find beds. We chose some more expensive options, or decided to walk a shorter day if that meant we could find a cheaper place to stay earlier. At one time I opted to walk on to the next town, but at that stage my wife had taken the bus to Burgos, and I was catching up with her. We also booked 'off route' near Zubiri, and were collected and returned by the people running the B&B. This had been organized for us by a very helpful hospitalero at the municipal albergue.

I would summarise my booking approach as:

1. select our preferred destination for the next day, and phone the albergues that took bookings until we had a place to stay.
2. if that failed, check a combination of gronze.com and booking.com to see what else might be available.
3. decide whether to have a shorter day, or find private accommodation - this was an iterative process of checking what was available at what prices.
4. We weren't afraid to book 'off route', although that wasn't necessary after Zubiri.

If you decide to walk without a booking, you are effectively going to rely on getting to an albergue that still has beds available. I walked my first camino like this, and a couple of sections in 2016 when my wife decided to bus ahead to Burgos, and later to Astorga. There are already good responses on this from previous posters on how to handle this. My view is that you have a couple basic decisions to make:

1. when do you start looking for a place to stay? I normally like to do three ~2 hour sessions, and look for accommodation in the second half of the third session, ie after about five hours walking.
2. if you cannot find accommodation, what is your next step? This might be to walk on if there are villages not too far ahead, but you might want to find somewhere to make some phone calls or internet searching to see what options you have. As I have already said , I got help from hospitaleros, but other locals should also be able and willing to help.
3. if you do that, once you have found a place, work out how you will get there. If it is not too far ahead, walking might be an option, but if it is a place you have passed or 'off route', you might want to get a taxi or arrange other transport.

Finally, don't over-complicate this. Having a simple strategy for working through some options will be better, in my view, that making complex plans for several days at a time.

 

[trecile]

Booking.com or hotel.com can help identify and reserve places to stay for the next evening, i

But remember that booking sites don't have access to all the available beds/rooms at albergues, pensiones, etc. You can call or directly email the properties to see if they have availability.
Notice that on booking.com it often says no rooms available on booking.com. But that doesn't Ean that there's absolutely no vacancies.

 

[kelleymac]

I have never walked in the Summer, but in the early Spring and Fall-- I have only once come to a village with no room. No beds were open at the albergue. There were no guest houses. But the Albergue called ahead and found us a room in a private albergue 6 km further. We could have taken a taxi, but we opted to walk. Our other option was to walk back (what?!) 3 km. --

On Orison and Roncevalles-- I'd make a reservation at Orisson, and then leave after breakfast for Roncevalles. My son and I arrived at about 12:30-- and there were a lot of beds open. The walk is pretty short. -- On the other hand, if you plan on walking slowly, you may want to make a reservation.

 

[benny aumala]

Orisson is very popular, and several months fully booked.
But it is a very good idea to half the tremendous rise for first day.
If no luck with Orisson, try Kayola which belong to Orisson and
possible to reserve via Orisson. It is just 800 meters before.
Diner and breakfast possible in Orisson.

 

[DebR]

Sit down, have a drink at the local bar. Ask the barkeeper or the local guys in there for help. Often there's a spare room upstairs they can put you in, or their Aunt Leandra can put you in the guest room. This doesn't work well for big groups, however.
Another shocking possibility is the classic pilgrim backup option: bed down on the church porch. Locals may see you there and take pity on you. There is no hot shower or massage service, but you are at least out of the rain. In rural areas, at the right time of year, you can bed down on a big stack of hay bales. (I've done this, with a couple of friends. Not a great night's sleep, but it makes for a good story later on.)
If worse comes to worst, contact the police. They will grumble, but they will find a place for you if you make enough noise.
(yes, I slept one night in a jail cell. It was nicer than some of pilgrim albergues I've experienced...)

This (sleeping in a cell) might be my favourite Camino story of all! Nice!

 

[JamesVT]

Sit down, have a drink at the local bar. Ask the barkeeper or the local guys in there for help. Often there's a spare room upstairs they can put you in, or their Aunt Leandra can put you in the guest room. This doesn't work well for big groups, however.
Another shocking possibility is the classic pilgrim backup option: bed down on the church porch. Locals may see you there and take pity on you. There is no hot shower or massage service, but you are at least out of the rain. In rural areas, at the right time of year, you can bed down on a big stack of hay bales. (I've done this, with a couple of friends. Not a great night's sleep, but it makes for a good story later on.)
If worse comes to worst, contact the police. They will grumble, but they will find a place for you if you make enough noise.
(yes, I slept one night in a jail cell. It was nicer than some of pilgrim albergues I've experienced...)

Haha, to jail cells— I’ve spent a few nights in jail cells that local police provided for me to help a wandering foreigner. True generosity! I can’t say that the jail cells were very comfortable!

 

[kelleymac]

Also, how many days in advance should I plan to reserve a place in orisson and roncesvalles? Planning to stop in Orisson as I am really not used to walking that much with a sack. Hope that I can slowly build up the required fitness level by taking it easy on the first few days of the journey.

Hello again-- This sentence troubled me a bit-- so I'm back responding a second time. Put something in your pack-- just a couple kilos in the bottom or middle of your pack. (Use pillows to put the weight in the middle.) Wear your pack around your house and doing chores, like yard work or emptying the dishwasher-- something involving bending and moving. Also put on the pack and walk up a hill. I know it's hard to find the time, but your available time will shrink as your camino gets closer and you realize how much you have to get done before you head out the door. -- Another idea is to start before St. Jean-- maybe at Naverrenx, Aroue or Ostabat. This will give you some walking before the big climb over the Pyrenees.

 

[JamesVT]

Orisson is very popular, and several months fully booked.
But it is a very good idea to half the tremendous rise for first day.
If no luck with Orisson, try Kayola which belong to Orisson and
possible to reserve via Orisson. It is just 800 meters before.
Diner and breakfast possible in Orisson.

Good advice. If you are unsure about your preparation, absolutely find a way not to attempt the long trek to Roncesvalles in a single day. My thought is that it will prove to be too much for some and undermine the spirit of the Camino, especially if you do not have a reservation in Roncesvalles. The gold standard is a reservation, ASAP, at both Orisson and Roncesvalles.

 

[RedRuby]

I had to share a double bunk once, it was the only space available. I was so tired and just grateful to be able to have a bed. I have no idea who the guy was next to me. I remember being very glad I had my sleeping bag. I did zip it up tightly hahaha. I didn't stop at Orisson, it just seemed a relatively short distance from SJPP and instead went to straight through to Roncevalles. However, I did have to book into the Roncevalles Hotel because it was the only place left with a bed. I then started staying in places between the suggested Brierley towns. The bed race was a bit daunting initially, but I just kept it in perspective and did my own Camino.

 

[trecile]

I have never walked in the Summer

Up until around O Cebreiro, the Camino is less busy in the summer months than Spring and early Autumn. Look at this graph of pilgrims leaving SJPDP - the peaks are May and September.

 

[Albertagirl]

I shall be walking on the meseta this fall, as I move from the Madrid to the Invierno. I am beginning my pilgrimage in Madrid on Oct. 3, so anticipate that the Frances will be less busy by the time that I arrive in Sahagun on about Oct. 17. You may choose to walk out of the busy season or on alternate routes to avoid having to worry about getting a bed for the night. But, of course, there is still the chance that accommodation will be closed for the season by the time that you are approaching Santiago. This has happened to me. Walk in faith and look forward to the adventures on the trail. I have slept out, without sleeping gear, on a mountainside in New Zealand the year before I began walking caminos. It was the best night of all my time in New Zealand, if a little chilly, and excellent preparation for walking caminos. Buen camino.

 

[tpmchugh]

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

Make your reservations as soon as you know your days for arrival at both locations. Waiting increases the possibility of having no beds available, especially at Orisson.

What do you do if you arrive and alburgues are full? First: Seek alternative lodging at local hotels, casa rurals, hostels, hostals, etc.

Second: If EVERYTHING is full, then go to a bar and have them call a taxi for you. Take the taxi to the next town, spend the night at lodging there. The next morning you take a taxi back to where you stopped the day before, and continue walking.

Also, use strategies like avoiding ending your day at Brierley's Guide's end stages; stop at a village BEFORE or AFTER a Brierley stage.

Booking.com or hotel.com can help identify and reserve places to stay for the next evening, if you find that things are really crowded and a problem with finding a place to stay..

good advice but why does no-one ever advise using onlypilgrims.com I dont often book ahead but on the rare occasion I do, that is my preferred site.

 

[bobbogram]

Last year after crossing into Spain from Portugal, the Camino traffic began to pick up. The closer you get to Santiago when paths merge, you will notice the change. After five or six weeks hiking, you will also find the minimalist pilgrims who just flew in for the last 100 kms, often standing in clusters on the narrow path, indifferent to foot traffic going around them.
A large group of polite youngsters with interspersed adults showed up and I ended up leapfrogging with them for the day, competing for dining and rest opportunities. So I departed the conventional route and navigated a parallel path the last three days. As I have found in the past, a pilgrim is more of a novelty off the published route but no less valid and no less satisfying. When you “make straight the way of the Lord” sometimes it’s efficient and less crowded.

 

[Deleted member 67185]

good advice but why does no-one ever advise using onlypilgrims.com I dont often book ahead but on the rare occasion I do, that is my preferred site.

It's your fault. . you didn't tell me before now. Seriously, this is the first that I have heard of this website. It looks like a good resource to have on hand.

 

[ackab]

I wish you all could see the big smile on my face while reading all the replies. Amazingly useful, I am starting to get an idea of what is coming and how to deal with possible overcrowding problem. Thank you so much to all of you girls and guys.

Another question comes to my mind: just in case the first day proves to be too hard for me, are there taxis or other motorized options to help me get to roncesvalles while on the road? Again, I am really unsure about my fitness level and although I think I will be able to make it, I am open to the possibility that while there I may well find out otherwise. I understand from some of the replies that taxis are around on the camino, but what about the road from SJPP to roncesvalles specifically, while on the napoleon road. I am planning to start the camino maybe the next we and time for tests or training is really tough to find now. Thank you so much again.

@Rebekah Scott I am shocked to learn that there is no massage service when you sleep in the church porch, what a shame

 

[domigee]

Up until around O Cebreiro, the Camino is less busy in the summer months than Spring and early Autumn. Look at this graph of pilgrims leaving SJPDP - the peaks are May and September.

View attachment 58382

Please Trecile, don’t tell everyone I like it this way!
And oh, remember, it IS very hot in the Summer months

 

[Walking Lover]

Hello everyone, I have been lurking around for a while and found loads of great info, thank you, amazing forum.

Kind of worried about this reservation problems thing, what if I find myself unable to reserve because of full booking. Will I have to sleep outside? Any "horror stories"?

Also, how many days in advance should I plan to reserve a place in orisson and roncesvalles? Planning to stop in Orisson as I am really not used to walking that much with a sack. Hope that I can slowly build up the required fitness level by taking it easy on the first few days of the journey.

Any thoughts? Thank you in advance for your replies!

Booking.com

 

[kelleymac]

Up until around O Cebreiro, the Camino is less busy in the summer months than Spring and early Autumn. Look at this graph of pilgrims leaving SJPDP - the peaks are May and September.

View attachment 58382

Thanks for posting this. I'd love to see a similar graph from Sarria. Do you know of one?