Is it necessary to pre-book accommodations along the Portuguese Way?

[SharonW]

My son and I are planning our first Camino starting in Tui, taking the Spiritual Variant and possibly continuing to Finisterre/Muxia. Is it possible to not have any accommodations pre-booked and just stop when we are tired and look for lodging? Also wondering if we need to advance book the boat ride from Vilanova de Arousa to Pontecesures? Thanks!

 

[Anamya]

I don't know about the boat ride, as I have not used it. But for the trail, there is plenty of accommodation, specially if you are mixing albergues and private places. There are some lovely small inns along the way, and the food is great in that region.

I would only book the first night in Tui, so you have a place to get yourself sorted, and go from there as your pace dictates. Buen camino

 

[dougfitz]

On the CP(VE) this year just after Easter, I would only book the night before at the most, sometimes on the day itself when I had a good idea where I might get to that afternoon. That worked quite well. I used a combination of booking.com and direct contact. The Xunta albergues on the Sanabres when I walked that in May were never more than half full. I booked a couple of places where there weren't Xunta albergues, but even they didn't seem to be full.

As a cautionary note, when I walked the CP in 2022, one albergue filled early in the evening, about 1800, and a mother and daughter were turned away shortly after that. The next albergue was over 6km further on, more that either felt comfortable walking at that time of the day. I always found it better to have a booking if I felt that I was going to arrive in the early evening.

There are a couple of different boats, and I think both have online booking, or you can go to the wharf or their booking office as well if you arrive early enough the previous afternoon. The smaller boat did fill up the day I took it. I don't know about the larger one.

 

[lovemyluggage]

In my experience right now, not yet, but I started down in Tomar. It’ll be a thousand years before I get to Tui.