Light sleeping bag or silk liner?

[Cleenjones]

I’m almost packed and ready to start on the Le Puy (Le Puy to Pamplona), but am struggling on whether to pack a light sleeping bag or a liner!
In 2022 on my Sept Fancais Camino, I brought both, and it was overkill.

If you were walking the Le Puy and staying primarily in gites, what would you pack?

 

[andycohn]

All I can say is that when we walked the Le Puy in the fall of 2019 all the gites provided bottom sheets and blankets, so a liner sufficed (and my recollection is that the gites were reasonably well-heated, too). The same was true in the gites on the Robert Louis Stevenson trail in France, which we walked this spring. Also, gites on the Le Puy are much more pro-active about bed bugs than the albergues are in Spain, in that generally you cannot even take your pack into the sleeping area.

 

[Former member 104756]

Hi @Cleenjones My experience is the same as @andycohn I’d go with the liner. If on the odd occasion it’s not enough you can wear some of your clothes but I think you’ll be fine.

It’s a beautiful path. Enjoy. And feel free to get in touch when you are close to Lectoure where we are living at present. I’m always delighted to have a coffee or apéro with another pilgrim

Bon chemin.

 

[good_old_shoes]

I haven't walked in fall, but in spring.

Would *definitely* bring a sleeping bag, always (no matter what time of year), unless you plan to sleep in private rooms that include blankets, or if you know you're a very warm sleeper. I am a cold sleeper and do stay at the cheaper gites/albergues, so what you need might be different.

Maybe test your sleeping gear at ~10°C at home, after a long walk, being tired, with an open window and wearing your Camino sleep attire. Then you'll get an idea whether it will work or not.

No right or wrong here. You'll know best.

Bon chemin!

 

[Cleenjones]

A great suggestion! I’ll try each option at home before making the final decision

 

[Bothydave]

Nothing worse than a bad sleep when you are cold and exhausted.

 

[linnea.borealis]

I’m almost packed and ready to start on the Le Puy (Le Puy to Pamplona), but am struggling on whether to pack a light sleeping bag or a liner!
In 2022 on my Sept Fancais Camino, I brought both, and it was overkill.

If you were walking the Le Puy and staying primarily in gites, what would you pack?

The gites in France all had blankets. A silk liner should be enough. That's all I had in April 2010.

 

[NorthernLight]

A liner was fine for me on the Le Puy, even in early November; gîtes had blankets. In Spain, I want the sleeping bag/quilt.

 

[Chizuru]

We walked in April- May staying in a mix of B&Bs, hotels and Gites. In all of the Gites we needed a silk liner. In 2 Gites there were no blankets so we used our light sleeping bag. Take both.

 

[Chizuru]

The gites in France all had blankets. A silk liner should be enough. That's all I had in April 2010.

No, we didn’t stay in many Gites but there were two that we did stay in that didn’t have blankets and those two nights were very cold. We were pleased that we had our sleeping bags.

 

[dick bird]

Easy answer - both. You´ll need the sleeping bag. The silk liner is a) washable and b) a little bit of extra comfort and c) incredibly light.

 

[MarkN]

Both, but in one.
My wife and I have sleeping bags that have one side with a light lining, and the other side with insulation. Works great as you can just sleep under the side you need, change during the night, and they pack very small.
We've long since cut off the tags and I forget the name. If it helps (and you are interested) we did buy them at MEC (Outdoor store in Canada) that may still carry them (though since they sold we believe we've have seen a drop in variety of equipment).

 

[patriciafross]

I walked from Le Puy to Cahors in September 2022 and only needed a liner. Am walking this year from Cahors to Pamplona and am only taking a liner. Bon Camino!

 

[mrosenlof]

I walked Le Puy to SJPdP starting in May this year. It was cool the first two weeks. All the gites had blankets. I was never cold. Often too warm. I had a liner only.