Invierno in late Oct?

[Kazles]

I would like to move onto the Invierno from the CF in late Oct this year and wondered if it might be:
-Too quiet/lonely/unsafe for solo women
-Too closed in terms of cafes and accoms
-Too wet/cold.
The threads make it sound a perfect route but they seem to all be spring or summer travellers.
Thanks
Kaz from Oz

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I would like to move onto the Invierno from the CF in late Oct this year and wondered if it might be:
-Too quiet/lonely/unsafe for solo women
-Too closed in terms of cafes and accoms
-Too wet/cold.
The threads make it sound a perfect route but they seem to all be spring or summer travellers.

It can be any or all of those, but unsafe is probably not accurate.

 

[ksam]

Accommodations are thin on that route but totally doable. 'Course I should add I walked i May....but still, don't think it should be much of a problem. Safe..yeah.

 

[MikeJS]

I walked the Invierno in May last year and hardly saw any other hikers - for me that was neither too quiet or lonely, but then I enjoy being solitary. Not much in the way of cafes/bars in between the main stages but enough options at the main stopping points. Too wet/cold - very possibly. It was wet in May but it is always hard to second guess the weather,

 

[Rebekah Scott]

You'll do well to have a decent grasp of Spanish.

 

[peregrina2000]

Since only one or two of the accommodations are geared to pilgrims, and since there are not many pilgrims, whether or not places are closed won’t have anything to do with pilgrim traffic, or the lack of it. Private accommodations are likely going to be open year round, except for the tourist-specific places, such as some of the places in As Médulas. But I have gotten confirmation from both the Complejo Rural Agoga and Casa Socorro that they are open year round in As Médulas.

If you search through the old Invierno threads, you will see that a couple of forum members have walked in the dead of winter, @chinasky being one of them.

In terms of safety, of course bad things can happen anywhere, but I have walked the Invierno three times now, once with a companion but only for a few days, and as a solo female had no problems. Quite the contrary, people were oh so kind and hospitable. The forum has a great little guide, which is here in case you haven’t seen it: https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/resources/invierno-forum-guide.535/

And if you do use it, it’d be great if you would post back with comments and suggestions, because we will be doing an update in the fall or winter. Buen camino, Laurie

 

[Lippe]

[QUOTE = "Kazles, post: 655528, member: 50965"] Eu gostaria de passar para o Invierno do CF no final de outubro deste ano e me perguntei se poderia ser:
-Muito calmo / solitário / inseguro para mulheres solitárias
-Muito fechado em termos de cafés e pousadas
-Muito molhado / frio.
Os fios fazem parecer uma rota perfeita, mas eles parecem ser viajantes de primavera ou verão.
obrigado
Kaz de Oz [/ QUOTE]

 

[Lippe]

We are winter pilgrims on the French Way! It's quiet! Just do not start in SJPP and yes in Roncesvalles .... The public hostels will be open ... Private alberg closed ...

 

[Lippe]

We will be there in January and February 2019

 

[Caroline de Wit]

Hi Kaz
I will walk the Camino Invierno also late octobre. I will start from Ponferrada octobre 26th.
The Invierno will be much more quiet and lonely than the busy Frances. It's what you prefer.
On www.gronze.com you can find al lot af information about accomodation. I used this website often
on the Camino del Norte. For the Invierno I will also use a guidebook: The Winter Route to Santiago - by Aida Menende Lorenzo.
Do'nt worry about safety! You will be fine!
Regards,
Caroline.

 

[ranthr]

I would like to move onto the Invierno from the CF in late Oct this year and wondered if it might be:
-Too quiet/lonely/unsafe for solo women
-Too closed in terms of cafes and accoms
-Too wet/cold.
The threads make it sound a perfect route but they seem to all be spring or summer travellers.
Thanks
Kaz from Oz

I went there end of May as a solo old woman (70), met nobody along the way and never felt unsafe. Local people I met in pueblos were very kind and helpful.
Randi

 

[Kazles]

Thank you

 

[Kazles]

Since only one or two of the accommodations are geared to pilgrims, and since there are not many pilgrims, whether or not places are closed won’t have anything to do with pilgrim traffic, or the lack of it. Private accommodations are likely going to be open year round, except for the tourist-specific places, such as some of the places in As Médulas. But I have gotten confirmation from both the Complejo Rural Agoga and Casa Socorro that they are open year round in As Médulas.

If you search through the old Invierno threads, you will see that a couple of forum members have walked in the dead of winter, @chinasky being one of them.

In terms of safety, of course bad things can happen anywhere, but I have walked the Invierno three times now, once with a companion but only for a few days, and as a solo female had no problems. Quite the contrary, people were oh so kind and hospitable. The forum has a great little guide, which is here in case you haven’t seen it: https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/resources/invierno-forum-guide.535/

And if you do use it, it’d be great if you would post back with comments and suggestions, because we will be doing an update in the fall or winter. Buen camino, Laurie

Thank you Laurie and I have very much appreciated all your notes and advice on the various threads and resources.

 

[ksam]

. For the Invierno I will also use a guidebook: The Winter Route to Santiago - by Aida Menende Lorenzo.
.

Ok...curious where you found your guide book.

 

[peregrina2000]

Ok...curious where you found your guide book.

Hi, Ksam,
This is the book translated from Spanish and written by one of the people who fought longest and hardest for official recognition for the Invierno. It’s available here: http://www.caminodeinvierno.com/content/detailed-guide-winter-route-santiago

I don’t know anyone who has used it, and I have no idea whether the translation is good. But I am pretty sure it is not written by someone who has walked the route. I say that because the other guide that I mention below describes itself as the only one written by a peregrino.

Years ago, on my first Invierno, I used the Spanish guide written by the other Camino de Invierno Association. Asún (owner of the albergue in her house in A Rúa) is the president of that association, and I have no idea about their relationship. I found that guide to be fine, a bit heavy with lots of unnecessary pages, but fine. http://caminodeinvierno.es/ But it is in Spanish. There was noise about an English translation, but nothing to date.

 

[ksam]

Hi, Ksam,
This is the book translated from Spanish and written by one of the people who fought longest and hardest for official recognition for the Invierno. It’s available here: http://www.caminodeinvierno.com/content/detailed-guide-winter-route-santiago

I don’t know anyone who has used it, and I have no idea whether the translation is good. But I am pretty sure it is not written by someone who has walked the route. I say that because the other guide that I mention below describes itself as the only one written by a peregrino.

Years ago, on my first Invierno, I used the Spanish guide written by the other Camino de Invierno Association. Asún (owner of the albergue in her house in A Rúa) is the president of that association, and I have no idea about their relationship. I found that guide to be fine, a bit heavy with lots of unnecessary pages, but fine. http://caminodeinvierno.es/ But it is in Spanish. There was noise about an English translation, but nothing to date.

Thanks Laurie! I used the one from here on the Forum the last time, but as with many others...I'm always looking and scouting around for new Camino reading materials!!

 

[Albertagirl]

@peregrina2000
The first guidebook which you mention, the one in English by Aida Menendez Lorenzo, is available in the forum bookstore. I have not yet bought a copy, as I fear that it will not be up to date if I am going to walk that route next year. At 300g it seems rather heavy and is said to have a lot of photos, which may make it less a guidebook and more a general book about the route.