Primitivo accommodation advice

[lejo310]

Hola peregrinos,

A friend and I are embarking on the Camino Primitivo from Oviedo, setting off from the cathedral on June 4th.

Can anyone give an indication as to how busy we should expect it to be? We are both students in our early twenties so on a tight budget and planning to stay in as many donativos and communal albergues as possible to avoid the cost of privates.

Should we be expecting much of a bed race? How early should we be aiming to arrive at communal albergues?

Thanks all, buen camino

 

[davejsy]

Please be as generous as your budget allows if staying at the Donativo's.

Buen Camino

 

[sun is shining]

Please be as generous as your budget allows if staying at the Donativo's.

This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot since my recent Camino (and reading lots of forum posts). The donativos I stayed in a decade ago where simple places that provided the basics - while being generous if you can was always the point of these places, the new wave of private (and therefore for profit) donativos seem to drift very much towards luxury. There are welcome drinks, three course meals, after dinner alcohol… and with these added luxuries the implied donativos are getting higher and higher.

So frankly, I’m on an ok budget for the Camino but I’m definitely being priced out of these donativos because I cannot afford to subsidise this kind of continued (over??) consumption plus the needed profits of the people running these (often „famous“) donativos. The point of „pay what you can“ seems to be getting lost and I’m sure you mean very well by your advice but two young students would maybe benefit much more from the old-style simple donativos places.

@lejo310 - I found a pretty strong segregation of people on the Camino Primitivo last month. You had the more affluent pre-booking, wine-by-the-glass type crowd in the private albergues (and certainly the private donativos!) whereas the municipal albergues were more filled with cooking-pasta-together, drinking-wine-from-supermarket-bottles crowd. Both groups had fun and very much enjoyed their different experiences but you might want to take the different target demographics in mind when choosing your accommodation.

I walked in the middle of May and only ever experienced one full municipal albergue (Berducedo, filled up late in the afternoon). My advice would be to stay in Escamplero and Cornellana for your first couple of nights to avoid the rush of the first stages. After that you should be fine in the stage-town municipals until after Lugo. From there go off-stage to hit the Xunta municipals.

Most municipals (at least once you hit Galicia) don’t have any kitchen equipment. Bring from home each: lightweight plastic or aluminium plate, fork, spoon, sharp knife (depending on how you arrive you might have to buy this in Spain) - plus some salt, pepper, lightweight spice mixtures. Supermarkets in Spain are cheap and with minimal ingredients you can make salads, sandwiches and use the albergue microwave (they almost always have one) to make tortillas, rice etc. Also bring Tupperware or sandwich bags to prep your lunch ahead of time.

Always check what kind of equipment you have available in the kitchens before going shopping. We cooked up a storm in Escamplero and Berducedo because the kitchens were so well equipped. In general it is very easy to do the Camino on a budget. This forum skewers more affluent but there are many many people walking the Camino that don’t post in places like this here that work with limited budgets. Make friends with any group of Italians or Spanish (being a set of playing cards!!) and you’ll be sorted food-wise

 

[davejsy]

This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot since my recent Camino (and reading lots of forum posts). The donativos I stayed in a decade ago where simple places that provided the basics - while being generous if you can was always the point of these places, the new wave of private (and therefore for profit) donativos seem to drift very much towards luxury. There are welcome drinks, three course meals, after dinner alcohol… and with these added luxuries the implied donativos are getting higher and higher.

So frankly, I’m on an ok budget for the Camino but I’m definitely being priced out of these donativos because I cannot afford to subsidise this kind of continued (over??) consumption plus the needed profits of the people running these (often „famous“) donativos. The point of „pay what you can“ seems to be getting lost and I’m sure you mean very well by your advice but two young students would maybe benefit much more from the old-style simple donativos places.

@lejo310 - I found a pretty strong segregation of people on the Camino Primitivo last month. You had the more affluent pre-booking, wine-by-the-glass type crowd in the private albergues (and certainly the private donativos!) whereas the municipal albergues were more filled with cooking-pasta-together, drinking-wine-from-supermarket-bottles crowd. Both groups had fun and very much enjoyed their different experiences but you might want to take the different target demographics in mind when choosing your accommodation.

I walked in the middle of May and only ever experienced one full municipal albergue (Berducedo, filled up late in the afternoon). My advice would be to stay in Escamplero and Cornellana for your first couple of nights to avoid the rush of the first stages. After that you should be fine in the stage-town municipals until after Lugo. From there go off-stage to hit the Xunta municipals.

Most municipals (at least once you hit Galicia) don’t have any kitchen equipment. Bring from home each: lightweight plastic or aluminium plate, fork, spoon, sharp knife (depending on how you arrive you might have to buy this in Spain) - plus some salt, pepper, lightweight spice mixtures. Supermarkets in Spain are cheap and with minimal ingredients you can make salads, sandwiches and use the albergue microwave (they almost always have one) to make tortillas, rice etc. Also bring Tupperware or sandwich bags to prep your lunch ahead of time.

Always check what kind of equipment you have available in the kitchens before going shopping. We cooked up a storm in Escamplero and Berducedo because the kitchens were so well equipped. In general it is very easy to do the Camino on a budget. This forum skewers more affluent but there are many many people walking the Camino that don’t post in places like this here that work with limited budgets. Make friends with any group of Italians or Spanish (being a set of playing cards!!) and you’ll be sorted food-wise

I can't really comment as I don't have any experience of what you refer to as Private Donativo's. My experience is only of volunteer Donativo's run by associations. The one's that are sadly abused by many people who pay the bare minimum or even less when often they could be more generous and act in the spirit of such Donativo's. I'm not suggesting that the OP would be one of those people, it was more a gentle nudge to be mindful.

 

[Pafayac]

The one's that are sadly abused by many people who pay the bare minimum or even less when often they could be more generous and act in the spirit of such Donativo's.

Indeed, I just have learnt the nice donativo at Samblismo was now closed. It is a pity.
Javier was a very nice hospitalero, and the atmosphere in the gite was kind.

 

[David with new Kit!]

Indeed, I just have learnt the nice donativo at Samblismo was now closed. It is a pity.
Javier was a very nice hospitalero, and the atmosphere in the gite was kind.

I was in touch with Javier too, he is hoping to reopen in September (Tal vez!)

 

[dbier]

I can't really comment as I don't have any experience of what you refer to as Private Donativo's. My experience is only of volunteer Donativo's run by associations. The one's that are sadly abused by many people who pay the bare minimum or even less when often they could be more generous and act in the spirit of such Donativo's. I'm not suggesting that the OP would be one of those people, it was more a gentle nudge to be mindful.

Albergue El Cruce in La Espina is a private donativo, and if your stages and budget permit, I would highly recommend. I donated 20€ that night.

Berducedo is *the* choke point, and I watched several late arrivals without reservations (Sep 20th or 21st, 2023, if memory serves) take a taxi to La Mesa, some 4-5 km on.

There have been comments earlier this year about completos...those comments usually coincided with either a local or national festival.

Somewhere else on these boards is a listing of festivals...there were some local ones in your timeframe, but perhaps not in your destination village. I would recommend checking.

 

[JOSEPH SITKO]

Albergue El Cruce in La Espina is a private donativo, and if your stages and budget permit, I would highly recommend. I donated 20€ that night.

Berducedo is *the* choke point, and I watched several late arrivals without reservations (Sep 20th or 21st, 2023, if memory serves) take a taxi to La Mesa, some 4-5 km on.

There have been comments earlier this year about completos...those comments usually coincided with either a local or national festival.

Somewhere else on these boards is a listing of festivals...there were some local ones in your timeframe, but perhaps not in your destination village. I would recommend checking.

Going back in time , ( 2018 ) , my walking partner and I made it to Berducedo but with only one bed available. We were directed to Albergue Rural Camin Antiguo in the same village . It was beautiful, had the place to ourselves. Room for a dozen and good kitchen.
Is it still in operation? I have a friend doing the Primativo soon and would like to provide some good info .

 

[lt56ny]

the new wave of private (and therefore for profit) donativos seem to drift very much towards luxury. There are welcome drinks, three course meals, after dinner alcohol… and with these added luxuries the implied donativos are getting higher and higher

I can't really comment as I don't have any experience of what you refer to as Private Donativo's. My experience is only of volunteer Donativo's run by associations. The one's that are sadly abused by many people who pay the bare minimum or even less when often they could be more generous and act in the spirit of such Donativo's. I'm not suggesting that the OP would be one of those people, it was more a gentle nudge to be mindful.

I too, like @davejsy am confused about what you are calling a private "upscale" donativo. Could you please offer an example of the type of albergue you are referring to. Maybe we just have a confusion of what is thought of as a donativo. Thanks

I have been in a few private donativos and they were all along the lines of what @dbier gave an example of below:

Albergue El Cruce in La Espina is a private donativo, and if your stages and budget permit, I would highly recommend. I donated 20€ that night.

But what is getting lost in this conversation is the very important point that @davejsy has made that donativo is not free and all the donativos that I have stayed in on many different caminos fit the description of kindness, simplicity, in many, wonderful and often simple communal meals. So we all must give as generously as our budget allows. There are some pilgrims who are walking on such a tight budget, where every euro counts, that our donations are allowing those pilgrims to walk the camino.

 

[David Tallan]

This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot since my recent Camino (and reading lots of forum posts). The donativos I stayed in a decade ago where simple places that provided the basics - while being generous if you can was always the point of these places, the new wave of private (and therefore for profit) donativos seem to drift very much towards luxury. There are welcome drinks, three course meals, after dinner alcohol… and with these added luxuries the implied donativos are getting higher and higher.

I've stayed at two donativos that provided that kind of hospitality. One was Casa da Fernanda on the Portugues. They were welcoming people to their home and providing the hospitality that came naturally to them. I don't think they were making much of a profit. In fact, I think that their losses were substantial enough that subsequently they had to fix a price.

The other was Bendueños on the San Salvador. There was also amazing hospitality provided there, with a full stock of beverages, fruit, snacks and breakfast items, well we'll as delicious home-cooked comida and cena. However, this was not a private albergue but a parochial one.

If people are moved to be more hospitable to pilgrims, and have the ability to be so, im not sure it is a bad thing. Indeedthere was certainly no lack of "Camino spirit" in those two albergues, as I expect anyone who has stayed at either can attest.

Samblismo was another like that. He has since closed, I've heard. That leads me to believe that his profits were not substantial. I just think he, too, was providing the best hospitality he could in alignment with his values.

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

Hola peregrinos,

A friend and I are embarking on the Camino Primitivo from Oviedo, setting off from the cathedral on June 4th.

Can anyone give an indication as to how busy we should expect it to be? We are both students in our early twenties so on a tight budget and planning to stay in as many donativos and communal albergues as possible to avoid the cost of privates.

Should we be expecting much of a bed race? How early should we be aiming to arrive at communal albergues?

Thanks all, buen camino

Welcome to the forum!

The Primitivo is not the Frances, so the famed 'bed race' is not really much of an issue - at least, not yet. This can of course change markedly if you start on a long weekend/ public holiday. Weekends/ Monday are when most people start; starting just one or two days later typically means there aren't as many people on the same stage as you are.

According to the statistics May and June typically see similar numbers on the Primitivo. It's moderately busy, but not as busy as July and August. When I walked in July last year I never had an issue finding a bed at the first place I tried, and some of those were after 17.00. (I didn't always stay at the local municipal though).

Municipal Albergues typically seem to open anytime from 1300 to 1500, arriving between 14/15.00 will nearly always get you a bed. (In part, simply because many pilgrims nowadays either panic or prefer to book ahead, and municipals don't take bookings). Even at Berducedo, which as both @dbier & @sun is shining say, is the pinch point.

The vast majority of the main stages have multiple accommodation options, and as @sun is shining has indicated some people prefer slightly more up market places which gives you a better chance at your municipal bed!

And seeing as everybody is talking about the donativos, in case you're wondering what you should give I generally proffer a very simple guide : if you normally pay €8 for your Municipal, and €7- €12 for your meal, then it would seem fair to pay €15 - €20 as your donativo.

In case you are unaware as to why this has become such an issue, unfortunately too many people seem to think that it's okay to just give two or three euros when they have received a bed and dinner, (sometimes even with wine). Needless to say that has left a sour taste in many of our mouths.....

Often, what you leave tonight affects what tomorrow's Pilgrim eats.

 

[sprinto]

I walked the Primitivo a few weeks ago , if you want to stay in certain albergues then you will have to book and pay the price
But for municipals I would not see a problem
Buen camino

 

[dbier]

Going back in time , ( 2018 ) , my walking partner and I made it to Berducedo but with only one bed available. We were directed to Albergue Rural Camin Antiguo in the same village . It was beautiful, had the place to ourselves. Room for a dozen and good kitchen.
Is it still in operation? I have a friend doing the Primativo soon and would like to provide some good info .

I see a 2022 review of it on Wise Pilgrim, but I don't see that name listed on the current Wise Pilgrim app, nor on Gronze. My FindPenguins entry from Sep 2023 says I stayed at the Albergue Camino Primitivo, a private albergue that is listed on both. Last year, base price was the usual 15€. (As I recall dimly, Casa Marques was closed).

 

[peregrina2000]

The Grado municipal albergue is almost always full once the season gets going, but there are other options in town.

The only real bottleneck,Imho, is Berducedo. But if you can walk on a few more kilometers, there is a large private Albergue with private rooms in La Mesa

 

[Jyrki Wahlstedt]

FWIW, I did Primitivon August-September 2018. I did not book anything beforehand, but the only tight one was Castro, where I got the last bed. A friend coming after me had to sleep in his tent, but wasn't too happy, as a dog harassed him so that he went on very early…

 

[Michelle O]

I've stayed at two donativos that provided that kind of hospitality. One was Casa da Fernanda on the Portugues. They were welcoming people to their home and providing the hospitality that came naturally to them. I don't think they were making much of a profit. In fact, I think that their losses were substantial enough that subsequently they had to fix a price.

The other was Bendueños on the San Salvador. There was also amazing hospitality provided there, with a full stock of beverages, fruit, snacks and breakfast items, well we'll as delicious home-cooked comida and cena. However, this was not a private albergue but a parochial one.

If people are moved to be more hospitable to pilgrims, and have the ability to be so, im not sure it is a bad thing. Indeedthere was certainly no lack of "Camino spirit" in those two albergues, as I expect anyone who has stayed at either can attest.

Samblismo was another like that. He has since closed, I've heard. That leads me to believe that his profits were not substantial. I just think he, too, was providing the best hospitality he could in alignment with his values.

I tried to reserve there recently. He is not open because he has cancer, he told me.

 

[Michelle O]

Hola peregrinos,

A friend and I are embarking on the Camino Primitivo from Oviedo, setting off from the cathedral on June 4th.

Can anyone give an indication as to how busy we should expect it to be? We are both students in our early twenties so on a tight budget and planning to stay in as many donativos and communal albergues as possible to avoid the cost of privates.

Should we be expecting much of a bed race? How early should we be aiming to arrive at communal albergues?

Thanks all, buen camino

I just got back from the Primitivo two weeks ago. It was not crowded and there were many low cost albergues along the way. I found the Gronze website very useful for selecting lodging options. Though I did reserve ahead, I don't believe it will be necessary, as there were many empty beds everywhere I stayed.