From LePuy in March

[amiglar]

Hey everyone! I was planning to walk the Camino Le Puy / Via Podiensis in March 2025. I am really struggling to find out whether albergues/ hostels are already open during that time. I read that some of you have experience walking this Camino during March - do you have any recommendations or up-to-date websites with opening hours of hostels on the way? Every advice is appreciated -thanks in advance.

 

[naplesdon]

Miam Miam Dodo has an app.

 

[VictorJW]

My wife did that walk this year from April 13 to June 9th. Accommodation needed to be booked as in places it was tight. She enjoyed the walk but mostly though, the weather was terrible!

Defiantly get Miam Miam Dodo. She had the book, which is in French (I think also available in German). I ordered the book direct from the Miam Miam Dodo website, delivery was very quick.

 

[jouffroy47]

Have a look at Gronze.com which covers this route. Seasonal gîtes d'étape normally don't open until April 1 when the season really begins. Expect some snow in the higher altitudes. There will be places which are "open all year" but call in advance to make sure they will be open when you plan to be there in case of a "Fermeture exceptionnelle."

 

[bullingtonce]

Hey everyone! I was planning to walk the Camino Le Puy / Via Podiensis in March 2025. I am really struggling to find out whether albergues/ hostels are already open during that time. I read that some of you have experience walking this Camino during March - do you have any recommendations or up-to-date websites with opening hours of hostels on the way? Every advice is appreciated -thanks in advance.

The issue is not whether lodging is open/available; the issue is 'struggling' with the matter. Possible unavailable lodging is not making you 'struggle;' rather, your mind is making you struggle. Drop the whole matter; let be what will be. The goal on a journey is not to make it perfect or minimize your concerns or worries since your concerns and worries are manufactured by you and not by the camino itself. So what is you encounter a lodging place closed? With are that is going on in the world and with one's self this is the concern? I think not. Chuck

 

[dandagenais]

Miam Miam Dodo has an app.

I looked for the APP and did not find it? Can you check and tell me what it is called exactly? Thanks!!

 

[TMcA]

Your best bet might be to inquire directly with the tourist office in Le Puy:

https://en.lepuyenvelay-tourisme.fr/sejourner/pratique/les-bureaux-daccueil/

I have hiked across the Aubrac Plateau twice and missed a late April snowfall by just one day. The year previous my wife and I found that many gites and small hotels closed down the first week in October. That was in 2013, so my experience is dated. So I would ask the tourist office.

Bon chemin.

 

[mazzarina]

The best source of information is this group on Facebook, which has lots of very knowledgeable people. Many gites don't open till Easter. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1081800999284335/

 

[Tandem Graham]

According to Gronze and to Miam Miam Dodo's guides to the Voie du Puy (2024 print editions), many privately run Gite d'Etapes open either from April 1st or Easter. (Easter is April 20th in 2025.) These gites provide the majority of pilgrim accommodation, and eating options.

Several gite hosts, during my August/September walk, mentioned that they close their accommodation during the winter in order to take on other jobs. Others do remain open, but a quick scan through suggests there would be some significant gaps. Whereas a list of winter accommodation on the Camino Frances is maintained, I'm not aware of one for the Le Puy route.

Walking from Le Puy in March therefore would be difficult and perhaps lonely, even before taking into account the likelihood of falling and lying snow on the Aubrac, and possibly treacherous ground conditions elsewhere. The Via de la Plata or another Spanish route would be better bets.

 

[John Gilliland]

I looked for the APP and did not find it? Can you check and tell me what it is called exactly? Thanks!!

There no longer is an app, it's only a book or an ebook.

 

[BlackRocker57]

Miam Miam Dodo has an app.

The Miam Miam Dodo app is no longer available ... has been discontinued for around 5 years!

 

[Rita Flower]

Accomodation on the Le Puy route is run differently from the Francés. The gîtes are mainly small and privately run - one needs generally to book ahead. The villages are often small with few or no alternatives. When I walked in May this year there were only a few pilgrims who hadn’t booked well ahead - and while they liked the freedom they said it was also quite stressful finding a bed - and bed availability is what defined their days walk. And as previously stated many hospitalaros take a winter break.
I like the other previous suggestion that walking the Via de La Plata might be a better option for that time of year.
I’ve just been re-reading my journal of my 2022 VDLP. I loved this Camino.
PS
* Gronze.com is a website. It will have a reasonably complete list of accommodation and when they are open.
* There is an up-to-date spreadsheet you can get via the Le Puy Facebook page
* Miam Dodo is a book.
Buen Camino

 

[bks]

Hey everyone! I was planning to walk the Camino Le Puy / Via Podiensis in March 2025. I am really struggling to find out whether albergues/ hostels are already open during that time. I read that some of you have experience walking this Camino during March - do you have any recommendations or up-to-date websites with opening hours of hostels on the way? Every advice is appreciated -thanks in advance.

Of course you can start this Camino in March but expect to encounter plenty of rain, perhaps some snow and most definitely cooler temperatures. A lot of gites will also be closed as fewer individuals will be starting this Camino in March.

I've walked this Camino twice, once starting in the beginning of May 2019 and the other time starting in beginning of September 2022. My wife and I never pre-booked accommodation and on only one occasion did we have difficulty finding a bed (that was in Estaing). On occasion we would phone a gite to see if they had available beds (they always did) but only on the day we intended to stay there. None of the gites we slept in were ever full and they were a lot more comfortable, and less crowded, than those that you find on the Frances Camino.

 

[jouffroy47]

I looked for the APP and did not find it? Can you check and tell me what it is called exactly? Thanks!!

They have discontinued the app and only have an ebook

 

[Chizuru]

I was going to walk the Podiensis in late March in 2020.
I also found booking was difficult as many places didn't open until Easter. I started planning and booking in October/November 2019 but found that many places didn't reply until January as they were waiting to do their new prices for 2020. I found that I had to adjust my distances to suit where I could find a bed. Of course you could just adlib and walk until you come to a town and poke around or ring around until you find a bed, but the idea of walking to a town through a day of sleet and possibly having to continue to the next town in the fading light of short March days was not at all appealing. Also many gites will open if they have a booking, but would otherwise be closed to the casual drop in walker. They like to be able to prepare the meals knowing how many mouths they are to feed and how many rooms to heat during the off season. I also found that logistically it was impossible to do the Cele variant as I just couldn't find enough accommodation in the low season.
Frustratingly, I had just got the last place booked and my itinerary sorted when that night Australia announced that we were shutting our borders and we couldn't leave or return so I spent the next few days undoing all of my bookings.
My process for booking was to use the Gronze, Miam Miam Dodo and also to use Google Maps and expand the towns on the GR 65 and see what gites, hotels and even BnBs and Air BnBs were available. Some of the most enjoyable nights were at farm homestays.
You may have to use a taxi to skip a section if there is no accommodation to be found, or to go off the path by taxi then return to that spot the next morning if things are really grim. Also, you may need to taxi bypass the Aubrac Plateau if late snow is closing the route.