Albergues

[everwalker]

Hi,
We are planning to walk the Norte for about two weeks at the end of July, 2019, either beginning in Irun or San Sebastian. I've been reading and researching, and am confused as to whether I need to book lodging in advance. We'd like to stay in the albergues, but are concerned that they will all be full. Will we be able to walk during the day and find a bed in the afternoon with no prior reservation?
Thanks!

 

[Antonius Vaessen]

I surely would not book lodgings before your departure (perhaps only your first night) Booking in advance restraints your possibilities to adapt your planning to, internal and external, circumstances. The route is not that busy that you won't find a bed. If you find yourself in a situation that many pilgrims are on their way, you could make reservations for the next day for instance if the albergue in the village where you want to stay has few beds. For instance via Booking com or the information in sites like Gronze.com or the Buen Camino app

 

[Jan_D]

The Norte has been getting increasingly busy over the past few years as pilgrims seek alternative routes to the Frances. The problem is that they have not built many new albergues to accommodate the increase in numbers. So sometimes you'll find there's only one albergue with less than 20 beds for the whole stage. So it can be a squeeze, and I'm afraid to say that in July the "bed race" is probably going to be worse than what you'd find on the Frances. However, you'll only experience this "bed race" if you insist on staying in the municipal albergues every night. If you're open to a hostal, pension, hotel, or private hostel, you'll be ok.

The north coast of Spain is very popular with Spanish holidaymakers, so there's a variety of alternative accommodation options. It's not like the Frances, where many towns are dedicated to the pilgrim industry.
So it's just a case of checking how many beds there are in the next day's albergue, and if you don't want to "race", you can book something private the evening or morning before arrival. Just use booking.com - and if you want to reduce costs you can always share a double/triple room with other pilgrims.