bed wanted in Orisson 11th Sept hostels full

[Francoise Cosgrove]

Sadly having walked from Leon to Santiago last year and not booked anything ahead I left this rather late and now both Hostels see in Orisson are full has anyone got any alternative suggestions other than walking on into Roncesvalle for day 1?
Thanks

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Sadly having walked from Leon to Santiago last year and not booked anything ahead I left this rather late and now both Hostels see in Orisson are full has anyone got any alternative suggestions other than walking on into Roncesvalle for day 1?
Thanks

Only Hounto is nearby, and it is very close to SJPdP. If you take the Valcarlos route, there will be accommodations on demand at the midpoint.

 

[Francoise Cosgrove]

Thanks will keep that in mind as good option, although the books seem to favour the other route if weather is good but thanks for the suggestion

 

[linkster]

Express Bourrricot, Day 1, Walk to Orisson, and have them transport you back to SJPdP. Spend the night in SJPdP. Day 2, have them transport you back to Orisson, and walk to Roncevalles. Try and get a reservation for 2 nights at Beilari in SJPdP right across from the Pilgrim Office.
¡Buena suerte!

 

[Francoise Cosgrove]

Really helpful thanks

 

[amancio]

Do not give up! try to ring the day before in case somebody has cancelled.

 

[lindam]

Have you looked on Airbnb? I just did a quick search and saw a couple of listings with openings. I don't know if they offer the type of accommodation you are seeking. Good luck!

 

[benny aumala]

Try Koyola, 800 m before Orisson.
Booking via Orisson. Dinner and breakfast
available from Orisson.

 

[Anniesantiago]

What Linkster said is what I always do.
Book 2 nights in SJPP.
Take the shuttle down from Orisson on Day 1 then back up on Day 2.

 

[Tincatinker]

Me, I just walk via Valcarlos. Spend a pleasant evening in an excellent Albergue in a very pleasant Basque town. Enjoy the walk up to the Col, never mind the weather, and enjoy the walk through Roncesvalles and its mithering hordes to Burguette, Espinal or even Bizkarreta. Keeps me ahead of the wave all the way to Pamplona and beyond.

 

[KinkyOne]

Try Koyola, 800 m before Orisson.
Booking via Orisson. Dinner and breakfast
available from Orisson.

Kaiola = Orisson.

 

[KinkyOne]

Have you looked on Airbnb? I just did a quick search and saw a couple of listings with openings. I don't know if they offer the type of accommodation you are seeking. Good luck!

No Airbnb at Orisson
It's just a mountain hut not a village/town as you should know.

 

[Deleted member 67185]

Sadly having walked from Leon to Santiago last year and not booked anything ahead I left this rather late and now both Hostels see in Orisson are full has anyone got any alternative suggestions other than walking on into Roncesvalle for day 1?
Thanks

Hi, Francoise, and a Warm Welcome to the Forum

Last year on my second Camino, I thought I would consider staying a Orrison - rather than a repeat of going all the way to Roncesvalles - in case the problems I was experiencing that year made it too difficult to do Roncesvalles in a single day's walk (which is my preference). So, I had made a just-in-case reservation.

Two and a half hours after leaving SJPdP, I walked into Orrison's building to order a bocadillo and some other munchies. I sat down and ate the bocadillo, drank my Fantas, ate a pastry, then walked back to the counter. I let the woman at the counter know that I needed to cancel my reservation for that night. Since the reservation is non-refundable, I requested that the person taking my slot that night be able to claim my payment so they would not have to pay.

Hey, I was going to lose it anyway

So, cancellations DO occur and it pays to keep checking, even the day of your walk up to Orisson. As other's have posted, you can always arrange a taxi or shuttle ride back down to SJPdP to spend the night if Orrison is completo. Just take the taxi or shuttle back up to Orisson the next morning to continue where you left off.

 

[trecile]

This May I met several pilgrims who did not have reservations at Orisson but didn't want to walk all the way to Roncesvalles the first day. They found out about another gite that would pick them up in the afternoon at Orisson and take them back there in the morning from the staff at the Pilgrims Office. I think that there were about 10-12 beds, communal dinner and breakfast. Sorry, I don't know the name. I think that I would ask at the Pilgrims Office when you arrive in St Jean, and if they can't find something for you then go book Express Bourricot's Mountain Shuttle.

 

[aname4me]

So..... Is Roncesvalles booked full, as well ?

 

[lindam]

No Airbnb at Orisson
It's just a mountain hut not a village/town as you should know.

Yes, but I did see a couple of gites nearby listed on airbnb. They could be options for someone not wanting to walk to Roncesvalles on the first day.

 

[KinkyOne]

Yes, but I did see a couple of gites nearby listed on airbnb. They could be options for someone not wanting to walk to Roncesvalles on the first day.

Oh, yes, is nearby 30km away?

 

[lindam]

Oh, yes, is nearby 30km away?

No, just a few km away...maybe 3 km (hard to say looking at the map but certainly less than 5).

 

[KinkyOne]

No, just a few km away...maybe 3 km (hard to say looking at the map but certainly less than 5).

Maybe 3km as the crow flies but otherwise there are only 4 on given date (Sept 11th) and quite far away if you take the road:

Airbnb | Uhart-Cize - Vacation Rentals & Places to Stay - Uhart-Cize

Rent from people in Uhart-Cize, France from $20/night. Find unique places to stay with local hosts in 191 countries. Belong anywhere with Airbnb.

www.airbnb.com

If they do pick-up/drop-off then it's OK. For me personaly the prices are skyhigh...

 

[Kathor1]

No, just a few km away...maybe 3 km (hard to say looking at the map but certainly less than 5).

And especially hard to say when you look at the map of a terrain that is not flat but mountainous! Did you consider that?

 

[Former member 59618]

Me, I just walk via Valcarlos. Spend a pleasant evening in an excellent Albergue in a very pleasant Basque town. Enjoy the walk up to the Col, never mind the weather, and enjoy the walk through Roncesvalles and its mithering hordes to Burguette, Espinal or even Bizkarreta. Keeps me ahead of the wave all the way to Pamplona and beyond.

I like your style. I’m thinking of doing the same thing in a few weeks, having already walked the napoleon route.

 

[camino-david]

As I understand it, at Roncevalles only a third of the beds are bookable and the other two thirds are available on a walk-in first come basis. I read this on a thread in this Forum but cannot find it now.

 

[Ianinam]

Camino-David, you are quite right. We have 217 beds, of which 72 beds can be prebooked. The most frustrating result of this we see daily: Spanish people, starting at Roncesvalles and arriving by bus from Pamplona, who have not walked a meter, mostly have made a reservation and therefore have the best beds.

While people arriving late in the afternoon or early evening, exhausted from their walk from SJPdP, have to be taken with taxis to Burguete or even Espinal because Roncesvalles is completo.

So in busy periods - as September is - make a reservation in Roncesvalles to be sure you have a bed!

 

[Kathor1]

The most frustrating result of this we see daily: Spanish people, starting at Roncesvalles and arriving by bus from Pamplona, who have not walked a meter, mostly have made a reservation and therefore have the best beds. While people arriving late in the afternoon or early evening, exhausted from their walk from SJPdP, have to be taken with taxis to Burguete or even Espinal because Roncesvalles is completo.

I appreciate your comments, @laninam, because it's rare that members of the volunteer hospitaleros group at Roncesvalles participate and share their knowledge but sometimes I'm a little bit taken aback by some comments.

Roncesvalles has great cultural and historical significance for the Spanish people and for many of them, the Camino de Santiago starts there. People from much further away have been conditioned to believe that the full Camino experience isn't a full one if they don't cross the Pyrenees, starting at the very foot of the mountains on their very first day and crossing at the highest possible point there. One can tell from comments that Roncesvalles is just a place of no great significance to pass through for many or a place to stay over night out of necessity because they can't possibly walk further as they lack the necessary physical conditioning. The idea of flying in from far away and start in say Pamplona instead seems unbearable for them.

And yet, Roncesvalles wasn't built for day-trippers from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port either ...

 

[Anniesantiago]

Me, I just walk via Valcarlos. Spend a pleasant evening in an excellent Albergue in a very pleasant Basque town. Enjoy the walk up to the Col, never mind the weather, and enjoy the walk through Roncesvalles and its mithering hordes to Burguette, Espinal or even Bizkarreta. Keeps me ahead of the wave all the way to Pamplona and beyond.

You know, I've never walked through Valcarlos.
I should.

 

[Anniesantiago]

Camino-David, you are quite right. We have 217 beds, of which 72 beds can be prebooked. The most frustrating result of this we see daily: Spanish people, starting at Roncesvalles and arriving by bus from Pamplona, who have not walked a meter, mostly have made a reservation and therefore have the best beds.

While people arriving late in the afternoon or early evening, exhausted from their walk from SJPdP, have to be taken with taxis to Burguete or even Espinal because Roncesvalles is completo.

So in busy periods - as September is - make a reservation in Roncesvalles to be sure you have a bed!

Just curious. Do you not use the old section anymore at all?

 

[Ianinam]

I suppose you mean the old albergue Itzandeguia? No, that building is not an albergue anymore. Nowadays we have the 183 beds in the renovated building, 72 beds on the 1st and 2nd floor and 39 beds on the 3rd floor. And when these beds are all in use we open the Dependencia, the 'winter albergue' in the old part of the building, with 34 beds.

 

[KinkyOne]

What happened to those pre-fab containers down at the "parking lot"? I've slept there in 2009.

OK, the toilets were a bit so-so, but otherwise it was good. A barn would be good if you walked from SJPdP

 

[Ianinam]

They were taken away. The gouvernment of Navarra did not allow us to use these 'portacabins' as an overflow for the pilgrims. We had 88 beds there ......
The same for the 'sotano' ((basement) in the main building where we had 40 beds: closed by a decision of the gouvernment of Navarra. We are not happy with these decisions; a few years ago we could give nearly 400 pilgrims a bed; not always a good bed, but if you are tired any bed and any shower is OK. Now we have to send tired people away ......

 

[Anniesantiago]

I suppose you mean the old albergue Itzandeguia? No, that building is not an albergue anymore. Nowadays we have the 183 beds in the renovated building, 72 beds on the 1st and 2nd floor and 39 beds on the 3rd floor. And when these beds are all in use we open the Dependencia, the 'winter albergue' in the old part of the building, with 34 beds.

This one where we slept in 2006. I slept close enough to a stranger for our feet to touch! lol! Quite an experience. I was so exhausted from walking from SJPP I didn't care!

 

[Kathor1]

Turning to the present again and the future ☺ ... as far as I understand there are concerns about sanitation and fire safety rules as well as protection of the environment and/or heritage. Even a barn isn't so romantic anymore when, day after day, dozens of people stay there without any or enough toilets.

There was talk of renovating parts of the main building of the Roncesvalles complex that are currently not used and with the aim of providing more albergue beds in future. Is there no money for this or is there no interest on the part of the diocese and/or prior or do they all feel that there are enough beds in the area (reachable on foot or by taxi) and therefore there's no need for it?

@Ianinam, would you happen to know how many beds there are in total in Roncesvalles - albergue and the other accommodation in all the hotels together? I guess there will be quite an onslaught again this first weekend of September and during the week and the following weekend and it may be useful for current and future pilgrims to know what to expect and what their options are.

 

[Ianinam]

Kathar1na, you are well informed. Indeed the area where the so-called 'portocabins' were placed was disapproved by the gouvernment because this area was designated as a water storage area in case of heavy rains.
And the sotano was closed because of fire safety rules, there is no emergency exit there.

We were told years ago about the renovating of the old part of the building in order to enlarge the albergue. This renovation would also include enlargement of the check-in area: more check-in workingspaces in order to improve the check-in time of the waiting pilgrims. But last year we were told this renovation will definitely not take place, we don't know why (although we have our speculations).

I am not sure about the total of beds, except for the 217 beds we have in the albergue and the Dependencia.
There are hotelbeds in the Hotel Roncesvalles, in La Posada and in Casa Sabina. There are also appartments for four people in the Casa de Benificados, but I do not know the total of the beds of this all.

 

[Francoise Cosgrove]

I have been out of signal range for a couple of days so just a big thanks to all those who responded to my post. It's my first time using the forum so very impressed by the amount of response and helpful information. So thanks to all, so I will breathe, do a bit of planning to Roncesvalles and then let 'The Way' lead and sustain me
Buen Camino

 

[KinkyOne]

After 10 years when I first walk (and stay there) through Roncesvalles I'm still asking myself why nobody opened an albergue in Burguette. Or on the outskirts where the store is. It would definitely be a money pit if you are looking only from that perspective. Is it because local policy or what?

 

[Ianinam]

When I look at Gronze.com I see 6 albergues there now! So times have changed .....

 

[trecile]

When I look at Gronze.com I see 6 albergues there now! So times have changed .....

There is lodging in Burguete, but no albergues

 

[Kym G.]

Francoise,

Two summers ago we enjoyed staying at Gite Antton, because we were traveling with a group and there wasn't enough space at Orisson. We found the albergue very comfortable. Arantxa, the hospitalero, was warm and welcoming. We walked up to Orisson, had our beers, then were picked up and driven down to Antton. The next morning, they drove us back up to Orisson.

This added a bit of complication to our plans, but if we find Orisson/Koyola booked next time, we'll definitely stay at Antton again.

 

[HansuutTwente]

you can walk from SJPDP too Roncesvalles in 1 day.
send your back pack from SJPDP too Roncesvalles for 7 euro and take only your water en food with you
i know its a route from 25 km but you have time to do it.
buen Camino

 

[Francoise Cosgrove]

Many thanks for the reply
I m mow sorted for the start of the trip.