Booking accomodation

[Helen Brush]

I am planning on walking from Le Puy to St Jean next May/June 2015 with a friend. Do people who have walked this route feel it is necessary to book accommodation in advance or is it OK just to wing it?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Book a few days in advance. The French do, so beds fill quickly.

 

[billmclaughlin]

In May, I called the night before and hardly ever found a gite already fully booked and had to make a second call.

Bill

 

[Canucks]

We have booked ahead for our trip starting in September and I would say 6 or 7 places that I tried were already full. Not a biggie, we found other places and I'm sure due to my total butchering of their language we will show up at some places to find no record of our reservation. There will always be somewhere to sleep. We booked ahead on the Camino Frances and it worked great. Some places actually had rented our room due to miscommunication but it always worked out and we always had a roof over our heads.

 

[nalod]

Just came back from five weeks in different parts of popular walking routes in France, the Alps, High Provence, Chemin Saint Gulhem le Désert and the Le Puy route. Yes the French book ahead but I just booked one day ahead, I got the gite I was staying in to do this for me and sometimes the local tourist office. I had only problems in an area of Provence (which is not a camino route). The worst case scenario is that you might have to walk less or more in a day to find accom, but that will happen only rarely. I have been told by gite gite owners that some French book in January for summer booking an entire trip in advance but as a result they said they have a lot of cancellations and no shows.

Three years ago I walked the Le Puy route and never booked ahead and had no problems but on that trip I had a companion that I could share a room with if gites were full, this happened only twice and because we did not arrive till late in evening. When I am alone I will book one day in advance.

Don't tie yourself to a crazy advance schedule by booing all in advance. As you can see from my blog and profile I have walked a lot in France in the last few years and the most I ever booked ahead was one night, apart from my first night which I book about two weeks before I fly out.

I once, because I had no map came down the wrong side of the Cevennes and ended up 50km from my booked gite, I hitched and got there for dinner (not on a camino route). Just enjoy your trip.

 

[scruffy1]

Book the evening before - but the gite people will be very busy with everyone's dinner so do try in the morning before you leave. Guaranteeing a place is comforting but common courtesy should prevail, especially if you expect to have the people there prepare your dinner - they may need to bring in more victuals and will prevent the need to put more water into the soup!

 

[Thornley]

Start "slowly" Helen and book the first 3 nights. It really is very different than Frances.
After that the coming night.
Only need MMDD .
That will show where and how many places in how many rooms.

However May is the most popular month and the stage to Conques will be the most populated with group bookings.
Conques to Figeac / Cahors is still a popular week but there will always be accommodation.
From then on WING it.

 

[Helen Brush]

Just came back from five weeks in different parts of popular walking routes in France, the Alps, High Provence, Chemin Saint Gulhem le Désert and the Le Puy route. Yes the French book ahead but I just booked one day ahead, I got the gite I was staying in to do this for me and sometimes the local tourist office. I had only problems in an area of Provence (which is not a camino route). The worst case scenario is that you might have to walk less or more in a day to find accom, but that will happen only rarely. I have been told by gite gite owners that some French book in January for summer booking an entire trip in advance but as a result they said they have a lot of cancellations and no shows.

Three years ago I walked the Le Puy route and never booked ahead and had no problems but on that trip I had a companion that I could share a room with if gites were full, this happened only twice and because we did not arrive till late in evening. When I am alone I will book one day in advance.

Don't tie yourself to a crazy advance schedule by booing all in advance. As you can see from my blog and profile I have walked a lot in France in the last few years and the most I ever booked ahead was one night, apart from my first night which I book about two weeks before I fly out.

I once, because I had no map came down the wrong side of the Cevennes and ended up 50km from my booked gite, I hitched and got there for dinner (not on a camino route). Just enjoy your trip.

Thank you, that sounds like good advice!

 

[biloute]

You can book the evening before, but I often booked just the morning of. However, if you plan to stay at Le Sauvage, book a few days in advance. It's the only gîte around for several kilometers and fills up quickly. I met a couple this summer who had called two days in advance and the gîte was already full.

 

[Kitsambler]

The larger the group, and the more particular your needs, the more advance you need to make your reservation. Hence: groups of 5 at least 3 months in advance, party of two maybe two days in advance, solo could often (but not always) get by with "day of". You will want to make arrangements for demi-pension especially on the long holiday weekends which abound in May, and the other weekends as well. If your French is poor or non-existent (as mine is), and you are hoping for lodging in places that speak English (listed in MMDD) then that will also indicate an earlier booking. If you are traveling solo and are conversant in French, then very short lead times might work ok for you.