| Remove ads on the forum by becoming a donating member. More here. |
|---|
Hi, I just came back from walking from Irun to Loredo. It is a lot quieter than Frances but with less accommodation. I did a mix of albergues and pensions and generally didn't book ahead. But a lot of pilgrims did and there was often a bit of worry about finding a bed. I experienced this directly when I walked to guernika to find no accommodation available, then another 7k to another full albergue before finding a bed a further 2k on. I suspect there may be difficulties over the summer.
As so many towns on the Norte are full of summer vacationers and surfers, and many of the albergues are not exclusive for pilgrims, I would bet that it will get more difficult. I walked in 2018, pre covid and started in October I never had a problem. But that was different times and different seasons.
I am back a week after walking from Santander as far as Miraz and had no difficulty in getting accommodation and the numbers walking were relatively low. I did book ahead in the beginning but did not bother after a few days.This may change now that June is upon us ,but I did remark that there were not many from the U.S. compared to previous years.
Little Flower. I thank you for taking the time to send such a detailed response to my questions. I also appreciate your mention of Covid as that is still a concern for me especially in crowded areas. Stay safe out there. Buen Camino to you.I arrived in Santiago yesterday. From Irun to Santiago, I haven’t had any problems to arrange accommodation. I usually reserved a bed via booking.com, but sometimes, booking.com didn’t work properly. I sent e-mail to albergues, they always responded right a way. Sometimes, booking.com showed “sold out”, but when you call albergue, you can have a bed. Due to send my backpack via Correos, I usually booked a bed ahead of time.
The price for municipals are: 7 to 10 euros. I like one municipal in La Caridad, they charged 7 euros, it’s clean and quiet. Private albergues are generally 12 to 16 euros. Some of them charged 20 to 32 euros, and Gernika is the most expensive one 52 euros. Most of Station hostels are good.
There’re not many pilgrims on the Norte compare to FC. Many times I walked alone until Sobrado dos Monxes. But, when I merged to Arzua, there’s so~ many people; it looked like people marching on the street.
From there, you’d better reserve an accommodation. At Santiago, a friend of mine told me the Seminario Menor was full house last weekend. I saw many tour groups and pilgrims; here have rain all day today, but people keep coming. There’s long line under the rain waiting for entering into the Cathedral.
Before I started Camino, I was concerned COVID, but I do not see and feel not much different: Just need to wear mask when you use public transportations, and go to church; otherwise, it feels normal.
Most of albergues, municipal and private, are clean; no need to worry about bugs. Except 3-4 albergues, they provided blanket, so Most of time, I didn’t pull out my sleeping bag.
Note: About 200 Kms before Gernika, there’s a church, and we need to go down to stairs which is wooden stairs by the church. Especially, under the rain, be careful when you go down the stairs. Walk with caution! The stairs very very slippery; some people slipped and injured.
Buen Camino!
Thanks for this very good, informative post.I arrived in Santiago yesterday. From Irun to Santiago, I haven’t had any problems to arrange accommodation. I usually reserved a bed via booking.com, but sometimes, booking.com didn’t work properly. I sent e-mail to albergues, they always responded right a way. Sometimes, booking.com showed “sold out”, but when you call albergue, you can have a bed. Due to send my backpack via Correos, I usually booked a bed ahead of time.
The price for municipals are: 7 to 10 euros. I like one municipal in La Caridad, they charged 7 euros, it’s clean and quiet. Private albergues are generally 12 to 16 euros. Some of them charged 20 to 32 euros, and Gernika is the most expensive one 52 euros. Most of Station hostels are good.
There’re not many pilgrims on the Norte compare to FC. Many times I walked alone until Sobrado dos Monxes. But, when I merged to Arzua, there’s so~ many people; it looked like people marching on the street.
From there, you’d better reserve an accommodation. At Santiago, a friend of mine told me the Seminario Menor was full house last weekend. I saw many tour groups and pilgrims; here have rain all day today, but people keep coming. There’s long line under the rain waiting for entering into the Cathedral.
Before I started Camino, I was concerned COVID, but I do not see and feel not much different: Just need to wear mask when you use public transportations, and go to church; otherwise, it feels normal.
Most of albergues, municipal and private, are clean; no need to worry about bugs. Except 3-4 albergues, they provided blanket, so Most of time, I didn’t pull out my sleeping bag.
Note: About 200 Kms before Gernika, there’s a church, and we need to go down to stairs which is wooden stairs by the church. Especially, under the rain, be careful when you go down the stairs. Walk with caution! The stairs very very slippery; some people slipped and injured.
Buen Camino!
Apologies if this appears twice. I'm an IT luddite and don't think my first attempt went. Basically, walked Irun to Gijon 3 weeks ago. Accommodation issues in Deba, Gurnika and Ribadisella. Hopefully these might have been resolved by now. Just check before you walk to these places.
