Camino Olvidado | Necessity of booking accommodation in advance

[katy80]

Dear fellow pilgrims,

I am planning to walk part of the Camino Olvidado the first week in July, starting in Bilbao. I've seen that there are only a few albergues/hostels/hotels along the way. Would you recommend me to book hostels/hotels in advance? Somehow I don't like the thought of booking accommodation in advance, because that takes part of the spirit away...

Many thanks

Kathy

 

[peregrina2000]

Dear fellow pilgrims,

I am planning to walk part of the Camino Olvidado the first week in July, starting in Bilbao. I've seen that there are only a few albergues/hostels/hotels along the way. Would you recommend me to book hostels/hotels in advance? Somehow I don't like the thought of booking accommodation in advance, because that takes part of the spirit away...

Many thanks

Kathy

Hi, Kathy,

Welcome to the forum! There is lot of good recent information on the posts in the Olvidado subforum, and I assume you are looking through there for help, too.

I walked the Olvidado five years ago, starting in Bilbao on June 19. We did not book in advance -- by that I mean we didn't have our places arranged before leaving. I am pretty sure we called a few places the day before or the morning of, and we never had a problem. My post lists all the places we stayed and the prices. I found that people were always very helpful and I was never anxious about the lack of reservations. In one town, a woman with a casa rural sent her son to open it up for me and give me the key and told me to leave however much I thought was fair on the table, and I had several incidents like that. All this is to say that I think calling a day or two ahead will be plenty.

If you are planning to stay in the albergues juveniles, that may be a different story. We did pass several, I believe they all are in Ender's guide, and these places were full, booked up months in advance by school groups, hiking groups, etc. Another forum member recently told me that he called one of the albergues and was told that individual reservations are not accepted till a few days ahead of time -- by then they will know what groups are coming and will know if they have any beds left over. I personally am not enthralled with the idea of sleeping in a room or an albergue with huge groups of young people, none of whom will sleep at the time you want to sleep, but you may be more tolerant than I am. Just to say, if you want to sleep in the albergues you may or may not be lucky.

Are you walking for one week from Bilbao? If so, that'll get you about to Aguilar de Campoo. I'm going to start in Aguilar sometime in July. From Aguilar onwards, there are lots of pilgrim albergues, but we will undoubtedly have to stay in some private places as well.

There is a small but hard core Olvidado group here on the forum, so ask away! Buen camino, Laurie

 

[katy80]

Hi, Kathy,

Welcome to the forum! There is lot of good recent information on the posts in the Olvidado subforum, and I assume you are looking through there for help, too.

I walked the Olvidado five years ago, starting in Bilbao on June 19. We did not book in advance -- by that I mean we didn't have our places arranged before leaving. I am pretty sure we called a few places the day before or the morning of, and we never had a problem. My post lists all the places we stayed and the prices. I found that people were always very helpful and I was never anxious about the lack of reservations. In one town, a woman with a casa rural sent her son to open it up for me and give me the key and told me to leave however much I thought was fair on the table, and I had several incidents like that. All this is to say that I think calling a day or two ahead will be plenty.

If you are planning to stay in the albergues juveniles, that may be a different story. We did pass several, I believe they all are in Ender's guide, and these places were full, booked up months in advance by school groups, hiking groups, etc. Another forum member recently told me that he called one of the albergues and was told that individual reservations are not accepted till a few days ahead of time -- by then they will know what groups are coming and will know if they have any beds left over. I personally am not enthralled with the idea of sleeping in a room or an albergue with huge groups of young people, none of whom will sleep at the time you want to sleep, but you may be more tolerant than I am. Just to say, if you want to sleep in the albergues you may or may not be lucky.

Are you walking for one week from Bilbao? If so, that'll get you about to Aguilar de Campoo. I'm going to start in Aguilar sometime in July. From Aguilar onwards, there are lots of pilgrim albergues, but we will undoubtedly have to stay in some private places as well.

There is a small but hard core Olvidado group here on the forum, so ask away! Buen camino, Laurie

Dear Laurie

Many, many thanks for your comment and your advice of calling them in the morning. This makes me look forward to my camino experience.

Kathy

 

[omicko]

Dear fellow pilgrims,

I am planning to walk part of the Camino Olvidado the first week in July, starting in Bilbao. I've seen that there are only a few albergues/hostels/hotels along the way. Would you recommend me to book hostels/hotels in advance? Somehow I don't like the thought of booking accommodation in advance, because that takes part of the spirit away...

Many thanks

Kathy

Hello again Kathy. How much of the Camino Olvidado are you walking? if it's a week you will get to about Aguilar de Campoo, as Laurie has said. It is full of accommodation. After Bilbao there are 3 Albergue Juveniles and one Albergue de Peregrinos plus other private accommodation. Some guides show other Albergues but these are only for groups of people and do not accept single person bookings. The information in my guide has all been verified as of October 2018.
I don't normally bring a guidebook but just a list of the villages / towns with the accommodation, supermarkets, bars etc. Similar to the format in the site
[ https://godesalco.com/plan ].
In 20 years of doing Caminos I have never booked any accommodation. This wouldn't suit the majority of people, but I have a good idea of where I'm going to stay that night and 99 times out of 100 I do.
I enjoy the freedom, spirit, adventure, whatever you want to call it, of what the day throws up in going from A to B.
On the Camino Olvidado last year I took a a mobile phone with me for the first time, mainly for the mountains, in case there was a problem, but as you probably know It is sometimes very hard to get a signal.
In saying all that I've never been in Spain in July or August, In the peak holiday months (for Spanish people ), which on some of this Camino will be busy with hikers etc. So I anticipate the albergues , in the more scenic places, will probably be very busy. Therefore I recommend you to book your accommodation.
After Aguilar there are lots of Parish Hostels (Albergues Paroquial) where, you probably know, they cannot be reserved plus other private accommodation.
Suerte, Mick.

 

[katy80]

Hello again Kathy. How much of the Camino Olvidado are you walking? if it's a week you will get to about Aguilar de Campoo, as Laurie has said. It is full of accommodation. After Bilbao there is 3 Albergue Juveniles and one Albergue de Peregrinos plus other private accommodation. Some guides show other Albergues but these are only for groups of people and do not accept single person bookings. The information in my guide has all been verified as of October 2018.
I don't normally bring a guidebook but just a list of the villages / towns with the accommodation, supermarkets, bars etc. Similar to the format in the site
[ https://godesalco.com/plan ].
In 20 years of doing Caminos I have never booked any accommodation. This wouldn't suit the majority of people, but I have a good idea of where I'm going to stay that night and 99 times out of 100 I do.
I enjoy the freedom, spirit, adventure, whatever you want to call it, of what the day throws up in going from A to B.
On the Camino Olvidado last year I took a a mobile phone with me for the first time, mainly for the mountains, in case there was a problem, but as you probably know It is sometimes very hard to get a signal.
In saying all that I've never been in Spain in July or August, In the peak holiday months (for Spanish people ), which on some of this Camino will be busy with hikers etc. So I anticipate the albergues , in the more scenic places, will probably be very busy. Therefore I recommend you to book your accommodation.
After Aguilar there are lots of Parish Hostels (Albergues Paroquial) where, you probably know, they cannot be reserved plus other private accommodation.
Suerte, Mick.

Dear Mick

Many, many thanks for your informative and detailled answer! i’ll stick to your advice of taking a list with villages and their accommodation with me. Have a good weekend, Kathrin