Considering walking from Le Puy-en-Veley spring 2025

[MCCanada]

Hi there, I'm considering walking from Le Puy to St. Jean next spring if I can get my French up to par. I'm looking on advice on a few things:
- Would it be too cool and rainy to start walking mid-April?
- I'm already used to the Buen Camino app- is it the best one for the this route?
- Are there many others who walk the route? I just walked the Camino de Santiago this fall for the second time, and although it was a bit too crowded, it was fun having people to chat with whenever I was in the mood for it (I tend to prefer some solitude while walking)
- Is it necessary to pre-book accommodations?
- Any other advice for me?

Many thanks!!

 

[naplesdon]

Buy the Miam Maim Dodo guide book, it is worth every cent you pay for it. You don't necessarily need to be fluent in French but knowing the language helps. April can be cold, I started in late May and encountered sleet and snow and then a heat wave in June, when I ended up relying on rides with the Malle Postale for a few days because it was to hot to walk. Reservations are required because most of the place to stay are gites and need to know how many they are cooking for each day, however there are are some great hotel/hostels open to the public. I would recommend looking into the Cele Valley alternative but accommodations are limited and reservations advised. BTW, due to the time of the year I was walking, I only met one couple who were walking at the same time I was.

 

[CTLawGal]

Hello! I am walking the route this spring as well, but starting in Geneva mid-April. It may be cold and rainy, there may be sleet and snow (as @naplesdon experienced). I expect to make it to Le Puy first week of May.

You will definitely need to book ahead, and especially in May as there are many "bridge" holidays in France during that month - 2-3 day holidays that allow the French to get 7-9 days of holiday while only using 2 vacation days. So apparently a good many of them like to go on walkabout for a week during May. So some stages may have more walkers than others during those bridge weeks. On the whole though, my understanding is that it is not well-travelled and most of those who do it are French, so you may need to know more French for this than Spanish for a Camino in Spain. My French is strong (there were entire days on the Norte and Primitivo I spoke nothing but French with my new friends from France who spoke no English).

I will stay mostly in hotels, out of the 50 days so far I've been able to confirm 45 bookings, the rest can't be booked just yet, maybe in another month or so....

Another thing to be aware of is that most of these small towns apparently shut down on Sundays/Mondays, so you may not be able to find open restaurants or markets on those days, so plan accordingly.

There's a Forum for Le Puy and lots of good info there

Buen (Bon-?) Camino!

 

[Lexicos]

Be prepared for rain. I started on 29 April this year and it rained every day for first two weeks. Snowed one day.
I agree with comments above re booking ahead and the public holidays in May that make accommodation more tricky. I used Gronze. Works well for me. I speak a bit of French, not much. Not an issue really. It’s a beautiful route, I love it and I’ll be back in May to continue from Lectoure to SJPdP and possibly then to Finisterre.
I say go for it but book a day or two in advance and definitely get yourself the Dodo guide, it’s the best by far.

Bonne chemin!