Easter Camino

[mdwcolo]

My first Camino. My 16 year old son and I are flying into Madrid March 22 2018 (I literally bought the plane tickets minutes ago). We hope to work our way up to Sarria and do a 100km if possible. We hope to experience as much of Semana Santa as possible but hope to find good places to eat that are open during the holiday. Would love to end on good Friday or Easter and see the botafumeiro swing. If we have five days to hike is that possible to do the 100km? I assume the botafumeiro will swing on Friday and Easter Sunday? Will it be too crowded to see the botafumeiro on the holiday?

 

[SabsP]

My first Camino. My 16 year old son and I are flying into Madrid March 22 2018 (I literally bought the plane tickets minutes ago). We hope to work our way up to Sarria and do a 100km if possible. We hope to experience as much of Semana Santa as possible but hope to find good places to eat that are open during the holiday. Would love to end on good Friday or Easter and see the botafumeiro swing. If we have five days to hike is that possible to do the 100km? I assume the botafumeiro will swing on Friday and Easter Sunday? Will it be too crowded to see the botafumeiro on the holiday?

Hi and welcome,

The Botufameiro does not ever swing on Good Friday but does on Easter Sunday.
See here for the specifics.
https://oficinadelperegrino.com/ufaqs/cuando-funciona-el-botafumeiro/
And yes Easter sunday the cathedral will be very crowded so would advise you to come in very early. Your backpack will not be allowed in the cathedral so leave it in your albergue /hotel.
Take into consideration that during Semana Santa prices of hotels will go up : so book in advance.

Five days is surely possible for k. but al depends on your fitness level.

Happy preparations!

 

[SYates]

Hi and welcome to the forum @mdwcolo Any last 100km will be crowded in Easter Week but the way from Sarria will be extremely crowded. In average 6000 (no spelling mistake) arrived, f.e., in Holy Week 2016 in Santiago, most via the Camino Frances. That means you will be with close to around 800 pilgrims per day on the way, each day. It will be a race for beds or you need to book well in advance with all the loss of freedom that includes. I would look for Easter Week into one of the other Caminos, like the Via de la Plata from Ourense for example ... Buen Camino, SY

 

[Heikki]

Sy has a point, Camino Frances will be crowded and her idea walking another camino is well worth of considering. We walked three years ago Via de la Plata and some of Semana Santa in old town in Caceres. It was spectacular.

 

[mdwcolo]

Thanks,
Last night I booked the Parador in Santiago so I just need to pick a route. Hopefully I can stay in some places cheaper on the way and be rewarded by the stay in the parador at the end. I don't like competing in crowds but I would like to meet people. I don't want my son to be totally bored with just me the whole time.

 

[t2andreo]

Reserve accommodations early and often! REPEAT... Make lodging reservations early and often.

FYI, Semana Santa (Easter) also, signals the beginning of the annual "season" for doing pilgrimage.

Because most European countries have Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Monday off, many folks use this, together with several "bridge holidays," to be able to do a week or 10 days on the Camino. This is generally but not always the Camino Frances.

As a result, there is a short but VERY distinct surge of pilgrims for the three or four days before Easter and the week after Easter. Most reservable accommodations are full over this short but intense time.

This is why I always give it one more week, for the "pig in the python" to get out of the way, before I start my Caminos in the spring. I typically wait for the week after Easter to pass before I start.

More FYI, the Pilgrim Office, at Santiago, is open, even on Easter. It only closes on Christmas Day and New Years Day.

I hope this helps.

 

[mdwcolo]

Yes thanks. Good to know the office is open, but I'm already committed to go at that time. I will try to make reservations as soon as possible. Any suggestions on making reservations now for the time period just before Easter? If I don' have a reservation when I show up I will be out of luck at albergas etc..? I'm not even sure how it's normally done. You just show up at albergas? Call ahead? Have an agency arrange everything?

 

[mspath]

In an earlier post you mentioned that you and your son would be walking from Sarria. This is always a busy path since it is the last 100 km to Santiago. Reservations would be very useful at any time, except winter, and a must near Easter.

Here is the Gronze.com list by location of all accommodation both pilgrim albergues and tourist hotels from Sarria to Santiago. Tap each citation for further info re address, costs, facilities etc.

https://www.gronze.com/etapa/sarria/portomarin

Email addresses and Booking.com info are also given so that you can make your own reservations. Do it ASAP !

Good luck and Buen camino to you and your son.

 

[t2andreo]

To make reservations, try www.booking.com and / or www.gronze.com (Gronze is Spanish only). Frequently, you can even book a bed or a private room in a private albergue as well. Public, government-run, or church-run albergues are generally not-reservable.

Once you make reservations, use e-mail (in Spanish) to keep the property informed if you will be late. Be aware of cancellation penalties if you are compelled to change or cancel at the last minute.

If you make a reservation, SHOW UP, or advise the property of your change in plans ASAP. There is no sense in allowing a valuable accommodation space to go unused.

I hope this helps.

 

[mdwcolo]

Thanks all. My trip is almost done. One more night to book. I used all of your suggestions and links to book. Very much appreciated. My son and I are ready to go! I'm pretty excited. I read all about the dilemma of booking and will be very courteous about keeping my bookings. The plane tickets are bought and paid for so I'll need a place to stay and doubt I could make any changes the closer we get to Easter anyway. Thanks all!

To make reservations, try www.booking.com and / or www.gronze.com (Gronze is Spanish only). Frequently, you can even book a bed or a private room in a private albergue as well. Public, government-run, or church-run albergues are generally not-reservable.

Once you make reservations, use e-mail (in Spanish) to keep the property informed if you will be late. Be aware of cancellation penalties if you are compelled to change or cancel at the last minute.

If you make a reservation, SHOW UP, or advise the property of your change in plans ASAP. There is no sense in allowing a valuable accommodation space to go unused.

I hope this helps.

 

[RJM]

Yes, there will be many fellow pilgrims walking with you from Sarria to Santiago at that time period, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. It can be amazing at times to see so many people from so many backgrounds walking together on a pilgrimage. Sometimes a bit of energy in the air. You have made reservations in advance, so you will both be walking everyday knowing you have bunks for the night. I am sure your Camino experience will be wonderful.

 

[boertjes]

I did this 2 years ago, starting from Leon. We arrived the day after Easter. Less crowded, but still busy. The Camino will be busy as well, but still didn’t have any issues with finding places to stay. Be careful of some albergues during this time of year, they may not have heat and it’s cold at night.

 

[t2andreo]

“Arriba, adelante, siempre adelante”

“Up, forward, always forward…”