How much pre-booking for walking in June to early July?

[kodiakpony]

My two young daughters (ages 17 and 19 - will be 20) plan to walk the Camino del Norte together from Irun starting in June. I'm helping them organize it, and am getting very mixed advice about booking ahead. Advice appreciated!

Some blogs advise pre-booking the whole thing because accommodations are scarce on del Norte, but folks on a Facebook forum strongly advise "winging it", even on del Norte. I had been leaning towards using a booking service (maybe pilgrim.es, since they have a hostel/guesthouse option?) to pre-book everything for them, but that seems very rigid and inflexible, e.g. if they realize they need a rest day, or shorter day, get blisters, make friends they want to walk with etc.

Now I'm thinking pre-book the initial few days and places that are known bottlenecks (which are they?), and get my daughters to book a couple of days ahead using wise pilgrim for most of the walk. Does that seem like a reasonable plan? This is the first big non-grownup-supervised trip for both of them, and the first time they'll need to handle logistics on their own. Are we nuts? (My 17 year-old speaks Spanish)

Any thoughts on which places really need to be booked well ahead of time, vs a day or two ahead? Also, it looks like many of the private albergues are currently closed. Does that also mean that they can't take reservations yet (i.e. if we wanted to reserve now for June).

Thanks so much! This is new and exciting for our whole family.

(I'm planning to walk my own solo Camino in June, but plan to do the Frances pre-booking the last 100km and first couple of nights, and then just booking a day or two ahead as I walk at my own slow pace. I'm much less worried about that. I'll aim to finish around the same time as my kids)

 

[J Willhaus]

You'll likely get mixed advice here, too. Why not let your daughters make the decision?

 

[Tincatinker]

My two young daughters (ages 17 and 19 - will be 20)

Oh the mistakes I'd made by that age. Learned so much from them. Set me up for a great career, a wonderful family and that smug comfort that comes from achieving the Free Bus Pass .

I'm with @J Willhaus. Give them all the information, though not the concerns, that you've garnered. They'll figure it. And if they make a mistake they'll get over or around it. Young adults are a lot more flexible than us wrinklies

 

[kodiakpony]

You'll likely get mixed advice here, too. Why not let your daughters make the decision?

They will, but they want to make an informed one! They also have no idea whether to fully pre-book, or book a few days ahead, or "wing it". This is new to them, too. Hence asking for advice from people with experience.

 

[kodiakpony]

Oh the mistakes I'd made by that age. Learned so much from them. Set me up for a great career, a wonderful family and that smug comfort that comes from achieving the Free Bus Pass .

I'm with @J Willhaus. Give them all the information, though not the concerns, that you've garnered. They'll figure it. And if they make a mistake they'll get over or around it. Young adults are a lot more flexible than us wrinklies

Fair enough, but I am still trying to gather information, for the del Norte in particular. Is it important to pre-book in some places? If so which ones, and how far ahead for a walk in June?

 

[Tincatinker]

Fair enough, but I am still trying to gather information, for the del Norte in particular. Is it important to pre-book in some places? If so which ones, and how far ahead for a walk in June?

Try https://www.gronze.com/camino-norte Lists of accommodations, opening dates, number of beds, whether reservations are excepted. It’s all there

Edit: June shouldn’t be to difficult. Spanish holiday season is mid-July and August

 

[trecile]

Now I'm thinking pre-book the initial few days and places that are known bottlenecks (which are they?), and get my daughters to book a couple of days ahead using wise pilgrim for most of the walk. Does that seem like a reasonable plan?

I would book the first couple of nights (if they can. For example, if they want to stay in Pasaia there's only a non-reservable donativo albergue)

They should be able to book a night or two ahead as they go. I would definitely not book the entire Camino ahead of time.