Looking for advice about the "best" Camino in October :-)

[Emia]

Hi fellow pilgrims,

After a compulsory break of 2 years due to... well, we all know... I might be able to do another Camino in October. Hopefully things will be really opening up by then! Living in Germany makes travelling to Spain/Portugal relatively easy and
being fully vaccinated and recovered and boostered in the past eight months, I'm practically swimming in antibodies LOL.

Until now I always walked in May, June or September, but because of other duties I can only take my vacation in October. From October 1st to October 31st, so I won't complain.

I guess that finding accommodation will still be relatively easy in October, but what would you suggest weatherwise? I'm not concerned about the temperature, but definitely about the rainy days.

I've got 3 options and plenty of time since I don't necessarily need to walk all the way to Santiago, but I'm a slow indulgence walker (15 - 20 Km a day):

- Pamplona to Leon
- Porto to Santiago to Finsterra and Muxia
- Camino del Norte (starting and ending anywhere between Santander and Ribadeo)

Your wisdom is highly appreciated! Maybe you can gaze at your crystal ball about the "best" weatherconditions in October.

Thanks!

 

[Rebekah Scott]

October weather is GORGEOUS for walking. October is becoming as popular as September, especially among pilgrims from outside Spain. Don't expect wide-open albergues, at least not in 2022! If I were you I'd do the Pamplona walk, or maybe even the Primitivo. Del Norte starts getting storms off the Cantabrian about then.

 

[Consey78]

The Camino del Norte is superb in September, October and November. The main reason I love it, apples, pears, figs and blackberries.
Along the camino locals grow fruit trees which they train over their walls and onto the camino. This gives lots of lovely fruit which can just be plucked as one is walking.

 

[Flog]

I agree October is a great month for walking. You will find any amount of overhanging ripe figs, apples, pears, peaches and walnuts in Northern Spain/Portugal. The weather is generally pretty stable with sea temperatures good if you want to take the coast. The frantic hordes will have thinned out somewhat, though Rebekah is right, October has been the new September the past few years, and this being a holy year and with pent up demand it will probably be busy enough whichever of those routes you choose..

 

[Consey78]

I agree October is a great month for walking. You will find any amount of overhanging ripe figs, apples, pears, peaches and walnuts in Northern Spain/Portugal. The weather is generally pretty stable with sea temperatures good if you want to take the coast. The frantic hordes will have thinned out somewhat, though Rebekah is right, October has been the new September the past few years, and this being a holy year and with pent up demand it will probably be busy enough whichever of those routes you choose..

Ohhh forgot about the Walnuts, yummy.

 

[Consey78]

Also the Primitivo is much the same, re fruit and nuts.

 

[C clearly]

I agree that October is an excellent time to walk. It is likely to rain in Galicia, no matter where you approach it from.

 

[MaryLynn]

I have walked the Camino Frances from mid-September to late November a few times and there was very good weather in September and October--warm and sunny--but as soon as November 1 arrived, so did the cold, wet, rainy weather, and many albergues were closed, even though they were listed as Open on the Gronze list and in my guidebook. Luckily, as a hospitalera, twice I was able to help out for a week or so at an albergue before I left the Camino for Madrid and home. Never again in November!

 

[JerryStroebele]

Late October and early November can be very wet and windy on the del Norte. Some albergues and delightful bar/cafes already closed for the season. And surprisingly, not many peregrinos in 2019. Buen Camino

 

[chrisje]

Camino Mozarabe, walked in october. Lovely weather. No rain, walked all days in short trousers en T- shirt. Started in Almería till Córdoba, hilly and very beautifull !

 

[lt56ny]

October is my month to start. Depending on how far I am going I usually begin about the 15th and sometimes later. Have done the CF, CP, VDLP, CN, and Le Puy in October and they are all great to walk in. Although it was pretty hot this year for about the first 2 weeks on the VDLP. The Norte will be perfect as would the Coastal Portugese.

 

[David Tallan]

Of those options, I've only walked the Portugues in October, so I can't say which is best. But the Portugues from Porto in October was a great experience.

 

[Consey78]

Camino Mozarabe, walked in october. Lovely weather. No rain, walked all days in short trousers en T- shirt. Started in Almería till Córdoba, hilly and very beautifull !

Walked from Malaga to Cordoba in spring of 2020, lovely.

 

[RJM]

A few years ago I walked the Frances from the last couple of days in September to the first week in November. The first 10-12 days or so the weather was warm and mild, no rain really to speak of and I wore shorts and t-shirt everyday. Pretty much all the albergues were open and quite a few pilgrims doing the walk, but never had a problem with accommodations. In fact some albergues were quite sparse, and a few days I walked alone. Saw almost nobody. It was right about at Carrios de los Condes that it started getting colder and I walked for two days in Galicia during heavy snow. I had plans to walk to Fisterre but heavy rains prevented that and I ended up just staying in Santiago a couple of extra days, where it rained all day everyday.
Also, about 3/4 of the way into that Camino I noticed that albergues were beginning to close for the season.
Of course that was all pre-pandemic. No telling what it is like now accommodation wise.