Mailing a ReSupply Box to Correos ?

[Robo]

No I haven't gone nuts.
And I know I'm walking through a civilised Country with stores along the way.......

Just a thought.
I have some medically related 'consumables' (not drugs) that I use on Camino.
They are quite specific and not available to me locally in Spain.

Normally I can carry a months worth without too much trouble.

But my Camino next year might be 60-70 days.

So in the interests of space and weight, I thought I might mail a small 'resupply box' to a half way point.

Am I right in thinking that I could have this mailed to a Correos?
Maybe pick one in a larger town

Has anyone tried that? Will they hold it for a few days?

I've heard people do it when sending excess stuff to Santiago, but not 'along the way'.
I'm looking at maybe Zamora or Astorga for a resupply.

On the Correos website they mention mailing stuff to Santiago.
But I didn't spot anything about a more general 'Post Restante' type service.

Any tips most appreciated.

 

[mspath]

No I haven't gone nuts.
And I know I'm walking through a civilised Country with stores along the way.......

Just a thought.
I have some medically related 'consumables' (not drugs) that I use on Camino.
They are quite specific and not available to me locally in Spain.

Normally I can carry a months worth without too much trouble.

But my Camino next year might be 60-70 days.

So in the interests of space and weight, I thought I might mail a small 'resupply box' to a half way point.

Am I right in thinking that I could have this mailed to a Correos?
Maybe pick one in a larger town

Has anyone tried that? Will they hold it for a few days?

I've heard people do it when sending excess stuff to Santiago, but not 'along the way'.
I'm looking at maybe Zamora or Astorga for a resupply.

On the Correos website they mention mailing stuff to Santiago.
But I didn't spot anything about a more general 'Post Restante' type service.

Any tips most appreciated.

Robo,
Check out this earlier post re Poste Restante and this also.

If you do mail to yourself print your name exactly as it appears on your official passport. Be prepared to show your passport when you pick up the package.

Happy planning and Carpe diem.

 

[natefaith]

Rob,
If you were not already thinking along these lines, I do recommend you mail yourself something (to Lista de Correos) once you're in Europe/ Spain, and not to ship it from home. Foreign shipments get stopped all the time by Spanish customs, and you need to fill out paperwork and pay taxes first before they'll release it to you. This can become pretty cumbersome. Occasionally the postal worker will bring you the package and have you pay taxes on the spot, but it's hard to predict when they do this and when they just keep packages in customs.

Buen Camino!

 

[Katherine Radeka]

We investigated this for similar reasons. This would work if you fly into Spain so that you can mail it from within Spain. There is a post office in SJPP but we couldn’t figure out whether or not there would still be a customs issue getting across the French border. There is a smaller post office along the way, I think in Burgete with limited hours, but for all practical purposes the next major post office is in Pamplona.

You will need to allow extra time for this initial mailing, and for picking up mail along the way.

You will need to make sure that you are in town when the post office is open, and that will impose some constraints on your schedule.

We ended up shipping our bags ahead every day instead of this, but if we had decided to carry everything, we would have done this.

We did mail boxes to Ivar in Santiago, And also returned a key by mail that we had accidentally taken from an albergue. We found that the Spanish post office workers were friendly and helpful to peregrinos.

 

[J Willhaus]

Or mail from the post office in Madrid before heading out on the Camino?

 

[trecile]

The information that you need is on the Correos website.

Send luggage along the Camino de Santiago

With Correos you can send your luggage to any point on the Camino de Santiago with the Paq Peregrino.

www.elcaminoconcorreos.com

We investigated this for similar reasons. This would work if you fly into Spain so that you can mail it from within Spain. There is a post office in SJPP but we couldn’t figure out whether or not there would still be a customs issue getting across the French border.

Or mail from the post office in Madrid before heading out on the Camino?

I believe that @Robo is planning on walking the Via de la Plata.

 

[J Willhaus]

Actually if mailing to Zamora, the Correos is still in the old town, but off the Camino. Zamora is an interesting old town to visit if you want a rest day. I know you don't always do the albergue thing, but the albergue is wonderful and built into a part of the old city wall. It is open all year and staffed by HosVol volunteers. There is a paradore right around the corner if that is more your style (probably a pilgrim discount) and there are other options with private rooms as well. Lots of stories about El Cid, the siege of Zamora, the death of King Sancho, etc. Much of the old wall is intact and/or restored.

 

[OTH86]

@Robo, I've done this many times, and once from Madrid! Will do it again this year, too. Different offices provide different 'tip's'. One that I've used a lot, is to address it to AND from yourself, and for you, mark it Peregrino. Some will tell you to pick it up by a certain date, and take it seriously with an open mind. The medium size towns are sometimes very happy - even excited to help! Belorado, Burgos, Sahagun, Leon have all been a great help. But times have changed - ask the folks at Correos! I've always found them very helpful!!
Good luck, and Buen Camino

 

[OTH86]

Ahh! I wasn't paying attn - I've always done this on the frances...
Thanks, @trecile !

 

[RRat]

No I haven't gone nuts.
And I know I'm walking through a civilised Country with stores along the way.......

Just a thought.
I have some medically related 'consumables' (not drugs) that I use on Camino.
They are quite specific and not available to me locally in Spain.

Normally I can carry a months worth without too much trouble.

But my Camino next year might be 60-70 days.

So in the interests of space and weight, I thought I might mail a small 'resupply box' to a half way point.

Am I right in thinking that I could have this mailed to a Correos?
Maybe pick one in a larger town

Has anyone tried that? Will they hold it for a few days?

I've heard people do it when sending excess stuff to Santiago, but not 'along the way'.
I'm looking at maybe Zamora or Astorga for a resupply.

On the Correos website they mention mailing stuff to Santiago.
But I didn't spot anything about a more general 'Post Restante' type service.

Any tips most appreciated.

Instead of asking us, who don't really know the specifics, ask the clerk at the Correos counter. I found them to be very helpful and considerate of Pilgrims. In my case I shipped a parcel to Santiago early in my Camino. The clerk asked for my planned arrival to Santiago. Since I would be approaching the 30 day limit to hold a parcel at the destination, she asked if I wanted her to hold the package for a week to give me a little more time. Probably not the official process but so considerate.

 

[Robo]

Rob,
If you were not already thinking along these lines, I do recommend you mail yourself something (to Lista de Correos) once you're in Europe/ Spain, and not to ship it from home. Foreign shipments get stopped all the time by Spanish customs, and you need to fill out paperwork and pay taxes first before they'll release it to you. This can become pretty cumbersome. Occasionally the postal worker will bring you the package and have you pay taxes on the spot, but it's hard to predict when they do this and when they just keep packages in customs.

Buen Camino!

Good idea, many thanks

 

[Robo]

Instead of asking us, who don't really know the specifics, ask the clerk at the Correos counter. I found them to be very helpful and considerate of Pilgrims. In my case I shipped a parcel to Santiago early in my Camino. The clerk asked for my planned arrival to Santiago. Since I would be approaching the 30 day limit to hold a parcel at the destination, she asked if I wanted her to hold the package for a week to give me a little more time. Probably not the official process but so considerate.

Thanks. Yes, that would make sense, but I live in Australia, and would prefer to know what is possible before I arrive in Spain. Otherwise I could end up dumping stuff at the start.

The initial idea was to have a couple of parcels that could be mailed from home as required, but I see it is much better to mail from within Spain.

It looks like it will all be possible. I didn't read the Correos website clearly.
Mailing to Santiago is certainly a specific service and I have used that in the past.
But it seems Post Restante services are actually available on all routes.

 

[dougfitz]

It looks like it will all be possible. I didn't read the Correos website clearly.
Mailing to Santiago is certainly a specific service and I have used that in the past.
But it seems Post Restante services are actually available on all routes.

@Robo, there are still some limitations to the Post Restante service. The Correos website states that they will hold a Paq Peregrino for 30 days. This is about twice the time normally available for holding Post Restante items, but still might not be long enough for you if you are contemplating taking taking a couple of months of walking. So if you are contemplating packing a parcel for later in your pilgrimage, you might need to post it to somewhere you will reach in the 30 days, and re-post it from there.

 

[Robo]

@Robo, there are still some limitations to the Post Restante service. The Correos website states that they will hold a Paq Peregrino for 30 days. This is about twice the time normally available for holding Post Restante items, but still might not be long enough for you if you are contemplating taking taking a couple of months of walking. So if you are contemplating packing a parcel for later in your pilgrimage, you might need to post it to somewhere you will reach in the 30 days, and re-post it from there.

Yes, good point @dougfitz .

Having found the right page, it's all quite clear now.
Parcels can be sent to any post office, not just Santiago.

Paq Peregrino: Your luggage awaits you at the end of the Camino

With Paq Peregrino you can send your suitcases or backpacks to the post office in Santiago or your destination and pick them up on arrival

www.elcaminoconcorreos.com

 

[OTH86]

@Robo , you might be able to send a suitcase-size pkg addressed to @ivar in Santiago. I don't have the link to exact info at the moment, maybe he will see this and send info to you.

 

[trecile]

@Robo , you might be able to send a suitcase-size pkg addressed to @ivar in Santiago. I don't have the link to exact info at the moment, maybe he will see this and send info to you.

Yes, you can send a suitcase or suitcase sized package to Casa Ivar, but it sounds like @Robo is wanting to resupply while he is on the Camino, before reaching Santiago.

 

[Robo]

@Robo , you might be able to send a suitcase-size pkg addressed to @ivar in Santiago. I don't have the link to exact info at the moment, maybe he will see this and send info to you.

That would be an outstanding idea................if I wanted to send something to Santiago

FWIW. I have used @ivar 's storage service and it's excellent.

 

[dano]

We investigated this for similar reasons. This would work if you fly into Spain so that you can mail it from within Spain. There is a post office in SJPP but we couldn’t figure out whether or not there would still be a customs issue getting across the French border. There is a smaller post office along the way, I think in Burgete with limited hours, but for all practical purposes the next major post office is in Pamplona.

You will need to allow extra time for this initial mailing, and for picking up mail along the way.

You will need to make sure that you are in town when the post office is open, and that will impose some constraints on your schedule.

We ended up shipping our bags ahead every day instead of this, but if we had decided to carry everything, we would have done this.

We did mail boxes to Ivar in Santiago, And also returned a key by mail that we had accidentally taken from an albergue. We found that the Spanish post office workers were friendly and helpful to peregrinos.

We had a very similar good experience with the post office mailing from Barcelona to Logroño and hopefully have a box waiting in Santiago. We had changes of clothes in there as well as our hike crossed from summer to fall and nice to have a different shirt and underwear after a month.
Buen Camino

 

[JabbaPapa]

I certainly agree about mailing the stuff from within Spain - - though instead of a Post office, maybe send it to a particular and friendly Albergue that you intend to stay in ?

The principal ones at Zamora and Astorga would be tricky for that purpose, but some of the little private ones along that section should be OK.

And this would help you avoid getting stuck if you happened to get into town on the weekend or a holiday, with a closed Post office.

 

[Robo]

I certainly agree about mailing the stuff from within Spain - - though instead of a Post office, maybe send it to a particular and friendly Albergue that you intend to stay in ?

The principal ones at Zamora and Astorga would be tricky for that purpose, but some of the little private ones along that section should be OK.

And this would help you avoid getting stuck if you happened to get into town on the weekend or a holiday, with a closed Post office.

Thank you @JabbaPapa .
And 'welcome home' to Santiago.
Raising a glass to you and your epic journey