Prebooking Portuguese Way for April

[Mcosentino80]

We are cycling the Central Portuguese Way in late April (after cycling from Bilbao to Santiago on the Northern Way). We are wondering if it should be necessary to prebook places to stay for April. As I look around at some of the places, many already show "only one bed left" and it makes me a little worried. Any info is helpful. Thank you!

 

[Vacajoe]

Is the “one bed left” on booking.com? Because that just means one bed of the few beds they reserved, but that the accommodation has in total. No one can tell for sure and this spring will be full-on camino time after Covid, so who knows. Beds for bikers are harder to find as some albergues won’t allow you in, so prebooking makes more sense than just for walkers.

 

[DoughnutANZ]

As I look around at some of the places, many already show "only one bed left" and it makes me a little worried

That is a method that the room booking site likes to use to encourage you to use their services.

 

[woody66]

Yeah defo always a ploy and no surprise used booking .dot com a lot and others to instil the FOMO factor (fear of missing out) !
Most companies do it; pick any random date for a holiday on TUI anywhere months in advance and the only one room left is there!

I booked several places for the dates i wanted; which said only one room left!
So i took the last room cos i wanted to stay there of course and price was OK!

I booked several months ahead of departure!
Low and behold each time i went back on booking.com to see if cheaper places were now available in the area.
Each one i had booked in that area still had only one room available for my date;when i had taken the supposed last room months earlier!
Woody

 

[Former member 22438]

That is a method that the room booking site likes to use to encourage you to use their services.

It is like tele vending Create a problem and offer the solution

depending how you bike I do not forsee any problems finding a place to sleep.
Only keep in mind the Semana Santa, the week before Eastern but the effect will be only at the coast in my humble opinion.
The Central route is not so touristical.

 

[Mcosentino80]

It is like tele vending Create a problem and offer the solution

depending how you bike I do not forsee any problems finding a place to sleep.
Only keep in mind the Semana Santa, the week before Eastern but the effect will be only at the coast in my humble opinion.
The Central route is not so touristical.

We are also biking the northern route of the Camino during the first few weeks of April... Maybe there? Or just for Easter weekend?

 

[Roland49]

I'll do it the old way. No prebooking.

Imagine that they did it on "the old days", aka only 30 years ago, not to mention in the middle-ages!
A lil' bit of adventure should be in every camino-experience

 

[Former member 22438]

We are also biking the northern route of the Camino during the first few weeks of April... Maybe there? Or just for Easter weekend?

The northern route is quite remote at times only places like Bilbao and San Sebastian can be an issue but further westward I do not think so

 

[Grousedoctor]

We’re walking the Coastal Route in mid-April and we did book our accommodations in advance. Because we had no difficulty booking rooms, either on Booking.com or by directly emailing the albergue/hostel, I’m not really sure if there will be a bed rush or not like on the CF. When we walked the Central Route a couple years ago, we had no difficulty finding rooms or beds particularly if we arrived early in the afternoon. But, that was also pre-Covid so as I’m not sure what to expect this time we booked accommodations.

I cycled the VDLP and thoroughly enjoyed that type of Camino as I’m sure you will. Hopefully, you’ll have the time not to speed through it. My mistake on riding the VDLP was that I rode three stages a day. From a riding perspective it was very doable but quite challenging due to the terrain. From a pilgrim’s perspective, covering nearly 50 miles a day blurred much of this journey as I was passing through Spain much too quickly to enjoy what the walking pilgrim experiences. So, although the CP is not a difficult bike trek, do smell the roses along The Way.

 

[lt56ny]

If you can forget about booking.com or any of those internet sites. Call ahead or send emails and make reservations that way if you can. If I were you I would write a simple email request in English and copy and paste a Portuguese translation. You would also be surprised how many people in Portugal do speak English especially if you are staying in hotels.

 

[Friend from Barquinha]

If I were you I would write a simple email request in English and copy and paste a Portuguese translation. You would also be surprised how many people in Portugal do speak English especially if you are staying in hotels.

If they don't speak English themselves, they'll find a relative or neighbour or friend who does. They definitely want to keep their small businesses going! (And all the Portuguese children study English from middle-school on). So keep your request simple, and someone will answer.