LIVE from the Camino Sitting with Mary

[Rita Flower]

Hi all.
I’m sitting in the sun on this spectacular day in the Pyrenees at the statue of Mary and Jesus. A glorious day. Thank you to all the weather Gods.
Perhaps June / July are the best walking months - at least this year. There are people around but not a feeing of being crowded.
I booked Orisson and Roncesvalles just two days before I arrived. I am aiming for Pilgrim only accomodation but will book something if I know I will arrive late. Otherwise just take it as it come.
I am so happy to be here heading for Spain.
Last Camino Francés was 17 years ago.
Ultreia
Buen Camino

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

Beautiful, thanks for posting!

 

[CWBuff]

Perhaps June / July are the best walking months - at least this year. There are people around but not a feeing of being crowded.
I booked Orisson and Roncesvalles just two days before I arrived. ...

WOW!!! I guess all the horror stories of end of April and well into May scared everyone away

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

WOW!!! I guess all the horror stories of end of April and well into May scared everyone away

Isn’t it always that way? Aren’t April/May & September the busiest months on the Frances?

 

[davejsy]

How wonderful. Buen Camino. Will be interesting to hear your thoughts 17 years on.

 

[CWBuff]

@Peterexpatkiwi - yes but seems that this year brought on much more "panic" posts including even "shall I abandon CF and switch to..." - something I have not seen in all 6.5 years I have been a Forum member.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

@Rita Flower, your pictures are glorious with the beautiful sunshine!
I always walk in the popular spring and fall months of what is usually called the "shoulder season", although it has become busier and busier. I am apprehensive to choose summer because I abhor walking in potential heat as anything above 85°F zaps my energy and I feel miserable walking. In order to avoid the worst temps, of summer, I would dislike getting up super early and ending my days at Noonish. I actually prefer rain to heat..."knock on wood".

 

[martin1ws]

Isn’t it always that way? Aren’t April/May & September the busiest months on the Frances?

In 2023 on the Frances:
August 1st, September 2nd...
You can set the filters (Camino Frances) "on the page" and "at the bottom" is the grafic:

Statistics | Pilgrim's welcome office

oficinadelperegrino.com

(April/May and September are maybe the busiest months for American pilgrims by departure)

Statistics for the Camino de Santiago - American Pilgrims on the Camino

Camino Statistics Why are statistics important? You likely have many questions about the Camino: how crowded will it be, which month is busiest, which routes are busiest, where everyone is from, and what’s the best way to travel? Some statistics may help you decide when to make your Camino and...

americanpilgrims.org

Buen Camino!

 

[Jagdev D.]

Hi all.
I’m sitting in the sun on this spectacular day in the Pyrenees at the statue of Mary and Jesus. A glorious day. Thank you to all the weather Gods.
Perhaps June / July are the best walking months - at least this year. There are people around but not a feeing of being crowded.
I booked Orisson and Roncesvalles just two days before I arrived. I am aiming for Pilgrim only accomodation but will book something if I know I will arrive late. Otherwise just take it as it come.
I am so happy to be here heading for Spain.
Last Camino Francés was 17 years ago.
Ultreia
Buen Camino

Safe journey

Hi all.
I’m sitting in the sun on this spectacular day in the Pyrenees at the statue of Mary and Jesus. A glorious day. Thank you to all the weather Gods.
Perhaps June / July are the best walking months - at least this year. There are people around but not a feeing of being crowded.
I booked Orisson and Roncesvalles just two days before I arrived. I am aiming for Pilgrim only accomodation but will book something if I know I will arrive late. Otherwise just take it as it come.
I am so happy to be here heading for Spain.
Last Camino Francés was 17 years ago.
Ultreia
Buen Camino

safe journey Mary ,
Beautiful pictures ,

Buen Camino,
Cheers !

 

[t2andreo]

Consider that the trick - as it were - to avoiding crowds of pilgrims, anywhere at any time, is simple. Just be where they are not.

If pilgrims start from a favored starting place on Saturday or Sunday, start on another day. Donlt forget to research and consider local holidays for the affect on "bridge holidays."

If they start at 0700, start at 0600. With a little bit of forethought and planning, you can do this anywhere for any route.

Hope this helps.

Tom

 

[Rita Flower]

@Rita Flower, your pictures are glorious with the beautiful sunshine!
I always walk in the popular spring and fall months of what is usually called the "shoulder season", although it has become busier and busier. I am apprehensive to choose summer because I abhor walking in potential heat as anything above 85°F zaps my energy and I feel miserable walking. In order to avoid the worst temps, of summer, I would dislike getting up super early and ending my days at Noonish. I actually prefer rain to heat..."knock on wood".

I suspect it might be a ‘cool’ summer - reminiscent of Portugal in 2018 when it was quite cool and rainy most of the time. Will keep you posted.

 

[Rita Flower]

Consider that the trick - as it were - to avoiding crowds of pilgrims, anywhere at any time, is simple. Just be where they are not.

If pilgrims start from a favored starting place on Saturday or Sunday, start on another day. Donlt forget to research and consider local holidays for the affect on "bridge holidays."

If they start at 0700, start at 0600. With a little bit of forethought and planning, you can do this anywhere for any route.

Hope this helps.

Tom

I seem to have landed with a group of early birds - like me. I am usually awake around 5.30 - 6.00 pm. Will keep the forum posted.
But I think it is also a matter of personal good fortune. Someone else might be walking right now and having quite a different experience. By the way it’s due to rain in the Pyrenees area in a day or so.

 

[feschmidt]

Hi all.
I’m sitting in the sun on this spectacular day in the Pyrenees at the statue of Mary and Jesus. A glorious day. Thank you to all the weather Gods.
Perhaps June / July are the best walking months - at least this year. There are people around but not a feeing of being crowded.
I booked Orisson and Roncesvalles just two days before I arrived. I am aiming for Pilgrim only accomodation but will book something if I know I will arrive late. Otherwise just take it as it come.
I am so happy to be here heading for Spain.
Last Camino Francés was 17 years ago.
Ultreia
Buen Camino

Looks wonderful

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

In 2023 on the Frances:
August 1st, September 2nd...
You can set the filters (Camino Frances) "on the page" and "at the bottom" is the grafic:

Statistics | Pilgrim's welcome office

oficinadelperegrino.com

View attachment 172390

(April/May and September are maybe the busiest months for American pilgrims by departure)

Statistics for the Camino de Santiago - American Pilgrims on the Camino

Camino Statistics Why are statistics important? You likely have many questions about the Camino: how crowded will it be, which month is busiest, which routes are busiest, where everyone is from, and what’s the best way to travel? Some statistics may help you decide when to make your Camino and...

americanpilgrims.org

Buen Camino!

Yes I'm aware of the site, I view the statistics periodically. However the statistics for the Camino Frances you've shown are not indicative of how many people actually start in SJPP. Which is where the OP started and what I was talking about .
Perhaps I should have been more specific, as people broadly talk about 'the Frances' when realistically they're often talking about just the last 100 kilometers from Sarria.

The statistics kindly supplied by @Bradypus linked below show exactly what I was referring to, the large spike in departures from SJPP during April/May and September. The spike this year was anecdotally potentially even higher than last year. Hardly surprising given the reported increase in both pilgrim & tourist numbers in Spain overall.

The SJPDP pilgrim office numbers for January to October have just been posted on their Facebook account. After a very busy start to the year things seem to have settled down a little. By the end of October the numbers recorded by the office were 6.4% up on the same period in 2022. At the other end of the camino the running total of Compostelas issued in Santiago is about 2% up on the same period last year.

View attachment 159808

Bureau d'accueil des pèlerins de St Jacques de St Jean Pied de Port | Voici les statistiques du Bureau d'accueil des pèlerins de St Jacques de St Jean Pied de Port arrêtées au 31/10/2023 | Facebook

Voici les statistiques du Bureau d'accueil des pèlerins de St Jacques de St Jean Pied de Port arrêtées au 31/10/2023

www.facebook.com

@Peterexpatkiwi - yes but seems that this year brought on much more "panic" posts including even "shall I abandon CF and switch to..." - something I have not seen in all 6.5 years I have been a Forum member.

With the ever increasing number of pilgrims walking year on year, and the change in people's habits from 'winging it' to booking everything ahead I wouldn't be at all surprised if this is the new norm. At least for the next year or two until the infrastructure starts to catch up, or as others have suggested, the numbers drop because of the difficulties people have experienced.

Another factor is of course the increased use of social media in this world of ours.... . 6 1/2 years ago there were only a handful of YouTube videos on the camino, now something new comes out every week.

I wonder how many forum members there were six and a half years ago as compared to now?

 

[David Tallan]

In 2023 on the Frances:
August 1st, September 2nd...
You can set the filters (Camino Frances) "on the page" and "at the bottom" is the grafic:

Statistics | Pilgrim's welcome office

oficinadelperegrino.com

View attachment 172390

(April/May and September are maybe the busiest months for American pilgrims by departure)

Statistics for the Camino de Santiago - American Pilgrims on the Camino

Camino Statistics Why are statistics important? You likely have many questions about the Camino: how crowded will it be, which month is busiest, which routes are busiest, where everyone is from, and what’s the best way to travel? Some statistics may help you decide when to make your Camino and...

americanpilgrims.org

Buen Camino!

That graph is for arrivals in Santiago. As has been pointed out elsewhere, a few times, the statistics are very different pre-Sarría and post-Sarría. In points east of Sarría, May and September are the busiest times. In points west of Sarría, July and August. With the high percentage of people starting in Sarría, you get the graph you displayed. But for most of the Camino Frances, it is as Peter said.

 

[Freetogo]

Hi all.
I’m sitting in the sun on this spectacular day in the Pyrenees at the statue of Mary and Jesus. A glorious day. Thank you to all the weather Gods.
Perhaps June / July are the best walking months - at least this year. There are people around but not a feeing of being crowded.
I booked Orisson and Roncesvalles just two days before I arrived. I am aiming for Pilgrim only accomodation but will book something if I know I will arrive late. Otherwise just take it as it come.
I am so happy to be here heading for Spain.
Last Camino Francés was 17 years ago.
Ultreia
Buen Camino

I LOVE your attitude! Buen camino e susceia!