The Camino at Easter

[alecgrant]

Hello, 5 of us are walking from Villafranca to Santiago over the course of a week. We will be a little more than halfway to Santiago on Easter weekend. Does anyone know if we can expect the refugios to be full? Is Holy Week usually a busy time on the camino? Is there more chance of albergues that would usually be closed in early April being open because of Easter?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Peter Robins]

yes. Particularly from Maundy Thursday. Thursday to Sunday is a long weekend in (most of) Spain, and a very popular time to go away, particularly if the weather's nice. You'll find lots of large parties of Spaniards en route. If you have the time, it's worth going to one of the larger cities on Thursday/Friday for the processions - which are an amazing spectacle.

 

[alecgrant]

Thank you for the reply, Peter - I'm not sure we'll get a chance to visit any major towns at the right time - we will hopefully get to Melide for Easter Sunday but I think that is about as Metropolitan as we're gonna get.

However, on a related note, can anyone give me an idea of places on the way where we might expect to catch some kind of Holy Week procession/festivities? I'm thinking places like Samos, Sarria, Tricastel and Portmarin or anywhere in between. What's the best way to find out in advance?

I have walked the Villafranca-Santiago section before and know that the people accompanying me will be blown away as it is - but any kind of Easter traditions we can catch on the way would be a fantastic bonus.

Aplogies but I am going to post a similar question in the Camino Frances section, too.

All the best,

Alec