Timing of reservation requests

Gilson · 2024-10-31T03:32:40+0100

I AM A PLANNER... I was 10 days in on my last camino before I was able to "relax" - that was when I finally had all of my nights booked. Please, do not make this a discussion about "to book or not to book." And yes, I know to try to book direct rather than use a booking site... To each his/her own - walk your own walk and all that.

For me, a legitimate question... and perhaps @wisepilgrim or those with albergue management experience can assist...

Easter is late in 2025, followed closely by the May 1 holiday. I am planning an early April start. When is it appropriate for me to begin contacting the albergues for reservations?

I plan to walk the Portuguese from Lisbon, follow the Litoral, Coastal, and then, Santiago-Muxia-Finisterre-Santiago... [And yes, I am aware of the Espiritual variant, no need to recommend it...]

ratherbefollowingflechas · 2024-10-31T04:13:34+0100

Greetings to you, my fellow planner. I am totally anal about how far I am willing to walk and what my lodging entails, so I understand your mindset more than most. To me, nothing is more stressful than having to walk another 5-10k to the next town, or sleeping on a mattress thrown on the floor in the corner. That being said, our last Camino (the Primitivo) was May/June 2024 and I had 14 of the 20 nights booked by the middle of October of 2023. Almost all of those stays were booked directly with the alburgues (most of which we had stayed at the year before) through their websites. I did book a few places on booking.com but only for ease of use. There were several places that politely let me know that they did not accept reservations that far in advance and asked me to reconnect after the beginning of the year. In one instance, they replied that the new year's prices had not been established, so I booked on the contingency that the price increase wasn't too drastic.

I would say that it is okay at this point to reach out, especially if you have locked into some key places. The worst they can say is to check back, and at best you will have one more lodging confirmed. We did the Portuguese from Porto in 2016 when the infrastructure was still limited, and I booked most of our stays at hotels through booking.com. Back then, I was not as learned in discovering alburgues, but I still did that at least 4-5 months in advance.

Best wishes and happy planning!
Bom Caminho!

Flog · 2024-10-31T06:58:37+0100

Ah, the not so old age question:
to book or not to book, should you? Many recommend the Variant Espiritual, have you considered going that way?

Bom Caminho

TravellingMan22 · 2024-10-31T07:35:45+0100

ratherbefollowingflechas said:
Greetings to you, my fellow planner. I am totally anal about how far I am willing to walk and what my lodging entails, so I understand your mindset more than most. To me, nothing is more stressful than having to walk another 5-10k to the next town, or sleeping on a mattress thrown on the floor in the corner. That being said, our last Camino (the Primitivo) was May/June 2024 and I had 14 of the 20 nights booked by the middle of October of 2023. Almost all of those stays were booked directly with the alburgues (most of which we had stayed at the year before) through their websites. I did book a few places on booking.com but only for ease of use. There were several places that politely let me know that they did not accept reservations that far in advance and asked me to reconnect after the beginning of the year. In one instance, they replied that the new year's prices had not been established, so I booked on the contingency that the price increase wasn't too drastic.

I would say that it is okay at this point to reach out, especially if you have locked into some key places. The worst they can say is to check back, and at best you will have one more lodging confirmed. We did the Portuguese from Porto in 2016 when the infrastructure was still limited, and I booked most of our stays at hotels through booking.com. Back then, I was not as learned in discovering alburgues, but I still did that at least 4-5 months in advance.

Best wishes and happy planning!
Bom Caminho!

I only book through booking . com and you can book as soon as the inventory is available, as long as there is a cancellation policy in place. Most places do have a cancellation policy even if it is not the first option on the pricing list. Many places that offer dorm rooms, may also have cheap private rooms if you scroll down. It may be a few € more. Many places offer inventory from a year out, some less, and some even more. I am holding hotac a year out at moment (non Camino) obv. with a cancellation policy.

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Gilson · 2024-10-31T03:32:40+0100

I AM A PLANNER... I was 10 days in on my last camino before I was able to "relax" - that was when I finally had all of my nights booked. Please, do not make this a discussion about "to book or...

Timing of reservation requests

Gilson

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ratherbefollowingflechas

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Flog

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