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This is a frequently asked question that seldom gets answered unequivocally on this forum. Four of you, with internet access and a day to spare could sort out accommodations, luggage transfers, attractive restaurants ( you never know for sure till you start chewing), a list of recommended rest stops, worthwhile diversions and just about everything else. All the information you could possibly need can be found in the relevant pages of this forum, on www.Gronze.com and in the excellent guides published by Wisepilgrim, Brierley et al. Buen Camino and happy planning.
Thanks. Where did you stay in La Mesa or Berducedo? (I know I have to pick one or the other
) I have been looking at Booking.com and there seems to be a shortage of places to stay in these villages.
Have you looked on Gronze yet?Thanks. Where did you stay in La Mesa or Berducedo? (I know I have to pick one or the other
Yes, booking.com will only show some of the available places to stay. Not all places take reservations. This may also be a bit early to be looking as well. Are you considering private rooms or albergues?Thanks. Where did you stay in La Mesa or Berducedo? (I know I have to pick one or the other
Thanks again. I had never heard of Gronze before your comment, lol.Have you looked on Gronze yet?
Here's the listing for La Mesa
La Mesa, Asturias | Albergues y Hoteles | Gronze.com
Albergues, Hoteles y Servicios para Peregrinos en La Mesa, Asturias, en el Camino de Santiago.www.gronze.com
And Berducedo
Berducedo, Asturias | Albergues y Hoteles | Gronze.com
Albergues, Hoteles y Servicios para Peregrinos en Berducedo, Asturias, en el Camino de Santiago.
Gronze is great for finding accommodations. They provide contact information and links to booking.com for those properties that use that service.
We are 2 couples in our mid 60's and are looking for private rooms and bathrooms. We would consider private albergues.
We are 2 couples in our mid 60's and are looking for private rooms and bathrooms. We would consider private albergues.
You could also include AirBNB in your searches for some towns. As two couples you might find it nice to have a place to yourself with a washer, etc. From time to time.
A problem with AirBnB is that you can't see the exact location until you book. Not so important when you are traveling by car, but on foot can have a big impact! I would only book places with free cancellation.
Yes, I agree with this advice, but many places do let you see the location or close enough that you will know it is far from where you want to be. I used them in Spain 4 or five times last summer with good results.
This.
My first camino was from Leon to Santiago, joining a friend who had booked with a reputable camino company. Three times we were booked into places as far away from the camino as 2.5km. It was a real drag.
I was in the peregrino albergue in Berducedo… and I will have to find my credentCale to answer any further… but as you are travelling as two couples I recall that I was able to use booking.com for tow absolutely fantastic apartments — with their owners in adjacent units.Thanks. Where did you stay in La Mesa or Berducedo? (I know I have to pick one or the other
I assume you have already decided to hire a company to handle this. You have your reasons. If so, CaminoWays has an excellent reputation and we have booked them to walk from Le Puy to Moissac. for our next camino. Breakfast is automatically included while dinner is optional. We chose not to take this option for a number of reasons: 1. Dinner may be later than we prefer. 2. There are times when we meet other pilgrims and would like to share dinner with them. 3. There are times when we grab food along the way and aren't up for a full meal in the evening.
Don't forget the shurpa clacking coconuts to sound like horse hoofs as you walk.
To answer your question, I am an 77 year old man with health issues and dodgy joints.
Thanks for your reply. It is a dilemma that we'll have to sort out...a third party or booking it ourselves.
Whatever you decide, do shop around a bit… as prices can vary A LOT.
instagram.com
Thank you for your very thoughtful reply. We won't be using a guide. We have received quotes form Pilgrim.es, Santiago Ways and Follow The Camino. Based on various replies, we've also decided not to include dinner in our package.Whatever you decide, do shop around a bit… as prices can vary A LOT.
A friend back home was looking at Camino Frances but she wasn’t keen on going by herself. Then she found a charity which put an organised group walk where she had to pay £350 for Sarria to Santiago upfront, then raise over £2500 for the charity. When I looked at the main tour companies like Caminoways, they charge around £500 for 2023 Sarria to Santiago/5 days. I told her, with £350 you can book 5 hotels from Sarria to Santiago plus luggage transfer at €5/day and have money for meals… and then she can choose a charity she likes and raise money for them without having the pressure of needing to raise a min £2500! Then I also found, for €350 the smaller Spanish companies would offer 5 days Sarria to Santiago on Instagram…
If going with a tour company, there’s the option for guided vs self guided, so that’s something else to think about. I think perhaps going with a guide may hinder you from striking up conversations with other pilgrims. But there may be situations where a guide can explain more of the local attractions: there’s a folk museum in Grandas de Salime, Castro Chao Samartin in Castro, ruins of pilgrims hospitals in Hospitales and Montouto, Lugo is like a big walking museum, Roman temple in Santa Eulalia de Boveda… at some of these places, there were local staffs who would be very happy and enthusiastic to explain in Spanish but shy with their English.
Finally a local company that can do luggage transfer as well as taxi should you need to is Taxi Camino. Very approachable via WhatsApp. It seems there’s a team that covers the route from Oviedo to Lugo and then a different team from Lugo to Santiago. You can book day by day or take a package the whole way from Oviedo to Santiago, similar to Correos. Also… they charge you per piece of item not per person. So if your group is 2 couples, each couple can get a fairly large bag to be transferred by luggage service, and walk with a light day bag.
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Thank you. Yes, we are aware and a little afraid of the changes in elevation,
Seems like nobody answered the question you asked. I've used WalktheCamino.com for 5 Caminos. I like their service because they do not force any particular set of stops or services. They do have a starter itinerary which may work or may not work. I tend to walk less miles or less changes in altitude, so they modify the stops to match. I use them only for setting up nightly accommodations and transfer. They recommend but not require dinners as part of the trip. Nor do they require any particular town to stop in. They may or may not have a spot that they know of, but that's in the details. In short, they provide a customized to your requirements itinerary rather than a fixed my way or else approach. I know they do some of the Primitivo but have not inquired on the whole trip. I'm working on the Norte for 2024 with them.
We walked the Primitivo this year in September/October it is an absolutely fantastic walk you will really love it. We stayed in Berducedo and were very happy to stop for the night there, after the Hospitales route. We stayed at Casa de Aldea Araceli, it was great - best shower after a long day walking, they have a bar and small restaurant. I booked all of our accomodation and we were really happy that we planned it this way, we were uncertain of the post COVID impact on the Camino. I would highly recommend another place called Casa Camino Turismo Rural in Casacamino about 15 km from Melide. I carried my pack but my husband needed to transfer some of his and we used Taxi Camino, Tino the owner is wonderful and we never had a problem and just used WhatsApp to contact him., one day we walked (on purpose) 8km ahead and we sent him a message and within 20 minutes a taxi arrived to take us back to where we were staying for the night, the next morning we taxi'd back to were we'd left off the day before. I agree with others you can sit down for an afternoon with your friends and book accomodation all the way through, Im happy to send my "spreadsheet" for you to see, it was really fun as well. Everyone walks differently - we just need to walk in a manner that is respectful to our bodies, Have fun, we would walk this way again we enjoyed it so muchThanks. Where did you stay in La Mesa or Berducedo? (I know I have to pick one or the other
Luggage transfer company we use was CaminoFacil. We had a great response and I would recommend them. Nothing at all went wrong!
You cannot do better than Andaspain! We have gone on three caminos with them and are going again in April! They are so great at helping your Camino be exceptional!
I am doing the Camino Frances in July and August 2023, admittedly busy months. I have booked every night through booking.com. I have found most accommodation through booking.com is already heavily booked (or is fully booked) I tried independent accommodation, emailing, but received no response. Booking.com will take bookings for April, in fact I would recommend the earlier the better.
It's more than likely that the properties have not released rooms to booking.com and other booking sites yet - not that they are already heavily booked.
And there is a very simple way to check this: look at the monthly overview of the property on booking.com. When it has no availability from March 2023 until December 2023, they have not yet released any beds or set their prices yet.
My friends and I walked the Le Puy as far as Auvillar. The gites always either included or offered the dinner option, and the quality French meals by the host/hostess are exceptional. In my experience in 2018, the dinner was always wonderful and doubt you would find many other options to eat your last meal of the day along the way unless staying in the bigger cities, which are few.
We tend to be early eaters and early to bed. What time is dinner normally served at the gites?
I prefer to eat earlier too. Although I can not recall the exact times the gites served dinner, I have no memories of being too hungry or annoyed by any dinners served too late.
We were super happy with Andaspain and never had a moments trouble with our luggage getting where it needed to go or with the places they arranged for us to stay. As I said earlier, we are planning to go on another Camino with them this coming year and have been on three other trips with them. They will not disappoint.
“Forced to chase luggage down the road” — does not mean that the companies performed in any way other than as promised. The companies are fine. The issue is that pilgrim regret sets in when the luggage is destined for the next town and for any of a several dozen reasons (fitness, heat, rain, injury, hunger, a great museum.…) you have to catch up tot he luggage destination. And that means abandoning physical needs and hearts’ desires that had not been anticipated at the outset.
We find that dinner in France is usually about 7pm, not much later, especially in rural areas. Very different to Spain.
Good to know. Thank you.
I would like to see your spreadsheet. I guess you can attach it to this thread?We walked the Primitivo this year in September/October it is an absolutely fantastic walk you will really love it. We stayed in Berducedo and were very happy to stop for the night there, after the Hospitales route. We stayed at Casa de Aldea Araceli, it was great - best shower after a long day walking, they have a bar and small restaurant. I booked all of our accomodation and we were really happy that we planned it this way, we were uncertain of the post COVID impact on the Camino. I would highly recommend another place called Casa Camino Turismo Rural in Casacamino about 15 km from Melide. I carried my pack but my husband needed to transfer some of his and we used Taxi Camino, Tino the owner is wonderful and we never had a problem and just used WhatsApp to contact him., one day we walked (on purpose) 8km ahead and we sent him a message and within 20 minutes a taxi arrived to take us back to where we were staying for the night, the next morning we taxi'd back to were we'd left off the day before. I agree with others you can sit down for an afternoon with your friends and book accomodation all the way through, Im happy to send my "spreadsheet" for you to see, it was really fun as well. Everyone walks differently - we just need to walk in a manner that is respectful to our bodies, Have fun, we would walk this way again we enjoyed it so much
Well it looks like I'm going to be following my own Camino and would love it if you could share your spreadsheet with me. It looks like you can attach the file to this thread.We walked the Primitivo this year in September/October it is an absolutely fantastic walk you will really love it. We stayed in Berducedo and were very happy to stop for the night there, after the Hospitales route. We stayed at Casa de Aldea Araceli, it was great - best shower after a long day walking, they have a bar and small restaurant. I booked all of our accomodation and we were really happy that we planned it this way, we were uncertain of the post COVID impact on the Camino. I would highly recommend another place called Casa Camino Turismo Rural in Casacamino about 15 km from Melide. I carried my pack but my husband needed to transfer some of his and we used Taxi Camino, Tino the owner is wonderful and we never had a problem and just used WhatsApp to contact him., one day we walked (on purpose) 8km ahead and we sent him a message and within 20 minutes a taxi arrived to take us back to where we were staying for the night, the next morning we taxi'd back to were we'd left off the day before. I agree with others you can sit down for an afternoon with your friends and book accomodation all the way through, Im happy to send my "spreadsheet" for you to see, it was really fun as well. Everyone walks differently - we just need to walk in a manner that is respectful to our bodies, Have fun, we would walk this way again we enjoyed it so much
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