Walking from Barcelona at the end of March?

[JustJack]

My family is considering going to Barcelona this March, for the last two weeks (spring break for school kids). This is mainly because Spain is one of the few destinations during spring break that we can fly to from Vancouver at a good price (Air Canada has cheap flights to Barcelona from here during this period).

I have been planning to walk the CF in May/June. I like May/June because I hate the cold weather, and departing SJPDP closer to the end of May should provide decent weather for the entire camino.

However, that obviously requires flying back to Spain after returning from spring break in Barcelona, so the obvious thing for me to consider is staying in Spain to walk a camino and let my family return home without me.

I'm hesitant, due to the weather, but I do want to give it some proper consideration. So, has anyone walked from Barcelona towards the CF along the Camino Catalan in late March / early April? Is the climate between Barcelona and Pamplona any different from the climate along the first third of the CF at that time? (sometimes you get odd microclimates in certain areas...).

I know there are lots of advantages to walking this early, especially along the CF, but I really look forward to those long warm/hot days, and don't really want to give up on the warm/hot weather (which I love) for the sake of fewer pilgrims.

 

[J Willhaus]

U

LIVE from the Camino Thread 'LIVE from the Camino de Catalán'

Apr 23, 2024

Day 1 - To Montserrat we go ......
4 yrs since the last Camino, older, less brain cells, easily confused usually followed by a touch of frustration and sometimes panic . I left Coventry, UK at 6.30am and made it to Barcelona's Plaza Espanya by 2.00pm, and also managed to get my folding walking poles through security as well. The first panic moment on arrival was my phone roaming wasn't working! Luckily, the airport wifi was, and after a Google, I found out that I needed to set up a new APN in the mobile phone settings. Good grief.

Bus 46 takes you from right out front of the airport to...

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• Replies: 102
• Camino de Santiago Forum: 🇪🇸 Camino CATALÁN (from Barcelona /Monts. /Llança)

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@Undermanager walked last year in April.

 

[JustJack]

U

LIVE from the Camino Thread 'LIVE from the Camino de Catalán'

Apr 23, 2024

Day 1 - To Montserrat we go ......
4 yrs since the last Camino, older, less brain cells, easily confused usually followed by a touch of frustration and sometimes panic . I left Coventry, UK at 6.30am and made it to Barcelona's Plaza Espanya by 2.00pm, and also managed to get my folding walking poles through security as well. The first panic moment on arrival was my phone roaming wasn't working! Luckily, the airport wifi was, and after a Google, I found out that I needed to set up a new APN in the mobile phone settings. Good grief.

Bus 46 takes you from right out front of the airport to...

• Undermanager
• Replies: 102
• Camino de Santiago Forum: 🇪🇸 Camino CATALÁN (from Barcelona /Monts. /Llança)

• 
• 
• 

@Undermanager walked last year in April.

Perfect, thank you!

 

[Kiwi-family]

Would you consider one of the caminos that starts further south so that you get warmer weather? Via de la Plata? Mozarabe? Via de Levante or Lana?

 

[JustJack]

Would you consider one of the caminos that starts further south so that you get warmer weather? Via de la Plata? Mozarabe? Via de Levante or Lana?

I walked the VDLP this past spring. And I’ve tentatively made up my mind that I want to walk the CF again.

 

[JabbaPapa]

I'm hesitant, due to the weather, but I do want to give it some proper consideration. So, has anyone walked from Barcelona towards the CF along the Camino Catalan in late March / early April? Is the climate between Barcelona and Pamplona any different from the climate along the first third of the CF at that time? (sometimes you get odd microclimates in certain areas...).

Talking with locals in the region when I was there on my last Camino, their suggestion is that Winter can sometimes be a bit dodgy -- but Spring should be perfect.

It's a Mediterranean climate influenced by the Saharan anticyclone, so it should be comfortable ; as to the area around Barcelona itself in the area of the Camino out of the city, I can remember the weather being nothing but comfortable in the Winter when I lived there decades ago.

 

[Josep Montserrat]

My family is considering going to Barcelona this March, for the last two weeks (spring break for school kids). This is mainly because Spain is one of the few destinations during spring break that we can fly to from Vancouver at a good price (Air Canada has cheap flights to Barcelona from here during this period).

I have been planning to walk the CF in May/June. I like May/June because I hate the cold weather, and departing SJPDP closer to the end of May should provide decent weather for the entire camino.

However, that obviously requires flying back to Spain after returning from spring break in Barcelona, so the obvious thing for me to consider is staying in Spain to walk a camino and let my family return home without me.

I'm hesitant, due to the weather, but I do want to give it some proper consideration. So, has anyone walked from Barcelona towards the CF along the Camino Catalan in late March / early April? Is the climate between Barcelona and Pamplona any different from the climate along the first third of the CF at that time? (sometimes you get odd microclimates in certain areas...).

I know there are lots of advantages to walking this early, especially along the CF, but I really look forward to those long warm/hot days, and don't really want to give up on the warm/hot weather (which I love) for the sake of fewer pilgrims.

Hi Just Jack,

April is a good month to do the Catalan Way from Barcelona, but certain aspects must be taken into account:
From Barcelona to the Monastery of Montserrat there are hardly any hostels, only hotels and there are many, very few pilgrims.
From Montserrat you have good hostel infrastructure. Once in Tàrrega I would go through Huesca and San Juan de la Peña to Santa Cilia, from here is the French Way through Aragon. I recommend it since the hostels are almost insured, the landscape and the historical places it crosses are spectacular.
The weather in April can range from cold to hot, from rainy to dry, so it is unpredictable, but in general terms it is usually a good month for walking, since temperatures during walking hours are usually optimal.
Regarding the number of pilgrims: it may be lonely and you will not see any more pilgrims or you may meet four or five, it is also unpredictable. In any case there will be very few.

I have made the path till Tàrrega, I plan to continue it in the spring. Maybe in April too.

Attention!
Easter is high season for all accommodations. This year it goes from Palm Day, Sunday 13 to Easter Monday, April 21

Bon Camí.

 

[JanDoede]

Hi Jack,
Last year I walked from Barcelona, Zaragoza, Logroño to Burgos. Started mid March. Weather was ok. The first part to Logroño was lonely. Only met a handful of pilgrims, occasionally was the only one in the albergue. The arrival on the CF was a culture shock in that respect. Having done the CF before this was a nice deja vu feeling. Between Barcelona and Montserrat I stayed in Ullastrell Hospedaje Jordi Sans.

Bon Camino

 

[oursonpolaire]

Hi Just Jack,

April is a good month to do the Catalan Way from Barcelona, but certain aspects must be taken into account:
From Barcelona to the Monastery of Montserrat there are hardly any hostels, only hotels and there are many, very few pilgrims.
From Montserrat you have good hostel infrastructure. Once in Tàrrega I would go through Huesca and San Juan de la Peña to Santa Cilia, from here is the French Way through Aragon. I recommend it since the hostels are almost insured, the landscape and the historical places it crosses are spectacular.
The weather in April can range from cold to hot, from rainy to dry, so it is unpredictable, but in general terms it is usually a good month for walking, since temperatures during walking hours are usually optimal.
Regarding the number of pilgrims: it may be lonely and you will not see any more pilgrims or you may meet four or five, it is also unpredictable. In any case there will be very few.

I have made the path till Tàrrega, I plan to continue it in the spring. Maybe in April too.

Attention!
Easter is high season for all accommodations. This year it goes from Palm Day, Sunday 13 to Easter Monday, April 21

Bon Camí.

I have done this a few times; my only caution is that wet weather may make the sierra between Loarre and the Camino Aragonese difficult, if not impassable. In 2017 the Guardia Civil was at the entry of the path near Santa Maria de la Pena to advise me to take the train to Jaca-- faced by a uniformed woman who was armed, I took the suggestion seriously. However, unless you have taken a solemn vow to walk every step, I think that this was excusable and Jaca was a good place to take a rest day, with a very impressive diocesan museum of mediaeval art. But even if you have to take a taxi from Jaca to the monastery of San Juan de la Pena, do not skip it! This was one of my top ten travel experiences in over half a century-- it is so very remarkable.