Walking Le Puy route in May 2019

[Winnie Wong]

Dear Camino friends,

I've walked Camino Frances in May 2018, and I'm now planning le Puy route in May 2019. I would like to seek your advice and help on the following:

Is there any recommendation on useful websites in English for my plan including itinerary, transport, accommodation (is booking in advance necessary?) and daily expense? Any transport backpack service available and how much?
Thanks in advance.

Winnie,
from Hong Kong

 

[Kitsambler]

Is there any recommendation on useful websites in English

Apart from blogs, most everything is in French. Forum member @ChloeRose has a resource as well: https://www.solocamino.com/

my plan including itinerary, transport, accommodation

Get a copy of MIam Miam Dodo (available from online retailers). Until then, this site will help with planning, although it does not include all the lodgings listed in MMD. http://www.chemindecompostelle.com/Selection/CarteFrance.html

(is booking in advance necessary?)

The French will always call ahead at least 24 hours, mostly because the general form is to take the demi-pension option and the host needs to know how many to prepare meals for. Also, in May there are three long holiday weekends, so it is the most popular month for walking. While it is generally possible to obtain a bed without a reservation, this is not universally and constantly the case. Towns in that part of France can be 15-25 km apart (much further separated than the CF in Spain).

daily expense?

Depending on the lodging you choose, estimate 40-50 Euros daily for lodging and three meals.

Any transport backpack service available and how much?

Transport is available along the entire route Le Puy to SJPP, running about 7 Euros per piece. Your lodging host can help you organize.

 

[Kanga]

Miam Miam Dodo was my source of all information. It is in French, but very easy to understand.

It can be ordered here.

 

[Susan Maria]

hello Winnie,
Miam Miam Dodo is very good and easy to interpret. You can buy online from the Confraternity of St James. https://www.csj.org.uk/ The French section is covered by 2 books. There's a Miam Miam Dodo app as well which I haven't purchased because the books look better value to me but you might like it.
La Malle Postale offers baggage transport at 8 euros per piece. I book in French, but I think I have seen a language button on their website. Can't see it now however. But it you go for online chat, the helpful people respond in English. I've even spoken to them on the phone in English. https://www.lamallepostale.com/
For costs, it depends whether you go for bed and breakfast or the more basic pilgrim gite which may be several persons to a room. See my earlier post on this forum to another pilgrim with our costs from 2016.
good luck!
Susan

 

[Felice]

Just come back from 2 weeks walking between Le Puy and Conques. Lovely walk.

Baggage transport: as well as La Malle Poste, there is also Transbagage (www.transbagages.com). We did not use them but saw plenty of people who did. One lady organised Transbagage for a transfer for the next day. I think the cost was 8 euros per stage.
These two companies also operate a shuttle bus which starts early in the morning in Le Puy and arrives at Conques midday, stopping at lots of places on the way, then returns in the afternoon. Very useful if you need to get back to Le Puy for a train, or need a rest one day. Again we did not use them, but saw plenty of people who did.
If you do use bag transport, you need to be aware that there is a risk of acquiring bedbugs that way. The bags are all thrown in the back of a van and left in a pile at the other end. At several places we saw people wrapping their bags in black plastic to minimise this risk.

Accommodation: if you stay in the towns along the route, there will be restaurants available. If you stay in the 'in between' stages, then demi pension is a must. Some of our best evenings were in such gîtes, eating a lovely communal meal with great company. These must be booked at least a day in advance to allow the host to be able to know how many to cook for. They are great value places - 38 or 39 euros for bed breakfast and evening meal.
If you stay in a town, there are hotels and chambre d'hotes. We found chambres to cost about 40 to 45 euros for bed and breakfast for 2 whilst hotels were 60 to 70 euros. Then add meals if you are not cooking - anything from around 10 euros to 20 euros for a main course.

Guides: we like maps so I bought the Topoguide, which has lovely maps. For a profile of the walk, there is one on the godesalco website, below the map. Click on the profile to download and enlarge as needed! https://godesalco.com/camino/podense

Planning: it's a lovely walk but quite tough - tougher than the Camino Frances in that it has more ups and downs, apart from the SJPP to Roncesvalles section. But they are unevenly spread and so judging how far you can walk a day is difficult. We had intended to only walk to Nasbinals one day, a 17km walk, but got there are midday and easily walked the 9km to Aubrac. Contrast with another day when we walked L'Estrade to Espalion (18km) and the hill up to the Virgin in the afternoon heat was torture. Having to book is a complication that does not exist on the CF.
If you want to stay at Le Sauvage, you need to book in good time. Similarly at Montbonnet.

Planning: as well as the godesalco site, I also used gronze. (https://www.gronze.com/camino-santiago-le-puy). I've used it a lot for walking in Spain and I trust it.

Bedbugs: the owner of the gite in Le Puy where we stayed told us that bedbugs were bad on the route. We encountered them in Saugues and apparently this town has something of a reputation. Check your room carefully - do not be fooled by the clean white sheet on the bed. There is also a culture of secrecy/shame surrounding the critters; some people do not like to talk about them openly. Fortunately others are not like that and operate a bedbug regime, where packs are kept well away from the sleeping area. If I walk the Le Puy route again, I will be taking a large light weight dry bag which I will use to put my entire pack in overnight, and also use more bags in my pack to compartmentalise my belongings. No one wants to be forced to wash their merino and silk items at 60 degrees, and tumble driers are not always available.

Timing: others will be better informed than me, but is there a risk of snow on the Aubrac plateau then?

 

[Camino Chrissy]

All good information above. My daily cost for food/lodging was $50-55 euros.

Almost all the gites I stayed in had plastic baskets/tubs for bringing all your needed items into the bedrooms. I actually preferred it as I could easily see whatever I was looking for.

I never saw or encountered any bedbugs in June, but I do spray my sleep sack with permathrin, so possibly that helped.

 

[Glenshiro]

Miam Miam Dodo is available online here - open in Google Chrome.

 

[Kanga]

Yes, in May snow is possible on the Aubrac.

 

[TimH]

In terms of guide books we used the English language Lightfoot Guide to the Via Podiensis from Pilgrimage Publications. I had the electronic version on my phone. The other thing we found VERY useful is the French emapping application iPhiGenie which shows all walking routes in France over a topographic mapping underlay. It made it impossible to get lost and was enormously useful when we had to walk off route for accommodation or, indeed, short cuts. We walked from late April to early June starting Le Puy and finishing in Pamplona. It snowed on five of those days, this was not an issue for us at all except for one very heavy snowfall on our last day on the Aubrac. The new snow was so deep it was impossible to follow the route so we walked down a road with no traffic. Awesomely beautiful!

We booked our accommodation between 1 and 3 days ahead and were generally fine. Never saw a bedbug!

The language of this Camino is French only. We do not speak it but the people were just fantastic and we got by just fine.

In our experience this was an awesome walk and one that we would recommend above the other Camino routes we have done (Frances, part Norte and Via di Francesco).

 

[AlwynWellington]

@Winnie Wong , different ways for different people.

I decided to book nothing except from travel from my home to Lyon and my return home five months later from London.
And it worked. The one time I did book ahead (rather my host rang for me that morning) I actually arrived two days late.

I had a wonderful variety of accomodation. When I had decided to stop for the day I usually just went to the first gite on entering the town or village. While I note the comments of others above, I also suspect owners were quite adept at putting another potato in the pot.

The guide I found most useful was Michelin's #161 Chemins de Compostelle. For each of the suggested stages are
1) elevation profile, highlights along the way, distances and a selection of gite at each waypoint on one page
2) topographical map for the stage and a thumb nail of the overall route

Now I have some questions for you to ponder on. To walk nearly 800 km:
1) have you trained sufficiently?
2) is your clothing and equipment suitable for you?
3) is your clothing and equipment "broken in"?

I greatly enjoyed the trip from Le Puy. I hope you enjoy it as well

 

[Felice]

@Winnie Wong , different ways for different people.

I decided to book nothing except from travel from my home to Lyon and my return home five months later from London.
And it worked. The one time I did book ahead (rather my host rang for me that morning) I actually arrived two days late.

I had a wonderful variety of accomodation. When I had decided to stop for the day I usually just went to the first gite on entering the town or village. While I note the comments of others above, I also suspect owners were quite adept at putting another potato in the pot.

The guide I found most useful was Michelin's #161 Chemins de Compostelle. For each of the suggested stages are
1) elevation profile, highlights along the way, distances and a selection of gite at each waypoint on one page
2) topographical map for the stage and a thumb nail of the overall route

Now I have some questions for you to ponder on. To walk nearly 800 km:
1) have you trained sufficiently?
2) is your clothing and equipment suitable for you?
3) is your clothing and equipment "broken in"?

I greatly enjoyed the trip from Le Puy. I hope you enjoy it as well

I am sure ONE extra person could easily accommodated at the evening meal in a larger establishment, but 2 or more in a smaller, say 10 bed rural gîte? You'd need to be aware of the size of the place. Also, in Sept, we found that there were distinct 'bottlenecks' villages with no accommodation available on the day anyway. If you want to 'wing it' in Sept (my favourite way on the CF) then you need to be prepared to walk further some nights. May would be different.

The Michelin guide is good in that it has an elevation plan. But the distances now and then are inaccurate (when compared with the Topo guide or MMDD) and the profile not always as good a warning as I would have liked. But still useful. I scanned the Michelin profiles and the TOPO maps and put them together into a sheet for each day we walked. My daughter loved the information all to hand.

And on the totally irresponsible side - I bought my shoes over the internet for the walk a couple of days before I left. And not a blister or anything the whole walk through. They were the exact same type of running shoe that I had used in May for the San Salvador, only a half size bigger (Sports Direct had run out of the proper size). I wore them to walk 5 mins in to town and back, which usually reveals any problems straight away, then 'broke them in' on the journey to the airport. Got away with it this time!!!!

 

[JulieandPeter]

We just finished the walk from Le Puy to SJPDP five minutes ago (well maybe 25 minutes ago ). It was wonderful!! As mentioned above this planning tool is excellent https://godesalco.com/camino/podense (we used the profile maps which I downloaded into Google Docs and were very accurate all of the time). I also downloaded the Cicerone guide (onto Kindle for my phone) which was pretty good and used the Miami Miami Dodo app http://chemindecompostelle.com/Selection/CarteFrance.html which was very useful, but does not have as much information as the book. Happy planning!

 

[Simon Shum]

Hi Winnie, all of the above are excellent.
You might also want to join this Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ViaPodiensis/
There is a very short "lodging guide" by the coordinator Robert Forrester there, and lots of relevant postings. Some members there may tell you a guide might not be absolutely necessary since this GR65 route is well marked.

Originally my wife and I planned to walk from Le Puy in Sept this year but now planning on April/May 2019. Might see you there!

Keep your eyes on this forum and the Facebook group with your planning! And learn French now -- most pilgrims said you will enjoy the walk so much more if you speak French, but many enjoy the walk without a word of French too!
Bon Chemin!

 

[Alastair Calder]

Great to read the comments , as I intend to walk the Le Puy route starting about 5 June 2019. Having walked the Camino Frances (2015 )and also Porto to Santiagao (2017 ) , I'm looking forward to adding the Le Puy route although this time on my own as my walking pal not able to come . Brushing up on my school boy French my current focus .
Probably will book my accomm ahead , but I do carry my own pack get it down to 7 kgs
Expecting good weather and no rain and not too many walkers .
Value any comments
Regards from New Zealand
Ap

 

[Kitsambler]

Schoolboy French will serve you well. 7 kg is great. June has good weather and no crowds. Booking ahead for the English-speaking lodgings is helpful. One day ahead for demi-pension in general is sufficient.

 

[Glenshiro]

I, too, speak schoolboy French. Trouble is, you can't always find a schoolboy when you need one!

 

[Felice]

I speak schoolgirl French. Maybe your school boy and my school girl can get together somewhere along the way...

 

[Tandem Graham]

Hi Winnie, As other posters have said, it is a beautiful way from Le Puy to St Jean, you will not regret choosing to walk it. I relished my pilgrimage on this route in April 2018.
Best planning website: https://godesalco.com/camino/podense
Best guidebook: MiamMiam Dodo is up to date and comprehensive. Yes it's in French, but there is a lot of schematic info and a key to interpreting it in several languages. The Lightfoot guide (in English) is worth a read, but you might not want to carry both.
Booking ahead: May is busier than April, but I was able to phone ahead to book my accommodation each lunchtime for the same evening. (That way, I knew how my legs were feeling.) I can speak a bit of French but often the hosts were ready to switch to English without my prompting. Perhaps take advice from your hosts as to whether to book further in advance.
Budget: I spent roughly 50 Euros per day.
Pack transport: Much better to carry your own (stripped down) pack as it allows you flexibility of where to stay. There are a couple of pack transport services though, which your hosts will help with.
Differences: The Le Puy route is much quieter, more varied terrain and a bit more rolling than Camino Frances.
On a couple of days I met only one or two other pilgrims during the day. Some days I had to carry lunch because there were no options to buy on the trail. Gites d'etape are the norm rather than albergues, and I would recommend half board (demi-pension) for the great cooking and the social opportunities with hosts and fellow-pilgrims.
Terrain: I would recommend a strong walking/hiking shoe, rather than trainers, for the frequent off-road sections.
Weather: Will vary, with some very windswept, sundrenched, wet, hot, dry, sections. You'd be very unlucky to encounter snow on the Aubrac in May, but it could happen.
Highlights: the wilderness of the Aubrac, the abbeys in Conques and Moissac and the Vauban fortified town of Navarrenx. But mostly my fellow pilgrims and our hosts!

I hope you find this useful. Bon Chemin!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

In terms of guide books we used the English language Lightfoot Guide to the Via Podiensis from Pilgrimage Publications. I had the electronic version on my phone. The other thing we found VERY useful is the French emapping application iPhiGenie which shows all walking routes in France over a topographic mapping underlay. It made it impossible to get lost and was enormously useful when we had to walk off route for accommodation or, indeed, short cuts. We walked from late April to early June starting Le Puy and finishing in Pamplona. It snowed on five of those days, this was not an issue for us at all except for one very heavy snowfall on our last day on the Aubrac. The new snow was so deep it was impossible to follow the route so we walked down a road with no traffic. Awesomely beautiful!

We booked our accommodation between 1 and 3 days ahead and were generally fine. Never saw a bedbug!

The language of this Camino is French only. We do not speak it but the people were just fantastic and we got by just fine.

In our experience this was an awesome walk and one that we would recommend above the other Camino routes we have done (Frances, part Norte and Via di Francesco).

I walked Le Puy to Auvillar this past June and loved it. I was considering walking the Via de Francesco (Way of St. Francis) sometime in the next year or so. I love Italy and thought this would be a lovely route. Why did you prefer the Le Puy?

 

[Glenshiro]

I speak schoolgirl French. Maybe your school boy and my school girl can get together somewhere along the way...

I suspect they already have........

 

[Winnie Wong]

Apart from blogs, most everything is in French. Forum member @ChloeRose has a resource as well: https://www.solocamino.com/

Get a copy of MIam Miam Dodo (available from online retailers). Until then, this site will help with planning, although it does not include all the lodgings listed in MMD. http://www.chemindecompostelle.com/Selection/CarteFrance.html


The French will always call ahead at least 24 hours, mostly because the general form is to take the demi-pension option and the host needs to know how many to prepare meals for. Also, in May there are three long holiday weekends, so it is the most popular month for walking. While it is generally possible to obtain a bed without a reservation, this is not universally and constantly the case. Towns in that part of France can be 15-25 km apart (much further separated than the CF in Spain).


Depending on the lodging you choose, estimate 40-50 Euros daily for lodging and three meals.

Transport is available along the entire route Le Puy to SJPP, running about 7 Euros per piece. Your lodging host can help you organize.

Dear Kitsambler,
Wow so many thanks to your detailed information. Sorry that I haven't logged in my account to view the responses on the Camino forum. I need some more time to study the information. Really thanks.

Winnie

 

[Winnie Wong]

Just come back from 2 weeks walking between Le Puy and Conques. Lovely walk.

Baggage transport: as well as La Malle Poste, there is also Transbagage (www.transbagages.com). We did not use them but saw plenty of people who did. One lady organised Transbagage for a transfer for the next day. I think the cost was 8 euros per stage.
These two companies also operate a shuttle bus which starts early in the morning in Le Puy and arrives at Conques midday, stopping at lots of places on the way, then returns in the afternoon. Very useful if you need to get back to Le Puy for a train, or need a rest one day. Again we did not use them, but saw plenty of people who did.
If you do use bag transport, you need to be aware that there is a risk of acquiring bedbugs that way. The bags are all thrown in the back of a van and left in a pile at the other end. At several places we saw people wrapping their bags in black plastic to minimise this risk.

Accommodation: if you stay in the towns along the route, there will be restaurants available. If you stay in the 'in between' stages, then demi pension is a must. Some of our best evenings were in such gîtes, eating a lovely communal meal with great company. These must be booked at least a day in advance to allow the host to be able to know how many to cook for. They are great value places - 38 or 39 euros for bed breakfast and evening meal.
If you stay in a town, there are hotels and chambre d'hotes. We found chambres to cost about 40 to 45 euros for bed and breakfast for 2 whilst hotels were 60 to 70 euros. Then add meals if you are not cooking - anything from around 10 euros to 20 euros for a main course.

Guides: we like maps so I bought the Topoguide, which has lovely maps. For a profile of the walk, there is one on the godesalco website, below the map. Click on the profile to download and enlarge as needed! https://godesalco.com/camino/podense

Planning: it's a lovely walk but quite tough - tougher than the Camino Frances in that it has more ups and downs, apart from the SJPP to Roncesvalles section. But they are unevenly spread and so judging how far you can walk a day is difficult. We had intended to only walk to Nasbinals one day, a 17km walk, but got there are midday and easily walked the 9km to Aubrac. Contrast with another day when we walked L'Estrade to Espalion (18km) and the hill up to the Virgin in the afternoon heat was torture. Having to book is a complication that does not exist on the CF.
If you want to stay at Le Sauvage, you need to book in good time. Similarly at Montbonnet.

Planning: as well as the godesalco site, I also used gronze. (https://www.gronze.com/camino-santiago-le-puy). I've used it a lot for walking in Spain and I trust it.

Bedbugs: the owner of the gite in Le Puy where we stayed told us that bedbugs were bad on the route. We encountered them in Saugues and apparently this town has something of a reputation. Check your room carefully - do not be fooled by the clean white sheet on the bed. There is also a culture of secrecy/shame surrounding the critters; some people do not like to talk about them openly. Fortunately others are not like that and operate a bedbug regime, where packs are kept well away from the sleeping area. If I walk the Le Puy route again, I will be taking a large light weight dry bag which I will use to put my entire pack in overnight, and also use more bags in my pack to compartmentalise my belongings. No one wants to be forced to wash their merino and silk items at 60 degrees, and tumble driers are not always available.

Timing: others will be better informed than me, but is there a risk of snow on the Aubrac plateau then?

Dear Felice,
Thanks so much for your detailed reply as you've already traveled the way. Fresh experience,you really enjoy it, don't you? Oh bedbugs, you reminded me. I've never encountered that on Camino Frances. Fear of it. Let me study your information in details. Still have time. Many many thanks.
Winnie

 

[Winnie Wong]

I walked Le Puy to Auvillar this past June and loved it. I was considering walking the Via de Francesco (Way of St. Francis) sometime in the next year or so. I love Italy and thought this would be a lovely route. Why did you prefer the Le Puy?

hello Winnie,
Miam Miam Dodo is very good and easy to interpret. You can buy online from the Confraternity of St James. https://www.csj.org.uk/ The French section is covered by 2 books. There's a Miam Miam Dodo app as well which I haven't purchased because the books look better value to me but you might like it.
La Malle Postale offers baggage transport at 8 euros per piece. I book in French, but I think I have seen a language button on their website. Can't see it now however. But it you go for online chat, the helpful people respond in English. I've even spoken to them on the phone in English. https://www.lamallepostale.com/
For costs, it depends whether you go for bed and breakfast or the more basic pilgrim gite which may be several persons to a room. See my earlier post on this forum to another pilgrim with our costs from 2016.
good luck!
Susan

Dear Susan,
Thank you so much. You've given me useful information. So lucky to meet helpful people on the forum. Really helps me plan the Le Puy route.
Winnie

 

[Winnie Wong]

Hi Winnie, As other posters have said, it is a beautiful way from Le Puy to St Jean, you will not regret choosing to walk it. I relished my pilgrimage on this route in April 2018.
Best planning website: https://godesalco.com/camino/podense
Best guidebook: MiamMiam Dodo is up to date and comprehensive. Yes it's in French, but there is a lot of schematic info and a key to interpreting it in several languages. The Lightfoot guide (in English) is worth a read, but you might not want to carry both.
Booking ahead: May is busier than April, but I was able to phone ahead to book my accommodation each lunchtime for the same evening. (That way, I knew how my legs were feeling.) I can speak a bit of French but often the hosts were ready to switch to English without my prompting. Perhaps take advice from your hosts as to whether to book further in advance.
Budget: I spent roughly 50 Euros per day.
Pack transport: Much better to carry your own (stripped down) pack as it allows you flexibility of where to stay. There are a couple of pack transport services though, which your hosts will help with.
Differences: The Le Puy route is much quieter, more varied terrain and a bit more rolling than Camino Frances.
On a couple of days I met only one or two other pilgrims during the day. Some days I had to carry lunch because there were no options to buy on the trail. Gites d'etape are the norm rather than albergues, and I would recommend half board (demi-pension) for the great cooking and the social opportunities with hosts and fellow-pilgrims.
Terrain: I would recommend a strong walking/hiking shoe, rather than trainers, for the frequent off-road sections.
Weather: Will vary, with some very windswept, sundrenched, wet, hot, dry, sections. You'd be very unlucky to encounter snow on the Aubrac in May, but it could happen.
Highlights: the wilderness of the Aubrac, the abbeys in Conques and Moissac and the Vauban fortified town of Navarrenx. But mostly my fellow pilgrims and our hosts!

I hope you find this useful. Bon Chemin!

Dear Tandem,
Thousand thanks to your detailed explanation about the route. I can gather from you and other forum respondents similar useful information so that I can plan ahead the pilgrimage next year.
Winnie

 

[Winnie Wong]

All good information above. My daily cost for food/lodging was $50-55 euros.

Almost all the gites I stayed in had plastic baskets/tubs for bringing all your needed items into the bedrooms. I actually preferred it as I could easily see whatever I was looking for.

I never saw or encountered any bedbugs in June, but I do spray my sleep sack with permathrin, so possibly that helped.

Dear Chris,
Permathrin spray, I noted down first. Thanks for your information. Also the budget. Always meet nice people on Camino as well as Camino forum.
Winnie

 

[Winnie Wong]

Hi Winnie, all of the above are excellent.
You might also want to join this Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ViaPodiensis/
There is a very short "lodging guide" by the coordinator Robert Forrester there, and lots of relevant postings. Some members there may tell you a guide might not be absolutely necessary since this GR65 route is well marked.

Originally my wife and I planned to walk from Le Puy in Sept this year but now planning on April/May 2019. Might see you there!

Keep your eyes on this forum and the Facebook group with your planning! And learn French now -- most pilgrims said you will enjoy the walk so much more if you speak French, but many enjoy the walk without a word of French too!
Bon Chemin!

Hi Simon,
Noted with many thanks. I'm planning to start walking in May, might not see you and your wife. Bon Chemin! (at least I started to learn a little French).
Winnie

 

[Winnie Wong]

@Winnie Wong , different ways for different people.

I decided to book nothing except from travel from my home to Lyon and my return home five months later from London.
And it worked. The one time I did book ahead (rather my host rang for me that morning) I actually arrived two days late.

I had a wonderful variety of accomodation. When I had decided to stop for the day I usually just went to the first gite on entering the town or village. While I note the comments of others above, I also suspect owners were quite adept at putting another potato in the pot.

The guide I found most useful was Michelin's #161 Chemins de Compostelle. For each of the suggested stages are
1) elevation profile, highlights along the way, distances and a selection of gite at each waypoint on one page
2) topographical map for the stage and a thumb nail of the overall route

Now I have some questions for you to ponder on. To walk nearly 800 km:
1) have you trained sufficiently?
2) is your clothing and equipment suitable for you?
3) is your clothing and equipment "broken in"?

I greatly enjoyed the trip from Le Puy. I hope you enjoy it as well

Dear Alwyn,
Thanks for your information and caring of my physical condition. I walked partial Camino Frances for 400km in May 2018, and luckily to have finished it unhurt, e.g. no blisters (I have good hiking boots). To be physically fit enough to walk a longer way, I have physical exercise 3 to 4 times a week, including high intensity training. I'm also a frequent hiker.
I heard that the Le Puy route is wonderful, and I hope I will definitely enjoy it.
Winnie

 

[Susan Maria]

Dear Susan,
Thank you so much. You've given me useful information. So lucky to meet helpful people on the forum. Really helps me plan the Le Puy route.
Winnie

happy to help.

 

[NinaB]

Also, in May there are three long holiday weekends, so it is the most popular month for walking

Thank you all for your input here. I am in the planning stages now for May 2019. I am planning only 3 days from Navarrenx to Saint Jean, then continuing on to Burgos on the Frances. Can you tell me what the holidays are in May? Now a little worried about getting accommodations. Also, I just found a great site in English where I was able to get a great little e-guide on just the last section into SJPP and read about the walk. It is ilovewalkinginfrance.com.

 

[Kitsambler]

The two fixed-date May holidays are: May Day (May 1), Victory Day (May 8). Pentecost/Whitsunday often falls in May, and is preceeded by Ascension, which falls on a Thursday. These are moveable feasts, which means the dates change every year (they are connected to the date for Easter). https://publicholidays.fr/2019-dates/

 

[Alastair Calder]

Hi Winnie, As other posters have said, it is a beautiful way from Le Puy to St Jean, you will not regret choosing to walk it. I relished my pilgrimage on this route in April 2018.
Best planning website: https://godesalco.com/camino/podense
Best guidebook: MiamMiam Dodo is up to date and comprehensive. Yes it's in French, but there is a lot of schematic info and a key to interpreting it in several languages. The Lightfoot guide (in English) is worth a read, but you might not want to carry both.
Booking ahead: May is busier than April, but I was able to phone ahead to book my accommodation each lunchtime for the same evening. (That way, I knew how my legs were feeling.) I can speak a bit of French but often the hosts were ready to switch to English without my prompting. Perhaps take advice from your hosts as to whether to book further in advance.
Budget: I spent roughly 50 Euros per day.
Pack transport: Much better to carry your own (stripped down) pack as it allows you flexibility of where to stay. There are a couple of pack transport services though, which your hosts will help with.
Differences: The Le Puy route is much quieter, more varied terrain and a bit more rolling than Camino Frances.
On a couple of days I met only one or two other pilgrims during the day. Some days I had to carry lunch because there were no options to buy on the trail. Gites d'etape are the norm rather than albergues, and I would recommend half board (demi-pension) for the great cooking and the social opportunities with hosts and fellow-pilgrims.
Terrain: I would recommend a strong walking/hiking shoe, rather than trainers, for the frequent off-road sections.
Weather: Will vary, with some very windswept, sundrenched, wet, hot, dry, sections. You'd be very unlucky to encounter snow on the Aubrac in May, but it could happen.
Highlights: the wilderness of the Aubrac, the abbeys in Conques and Moissac and the Vauban fortified town of Navarrenx. But mostly my fellow pilgrims and our hosts!

I hope you find this useful. Bon Chemin!

Fantastic help
Will be walking in June next year
Regards Ap

 

[Left Coaster]

I too am planning/hoping to do another Camino in 2019. Le Puy has caught my eye and I am interested in your opinion of the degree of difficulty of the Le Puy route vs Primitivo, ie. daily elevations and stage distances. I did the CF in 2014 and the Primitive in 2017 and am comfortable doing 25km to 30km stages.

 

[Billy Buell]

Hi Winnie, all of the above are excellent.
You might also want to join this Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ViaPodiensis/
There is a very short "lodging guide" by the coordinator Robert Forrester there, and lots of relevant postings. Some members there may tell you a guide might not be absolutely necessary since this GR65 route is well marked.

Originally my wife and I planned to walk from Le Puy in Sept this year but now planning on April/May 2019. Might see you there!

Keep your eyes on this forum and the Facebook group with your planning! And learn French now -- most pilgrims said you will enjoy the walk so much more if you speak French, but many enjoy the walk without a word of French too!
Bon Chemin!

Hi. My Austrailian friend John and myself plan arriving in LePuy May 5 to start our walk to sjpdp. We are both in our 70's and have completed VF, C.F., Portuguese from Lisbon. This may be a challenge for me as I crushed 3 vertebrae last Feb. Should be okay by May. Hope we meet up along the way. I joined the FB group you mentioned.

 

[Karma_m]

I am sure ONE extra person could easily accommodated at the evening meal in a larger establishment, but 2 or more in a smaller, say 10 bed rural gîte? You'd need to be aware of the size of the place. Also, in Sept, we found that there were distinct 'bottlenecks' villages with no accommodation available on the day anyway. If you want to 'wing it' in Sept (my favourite way on the CF) then you need to be prepared to walk further some nights. May would be different.

The Michelin guide is good in that it has an elevation plan. But the distances now and then are inaccurate (when compared with the Topo guide or MMDD) and the profile not always as good a warning as I would have liked. But still useful. I scanned the Michelin profiles and the TOPO maps and put them together into a sheet for each day we walked. My daughter loved the information all to hand.

And on the totally irresponsible side - I bought my shoes over the internet for the walk a couple of days before I left. And not a blister or anything the whole walk through. They were the exact same type of running shoe that I had used in May for the San Salvador, only a half size bigger (Sports Direct had run out of the proper size). I wore them to walk 5 mins in to town and back, which usually reveals any problems straight away, then 'broke them in' on the journey to the airport. Got away with it this time!!!!

Hi Felice,
Just wondering how you would compare the Le puy to San Salvador/primitive for difficulty/ scenery/ social ...I realise it is totally subjective but am so confused as to which one to do this September....yep left everything, including training, to the last minute... cheers Carm

 

[Simon Shum]

Hi Karma, I could share my experience with you as I just walked from Le Puy to Moissac in May/June, and I also walked the Salvador/Primitivo a few years back. In term of panoramic views, I really like the Salvador -- it is five days of very enjoyable up and down the mountains with bucolic and panoramic views! The Primitivo gives you lots of varieties of mountain, reservoir, old monasteries, and very beautiful if you take the hospsitalero routes up in the mountains!

I also like the Le Puy route a lot -- the plateaus, the well preserved most beautiful villages, many many very beautiful cathedrals and monasteries, Cele valley, Rocamadour (you would miss a lot if you do not have time for these two variants!), peche merle (20,000 years old cave paintings). And you will have lots of opportunities to feel/enjoy the history, cultures, architecture, and beautiful French foods!

You will enjoy either one! You really should do some good training with hills, because you will go up and down the mountains almost everyday, or often, couple times a day in with one of those routes! It probably is easier to walk short days in the Le Puy route. As for the Salvador, there is not much chance of short days, most pilgrims do in five days!

Buen Camino! Bon Chemin!

 

[Karma_m]

Hi Karma, I could share my experience with you as I just walked from Le Puy to Moissac in May/June, and I also walked the Salvador/Primitivo a few years back. In term of panoramic views, I really like the Salvador -- it is five days of very enjoyable up and down the mountains with bucolic and panoramic views! The Primitivo gives you lots of varieties of mountain, reservoir, old monasteries, and very beautiful if you take the hospsitalero routes up in the mountains!

I also like the Le Puy route a lot -- the plateaus, the well preserved most beautiful villages, many many very beautiful cathedrals and monasteries, Cele valley, Rocamadour (you would miss a lot if you do not have time for these two variants!), peche merle (20,000 years old cave paintings). And you will have lots of opportunities to feel/enjoy the history, cultures, architecture, and beautiful French foods!

You will enjoy either one! You really should do some good training with hills, because you will go up and down the mountains almost everyday, or often, couple times a day in with one of those routes! It probably is easier to walk short days in the Le Puy route. As for the Salvador, there is not much chance of short days, most pilgrims do in five days!

Buen Camino! Bon Chemin!

Thank you Simon.....so you can't really sell me on one or the other ...i am so not good with decisions! Hopefully I will be given the chance to do the other in the future..Which has been your favourite Camino that you have walked?

 

[Simon Shum]

Hi Karma, if I did it again, I would do the Salvador/Primitivo combination first. Couple reasons: I really like waking up in the mountains in the Salvador, looking out the window to see the mountains vaguely through the mist is so heavenly beautiful! I missed that views and the sensation it gave me!

I also liked the Salvador for another personal reason -- it revealed "God's wonderful design" to me (I am not really religious!) -- here's the story: the first day before you go up the mountain, you will pass through a small supermercado where you must buy your lunch and I didn't respond to the voice in my head to tell me buy! Three hours later up in the mountain with no foods but just half a small pack of sugar that I didn't put in my cafe con leche, that lasted me 10 minutes. With absolutely no foods and very very hunger, I just had to tell myself there really is no foods so stomach please stop complaining! Then I took out everything in my back pack and put in back, nothing is edible! So I told my "body system" hey guys there is nothing to eat so please just walk with me! Very hunger and weak for a few more minutes, but then miracle happened -- instead of hungry and miserable, I suddenly was full of energy like I wouldn't believe! So I marched on and enjoy the beautiful mountain scenery! And it dawned on me that my body was quite convinced that it cannot get anything from my stomach since there is no foods, the system just switch itself to "fat burning mode" and converting my fats into energy! Vow, talk about the wonder of our human body!! What a revelation!

So here you go! Hope that helps to make up your mind. But probably it is a matter of time you do the other camino -- I have done six different camino after the Salvador! So enjoy!