Walking the Frances Route starting early March 2025

[slee92630]

I'm looking at starting around March 10, 2025, and will leave from Saint Jean Pied de Port. I welcome any input from people that started that early. A couple of concerns included the weather the first few days being unpredictable and finding albergues open that early in the season. Also, which have you found more convenient, flying into Madrid or Paris as far large airports go (coming from California)? Thank you.

 

[Tincatinker]

I'm looking at starting around March 10, 2025, and will leave from Saint Jean Pied de Port. I welcome any input from people that started that early. A couple of concerns included the weather the first few days being unpredictable and finding albergues open that early in the season. Also, which have you found more convenient, flying into Madrid or Paris as far large airports go (coming from California)? Thank you.

In March I would suggest flying into Paris if your intention is to start walking from St Jean. There will be no bus from Pamplona. There will be trains to Bayonne and a train or replacement bus to St J.

The Route Napoleon will be closed. The Albergue in Valcarlos can be booked in advance but that is unlikely to be necessary at that time of year. An email or phone call in advance will let them know you’re coming. There are a few alternative accommodations in Valcarlos.

https://www.gronze.com/camino-frances Is an excellent resource for accommodations

 

[J Willhaus]

We are starting March 1 in Roncesvalles and will walk to the community of Grañón where we will serve as hospitaleros from 15 to 31 March. I hope you'll stop in to stay or at least say Hello on your way through town.

We will fly to Madrid, take the train to Pamplona and then the afternoon bus to Roncesvalles to start the next morning. Easier than getting to SJPDP and we don't have to cross the Pyrenees in winter.

 

[J Willhaus]

There is also a winter website. Which can help you find lodging in addition to Gronze.com

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[geot]

We left SJPdP on March 15th this year. We had no trouble finding albergues to spend the night. Also, I found Gronze to quite reliable about seasonal start dates and daily opening times.

In terms of the weather, you may want to look at the weather forecast a few days in advance of your departure and plan where to stay, especially the first night or two. We got lucky with the weather this year and made it to Roncesvalles the first day. If we had left two weeks earlier, we would have run into snow that would have made staying in Valcarlos absolutely necessary.

Lastly, we had booked a flight into Madrid early on. Our plan originally was to take a train to Pamplona and then the bus to SJPdP. When I looked into tickets for the bus, I found out it didn't run that early in March. We could have taken a taxi but we opted for a more circuitous option -- fly from Madrid to San Sebastian, walk from the airport through Irun to Hendaye, spend the night in Hendaye, train the next day to Bayone and then Bayone to SJPdP. It worked out fine for us, but flying into Paris would probably be simpler for you.

 

[Felipe]

As mentioned above, the Route Napoleon will be closed.
You can split the way to Roncesvalles in two (recommended with bad weather, very possible in March), staying in Valcarlos. The Albergue Municipal there was excellent when I stayed, some years ago; it is open all year round. No reservations needed, but it is advisable to phone previously to get the digital door key (the hospitalero just comes at dusk to collect). It has a kitchen, and you can buy your groceries in a big supermarket in the previous town. There are recent comments (in Gronze) that report poor maintenance, but I am quite sure it is a good option anyway.

Albergue municipal - Ayuntamiento de Luzaide / Valcarlos

luzaide-valcarlos.net

After Valcarlos there is a half an hour walk along the highroad and then the path goes through a pleasant forest (which could be quite muddy in March). There are pilgrims that prefer to go all the way along the road. It has only little traffic, but caution is always advisable.

 

[wynrich]

In 2022, we walked on the Frances starting around March 1. There were some very cold days. Walking in the cold wasn't a problem, even invigorating. But sometimes indoors we got very cold. Lots of restaurants, hotels, etc. were not heated. So, you might want to bring clothing to keep you warm indoors. Also, a number of albergues and hotels, etc. were open, but many were not. Many we called said they wouldn't open until Easter which I think was mid-April that year. And since we walk fairly short distances each day, sometimes there was no place to stay at the shorter distance we needed. I'm not trying to discourage you from going in March but those were two things we didn't expect and were not quite prepared for since we had never gone that early in the past. Also, you might be able to walk further than us and be more flexible.

 

[AidaYYC]

We are starting March 1 in Roncesvalles and will walk to the community of Grañón where we will serve as hospitaleros from 15 to 31 March. I hope you'll stop in to stay or at least say Hello on your way through town.

We will fly to Madrid, take the train to Pamplona and then the afternoon bus to Roncesvalles to start the next morning. Easier than getting to SJPDP and we don't have to cross the Pyrenees in winter.

Thank you in advance for your service. I am also a trained 'hospitalera' but have never served. Buena suerte

 

[J Willhaus]

Thank you in advance for your service. I am also a trained 'hospitalera' but have never served. Buena suerte

There is still time!

 

[KevinWilcox]

We left SJPdP on March 15th this year. We had no trouble finding albergues to spend the night. Also, I found Gronze to quite reliable about seasonal start dates and daily opening times.

In terms of the weather, you may want to look at the weather forecast a few days in advance of your departure and plan where to stay, especially the first night or two. We got lucky with the weather this year and made it to Roncesvalles the first day. If we had left two weeks earlier, we would have run into snow that would have made staying in Valcarlos absolutely necessary.

Lastly, we had booked a flight into Madrid early on. Our plan originally was to take a train to Pamplona and then the bus to SJPdP. When I looked into tickets for the bus, I found out it didn't run that early in March. We could have taken a taxi but we opted for a more circuitous option -- fly from Madrid to San Sebastian, walk from the airport through Irun to Hendaye, spend the night in Hendaye, train the next day to Bayone and then Bayone to SJPdP. It worked out fine for us, but flying into Paris would probably be simpler for you.

If possible would you mind giving an outline of how far you walked each day, and how busy it was stage by stage. I ask because I’m thinking of starting around the same time. I’m trying to get a feel for whether, by the time you get to Sarria, it’s become hugely busy. Personally I’d enjoy there being enough people around to be able to have company, but not a daily race to get a bed.

 

[KevinWilcox]

In 2022, we walked on the Frances starting around March 1. There were some very cold days. Walking in the cold wasn't a problem, even invigorating. But sometimes indoors we got very cold. Lots of restaurants, hotels, etc. were not heated. So, you might want to bring clothing to keep you warm indoors. Also, a number of albergues and hotels, etc. were open, but many were not. Many we called said they wouldn't open until Easter which I think was mid-April that year. And since we walk fairly short distances each day, sometimes there was no place to stay at the shorter distance we needed. I'm not trying to discourage you from going in March but those were two things we didn't expect and were not quite prepared for since we had never gone that early in the past. Also, you might be able to walk further than us and be more flexible.

So, how did you manage? I ask because I’m also looking at early to mid march and, like you, I’ll probably be doing shorter than normal daily distances.

 

[wynrich]

So, how did you manage? I ask because I’m also looking at early to mid march and, like you, I’ll probably be doing shorter than normal daily distances.

Well, we ended up having a strange but enjoyable camino. Our original plan was to walk the last half of the Frances, from Sahagun to Santiago. We walked as far as Astorga and then took a bus to Ponferrada to avoid bad weather in the mountains. We then walked to Villafranca. We were still cold indoors and started fantasizing about going down to Andalucia. I'm glad we didn't succumb to that temptation, but we saw that A Coruña was a few degrees warmer so we took a bus there from Villafranca and stayed for a week. Had a great time. (The first thing we asked our airbnb host in A Coruña was "Is the apartment heated?!") We returned to Villafranca (with warmer clothes to wear indoors) and continued walking. The weather was a little warmer by then also so the cold was no longer a problem. We thought accommodation would get easier after Sarria, but to our surprise it got worse. More places still closed. We got as far as Palas de Rei and decided we didn't want to do any more of all the taxi wrangling, etc. We ended up taking a bus to Muxia and spending our last days there. Another great stay!

In your case: You might walk a little further that our typical 12-15 km per day! Also, this was 2022 and some places might have still been shut after covid and some went out of business. So things might be very different now. Also, mostly, we prefer not to stay in albergues. We've done it some but I can't remember if we chose not to stay in some of those that camino or not. If you aren't as picky as we are you'll probably have more options. You might use WhatsApp, etc. to contact places you'd like to stay to see if they will be open. And definitely bring something warm to wear indoors. I'm sure you can make it work, especially if you are willing occasionally to take a taxi to an accommodation. You can then take a taxi back the next morning and start walking where you left off if you don't want to miss any of the camino. Good luck and buen camino!