How to prepare for the Camino de Santiago: budget, physical condition... What you need to know

Year after year, the growing success of the Compostela routes confirms the incredible appeal of what is as much a spiritual quest as a moment of deep disconnection.

Here is what you need to know if you are a future "Backgammon".

Read the fileSantiago de Compostela: itinerary, pilgrimage... Our guide

When is the best time to do the Camino de Santiago?

Notre-Dame du Puy en Velay cathedral and the stables path, departure of the "royal road" to walk to Santiago de Compostela, in Spain.

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The best time to grab your pilgrim's staff and do the Compostela routes runs from

During these seven months, the paths are cleared, accommodation and restaurants are open: you will always find a place to sleep and have a meal.

At the beginning of spring, in April and the beginning of May, you must take care to adapt your bag to any temperature differences, by taking light clothes and other warmer ones.

The southernmost sections of the Loire can be favored, such as the Célé valley, in the Lot, a variant of the via Podiensis.

June and September stand out as the two most pleasant months for walking, without suffering from the heat: in June, the days are the longest, in the heart of a still spring-like nature;

in september, a soft light illuminates a landscape that begins to take on its autumn colours.

The other side of the coin, the crowds on certain portions become important and reservations must be anticipated.

Read alsoConques - Toulouse, the medieval and little-known variant of the Camino de Santiago

July and August are a little less popular with pilgrims.

Some areas can have scorching temperatures, like the Meseta plateau in Spain.

It is better to set off at dawn, even before daybreak.

For those who wish

, leaving at the end of April or the beginning of May makes it possible to arrive before mid-July in Santiago de Compostela

Second option: leave for example Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire) at the end of August, cross France in September and end your journey in October in Spain.

What physical preparation to make the paths of Compostela, and with what equipment?

It is better to train and be well equipped to set off for the Camino de Santiago.

joser pizarro

It is recommended to train a month before departure, by walking one to two hours a day, climbing stairs, doing cardio exercises... Thus causing a muscle awakening will reduce the aches and fatigue of the first few days future homelessness.

Having sore feet is also one of the great classics.

The prescription of Anne Decanter, pharmacist in Châteauroux (Indre), located on the Vézelay route: "start massaging them one month before departure with Nok or Akileine anti-friction cream, in order to prevent the formation of redness and light bulbs”.

Shoes should be chosen carefully.

The ViaCompostela agency recommends low or medium models with flexible uppers (MID), half a size above its usual size, to wear on short outings before D-Day.

The 60 liter backpack includes chest and waist straps that relieve the shoulders.

Its weight should not be more than 20% of your weight even less ideally.

Among the essentials: earplugs to sleep well, a healthy hat in case of a cold snap at altitude, a headlamp... Items that prove to be non-essential as you go can be sent home by post, a common practice.

Read alsoHiking in summer: ten essentials to slip into your backpack

Where to sleep along the Camino de Santiago?

Spiritual welcome is one of the options on the Camino de Santiago, for example at Sainte-Foy abbey in Conques (Aveyron).

Kevin Guillois

In a tent, in a stopover gîte, in a bed and breakfast, in a hotel or even in a palace: all these options line the paths of Santiago de Compostela.

Stopover gîtes are the most commonly used type of accommodation, at 81%, according to a study carried out in 2021 by the Agence française des chemins de Compostelle*(1).

They are followed by bed and breakfasts (30%) then places of spiritual welcome (19%), such as the Accueil des Pèlerins de l'Abbaye Sainte-Foy in Conques, in the Aveyron.

Camping is not popular, due to the scarcity of open-air hotel establishments.

Especially since the tent weighs heavily above the backpack... Thus, Marie-Julie and Jocelyn, a couple from the North who had taken one on their first section, left it at home the following year.

They had never used it.

If it is practiced, camping is rather done in wild mode: 29% of people under 35 choose the bivouac.

On the Spanish side, the lodgings are called albergues.

They do not reserve themselves: the first to arrive choose their bed...

Read also“By far my most beautiful trip”: on the roads to Compostela, more and more walkers

And that is the question, on the French side: should you book your room in advance or not?

Still according to the study by the Agence française des chemins de Compostelle, 38% of walkers leave no room for improvisation, each stage being validated by the incoming service;

while 33% reserve the day before for the next day or even the same day.

Our advice would be to book at least the first night.

Then the route comes into play… The offer can thus prove to be problematic on the more confidential axes.

On the other hand, if there is an embarrassment of choice on via Podiensis, places are limited during peak times.

The trick of Eugene, 46 years old: calculate from the first day a longer stage in order to find a lodging less crowded, logic passed on to the following nights.

Temperaments are also to be taken into account.

Marie-Julie and Jocelyn thus regretted having framed their first journey too much.

, they regret.

Julien, forty-something Parisian, chose from day to day according to his progress, a good little hotel or a nice hotel room on the Miam-Miam Dodo application.

Useful sites, guides and applications for your accommodation on the Camino de Santiago

Tested and approved!

Here are the sites, applications or paper guides that we have found useful and relevant for finding and booking your accommodation on the Camino de Santiago.

First resource: the Miam Miam Dodo paper guide;

the Lepère guides (https://www.chemin-compostelle.fr);

the

from

française des chemins de Compostelle

sharing values ​​of hospitality and solidarity" (https://www.chemins-compostelle.com/hebergeur);

the Pilgrim application on which to see, thanks to the geolocator, the accommodation closest to your current position;

and the Camino radio site (https://www.radiocamino.net).

What budget should I plan for the Camino de Santiago?

The scallop shell, which has become a symbol of the Camino de Santiago.

marc

The average daily budget amounts to more than 45 euros in France, divided between accommodation (26 €), food (15 €) and miscellaneous expenses (4 €) such as souvenirs.

It is a little lower on the Spanish side.

Many restaurants offer a pilgrim menu, costing around ten euros, which includes unlimited wine.

Lunch usually consists of a picnic, sometimes prepared by the host for an average price of 8 euros.

For less full scholarships, some establishments, often Christian accommodation, offer the night in

, a free contribution to the costs where everyone gives according to their means.

This does not mean free.

An original track for which you should not spend a penny: the works of art - refuge created within the framework of "Windows on the landscape", project initiated by "Derrière le Hublot", shelter where you can spend the night with the risk that the few beds are already taken, in Gréalou and Limogne-en-Quercy in the Lot (https://www.derrierelehublot.fr/oeuvre/pecten-maximus/).

Conversely, the more fortunate can indulge themselves occasionally, for example at the Parador opposite the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, double from 192 euros.

*(1) Survey carried out from May to November 2021 via questionnaires distributed online or in the field in around 500 places spread over all the Caminos de Compostela in France.

Among the 3640 testimonies collected, 3565 were retained