Albergues open in March?

[amanda]

i am leaving from SJPP on the morning of March 26/10 and am a bit worried about finding the albergues closed before April... does anyone know if most are opened/closed at that time and if they are where would one sleep... ?

[Covey]

The "official" albergues are usually open all year , but many of the private ones open at Easter and close at the end of October.

Roncesvalles will be open, as will Zubiri and Pamplona and after that you should be OK.

Don't forget to check with the St Jean Pilgrim Office for the weather forecast for the day you start. There is a very good chance that you will have to use the lower road route because of the possibility of bad weather on the peaks.

[amanda]

thanks Covey, that makes me feel better... i will definitely take the advice of the locals on what route to take at that time of the year... do you, by chance, know the distance of the lower road from SJPP to Roncesvalles - same as going up?

[Covey]

I think the lower road is about 0.5kms longer than over the top.

The lower road route is: St Jean-Pied-de-Port / Roncevaux par Val Carlos - Amis du chemin de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle P-A

The peaks route is : St Jean-Pied-de-Port / Roncevaux - Amis du chemin de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle P-A

I have never done the winter road route, but if you compare the two, there is 400m less to climb and come down the other side.

However if there is clear blue sky, the views are really worth the 400m!!!

In July09 there was low cloud/mist and we went all the way up and all the way down and could not see more than 10m in front of our nose.

This year am going at the beginning of September, and will take the lower route to see what it is like.