June 30th Start

[BenCooper]

Hi All

My name is Ben Cooper, I am a 34 year old Englishman living in Sweden. I have decided to walk the Camino Frances starting from SJPP on 1 July. I will be travelling alone and in order to be a bit more adventurous I am considering camping out using a small one-man tent on some nights.

I am hoping that someone can answer a couple of questions for me, I know I can probably find this info on the internet but I only decided to go last week and as I am travelling non-stop for work from now until the 26th of June I am having some time constraints!!

1. I will be landing in Biarritz on 30 June and am trying to find out taxi prices from Biarritz Airport to SJPP. Would a taxi be the most expedient option or am I just wasting my money?
2. What do I need to do to get my pilgrim's passport?
3. Is camping out for a few nights a viable option or will it be an inconvienience?

Thanks in advance, great website by the way!

[HuskyNerd]

Hi Ben ~
1. Have you thought about the train instead of a taxi? Biarritz to Bayonne is a quick transfer, then train from Bayonne to SJPP is pretty straightforward. There are three departures from Bayonne that day -- 11:47, 15:09, 18:12. Each has a 1 hr 22 minute duration. It's actually a very pleasant trip via train and at least this American found it a good way to get into the Camino spirit. You'll see other pilgrims, mostly likely, as well.
2. You can get your credentiale via the English confraternity How to get a credencial or you can just wait and get a French version at the pilgrim office in St. Jean.
3. Camping is possible but a huge inconvenience. Not sure you actually want the added hassle and weight of a tent. Campgrounds are often at the outskirts of cities and villages, pretty primitive, and away from services.
Hope this helps. Buen camino mi amigo!

[BenCooper]

Thanks for the reply, Husky.

Train seems like a better idea, especially as it is such a short journey.

I'll probably get the credencial in St Jean then, it seems like it'll be easier than trying to organise it from Stockholm. Have you any idea how I can locate the camp-sites, I understand that there is a website that can tell me but I have had no luck finding it...

[HuskyNerd]

You can go to http://www.godesalco.com/plan/frances to plan your itinerary. Once you plug in your start and end locations it will tell you the towns with campsites. You can then Google the individual towns and find more info.
Hope that helps. Buen camino!

[Sil]

Wild camping is legal in Spain but with some restrictions. You are not allowed to camp in "urban" areas, these areas are prohibited for military or touristic reasons, or within a 1km of an official campsite. Basically this means you cannot camp on tourist beaches, but if you are sensible and "wild camp" nearby, having some sensitivity to the rules, you can camp almost anywhere in the countryside. Avoid places called "Parques Naturales" because it is forbidden to place a tent there.
There are few ‘wild’ camping places on the Camino Frances as the route passes through many private and state owned farms and vineyards but you can always set up camp out-of-sight somewhere in the countryside.
For a list of ‘Aires’ in Spain go to www.campingcar-infos.com as berfore,on the left side of the page you will see Rechercher une aire,click on that and scroll down the page untill you see Espagne,there are 57 Aires listed here. Camping sites in Spain are listed as Luxury, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and special category camps.
http://www.camping-spain.net/

www.canalcamping.com
http://www.campingbungalow.com
http://www.vayacamping.net

For a map of all the camping sites in Spain - with a complete listing of Campings available in Spain.
Zoom in to about 400% on the map on page one and look at the green tent icons.
http://elcaminosantiago.com/PDF/Map_Spain_Campings.pdf
You can also look at page two 'per autonomia' for camping locales.
This guy wild camped and enjoyed it!
http://worldtravelerandthinker.blogspot.com/2008/10/bloggin-on-camino.html

[BenCooper]

Thanks for the reply, Sil.

I'm at a bit of an impasse, I want to camp out because I've never actually done it before and it seems like an adventure but I also want to make sure that I am comfortable with weight and able to make it to Finisterre.

I'll be fair, I'm unbelievably excited about the entire trip at present. It's something I've wanted to do for about 15 years.

[Covey]

Over the years I have seen many who start out on the Camino Frances with tent etc, but most seem to have been cured of the urge to camp by the time they get to Pamplona, at which point they post the tent back home, and join their friends in the albergues.

The majority of albergues tend to be somewhere near the middle of town, but most campsites are on the edge of town, usually away from the bars and albergues. Those in the albergues have access to showers and toilets and washing facilities for clothes, and they can leave their packs in the albergue whilst they go off in search of food and the odd glass.

The camper has to leave their belongings in the tent and hope they are still there when you get back. One advantage of camping is you do not get locked up at night at 10pm as one does in the albergues.

Albergue living is "different" for most of us, but I cannot say I have seen a campsite on the Camino Frances where I have thought to myself "I wish I brought a tent".

[Sil]

If you intend staying in St Jean on your first night it will be worth booking a place ahead of time.
There are two really good private albergues in St Jean:
L’Esprit du Chemin (Open 4 April - 26 September)
40, rue de la Citadelle
64220 Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port
tel. +33 (0)5 59 37 24 68
hubertarno@espritduchemin.org
www.espritduchemin.org

And a new one:

http://www.aubergedupelerin.com/
25 Rue de la Citabelle (March to October)
33 (0) 5.59.49.10.86
or +33 (0) 6 78.44.62.10
or email contact@aubergedupelerin.com

Both charge about 30 euro for dinner. bed and breakfast but the cost is worth it. You'll get over any jetlag, have a good meal, meet lots of fellow peregrinos who will be walking with you the following day, and you'll have a good night's sleep.

The 1st July could be hot, but chances are you could have cold weather in the mountains. Last year I arrived in Pamplona from the Aragones route at the end of June and it was a bitterly cold, wet and windy day.

Perhaps you should consider taking a bivy bag rather than a tent? You could pitch it anywhere - even inside a sports hall or tent town - and they don't weigh much more than a sleeping bag.

This year the Post Office (Correos) in Santiago will keep parcels for 30 days so if you do find it a hassle you can post it to yourself and collect it at the end. Address it with your name as it appears in your passort:

Benjamin Cooper
Lista de Correos
15780 Santiago de Compostela
A Coruña

Ben, July is a lovely time on the camino. Everything is still green, the wildflowers will still be spectaular and you must look out for the large white and black European stork who have babies in all the nests on top of towers and steeples.
I have been watching a webcam on the roof of a hotel in Zarragoza that shows a storks nest on the roof. There were 5 eggs, 4 hatched, only 2 babies are still alive. Mother is Estella and Father is Ayud. The babies seem to double in size every week. It is amazing to watch baby storks in Spain from my home in a small town on the Indian Ocean coast of South Africa!!
You can see them here: Stork Family Nest on USTREAM: Stella and Ayud began building a nest in Calatayud (Zaragoza, Spain) 50 days ago. We warn that nature is not always beautiful...

[Covey]

Last year I walked out of St Jean on 3rd July and from about 3-4kms outside St Jean to about 4kms short of Roncesvalles, we walked in mist/low cloud the whole way which was wet and not very warm. 20kms of 5-10m visibility was very frustrating as I had walked the same route in early Sept three years before and it was a brilliant cloudless sunny day and the views at the top of the Pyrenees were spectacular. I estimated that I could see across France and Spain for at least 50kms in all directions.

I had planned to walk the lower route to Roncesvalles this year via Valcarlos, but if the weather is nice will probably change my mind and hack over the top with the rest.

[BenCooper]

I can't wait to get started on this. I booked all the flights yesterday and have been breaking in my walking gear for a couple of weeks!

I'll be honest, I'm not too bothered about the weather situation. As much as I want to see the sights, I am doing this as a mental/physical challenge rather than as a tour. Hopefully after I complete it, my girlfriend and I will go back next year and do it again.

[Sil]

You're going to have a great time! But, do take notice of the weather when leaving St Jean. If the locals tell you to walk the road route then do so. Too many pilgrims have died on the mountain.