Camping

[hughbensley@yahoo.co.uk]

Can I ask how hard it is to camp rather than use a Refuge? Obviously this is not always possible but I must admit I sometimes find being crowded in hard to cope with.
Thanks very much
Hugh

[Leslie]

I met only one person who camped - a couple of reasons why not.

Firstly there are not many campsites along the route - though some hostels will let you camp in their ground - the one person I met doing it camped in some fields at night, I wouldn't fancy that.

Second - you have to carry your tent! Weight is a big factor after you have been walking for a few days. Also the albergues are so cheap. Not all of them are crowded- and there are ways to avoid that - stop in hostels that are in smaller towns and don't stay in the larger cities - I did this often. Now that all depends on when you will walk. If you are walking in late July or all Aug everywhere is busy - and the Leon region put up tents anyway to deal with the overflow.

When are you going and what route?

[hughbensley@yahoo.co.uk]

Thanks very much for that. As to where and when, this is one of those ideas that lodge in the mind and cannot be got rid of. I will be 60 this summer and will only be working part time, so I am trying to read up as much as possible and work out possible routes. I would rather do, and finish, a shorter Canino than do part of something I cannot finish. Maximum time available is probably only three weeks so I was thinking either of the Northern route starting at Bilbao or the route from Porto, either June or September.
Hugh