By far an away the biggest discussion point on the Camino is whether it is best to book accomodation or assume that “the Camino will provide ”
There is certainly a wish that you could do this without booking and just stop and get accomodation when you feel like it. There is also the strong feeling that this is how you are supposed to do this (even here guilt is alive and well!). However, this is coming up against the stats of the number of people walking as shown in the following image.
(An interesting side note, these numbers might look high but they are actually less than when the Camino was at its highest in the Middle Ages)
Now the market is coming to the party but the coverage is a bit patchy and stories abound of people missing out on a bed and having to take taxis on a regular basis.
It would seem that you can have two out of the following three things
- A relaxed walk
- Leave late (ie at 8am)
- Not book
Choose which two you want.
Ideally we would not have booked, however we have found that for us it is necessary.
Rough against rough 