You broke this down so well! And I think it's a very realistic picture of what most pilgrims would spend on the Chemin. I definitely had an "ice cream" budget when I walked!! This is a route I want to get back to; I only ever walked to Moissac, so I still have to finish, plus I'd love to do the Célé variant!
Thanks so much Nadine! Pretty much our entire junk food category was ice cream 🤣🤣🤣 they have the best flavors! We couldn’t resist. We also really want to do Celé and Rocamadour. Maybe next summer!
Oh, we’re in so much trouble. 😂 We won’t be able to skip the pastries! 😂😂 I’m already seeing higher prices as we begin our planning process. Your series has been so helpful! What great timing, I’m thrilled we’ve connected and pray our paths cross in Spain. ❤ - Michelle & Brian
I really want to do that walk! Maybe next year! Did you see many bedbugs? I really appreciate the budget videos. It was great to meet you in Cea! Be Well.
We loved meeting you in Cea, too!! That was such a memorable night with the rain, the cheap wine, and good company. We didn't encounter bedbugs on the Via Podiensis. But, it really is a bit of a luck-of-the-draw.
Totally an option for me, that's the type of hiking I do normally, and have considered bringing my tent when I go do the Camino. My budget is quite small
@@musingwithreba9667 Everyone we met tent camping loved it. It's much easier to tent camp in France than Spain. There are way fewer options for camping unless you are on the Camino Norte.
Having done more research, my partner and I are amazed by how good and clear your advice is. Thank you again! We've decided we'd like to tent camp at gites most days for best rest (just one heavy snorer in gites with 4-6 person rooms would destroy our sleep even with ear plugs). This would allow us to have a social dinner at the gites and access to a shower. And perhaps we'd stay in a 2 person room or modest hotel once or twice a week in towns we'd like to explore more. 1) What do you guesstimate would be the cost of camping in a gite backyard + dinner only? 2) We've heard most breakfasts at gites consist of only bread, butter, jam and coffee, and we prefer more protein like eggs, yogurt, etc. Is it fairly easy to buy breakfast items the night before, or along the way in the morning (I know this will vary depending on where you'll be passing).
Thanks so much! Sounds like gite camping will work well for you. Make sure to call ahead and reserve the camping spot as well as dinner. When we walked camping was usually about €6 (not sure if this was per person or per tent). Dinner is somewhere from €10-18 depending on the place. We had yogurt with our breakfasts at maybe half of the time. It can be easy to buy your own stuff depending on the town and the day of the week. Some gites (mainly the communal ones) have kitchens where you can prepare your own food, but not all of them.
@@DaysWeSpend Thank you again Lainey and Shawn! That's a relief as some walkers warned of not being able to buy food for long stretches. We'll definitely check ahead as well and will also check on the camino forums with people who have camped on the Chemin Du Puy. We'll be thinking of you on the walk : )
In 2003 I was in Gavarnie and there was a group that crossed into Spain there and continued on Camino from there, In Gavarnie is the highest waterfall in Europe, so stunningly beautiful.
I am building a budget for a possible trip this spring so this was very helpful. I have been on the Camino in Spain 3 times in 2 week stretches, both self contained in a backpack route traveling on my own and going the luggage transfer route, sending our packs ahead each morning, when traveling with my partner. I much prefer the former. However, my partner, not having tried the former, has strongly stated a preference for the latter. My first question is for Lainey, how much did your pack weigh in at? My second question is how did you pick your gites? Thanks!
You can see my bag weight in my packing video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zL7vZXcuu8o.html I think it was around 13 pounds. We picked our gites using the Cicerone guidebook, Gronze, and google maps. Sometimes we stayed at wherever was available.
Thank you Lainey and Shawn for this very helpful video. 1) What would be your ranking of your favorite camino trails that you've done to date, now that you've walked the Via Podiensis? 2) I know it's not your thing, but if you choose to tent camp, roughly what's the nightly cost of camping and are there campgrounds that are equipped with showers? My partner and I backpack and have very lightweight gear, and like the idea of camping but staying in gites perhaps 2-3 days a week for the cultural experience (I realize some of the camping is on public spaces and not organized campgrounds).
Those are great questions! We aren't sure which is our favorite (such a tough question!).. The Primitivo and Invierno were very special routes. But the Via Podiensis has so much beauty, too! Many gîtes offer camping for 4-5 Euros. You can use their bathrooms and other facilities for that fee. We didn't see many campgrounds on the route for tents, they were mostly for RVs. France also has wild camping available which is free.
@@DaysWeSpend Thank you so much for pointing out that gîtes offer camping with bathroom and shower use - love the idea of being able to combine that with dinner at the gîtes. Also thank you for sharing how much you enjoyed the Primitivo and Invierno - we'll look for your videos on them and research them. Love that you capture all aspects of the journey - the beauty, the food, the good times and the harder times. Happy holidays to you and your loves ones!
@@DaysWeSpend What made the Primitivo and Invierno so special? I'm guessing they are less-hiked caminos because we haven't heard much discussion about them, but we'll research them now
@@donatasvaisnoras Thank you very much for sharing your experience and advice. We think of the Camino Frances as a very social route, a chance to meet pilgrims from all around the world and get to know them while walking and having meals together. At the same time we are hearing many reports recently of the Camino Frances becoming too much of a crowded tourist experience, with large crowds, a lot of commercialization along the route, fields of toilet paper from littering, etc. 1) What do you think of that view? 2) If we did decide to walk the Camino Frances, which starting times to you think are best for the best mix of weather and the ability to meet diverse pilgrims while missing the worst crowds? 3) Which do you think are the best times to start walking the Via Podiensis? Thank you and happy holidays!
The route is generally really well marked. We used the Wise Pilgrim app for it's GPS map. Google maps also has the GR65 marked into it. Most French pilgrims just use the Miam Miam Dodo guidebook.
The gites you stayed in - you booked an entire room for you four? As a solo traveler is there more of a dormitory type gite to stay in? Would a solo traveler end up paying more because they aren't sharing expenses? I am normally big on sleeping in a tent, but prefer that in wilderness areas and not busy noisy cities. Give us this day our daily pastry...
Great question, we sometimes booked rooms of four and sometimes the gîtes just gave us that since they had them. It's very easy to book a single bed a a dorm style room. Most of the rooms in France are smaller and you will only share with a few other people. You can also camp fairly easily in France. They allow wild camping and most gîtes allow camping for a small fee to use their facilities. HAHA. Daily pastry. Our new thing.
An off topic question: I plan on walking from Le Puy to Santiago. Is it possible to mail myself a box of things like spare hiking shoes, etc? Where would I mail it to? Maybe that would be a good video, "How to Resupply Yourself on the Camino."
We don't have a lot of experience with resupply. We've always purchased what we needed in stores along the way. There's a post on the Camino forum with some solutions you can try: www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/posting-luggage-in-france-luggage-storage-service-in-sjpp.78773/#post-1106405
@@whativelearnedsofar7181 We did, but they really broke. It was like walking on no cushioning for a while until I replaced the insole. It's almost impossible to find Altra Lone Peaks in the stores. Many stores carry Altra Olympus, but that's too much shoe for me. -Lainey
We had a group of 5 the first week, so we booked that a month ahead of time. After Conques, we had a group of 4, so we booked those a few days ahead. We used the Cicerone guidebook, the Miam Miam Dodo guidebook, and Gronze to find the gites.
My problem with included meals is they just aren't enough calories, and I don't drink alcohol or coffee so that's a waste for me. I'm burning 3-4k calories a day, and the meals they serve just aren't enough, and especially not enough for the price. I can down a 1000 calorie pizza for €3 or I can spend €15 for fewer calories. Is it a great culinary experience? No. And in France the food is much better overall than Spain so I get that, but for me food is fuel. I saw so many people that were wrecked at the end of the day, day after day, and they don't realize that they're not just tired, they're malnourished.
The wifi was generally not there... many gîtes did not have it and when they did it was often slow. We didn't upload to RU-vid while on trail. We struggled to post IG reels when we were on trail and often had to do them in batches when we found decent wifi.
