Camino de Santiago reservations: do I need to make them?

Do you have to reserve on the Camino de Santiago?

The first thing to clarify when talking about the reservations on the Camino de Santiago is that access to the pilgrim routes is free. There are no entry controls. Therefore, to do the Camino de Santiago, in the strict sense of the word, it is not necessary to reserve.

Another very different issue is whether or not it is necessary to make reservations for other types of services, such as accommodation, luggage transport, meals, or even reservations with agencies specialized in organizing pilgrimages to Compostela. Here’s how booking services work on the Camino de Santiago.

Reserving with specialised agencies on the Camino de Santiago

If you decide that you would like to have the support of a specialized agency on the Camino de Santiago, you can book at any time, even just a few days in advance. In high season (July to September) it is recommended to make reservations a little earlier, as there are more pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago.

However, since the specialized agencies on the Camino have a wide range of collaborators, even booking a few days before, it will suffice. However, as long as it is an agency specialized in pilgrim routes. Those of Spanish origin have the largest number of resources.

If this is your case, of course, count on us. You won’t find a more specialized agency on the Camino de Santiago than us! For this reason, they call us “Camino Lovers”.

If you feel like making a pilgrimage to Compostela and still haven’t decided which route to take, we recommend the Camino de Santiago from Sarria. Tell us your possible dates and let us organize this adventure for you.

Reserving accommodation on the Camino de Santiago

One question that arises, on a recurring basis, pilgrims who have never visited the Jacobean route ask whether or not it is necessary to make reservations for their accommodation. The answer is simple: “as in all destinations, you can improvise and look for accommodation on arrival, or you can take the bookings made at home.”

The theme at this point depends on what kind of experience you want to live, since having accommodation previously reserved on the Camino de Santiago has its advantages, but it also has some disadvantages.

While some pilgrims like to go it alone and stay in hostels, other pilgrims seek comfort and decide to complete a high-class route, doing a luxury Camino de Santiago.

Here are more details about making accommodation reservations.

Advantages of booking accommodation on the Camino de Santiago

The main advantage of booking accommodation on the Camino de Santiago is that you avoid having to do extra kilometres in search of a place to sleep. A fact that is especially accentuated during spring and summer.

In addition, making reservations on the Camino de Santiago means that you will stay in places with greater comfort than the network of public hostels, where it is not possible to make prior reservations.

As we mentioned in this article, on the pilgrim route you will find countless places to sleep on the Camino de Santiago where you can make previous reservations, and make pilgrimage in complete tranquillity.

Disadvantages of booking accommodation in advance

The main disadvantage of taking all the reservations of the accommodation made with you, is that you will not be able to improvise and decide every day where to sleep. But the truth is, that’s a luxury that only people who have a lot of time can afford.

If you plan to do a specific section of the Camino de Santiago or complete your pilgrimage at the Cathedral of Compostela and have a limited time, you will have to go with planned stages. Therefore, having your accommodation previously reserved is not an inconvenience, but an advantage.

Reserve your baggage transfer service

Another service in which you can make reservations on the Camino de Santiago is the one transporting backpacks between stages. This type of service can be booked with the Post Office (Correos) or specialized agencies on the Camino de Santiago. Although, to tell you the truth, many of them outsource it to Correos, as they do not have their own service.

In our case, since the baggage transport service is our own, we only offer it to pilgrims who hire the entire organization of the tour with us (accommodation, etc.).

If you intend to make reservations of this service on your own, depending on the route you choose and the season of the year in which you decide to go you will have to make the reservations on the Camino in advance, sooner or later.

On the Camino Frances, the range of companies that facilitate this service is very wide and you will find fewer problems. However, on less-travelled routes, we recommend that you start managing bookings in advance. If you want to know more about this topic, you can consult the post that we dedicate to the backpack transport on the Camino de Santiago.

Meals

Whether you do the Camino de Santiago with the help of a specialized agency or book the accommodation on your own, you will have the option to include some meals in the reservation. This point depends on the personal tastes of each pilgrim.

If you include breakfast in your accommodation reservations on the Camino de Santiago, you will make sure that you can start your pilgrimage every morning after having a nutritious breakfast. Some stages end in small towns where there are only one or two cafeterias where breakfast is available. Sometimes, you won’t find them open if you decide to leave early.

The same goes for dinner. If you include dinner in your reservations on the Camino de Santiago, you can take a leisurely shower at the end of the stage and relax all afternoon. When it’s time for dinner, you’ll find everything ready, without having to go out and find a restaurant or an cafeteria open.

What bookings on the Camino de Santiago can you make with Santiago Ways?

As we mentioned earlier, Santiago Ways does not offer separate services. Therefore, with us you can book two types of services on the Camino de Santiago:

The organization of your trip

In this type of service, we take care of all the logistics planning of the route and reservations (accommodation, meals, transport, insurance and support).

The organization of your trip is offered on all pilgrim routes and on all sections of the Camino de Santiago. In this link, you can consult all the routes on the Camino de Santiago, their stages, duration and level of difficulty with those we work with, so that you can make your reservation.

Of course, this service is provided to all those who are interested in doing the Camino de Santiago. It doesn’t matter what type of pilgrimage you choose. We have extensive experience accompanying pilgrims of all kinds!

Organized trips

This option is ideal for people who do not want to go alone or who wish to be able to do the tour accompanied by a guide. We use this type of departure only for the Camino de Santiago in organized groups from Sarria.

What do I need to do to book the Camino with Santiago Ways?

If you want to come to the Camino de Santiago with us, you only have to make your reservation using one of the forms that you will find in the different sections. You can also leave us a comment at the end of this post, call us by phone, or write to us on our Facebook page.

Whichever channel you use; our team will contact you. We can resolve all your doubts and help you decide what kind of experience you want to live on the Camino de Santiago. To get an idea of how easy it is to make your reservations on the Camino de Santiago with us, we leave you this video:

It’s that easy, that fast! Without spending hours and hours planning your trip. You just worry about living the experience. We take care of the reservations and everything else on the Camino de Santiago.

Don’t think about it anymore and contact us! We are the top-rated agency on the Camino de Santiago by pilgrims! find out about opinions on Santiago Ways.

Buen Camino!