The Camino de Santiago is an exceptional adventure to enjoy at any time of the year, however, each season has its positive and negative factors. Discover the differences that you will find when you make the journey in each one of them.
When is the best time or season to make the Camino de Santiago?
Although this is a question that hundreds of pilgrims are raised each year, there is a concrete response, there is no better time or worse to make the way, depends on the experiences that seek to save it in our backpack along the way.
At the time of the Camino de Santiago in a train or another we not only condition the climatology (summer heat, cold and rain or snow in the winter…), this is also compounded by the influx of people, which will vary at different times of the year.
Many veterans of the way recommend the spring (April and May) and autumn (September and October), due to the fact that in these months the majority of hostels are open and the weather is not accustomed to being very extreme.
Here I will discuss the pros and cons of make the journey on a train or another.
The Camino in Winter
Winter is the time in which more difficult weather conditions we can find, and as the statistics indicate only a small percentage of the pilgrims dare to undertake their way in the colder months. The greatest difficulty weather is without a doubt the presence of snow and ice, which already from the time of the Templars forced to pilgrims to deviate to reach Ponferrada, going down toward the region of Valdeorras, with the aim of preventing the rise of O Cebreiro and in this way may not suffer the damp cold and penetrating, and the layer of snow that characterizes this area during the cold season of the year, that option received the nickname of way of winter.
But this season also has its advantages, from an economic point of view, the existence of a lower attendance during these months, the budget in lodging and food will be lower than at other times of the year, and considering the key tips to carry out our planned route of advance in the right way, we will be able to counteract the weather presented to us by the adverse weather during these months.
Regarding the lodging at this time, the public shelters are open all year round, and a positive point is that having fewer people along the way, we will have no trouble finding a square in them (although not all of them have to heat). What if we plan well the path in the case of wanting to stay in a private accommodation, as not all are open during these months.
At the time of making the steps we must consider the hours of light, because they are less than at other times of the year, but will also be less numerous the days that the sun will join us in comparison with other times as fall or spring, so neither feel both exhaustion.
It is more advisable for this time is to make the northern route, which runs along the northern coast of the peninsula and this assures us milder temperatures than in the interior of the same, which is at this time of the year.
The Way of St James in Summer
It’s the busiest time for the road because it is the time when most people have time to enjoy the Jacobean route. In addition, throughout the month of July are the patron saint festivities in Santiago and the 25 day is the day of Santiago Apostle, commonly known as the day of Galicia, which means that we will find ourselves with a lot of people from all parts of the world and undoubtedly enrich our experience along the way.
Regarding the weather, we make sure we get rid of the rain almost the entire journey, which can cause us problems are the high temperatures, so we must equip ourselves with fresh linen, with good breathability, and with a canteen to hydrate ourselves as it runs along the way. If you want to know more about how to prepare for the Camino de Santiago you can read our full blog entry on the preparation for the journey.
The accommodation at this time we can play a trick if you are looking for is a public shelter, to be the era in which more people make the journey (especially the French), it is very likely that the shelters are overflowing, and that for fear of running out of square our way becomes a genuine career, with the purpose of arriving soon to accommodation. If you are looking for is a private accommodation, we must not leave anything to improvisation and we must make all reservations before embarking on the journey.
At this time, and depending on what you seek to find us, are recommended various paths as the primitive way, due to the mild temperatures and its imposing rich heritage and landscape, the Portuguese Way, because runs through an exceptional natural environment or the French way if we want to meet with a high number of pilgrims to share the journey.
The Way in Spring and Autumn
The intermediate stations are two good times to make the journey from the point of view, as temperatures are characterized by mild and we can only have problems with the rain at some point in time.
The best of these stations is that there are a number of pilgrims, we will not find the agglomerations that are common in summer nor will we find the loneliness present in the winter, this means that there will be no accommodation problems because the public shelters will not be overcrowded and private accommodation are still operating and it is common to have places available.
Two good proposals for these times are the Primitive Way (fall) and French (spring), although the English Way is an option that grows in followers year after year by being a path with great natural resources and with a relatively short, as starting from Ferrol are around 119 kilometers of travel and if we start from A Coruña are just 75 km that separate us from the capital of Santiago de Compostela.
So… when’s the best season to plan my Camino?
In short, no time is better than another to make the way if we make a correct planning; although it is true that in some seasons the weather can play an important factor in deciding on the dates on which we are going to undertake the path, without doubt, the important thing is to do it, because as you read any time is good to do the Camino de Santiago.
The Camino de Santiago 2018 