maps

Google Maps of Albergues on the Camino Frances

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If you wish to carry your mobile phone on the Camino, or have in the past, then the following resources may prove useful to you. Some argue that the information in Brierley’s book is sufficient but in this day and age when every ounce in your backpack is counted, there is a case for leaving it at home. I would be in that camp.

Below are links to maps of all albergues on the Camino Frances. The information is correct to December last. All details have been taken from Gronze.com which is an amazing website and I encourage you to visit that site when you are planning your Camino.

I didn’t include hotels, hostales, or pensions in these maps so I would advise you to check out www.gronze.com or the spreadsheet of all accomodation on the Camino forum.

I will include this in my Camino links section, which you can access at the top of the blog. I hope the maps prove useful to you as they have for me.

Street view on the streets of Sarria

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You know you have an addiction on your hands when you find yourself wandering on the Camino de Santiago on Google street view. If you have time on your hands, it is possible to “walk” vast chunks of the Camino from the safety of your living room. It is far less exciting, for sure, but you can get an idea of what awaits you once you “hook up”. I decided to take a tour from the outskirts of Sarria to it’s city centre during the weekend while not watching the rugby and football.

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The Camino winds along Rua do Peregrino before reaching the famous Peregrinoteca.com. Once you reach that, you can see Sarria’s famous steps that lead you to Rua Maior and it’s old town. Unfortunately, the great people at Google weren’t prepared to bring a car or a bicycle up the steps but we will let them off that for the time being. You can get an idea from the picture below.

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I got a little surprise, however, when I found that you can view inside and around this store. Try it out.

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Another addition…the Rother walking guide

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Let’s call this a Christmas present to myself!!

I own a few guides to the Camino de Santiago. You can read about them in a previous post here. The most well-known of these is the John Brierley guide. Some people swear by it, others don’t. I’m in the latter category. I brought it along with me in 2011 and in 2012 and read it once or twice a day while on the trail. It can be useful to get information on albergues, but I can find that information on my phone through apps. In 2013 and this year, I brought along the maps-only Brierley guide which again was rarely used. It is ultra-light but it was in my bag the majority of the time. Must be the reason why I got lost so many times 🙂 If you are a Brierley fan, I would encourage you to buy this book, and not the full guide.

Fast forward to now, I have just bought the Rother guide. I’ve been told the majority of German pilgrims use this. It is very compact and small and yet still holds alot of information…in 226 pages. At the same time, you don’t get the “words of wisdom” that Brierley likes to quote in his guide. Information on albergues is summed up in one line. The maps are well detailed. As well as the book, you get a set of GPS coordinates from the author’s website to use on smartphones. I’m going to like this I feel.

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So do you use this book as a guide? Or are you happy to “wing it” and let the arrows guide you?

Albergues I have stayed in…

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Throughout my past Caminos, I’ve stayed in mostly great Albergues, some average, but I’ve had no complaints. Here is a map I have created of all of the places I have stayed. During my first Camino in 2011, I stayed in pensions just in case you are wondering about the lack of albergues 🙂 This map is definitely a work in progress as I am due to go back in May and hopefully stay in albergues not visited before.