Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

[crackmrmac]

I know another pilgrim was unfortunate in Santander, but can anyone guide me to a place to stay in Santander. It's for my final night in Spain after my short time on this year's Camino. As far as I can ascertain from bus timetables I think I will be arriving in Santander at 10p.m.
Any ideas?

Regards,

Brian

[sillydoll]

Hola Brian,
I can't recommend a hotel but this restaurant has been recommended by pilgrims Restaurant "ZACHARIAS" Take your credential and you will get cheese and wine for free...

[NaKwendaSafari]

Brian,
We booked our stay in Santander through booking.com, excellent booking service and no commission or fees paid to them. Hostal Cado Mayor was the original hostal but because it was full they arranged a nearby hostal for the same price. This hostal is within a few minutes walk from the bus station, in the centre of the town. Our hostal had a resident owner and he was open to late in the night as he lives there.

For your further information Santander is a late night place, dinner starts at 8pm or later. 10 pm arrival probably is not strange for them. The street which Hostal Cado Mayor is situated (Cadiz) is riddled with cheap places to stay. Check with the hostal directly or better still contact booking.com when you request the booking to ensure the hostal will open the door for you if they do not have a 24 hour reception.

Although called a hostal the place we stayed had a private double room, TV, ensuite bathroom, telephone, internet connection, all for 40E for the room. http://www.hostelworld.com is another place to book a room but booking.com has full time office and they will get in touch with you instantly by email or by phone or fax.

[crackmrmac]

OK, many thanks for replies.

I've also discovered I can reach Santander at 3pm if I get 9am bus from Leon via Oviedo. This would give me lots of time to locate & enjoy "ZACHARIAS", as mentioned by sillydoll.

NaKwendaSafari, I've used booking.com before. In santander I'm only finding places available with double room for single use. However I'm not poverty stricken so I'll settle on somewhere eventually.
I see you responded to another post re SIM cards etc. Last year I got a movistar sim card, however it turned out to be a lot of hassle, perhaps due to my complete lack of Spanish and technology! Also it's quite inexpensive to make a call from public phones on street ( well calls to Ireland).

Buen Camino

Brian.

[NaKwendaSafari]

Hi Brian,
Glad to see you have sorted things out, as the bus stop at Santander is surrounded by hotels there should be no problem in getting a place to stay if you arrive at 3pm. There is also a helpful tourist information centre at Santander bus station where they can book a room for you, open I think during the Spanish working hours. If you want to spend another night in an albergue the albergue at Santander is within walking distance of the bus station.

I am glad that my comments were helpful, too often it is shot in flames. I love the word "not poverty stricken" as a lot of comments are on the cost. We found that if we budgeted an extra Euro or two a day over our year planning we had more than enough funds to stay in private hostels or hotels if we found that a night away from the albergue would be good for our souls. Funding therefore is not the reason why one stays in the albergues.

We had our UK Vodafone Mobile on roaming during our trip to Europe, thus was topped up when needed by our UK ATM card in the plentiful ATM windows in Europe, this facility was activated before we left. This was useful when we lost our luggage as the airlines called us whilst we were on the move. Other than that the phone was used mainly for texting. My comments on SIM cards where mainly for those from North America who use the CDMA technology. We found as you did that calling from the plentiful phone booths in Spain was convenient and cheap, it is even cheaper when you use the Telefonica card in the street phones.

I am sure you will find the Camino a fulfilling one with your pragmatic approach.

Kwaheri

[crackmrmac]

I love the word "not poverty stricken" as a lot of comments are on the cost. [quote]

I came across the following while reading René Freund's On Foot to the End of the World earlier today; it's certaintly true in my case.

"Most pilgrims come from wealthy countries, because they can afford to seek out an impoverished lifestyle."

(...however I'll hardly continue with that lifestyle.)

Brian

[crackmrmac]

OK, thanks for above replies to my original post. So here's how I got on in Santander.
I arrived early on my first morning in Spain. I easily located the hostel for future reference.
Bicycles are available for free rental in Santander, provided by local authority, so I was a carefree tourist for a short while.
After bus journey I briefly "renewed my acquaintance with Santa Domingo" before hiking off to Granón. Arrived there @9pm, last to arrive, and was grateful to receive food for body and soul, plus a mat to sleep on. A fine start to this year's Camino.

On my final evening in Spain, I arrived in Santander @ 7:30pm. Hostel was full, but located a pension for me quite close by. In fact a lady arrived to guide me the short journey. All guest in pension were pilgrims ( all others were starting, so they went to bed early ).
Sil, I located restaurant Zacharias and recieved a friendly welcome. Owner explained "I am the grandmaster"......Confradia del Queso de Cantabria. Later he was to don his official chains. I enjoyed a fine meal, polished off the vino tinto and hey the flan was even nice! And I thought, perhaps we should reward ourselves more often.
Anyway, enough of the talking.

Buen Camino
Brian

P.S. Currently enjoying "To The Field of Stars" by Kevin A. Codd.