Camino de Santiago with a baby - Things we wish we knew before

We prepared for the trip for long time, and yet all of our plans changed once we actually started walking. Here are some things worth knowing before you start walking with your baby

Starting your day at 8am is not optional

We are not morning people, so we thought we will just start our days later. Oh how wrong we were. Most of the pilgrim hostels (albergues) have a checkout time of 8:00am, and they are pretty strict about it.

Going to sleep early is not optional

Most pilgrim accommodations have a strict lights out policy, if you didn't manage to do what you need until then, try doing it with the lights off

A lot of places are closed

Ok, we said, if we have to leave at 8am let's just find a cafe and spend a few hours there to wake up. Wrong again! Most of the establishments on the camino are opening as early as noon, and it depends on the time of the year. We were devastated to discover towns that we stopped at to let our son play after a few hours of walk don't have a single restaurant open.

In addition to that, if the opening hours are not enough, a lot of places (like supermarkets!) are closed on Sundays, and other places like restaurants and bars are closed on a day during the week for rest. Even most of the churches were closed!

Beware and plan your trip ahead of time.

There are no diapers in every town

That was a huge surprise. Diapers are a rare thing and are saved to the big supermarkets in the big villages. We got lucky with the first time we ran out of diapers and buying a big package because a smaller one was not available. You'll encounter a proper supermarket about once a week

Weather at some parts of the camino is unpredictable

We set foot in April, spring by all means. The general forecast had temperatures between 12°C-25°C. Yet somehow we have encountered cold days with below 0°C which we were definitely not ready for. Lucky for us we brought enough clothes to dress in layers. Also during some days we would look at the weather forecast and see that the day is supposedly sunny only to discover heavy rain when getting out of the door. After 2 months of walking I can reasonably say that the weather is a crapshoot and no weather channel will show it to you correctly

Final thoughts

These are things about Camino de Santiago that we wish we knew before, not because they are deal-breakers because they are not. But to be more prepared physically and mentally and save the adjustment time. Did I miss anything important? Let me know!