What's the accommodation like on the GR1

The guide to the GR1 has been produced on the assumption that walkers will use the local accommodation, walk from place to place and, for their comfort, carry the minimum amount of gear. It is possible to walk most of the GR1 and start and finish each day in accommodation directly on the route although just occasionally a diversion is needed, even, a couple of times a taxi journey.

For me, one of the joys of this style of walking is the element of surprise involved in where you end up staying.

Broadly speaking there are two types of accommodation - provided in small hotels or by individuals.



Small hotel accommodation is described in Spain in various ways and with no great consistency.  A hotel might be called a hostal, auberge or hotel and the description will not give you much idea what to expect.  A hostal for example, could be rooms above a bar providing fairly minimal services or it could be a lavish weekend retreat aimed at wealthly Spanish weekenders from the city and providing a fine dining experience.  Invariably the rooms are meticulously clean (the Spanish apparently use more cleaning materials per head than anyone in Europe), good value and with kind friendly owners.

Private accommodation is usually described as a casa rural and again the title is not that helpful.  It can mean a room in the owner's own home - similar to bed and breakfast; it can mean a single room in a property designed for a full property let; or it can involve a room in a property similar to a small hotel where food is provided to guests.

Where there is a choice I always prefer to stay in a small hotel rather than private accommodation. Not only are they usually better value they are also more fun, particularly when the small hotel includes the local bar.

The feasibility of this style of walking is to a large extent dependent on the availability of accommodation and finding accommodation and making sure that it is still available is an ongoing challenge.  The guide provides a details of accommodation for each day's walking and hopefully people will let me know if there are any changes.

For a blog on boutique hotels on the GR1 follow this link  - for details of the GR1 guide follow 

this link