Private hosts provide beds for pilgrims on Bavarian Camino routes

Private hosts are helping pilgrims find affordable accommodation on Bavarian routes to Santiago de Compostela, BR24 reports. They offer more than a bed and breakfast, often providing conversation and a welcoming place to rest.

The blue and yellow shell marks the Way of St James. Bavaria has an extensive network of pilgrimage routes, many of them reconstructed, but affordable guesthouses and pensions are scarce. Traditional pilgrim hostels, such as those found in France and Spain, are largely absent because relatively few pilgrims travel the routes.

On the Munich, Franconian and Swabian routes, private residents therefore offer rooms at low prices or in exchange for a donation. Sabine Glaab makes her sons’ former bedroom available to pilgrims in Machtlfing near Andechs.

“Offering strangers shelter and a place to stay is important to me,” Glaab said. She has welcomed Axel from Munich, who has already walked from Bavaria to Santiago this year. He said he valued the personal encounters along the route. Glaab charges 25 euros for the overnight stay and donates the money.

The Munich route runs from Munich via Lake Starnberg, Lake Ammersee, Wessobrunn and Kaufbeuren to Lake Constance. From there, pilgrims can continue through Switzerland to one of the main routes in France. The East Bavarian route runs from the Czech border via Regensburg, Weltenburg Abbey and Eichstätt to Donauwörth. The Franconian-Swabian route connects Würzburg and Rothenburg ob der Tauber with Ulm.

On the Franconian route from Vierzehnheiligen to Bamberg, Michaela Hofmann offers rooms in her home in Zapfendorf, which lies almost directly on the route. She can accommodate up to five people and said her husband had previously gone out to collect pilgrims who could no longer continue.

“The contacts are so wonderful,” Glaab said. “For me, that is essentially what the Way of St James is about: the community that develops along it.” She said it was painful when she could not provide accommodation and pilgrims had to stay in expensive hotels.

Lists of private hosts are available on various websites, allowing pilgrims to register in advance. Accommodation can include guest rooms, caravans and tents. The arrangements are based on informal mutual assistance rather than professional marketing.