In the General Prologue, Chaucer has already checked in, when he says that 29 more arrived in a company. He then names 30 more. With Chaucer and the Host, 32 set out. They are joined by the Canon's Yeoman to make a group of 33 at the end, a suitable number of some religious significance (years of Christ's life, e.g.)
Note that 29 is also of some significance, since St. Thomas a Becket's feast day is Dec. 29.
Why the error? Probably since Chaucer the Narrator is always making quick judgments, which the reader has to take with a grain of salt. This is Chaucer the Poet's ironic way of first indicating this to us.
For more details, see Caroline Eckhardt's "The Number of Chaucer's Pilgrims: A Review and Reappraisal" in The Yearbook of English Studies, Vol 5 (1975), pp. 1-18.
Chaucer meets 29 pilgrims in the Tabard Inn in Southwark. Chaucer joins the group, and so does the Tabard landlord - Harry Bailey.
While on the route to Canterbury, the party meets a Canon and his Yeoman. The Canon does not stay around long, but the Yeoman joins the group.
Correct answers to your questions include: 29, 30, 31, 32.; but 30 is probably the best of these answers.
Chaucer meets 29 pilgrims at the Tabard. Chaucer and Harry Bailey (the landlord) join the group, to make 31.
Later they meet the Canon and his Yeoman - but the Canon doesn't stay with them long.
So 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 are all possible answers to your question.
If you mean pilgrims:
Chaucer meets 29 pilgrims at the Tabard Inn in Southwark. Chaucer himself joins the party, and so does the landlord of the Tabard - Harry Bailey. This makes 31 pilgrims, of whom only 30 will take part in the Tale telling (Harry is excluded as the judge).
On their way to Canterbury the pilgrims meet a Canon (who has been operating as an Alchemist and general purpose confidence trickster) together with his Yeoman. The Canon doesn't stay around long, but his Yeoman joins the pilgrimage (perhaps only as far as Canterbury - we never find out).
So the group momentarily increases to 33, then drops back to 32 again.
There are 31 pilgrims as they set out from the Tabard, including Chaucer and Harry Bailey. Later they are joined by the Canon and his Yeoman, but the Canon doesn't stay around long.
If you mean tales:
The original plan was that each pilgrim would tell two stories on the way to Canterbury, and two on the way back home to London. With 30 competing pilgrims (remember that Harry Bailey is excluded) this would be 120 tales.
Chaucer never completed the Canterbury Tales, and no pilgrim really tells more than one tale, while a few never tell a tale at all. But the plan was for 120 separate stories.
In The Canterbury Tales, the pilgrims were coming from London, England and traveling to Canterbury, England to visit the shrine of Thomas a Becket.
it was written in Middle-English
the host
All of the characters in the Canterbury Tales are pilgrims, and the main reason they are traveling is to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. To be more specific about individual motivations though, you would have to specify a character by more than "pilgrim."
At the Tabard Inn
The knight and the Squire.
The first section of the Canterbury Tales, where the pilgrims are introduced, is usually called the Prologue.
The inn
They are going to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas
He says the Nun's singing was nasally and that she spoke lower class French.
The Pilgrims are going to visit the Shrine of Saint Thomas in Canterbury.
The host in the Canterbury Tales proposes to entertain the pilgrims if they will follow his orders. The pilgrims are to vote on whether or not they will agree to the proposal.