Possible Stages on the Vasco

[ebrandt]

I got such nice feedback on my possible Invierno stages, I thought I would see what all of you think about our proposed stages on the Vasco. We are leaving Irun on 14 May. I strongly considered the Saiatz alternative, but this will be the very beginning of our walk with me on my ankle replacment, Tom with his disc replacements and me recovering from a recent knee inury. So, we though we better start out a a little more slowly.

Also, we are walking the alternative to Santo Domingo de la Calzada as Tom wants to take a pause at Atapuerca to visit the dig site there.

With that, here's what we propose:
1. Irun to Astigarraga @21.9 km
2. Astigarraga to Tolosa @22.2 km
3. Tolosa to Beasain @18.6 km
4. Besain to Zegama @17 km. I went ahead and reserved in advance here.
5. Zegama to Zalduondo 15.7 km. This gives us a nice short day with the climb and descent from the San Adrian Tunnel.
6. Zalduondo to Alegria 19.2 km
7. Alegria to Vitoria 15.8 km. This gives us a short day to explore Vitoria a bit.
8. Vitoria to La Puebla de Argonzon 18.8 km
9. La Puebla de Arganzon to Salinillas de Buradon 21.5 km
10. Salinillas to Zarraton 20.7 km. Here, we are splurging and staying at a very nice small hotel. I have made a reservation because they only have 5 rooms!
11. Zarraton to Granon 17.9 km.

I'd love your feedback!

LizB

 

[roving_rufus]

Looking forward to hearing about the pilgrim accommodation at Zalduondo. (I've been toying with that split of Zalduondo, Algeria and Vitoria when I eventually get to walk the Via Bayona)

 

[Tincatinker]

Aah, take an extra day at Salinillas. The couple that run the Albergue are lovely and I could spend an easy day watching the Bee Eaters scoffing the ants scoffing the discarded peanut scraps outside the bar in the square.
That said your plan looks like a good’un. Enjoy!!

 

[ebrandt]

Looking forward to hearing about the pilgrim accommodation at Zalduondo. (I've been toying with that split of Zalduondo, Algeria and Vitoria when I eventually get to walk the Via Bayona)

I'm planning to post live when we are walking and I'll be sure to give details about accommodations. One thing to note is that if you start the stage in Zegama, there are no interim places for food or drink and it appears that the bar in Zaldoundo does not serve meals. So you will need to carry snacks and supplies for supper if you use this option.

 

[Theatregal]

I look forward to following your live thread Liz. Your stages look great to me - I'm a 25km a day or less walker. I'm hoping to walk in the early fall (beginning of September) and I'm strongly leaning toward the Vasco as the beginning of a combo camino. It will be 10 years since I first walked.

 

[peregrina2000]

Alegria to Vitoria 15.8 km. This gives us a short day to explore Vitoria a bit.

There is a beautiful church a km or so off the camino, open every day. Search for Estibaliz in the forum and you’ll find lots of info. Both VN and I are kicking ourselves that we didn’t go there. But you may not have the same romanesque affliction that we do.

And in Vitoria, if you can tear yourself away from the food (surely @SabineP has a recommendation, my notes say I ate in El Gautxo), the cathedral tour is special. The main focus is the engineering of the renovations, what they had to do to stabilize the structure, it was fascinating. And there is lots of architectural beauty in the downtown core.

I also remember that the albergue (an albergue juvenil, not de peregrinos) had a late check-in. Since I like to shower and wash clothes before lunch, we just went to a private place nearby. Lots of options, we took a cheap pensión.

La Puebla de Arganzon to Salinillas de Buradon

Great idea to stay in Salinillas! Really interesting little place. We stayed in the albergue here, run by a young couple. We were totally zonked, but a local leader of some sort came to the bar to meet us and insisted on taking us on a walking tour of the remnants of the walls and castle. Very nice gesture but I could hardly stand up since we had walked from Vitoria. My live post on the forum reminded me how we had gotten a bottle of home made wine from the couple in the albergue. And here’s an interesting factoid — it’s the only area of the País Vasco where the wine has the denominación de origen of Rioja.

They sell about 16,000 kilos of grapes and keep about 1,000 for their own production. This is a little corner of Pais Vasco whose wine is Rioja. We are at a point where Navarra, Pais Vasco, and Castilla/Leon fought it out.

And Salinillas is perfectly positioned for a long coffee stop in Haro. I think I remember that VN and Sabine took a rest day to visit Haro (they took the Burgos branch, which doesn’t go through Haro and then came back to see it). Undoubtedly they had a good meal there!

All in all, looks like a great camino.

 

[peregrino_tom]

Liz, that first day is quite up and down and may well be the most demanding. We just went as far as Santiagomendi.
Otherwise, those shortish stages (to my mind) will, I hope, leave you with sufficient energy for some gentle exploring. I found so many of those hinterland basque towns fascinating - Tolosa, Beasain and particularly Segura - don't let the camino whisk you out the first part of it before you've done a little tour.
You may have seen going back a few years that thread on the not-very-strenuous 'mountain' variant to the exceedingly charming (even the old prison..) village of Zerain. And it has an incredible gourmet shop - desperately tantalising for backpacking pilgrims.
The cathedral Santa Maria tour in Vitoria Gasteiz is essential - just awesome. And when we stayed at the cathedral albergue next door we got a discount.
Speaking of awesome and being remminded of it on another thread today about menu del dia, you may arrive in time at Puebla de Arganzon to find your way across the railway tracks and deserted national road to La Legua Restaurante and Sideria. Not much to look at from the outside, but when we were there it was bustling in the dining room with about 60 locals (and a bemused three of us) enjoying an excellent lunch.
Finally to second Laurie's rec for the short detour up a gentle hill to the Church/Shrine (and possibly convent too I seem to remember?) of Nuestra Senora de Esibaliz. The interior felt a very special place to be.
You've just reminded me what a lovely journey it all was.

 

[ebrandt]

@peregrino_tom thanks for that info. I realized that the first day might be stressful and have Sangiomendi on my plan B. The only reason I didn't plan on this stop its apparently an Albergue Juvenil and may be filled with school groups. May 14, the evening we would be there, is a Saturday. But if we are on our "last legs" so to speak, we will definitely plan a stop there!

 

[ebrandt]

But you may not have the same romanesque affliction that we do.

Nuestra Senora de Esibaliz.

I definitely have the Romanesque obsession. I remember you, @peregrina2000 and @VNwalking writing about missing this site. Here's a link to the Basque Tourism site regarding the church:https://turismo.euskadi.eus/es/patr...de-nuestra-senora-de-estibaliz/aa30-12375/es/. It looks like it may not currently be used as a monastery although it is called a "sanctuary" and apparently there is a museum on the site.

 

[peregrino_tom]

@peregrino_tom thanks for that info. I realized that the first day might be stressful and have Sangiomendi on my plan B. The only reason I didn't plan on this stop its apparently an Albergue Juvenil and may be filled with school groups

True that! The roll of the dice meant we had the place to ourselves.
It's all downhill from there to Astigarraga anyway. And we had to walk quite a long way on weary first day limbs to find a bar in the evening.. So actually your option is a good call all round

 

[PierreB in]

@ebrandt The stages you are planning on the Vasco look great. My wife and I are planning to walk it starting mid-April after being hospitaleros in Burgos for two weeks. Would you mind sharing your list of accommodations? I can report back. Thanks.

 

[peregrina2000]

This is like opening old wounds, , but look at the interpretative center right there onsite. Its hours are more limited, so I would try to plan accordingly.

Visita guiada al Santuario de Estíbaliz - románico Álava

Visita guiada para conocer el Santuario románico de Nuestra Señora de Estíbaliz y el Centro de Interpretación del Románico en Álava.

alavamedieval.com

 

[ebrandt]

@ebrandt The stages you are planning on the Vasco look great. My wife and I are planning to walk it starting mid-April after being hospitaleros in Burgos for two weeks. Would you mind sharing your list of accommodations? I can report back. Thanks.

Hi Pierre -- I have only made two advance bookings. We love to stay at parochial and municipal albergues. We love the community, cooking together and supporting the local municipalities' and churches' efforts to provide support for pilgrims. With that said, and probably with more info than you wanted -- here is what I am thinking:

1. Astigarraga. There is no albergue here. We will aim for Pension Astigarraga -- others we know have stayed here and had good experiences. If we are struggling with the ups and downs on the first day, and if its not full with school kids, we could stop 3 km earlier at the Albergue Juvenil at Sangiomendi. There is a kitchen at the albergue but no bars or restaurants nearby so that is a limitation. We will be there on a Saturday also so the school kids scenario is a real thing

2. Tolosa. Again no albergue here. We will aim for Pension Karmentxu or Pension Ovarbide.

3. Beasain. There is a municipal albergue here run by the local Guipuzcoa Pilgrim's organization. We plan to stay at it. A friend had a wonderful experience when she stayed here.

4. Zegama. Pension Ostatu Zegama has been highly recommended. I booked through booking.com. Their restaurant has also been highly recommended so I messaged them to see if we could also reserve supper. Unfortunately, their restaurant is not open on weekdays, but they offered to prepare us sandwiches or a dinner plate!

5. Zalduondo. There is a donativo municipal albergue here where we will stay. It has a kitchen. The local bar does not serve meals, so we will plan to come with supplies to cook supper. There are actually no intermediate services on this stage, so we will need to carry snacks and dinner supplies from Zegama.

6. Alegria. Again there is an albergue here where we will stay. It is operated by the Tullonium Cultural Assoc. and there are good reports from friends who have stayed here.

7. Vitoria. We plan to stay at the cathedral albergue unless it is full (its also an albergue juvenil. We will be here during the middle of the week so I hope its available. It also reportedly opens late. I haven't scoped out alternatives, but there are many.

8. Puebla de Argonzon. We will stay at the municipal albergue here.

9. Salinillas. We plan to stay at the private albergue here which has been recommended by several others in the forum.

10. Zarraton. Here we have booked at Hospideria Palacio de Casafuerte. Its a small three star hotel. I booked through booking.com for 109 euro for a double. The hotel has five rooms and the rate includes breakfast. I just messaged them about supper, but there is also a restaurant in town according to Gronz. On Booking they offered free cancellation until 5 days before our stay.

11. Granon. After the Vasco we are waling the Frances to Ponferrada. We want to stay at different places than we have previously stayed. Walking past Santo Domingo de la Calzada gets us on a different timing than our previous CF. We also decided not to walk to Burgos because my husband very much wants to stop and do a tour of the archeological site at Atapuerca. The Burgos route has been highly recommended to us so it was a hard decision!


Anyway -- this is probably way more than you want to know, but... Please post details of your experience as we would love more info about what's open, etc. on the Vasco!

LizB

 

[PierreB in]

Hi Pierre -- I have only made two advance bookings. We love to stay at parochial and municipal albergues. We love the community, cooking together and supporting the local municipalities' and churches' efforts to provide support for pilgrims. With that said, and probably with more info than you wanted -- here is what I am thinking:

1. Astigarraga. There is no albergue here. We will aim for Pension Astigarraga -- others we know have stayed here and had good experiences. If we are struggling with the ups and downs on the first day, and if its not full with school kids, we could stop 3 km earlier at the Albergue Juvenil at Sangiomendi. There is a kitchen at the albergue but no bars or restaurants nearby so that is a limitation. We will be there on a Saturday also so the school kids scenario is a real thing

2. Tolosa. Again no albergue here. We will aim for Pension Karmentxu or Pension Ovarbide.

3. Beasain. There is a municipal albergue here run by the local Guipuzcoa Pilgrim's organization. We plan to stay at it. A friend had a wonderful experience when she stayed here.

4. Zegama. Pension Ostatu Zegama has been highly recommended. I booked through booking.com. Their restaurant has also been highly recommended so I messaged them to see if we could also reserve supper. Unfortunately, their restaurant is not open on weekdays, but they offered to prepare us sandwiches or a dinner plate!

5. Zalduondo. There is a donativo municipal albergue here where we will stay. It has a kitchen. The local bar does not serve meals, so we will plan to come with supplies to cook supper. There are actually no intermediate services on this stage, so we will need to carry snacks and dinner supplies from Zegama.

6. Alegria. Again there is an albergue here where we will stay. It is operated by the Tullonium Cultural Assoc. and there are good reports from friends who have stayed here.

7. Vitoria. We plan to stay at the cathedral albergue unless it is full (its also an albergue juvenil. We will be here during the middle of the week so I hope its available. It also reportedly opens late. I haven't scoped out alternatives, but there are many.

8. Puebla de Argonzon. We will stay at the municipal albergue here.

9. Salinillas. We plan to stay at the private albergue here which has been recommended by several others in the forum.

10. Zarraton. Here we have booked at Hospideria Palacio de Casafuerte. Its a small three star hotel. I booked through booking.com for 109 euro for a double. The hotel has five rooms and the rate includes breakfast. I just messaged them about supper, but there is also a restaurant in town according to Gronz. On Booking they offered free cancellation until 5 days before our stay.

11. Granon. After the Vasco we are waling the Frances to Ponferrada. We want to stay at different places than we have previously stayed. Walking past Santo Domingo de la Calzada gets us on a different timing than our previous CF. We also decided not to walk to Burgos because my husband very much wants to stop and do a tour of the archeological site at Atapuerca. The Burgos route has been highly recommended to us so it was a hard decision!


Anyway -- this is probably way more than you want to know, but... Please post details of your experience as we would love more info about what's open, etc. on the Vasco!

LizB

Thank you so much Liz, that's going to help us a lot being that we are more focused on the activities to reopen the albergue in Burgos on April 1st right now.

 

[PierreB in]

Thank you so much Liz, that's going to help us a lot being that we are more focused on the activities to reopen the albergue in Burgos on April 1st right now.

if you plan to stay in Burgos after visiting Atapuerca, have you stayed at the Albergue de Peregrinos EMAUS before? Really nice place if you haven't. We are opening with limited capacity (10 beds instead of 20) in 4 small dorms. Opens at 1pm. Communal dinner and breakfast. No reservations. 10 euros for the bed, donativo for the meals. Buen Camino!

 

[HoosierOldLady]

I got such nice feedback on my possible Invierno stages, I thought I would see what all of you think about our proposed stages on the Vasco. We are leaving Irun on 14 May. I strongly considered the Saiatz alternative, but this will be the very beginning of our walk with me on my ankle replacment, Tom with his disc replacements and me recovering from a recent knee inury. So, we though we better start out a a little more slowly.

Also, we are walking the alternative to Santo Domingo de la Calzada as Tom wants to take a pause at Atapuerca to visit the dig site there.

With that, here's what we propose:
1. Irun to Astigarraga @21.9 km
2. Astigarraga to Tolosa @22.2 km
3. Tolosa to Beasain @18.6 km
4. Besain to Zegama @17 km. I went ahead and reserved in advance here.
5. Zegama to Zalduondo 15.7 km. This gives us a nice short day with the climb and descent from the San Adrian Tunnel.
6. Zalduondo to Alegria 19.2 km
7. Alegria to Vitoria 15.8 km. This gives us a short day to explore Vitoria a bit.
8. Vitoria to La Puebla de Argonzon 18.8 km
9. La Puebla de Arganzon to Salinillas de Buradon 21.5 km
10. Salinillas to Zarraton 20.7 km. Here, we are splurging and staying at a very nice small hotel. I have made a reservation because they only have 5 rooms!
11. Zarraton to Granon 17.9 km.

I'd love your feedback!

LizB

I’d love to know how your Camino went. I am planning to walk the Vasco from Irún beginning mid-late May 2023. How did your stages work out and what was the weather like? (I know how variable that can be) Thanks!

 

[peregrina2000]

I’d love to know how your Camino went. I am planning to walk the Vasco from Irún beginning mid-late May 2023. How did your stages work out and what was the weather like? (I know how variable that can be) Thanks!

Here’s their live thread. If you scroll through the Vasco sub-forum you’ll see a number of relatively recent live threads.

 

[HoosierOldLady]

I’d love to know how your Camino went. I am planning to walk the Vasco from Irún beginning mid-late May 2023. How did your stages work out and what was the weather like? (I know how variable that can be) Thanks!

ah, never mind! I found your nice summary/guide on the Vasco sub-forum, thanks to @peregrina2000

 

[lt56ny]

Liz, that first day is quite up and down and may well be the most demanding. We just went as far as Santiagomendi.
Otherwise, those shortish stages (to my mind) will, I hope, leave you with sufficient energy for some gentle exploring. I found so many of those hinterland basque towns fascinating - Tolosa, Beasain and particularly Segura - don't let the camino whisk you out the first part of it before you've done a little tour.
You may have seen going back a few years that thread on the not-very-strenuous 'mountain' variant to the exceedingly charming (even the old prison..) village of Zerain. And it has an incredible gourmet shop - desperately tantalising for backpacking pilgrims.
The cathedral Santa Maria tour in Vitoria Gasteiz is essential - just awesome. And when we stayed at the cathedral albergue next door we got a discount.
Speaking of awesome and being remminded of it on another thread today about menu del dia, you may arrive in time at Puebla de Arganzon to find your way across the railway tracks and deserted national road to La Legua Restaurante and Sideria. Not much to look at from the outside, but when we were there it was bustling in the dining room with about 60 locals (and a bemused three of us) enjoying an excellent lunch.
Finally to second Laurie's rec for the short detour up a gentle hill to the Church/Shrine (and possibly convent too I seem to remember?) of Nuestra Senora de Esibaliz. The interior felt a very special place to be.
You've just reminded me what a lovely journey it all was.

Hi Tom
Planning for the Vasco this year. Are there any services besides the albergue in Santiagomendi? I had read it was a pretty rough stage. Should I bring food? Gronze shows it serves meals but I would assume that is just for groups. Any help appreciated. Thanks

 

[peregrino_tom]

Hi Tom
Planning for the Vasco this year. Are there any services besides the albergue in Santiagomendi? I had read it was a pretty rough stage. Should I bring food? Gronze shows it serves meals but I would assume that is just for groups. Any help appreciated. Thanks

Oooh It56ny, going back a few years now, so things may have changed. But yes, it was a fairly testing day, because it was the first day and quite up and down. For the albergue at Santiagomendi we phoned when we got there, and a woman came along with a key for us. It's a big place, set up for groups (of kids) really, with a proper commercial-style kitchen where we made some pasta (which we brought with us) and also coffee the next morning.
Gronze shows a bar about 6.5k before Santiagomendi. There was also another one just past it on the left side which is where we stopped and had a very good late lunch.
After washing, eating and feeling exhilarated by the view down to distant San Sebastian and the sea, we got itchy feet and went off in search of a bar... we walked down the small road called Ermita Bidea (visible on Mapy.cz) and found a bar/restaurant after about 600m (also marked). Actually, we could have eaten there.
Gronze has an email address for Santiagomendi so I'd probably contact in advance if I was going now - which is very tempting, because I dearly loved this camino...

 

[lt56ny]

Oooh It56ny, going back a few years now, so things may have changed. But yes, it was a fairly testing day, because it was the first day and quite up and down. For the albergue at Santiagomendi we phoned when we got there, and a woman came along with a key for us. It's a big place, set up for groups (of kids) really, with a proper commercial-style kitchen where we made some pasta (which we brought with us) and also coffee the next morning.
Gronze shows a bar about 6.5k before Santiagomendi. There was also another one just past it on the left side which is where we stopped and had a very good late lunch.
After washing, eating and feeling exhilarated by the view down to distant San Sebastian and the sea, we got itchy feet and went off in search of a bar... we walked down the small road called Ermita Bidea (visible on Mapy.cz) and found a bar/restaurant after about 600m (also marked). Actually, we could have eaten there.
Gronze has an email address for Santiagomendi so I'd probably contact in advance if I was going now - which is very tempting, because I dearly loved this camino...

Thanks so much for this information. I am sure some things have changed since you walked. I will walk this camino and I sure I will stay here unless there is some issue with it being open. I will avoid arriving on a weekend. Easy enough to do hopefully as it is early on the camino. I will not be going until early fall so hopefully I will have no issues. I am really looking forward to this camino. Looks like I will have to walk a longer day to Tolosa but based on Gronze it looks alot easier. I will keep this information and add it to my notes. I think on caminos like this having some local knowledge from past pilgrims can never hurt at all. But still will be packing enough food and water for lunch/dinner/breakfast whenever I may be in doubt.