Camino Lebaniego: 4 days from San Vicente de la Barquera to the Monastery

[andonius]

I've discovered a new Camino that has became one of my favourites and that I want to share with you.
The Camino Lebaniego is a branch of the Camino del Norte that goes in four stages from San Vicente de la Barquera to the holy Shrine of Santo Toribio de Liebana. In case you don't know (as i didn't), Santo Toribio is one of the five most Holy Places in Christianity along with Jerusalem, Rome, Santiago de Compostela and Caravaca de la Cruz. The reason is that it helds the biggest piece of the Holy Cross, discovered in Jerusalem by St. Helen in the year 326 A.D.
But apart from that religious consideration, It's a really amazing, beautiful and savage Camino in the mountains of the north of Spain that I fully recomend.
It has became one of my favourites, together with Camino Primitivo, and I say that with a lot of finished Caminos in my backpack.
It's not a piece of cake, because it has some steep climbs, but completely doable for a 65 years old guy like me and my wife (that by the way wlaks a lot more than me and it's better prepared...).
I'll leave you here four videos made with the Relive app with the stages I did and pictures so you can have a hint of how it looks like.
The first stage begins in the Town of San Vicente de la Barquera, but my video begins in a town called Serdio, some 10 kms far from San Vicente , because I was doing the Camino del Norte before I took the deviation to Camino Lebaniego in San Vicente and stopped for night at Serdio.
The whole stage follows a spectacular river walk, very well conditioned, called "Senda Fluvial del Nansa" with incredible views. It's a easy 19 kms.stage mostly flat and easy, which introduces you to the mountains of Cantabria and finishes in the town of Cades, where there's a wonderful Hotel Called La Casona del Nansa and an Albergue. I passed the night at the near town of Bielva.
By the way, the titles of the pictures are in Spanish, but as most of them are names of places, I guess it will not be a problem for you.
I hope you enjoy it.

 

[andonius]

This is the second stage of camino Lebaniego. 18 kms from Cades or Bielva to Cicera, now deep in the mountains.
A first part of the stage is an easy road climb till you reach the town of Lafuente.
There things begin to be more difficult with a strong but short hill to Collado de La Hoz and then an easy descent to the town of Cicera, where you have an albergue and a very beutiful hotel called El Molino de Cicera.
A very pleasent stage that will prepare your legs for the third and most demanding day.

 

[andonius]

The most beautiful and demanding of the four stages,
It goes from Cicera to the beautiful small hamlet of Cabañes, deep in the mountains. It's only 14 kms, so many people decide to continue directly to Potes. But I recommend to stop at Cabañes to pass the night, not only because the stage is demanding, but because in Cabañaes is one of the best Albergues I have known and because the views from there, really deserve to be admired with calm. Then the next stage is an easy walk to Potes and Santo Toribio.
The stage begins with a demanding ascent to Collado de la Hoz, with a landscpe that will make you think you are in some amazonic trail.
Then you decend to the town of Lebeña, with one of the most important Romanic churches in Spain: Santa Maria de Lebeña.
From ther you begin to ascend again o the town of Allende and then I recommend to take the extremely beautiful Senda del Rio Rubejo to complete your ascension to Cabañes. Ther you can rest in the Albergue, set in a mountain circus wuth incredible views or in the good Posada de Cabañes; getting ready for your last and easy stage.

 

[andonius]

The last stage is an esay one, 18 kms in total, including the six kms up and down from the Monastery of Santo Toribio from Potes, where you can sleep or take a bus back to San Vicente de la Barquera to continue your Camino del Norte.
Almost all the way to Potes is downwards and there you have to easily ascend three kms until you reach the monastery.
There's a pilgrim mass at 12:00 and ther you can receive your acreditation similar to the Compostela in Santiago.
I was lucky and I arrived there the day of the Saint Patron of Potes, The Virgin of the light, so all the town ws gathered at the monastery to attend mass and after that they made a beautiful procession taking the image of the Virgin down to Potes, a you can see in some pictures. It was a great end to my pilgrimage.
Potes, the town nearer to the Monastery is a big and touristic town, very beautiful and with all kind of facilities, including bus connection to San Vicente and Santander.
I hope you have liked that series of videos and that som of you will be encouraged to make that beautiful Camino

 

[LesBrass]

I walked this route in a rather strange Camino in July 2020. We booked an apartment and drove each day to the start of the walk... then walked back to the car each day. It was glorious and we keep saying that one day we should go and walk it in the proper fashion.

I had a video :

 

[El Cascayal]

Antonio, gracias for the information and these beautiful videos! I hope to walk here in 2025, this is most helpful. Hope to have more time this week to explore your posts in detail. Gracias to LesBrass too. , Aymarah

 

[Tom Conklin]

I did this walk last fall and I forgot how beautiful the river walk is. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[LTfit]

Thanks for posting! I too will look in more depth at your posts. It's already on my list for 2025 along with the Valdiniense. I still need to decide what I will do before (I've walked the Norte already, once from Irún and once from Bilbao in 2022) or after Mansilla.

The stages you made are quite short. Is there a possibility to lengthen or would that mean walking 2 of your stages in order to find accommodations. Of course I could check out this myself but was just wondering.

 

[Tom Conklin]

The stages you made are quite short. Is there a possibility to lengthen or would that mean walking 2 of your stages in order to find accommodations. Of course I could check out this myself but was just wondering.

I walked this in two stages. One from San Vincente to Cades which was 24K and then from there to Potes, which was 37K. The only reason I walked so far, which I would not advise, was because I got to Cicera around 11.

 

[LTfit]

I walked this in two stages. One from San Vincente to Cades which was 24K and then from there to Potes, which was 37K. The only reason I walked so far, which I would not advise, was because I got to Cicera around 11.

Many thanks for your reply. I seem to average 33 km per day on all my Caminos except on the Francés where I averaged more since I too seem to always arrive in the morning at the end of a "normal" stage so I end up continuing on. I check my usual resources for planning.

 

[pinkwadingbird]

I walked this route along with the Vadiniense last summer. Totally agree with you. For anyone willing and able to do a more physically challenging Camino you will be rewarded with an amazing experience.

 

[andonius]

You can do it in three or even two days. The lenght is about 75 kms.
But I recommend to do it in four stages so you can have the oportunity to walk slowly the Senda Fluvial del Cades, enjoy the climb to Cicera from Cades and over all sleep in Cabañes (two good albergues with excellent communal dinner and a good hotel too), where you can get the most incredible views of all the Lebaniego and in the next day you can easily reach the Monasterio of Santo Toribio (12 kms from Cabañes, in time for the 12:00 pilgrim mass.