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Accommodations on Camino Norte ( and other questions!)

Happyinharrogate

Active Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Camino Frances 2021 and Camino del Norte 2023
I am planning to walk the Camino Norte in September and interested in feedback on this walk.
Are there plentiful accommodations options all along the route and do I need to pre book?
Do people believe this is a tougher walk than the Camino Francais?
What do people think the highlight stages of this walk are?
Any help tips welcome
 
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Happy planning! I'm in the same mode as you are... Norte, September... finding an app that helps me avoid the asphalt I hear it has. The little I know is that it's harder than the Frances as the first 10 days or so are repeats of the first day in the Frances if you start in SJPD.... That's what I remember from other threads.
 
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We did it last year and we both thought it harder than the CF. LOTS of ups and down. Accommodation was expensive as there was a lot of tourist and surfer competition. Also, the stages can be a bit of a yoyo as its not always possible to walk your "preferred" stage distance.

We prebooked because we did not want shared accommodation. At times, even this was hard to achieve (but obviously not impossible). Also, because of demand, we found prices higher at weekends due to the influx of weekend visitors to the coastal venues.

From Irun to Bilbao is quite challenging. If you are still smiling at Bilbao, then you will cope with the rest

Having said all that, its still a great route. We don't want it too easy, do we !!
 
My wife and I walked the Norte in April and May, starting from Irun. We did not prebook for the first week and had no problem finding accommodation. We started booking when we saw several people who were not able to get into the municipal albergue in Castro Urdiales despite having waited longer than a few who did get to stay there. We typically booked a day ahead of time, although we booked farther out as we got closer to Santiago. The exceptions were when our intended destinations were facilities that did not take bookings, such as the municipal albergue in Baamonde. Mostly, booking in advance gave us peace of mind that we would have a bed without hurrying.
 
We are currently walking the Norte, in Otur ATM. We have walked CF and also Portugues and would say this is by far harder but also most beautiful. The hard part especially was the Basque country but also my favourite.

Whilst we may only see a couple to half a dozen walkers total during the day - which was definitely not the case for the CF, we have had to prebook accommodation due to limited facilities and also to ensure we can walk the stages we plan to - plus you have the local tourism also staying at Private albergues.

The challenging parts for us has been reduced services (coffee stops!) compared to CF, but comparable to CP. Also a lot more road walking than CF however less than CP. Also at times markings can be lacking, however we have used maps.me with the track downloaded and this has been very helpful.

If I could recommend a Camino route to anyone to do, it would be the Norte for sure.
 
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I have walked the del Norte twice starting in early September. I have walked the Camino Frances once, but starting in Pamplona. The del Norte is tougher and rainier but beautiful. The Basque people are very friendly. Albergues are fewer and farther but I didn't prebook. But that was pre Covid. One highlight for me was not Camino related. The Museo Altamira is 2 km from Santillana del Mar and well worth half a day's diversion. Buen Camino
 
Fantastic Camino. Beats Frances any day
 
When I walked the Norte last year all the municipal albergues after Irun were closed until Galicia due to COVID. Despite this I was always able to find somewhere to stay, although I did have to book ahead some nights. One weekend was a problem because I arrived at my planned stop too early and decided to walk the extra 6kms to the next town. One hostel was closed and the other one full and ended up walking 52kms that day. I found a village, booked something that was available 2kms further and had a fantastic room in a hotel for €20. It even had an all you can eat buffet for €5 the next morning. It was slightly off route but we'll worth the detour.
As things to look out for on the way, I tried to hug the coast as much as possible and that sometimes meant following a GR route instead of the Camino. I can't remember the name of the village but maybe someone else here can but somewhere near the middle of the route there's a small, 10 bed albergue that's right by the sea, with a beautiful view. It was closed last year .
It's a great route and I'm sure you'll be glad you did it.
 
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Ideal sleeping bag liner whether we want to add a thermal plus to our bag, or if we want to use it alone to sleep in shelters or hostels. Thanks to its mummy shape, it adapts perfectly to our body.

€46,-
Hi hope your walk is going well. Are you using luggage transfer? If so is this working ok for you each day? Are you using Correleos?
 
Happyinharrogate said:
Hi hope your walk is going well. Are you using luggage transfer? If so is this working ok for you each day? Are you using Correleos?
Click to expand...
Hi, no we are not using a luggage service, we are carrying our own backpacks. I have not seen many people getting baggage transfer along the norte however I am sure you are able to.
 
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