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Advice on Camino Del Norte / Primitivo needed

K

Kclif

KClif
Time of past OR future Camino
2019 Camino Del Norte / Primitivo
All,

I am planning my Camino together with my son in June 2019 (a long way off I know).
I plan to walk the Norte / Primitivo then on to Santiago de Compostela.

Could people advise how many days I should allocate for this journey??

We do a fare amount of hill walking in the UK. Completed the peddars way and Norfolk coast path in 5 Days. And the Cotswold way again in 5days.
I think we would be aiming for around 160kms a week (including the odd zero day or short walk day).

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
 
Last edited:
More 2024 Camino Guides available
The 2024 Camino guides will be coming out little by little. Here is a collection of the ones that are out so far.
The Norte + Primitivo does not present a particularly difficult route for fit and experienced walkers. There is a bit more up and down than the Camino Frances...but really not a big difference.
I would expect that you would have no problem averaging 20-25 km per day with some longer and shorter days in the average.

First time pilgrims whose training and experience may be lacking could have some early challenges.....but the route is not difficult.
 
If you followed the "official" stages, it would take you 33 days starting from Irun (most of the stages are 20-25kms, but some are a bit longer/ shorter than this). You'd also have to factor in rest days and days of travel to/from the camino. To get an overview of stops and distances, check out the Gronze and Eroski websites (in Spanish, but there's a lot of helpful info about distances, elevations, and accommodation, for which no real language proficiency is needed). [Note: you'll need to 'link together' 3 caminos: the Norte, the Primitivo, and the Frances from Palas de Rei onwards]
 
Let us pick up your suitcase once you arrive in Europe....
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
My daughter and I left Irun 2 September 2016 and arrived in Santiago Sunday morning September 25 for the Mass at the Cathedral. We took 2 days off (San Sebastian & Lugo) and skipped one stage on the Norte and one on Primitivo.
Bus from Santander to Oviedo.
Make sure you stay with the priest in Guemes. It's was a highlight
 

I thought, "that was quick!" but then saw that you caught the bus Santander-Oviedo. Given that this stretch takes about 10 days, I think the OP would have to set aside (minimum?) 35 days to do the whole thing comfortably.
 
Taking a bus from Santander to Oviedo is 9 stages by gronze's guide, Terry walked it as 11 stages.
The best way to calculate days needed is to make a rough plan of your own stages using any guide and adapting it. Decide the days needed, or count maximum kms per day and then count backwards from Santiago to give a start point or decide which stages to miss. Do remember not to miss any in the final 100kms if you want a Compostela.
 
Train on the 4-day Catalina Camino
Train for your next Camino on California's Santa Catalina Island March 16-19


Where do you start. Irún to Santiago via Primitivo 33 days easy. Very doable
 
Thanks to all for your advice and ideas.
I plan to start at Irun.
 
Gronze.com is a really good guide to read. In nothing else it will provide you a template and you can adjust from there according to your available time and level of fitness.
 
Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
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