Camino del Norte - 75% abreast of motorways?

[PastorCat]

This is not intended to be a "trolling post," but in my planning I've come upon a blog post from a German pilgrim that described Camino del Norte as being 75% on motorways. If that's accurate, that's a surprise. I had selected the North Way because I understood it traversed landscape far more rural and far less 'developed' than the Camino Frances. Is that a misconception? Here's the blog post that has me aflutter:

http://christine-on-big-trip.blogspot.com/2012/09/camino-del-norte-conclusion-and-tips.html

 

[Tincatinker]

This is not intended to be a "trolling post," but in my planning I've come upon a blog post from a German pilgrim that described Camino del Norte as being 75% on motorways.

I presume this is the post.
"Too much pavement: About 75% of this Camino are on pavement. This fact itself makes the Camino almost unacceptable as a good hiking trail but it gets worse. The remaining 25% are almost completely on gravel roads. There is next to no single file trail. The 75% pavement can roughly be divided into three equal parts. In the best case you are on a concrete pista which means no traffic. The next third is on quiet country lanes with very little traffic. But the last third, and that means 25% of the trail is on or next to major highways with lots of traffic. In most cases there is a shoulder or a side walk, but there are a few outright dangerous stretches on busy highways with no shoulder."

The lady seems to be in search of, in her words "single file hiking trail". However I can't find any reference to walking on Motorways / Autopista.

 

[PastorCat]

Yes. That was the paragraph that sparked my attention. I think for many Americans, the phrase, "paved road" is equivalent to 'motorway;' although even in the states we have regional words for that. In the west they are called 'freeways,' in the east they are called, toll-roads or highways. Along most roads in the states we have marked footpaths or "sidewalks," (concrete foot paths beside asphalt motor ways).

I should probably be more specific. Attached are a couple of photos representative of what I envision from the linked blog. Topography aside, does 75% of the Camino Norte look like the photos attached?View media item 2904View media item 2903

 

[mikevasey]

Had a look at her post, she divides the 75% into 3 sections, 25% on or alongside motorways, 25% on concrete tracks and 25% on quite country lanes. For the motorways I remember about 10km leaving Santander, about 5km before joining the coastal route to Llanes, and about 10km between Gijon and Aviles, push it up to 30km total for very little bits I cant remember, work out the % for yourself out of 820-850km, even the motorway before joining the E9 to Llanes might have another option, I keep seeing photos of places which I do not remember walking and it seems that once you get to the motorway you cross it now and join the coastal path earlier. Coming out of Santander, you can either take a train which misses out the first 18-20km, or go to the coast again and follow it around to Boo which makes a 12km section go up to about 18km, but takes out the asphalt. Gijon to Aviles is bad, character building is the best way to describe it.
I would say about 40% quiet country lanes/roads and cycle paths, around 40% trail which is a mix of proper trail and gravelly farm roads.

I think I know where shes coming from have alook at her list of walks, she has been on some truly natural, wild and remote ones but the camino is a pilgrimage to Santiago, some caminos will tick her boxes of what is a good route and not, the Norte has feet in many camps and over the length of it all added together I feel it shows you many different aspects of Spain and of yourself.

Buen Camino

 

[PastorCat]

Hi Mike and thank you.

"40% quiet country lanes/roads and cycle paths, around 40% trail which is a mix of proper trail and gravelly farm roads." is fine; even if the 20% balance is along highly traffic-ed freeway or motorway or whatever one wants to call it. My worry was arriving to find 75% of the walk in urban areas with concrete or asphalt under foot.

 

[mikevasey]

The other 20% is miscellaneous,- dual carriageway, urban, concrete paths, beaches. Apart from leaving Santander and Gijon the urban walks were mostly fine, all of the walk into, through and out of San Sebastian is stunning, the same goes for the cliff walk, then the beach and then the ferry into Santander.

Good Luck

 

[Kanga]

See my photos "live" from the Camino del Norte. This is my eighth Camino and the prettiest yet. Yes, lots of paved surface but mainly on minor back roads, footpaths or local gravel roads. Unsurfaced paths tend to get muddy and difficult (it's coastal; ego it rains a lot) so we've been grateful for the harder surfaces.

 

[peregrino_tom]

That blog was written in 2012 and has actually been discussed before in threads about the Norte - in relation to camping I think? I appreciate there's now so much on this forum you wouldn't easily find it.
I think you have to look at what she's done and what interests her. Look at that list of completely awe-inspiring trails that she has completed and all the wilderness camping she's done and you can see exactly why the Norte must seem inconsequential and practically suburban by comparison. Which is not to diminish the Norte at all - think of Newby meeting Thesiger and that final paragraph in 'A short walk in the Hindu Kush'.

 

[szemfules sr]

This is not intended to be a "trolling post," but in my planning I've come upon a blog post from a German pilgrim that described Camino del Norte as being 75% on motorways. If that's accurate, that's a surprise. I had selected the North Way because I understood it traversed landscape far more rural and far less 'developed' than the Camino Frances. Is that a misconception? Here's the blog post that has me aflutter:

http://christine-on-big-trip.blogspot.com/2012/09/camino-del-norte-conclusion-and-tips.html

Exactly because of that German lady, my lovely spouse began to panic and we finally switched to the via Podiensis from Le Puy en Valey till SJPP. (We'll start in 2 weeks.)
She describes the del Norte as a nightmare and now I feel a bit sorry that we won't have a bath in the sea in San Sebastian... on the other hand as far as I see, we'll have a beautiful randonnée in one of the most beautiful part of central France.

 

[oursonpolaire]

I've just looked at her account and found it puzzling-- it is nothing like the del Norte on which I walked last month. Almost all of the beaches (in June) were nigh-deserted and I had several close-to-solitary swims; and I recall quite a bit of footpath, although only perhaps 7-10km of it was single-file. She seems to have focussed overmuch on the entrance and exits of major cities. The exits from Santander, Bilbao, and Gijon are justifiably culprits, but entering San Sebastian and Bilboa were not at all problematic. I would say about a fifth of it is less-than-idyllic, but I would have said that less than 5% is problematic. As far as camping is concerned, Spain is not a wild-camping-friendly country, and this needs to be taken into account. I think that she might have been looking for an Appalachian-trail sort of Camino.

 

[Kiwi-family]

I have a related question. I had seen photos of the coastal route of the Camino Portuguese leaving Porto - beautiful seaside vistas. Apart from the fact that I walked it on a grey murky day, what really surprised me was that if I just slightly turned my head to the right we were almost always being accompanied by rows of three or four-storey residential buildings or chimney stacks etc. is the Norte also like this?

 

[Anemone del Camino]

I have a related question. I had seen photos of the coastal route of the Camino Portuguese leaving Porto - beautiful seaside vistas. Apart from the fact that I walked it on a grey murky day, what really surprised me was that if I just slightly turned my head to the right we were almost always being accompanied by rows of three or four-storey residential buildings or chimney stacks etc. is the Norte also like this?

Kiwi Family, I walked the Norte from San Sebastian to Llanes and I can tellyou I do not remember any bit of Suburbia.

 

[Mike Savage]

Kiwi Family, I walked the Norte from San Sebastian to Llanes and I can tellyou I do not remember any bit of Suburbia.

I'm confused. Does that mean it is more rural or more urban?

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Kiwi-family]

I'm guessing he means rural rather than urban (inferring that from the question I asked)
Norte goes on my list!

 

[Mike Savage]

I'm guessing he means rural rather than urban (inferring that from the question I asked)
Norte goes on my list!

Thank you.

 

[peregrino_tom]

I have a related question. I had seen photos of the coastal route of the Camino Portuguese leaving Porto - beautiful seaside vistas. Apart from the fact that I walked it on a grey murky day, what really surprised me was that if I just slightly turned my head to the right we were almost always being accompanied by rows of three or four-storey residential buildings or chimney stacks etc. is the Norte also like this?

It's nigh on impossible to give a yes/no answer because the Norte is so varied. For a start, that section of the Portuguese pretty much stays right by the coast all the way (although I remember it being quite wild and sand duney for the last 5km or so?)
Much of the Norte is the paths/small roads inland which are joining up the accessible parts of the coast. When you get to the coast you are generally at the parts that are popular, so they are often quite built up. Some examples of the conundrum:
- for the three days before Bilbao you don't see the coast at all (or maybe a sea horizon in the distance at Markina), but it's often a lovely walk
- for the stage coming into Laredo, there's a quiet and much longer inland stage or a big fast road that goes close to the coast.
- for the section to Llanes you take the GR coastal path and are close to the sea but you have the autopista alongside a hundred or so metres away on your l/h side
- from Soto de Luina you are advised by the hospitalero to walk along the suburban roads where you are close to the sea - but can't actually see it. The alternative inland route goes along the hills giving fantastic views (although it is not well waymarked - but championed on other threads)
I could go on... it's all a bit of a mixed bag and being right next to the sea isn't always what represents the best of the norte.
cheers, tom

 

[Richard P]

I'll start by quoting a Spaniard I met early on walking the Norte " most of the original path now lies beneath the new autovia (A8).After walking from Geneva to Santiago a lot of the paths/routes have become a little blurred. But that autovia does seem close by a lot of the time and you just have to make believe that the sound you hear is the roar of the sea and not of the road. After all we are on a pilgrimage and not a wilderness adventure. So we take what is given to us. Many evenings in albergues people would ask what percentage of todays walk was on pavement/asphalt or trail and no two people could ever agree on a figure. But the highlight for me was a section after Islares when I started the daywalking with about 8 others and after we had crossed the bridge over the Rio Aguera and had ascended to a point beneath the auto via Everyone was content to follow the N 634 but I decided to follow a narrower road straight ahead to Sonabia there I saw a small non-Camino sign reading Laredo. 9. Kms. Well Laredo was where I was headed and so follow I did. It was goat path most of the way and took me up some near verticle sections and to dizzying heights above the breaking waves far below. I never met another peregrino who followed that path. That's the Camino.
Buen Camino

It's nigh on impossible to give a yes/no answer because the Norte is so varied. For a start, that section of the Portuguese pretty much stays right by the coast all the way (although I remember it being quite wild and sand duney for the last 5km or so?)
Much of the Norte is the paths/small roads inland which are joining up the accessible parts of the coast. When you get to the coast you are generally at the parts that are popular, so they are often quite built up. Some examples of the conundrum:
- for the three days before Bilbao you don't see the coast at all (or maybe a sea horizon in the distance at Markina), but it's often a lovely walk
- for the stage coming into Laredo, there's a quiet and much longer inland stage or a big fast road that goes close to the coast.
- for the section to Llanes you take the GR coastal path and are close to the sea but you have the autopista alongside a hundred or so metres away on your l/h side
- from Soto de Luina you are advised by the hospitalero to walk along the suburban roads where you are close to the sea - but can't actually see it. The alternative inland route goes along the hills giving fantastic views (although it is not well waymarked - but championed on other threads)
I could go on... it's all a bit of a mixed bag and being right next to the sea isn't always what represents the best of the norte.
cheers, tom

 

[AJ]

- think of Newby meeting Thesiger and that final paragraph in 'A short walk in the Hindu Kush'.

The best final lines in any travel book I have read. More power to Newby!!

 

[MKalcolm M]

My primary memory of the Norte was mud, mud, mud when I walked it in the spring of 2013 and it poured with rain for many days. At one point I left the open path and deliberately walked on a back road just to dodge the mud, and equally walked through Bilbao to Portugalete along the river because I couldn't face battling with the mud monster anymore. Having said this, I found the Norte to be a wonderful walk, and would do it all again in a heartbeat, if circumstances allowed. I have never understood the continual lament that there is too much road walking, I found it a very varied route, and there is always the option of hopping on local transport if one stage does not appeal.