Camino del Norte in August?

[Paul Krebs]

My wife and I walked the Primitivo last year in June and appreciated the relative quiet of the route. The final days after we merged with the Frances were a bit of a shock, though still an exciting part of the journey. This year we are contemplating walking the Camino del Norte starting in Irun, but for a variety of reasons, will have to start at the beginning of August. We would appreciate hearing from experienced Norte walkers what to expect that time of year. How crowded does it get in August? Any suggestions, recommendations, and shared experiences will be greatly appreciatiated. Thanks, Paul

 

[Otmoor22]

I walked in July as guidebook said many albergues were only open July and August. From Bilbao experienced overcrowding due to number of young people who were using it as cheap accommodation rather than a pilgrimage. Aggravated by them partying into night. I went onto Primitivo and problem gone.

 

[Beate]

Walked from Bilbao to Santander in beginning of August 2017, and the albergues were packed. The first night in Pobena we had to sleep on the lawn (an exciting experience, but not very good for backsides nearing 50 years of age ). The amount of people came as a shock on the staff/volunteers/priests and nuns in the albergues, too, they had never experienced such numbers of pilgrims before. Having said that, everyone did everything they could to accommodate as many as possible, and mostly we got a bed, the convent in Laredo and Padre Ernesto's albergue in Guemes being the best experiences ever. But we spent some nights in hotels/b&bs as well, so if you need to be sure that you have a bed the next day, and you see that the numbers of pilgrims are like we experienced, I advise to book a head. This year we will continue from Santander 23. June, hoping the rest of Europe hasn't started their holidays yet