Camino del Norte in November? Too wet?

[HadleyC]

I'm thinking of doing one week of the Camino del Norte, from Bilbao, either 5-11 November or 21-27 November. My concers are rain and accommodation. Am I being crazy? Will the weather be awful, or will it be OK? I don't mind having one day of rain, but a whole week of rain may be too much.

I walked the whole of the Camino France in 2016 (October/November), and one week of the Norte (Irun to Bilbao) in September 2018 and it seemed much harder to get a room on the Norte, and a couple of nights I had to take a detour off the route to find somewhere to stay. I remember a winter albergue list for the Frances ... is there something similar for the Norte?

I wish I could walk the whole of the route in one go, just like the Camino Frances in 2016, but alas I don't have the time right now, but hopefully I will have the chance another year!

Thank you in advance for your advice!

 

[dick bird]

Bilbao Weather in November: Temperature, Rainfall, & More

Check accurate weather in November in Bilbao. Expect Bilbao November temperature around 15°C (60°F). Read clothing tips & recommended activities.

weather-and-climate.com

This should tell you mostly what you need to know about the weather.

Off-season, hotel accommodation might be easier to find as not many Spanish holiday-makers visit the coast at that time of year although some albergues may be closed. Gronze would be the best source of up to date info for accommodation.

Good luck.

 

[SirJizzle]

I made my Camino del norte in 2018 as well and my first day on the way was the 31th October or the 1th of November (not sure ATM to be honest...

And I haven't had any issues to find albergues. Well ... At the first stages it was a little adventures... And I slept in some air bnbs which where prepared for pilgrim rooms...

But nontheless I had a great Camino with some warm and sunny days and a lot of rainy days.
Would I do it again in November?
Definitely!

 

[mario juan]

I made my Camino del norte in 2018 as well and my first day on the way was the 31th October or the 1th of November (not sure ATM to be honest...

And I haven't had any issues to find albergues. Well ... At the first stages it was a little adventures... And I slept in some air bnbs which where prepared for pilgrim rooms...

But nontheless I had a great Camino with some warm and sunny days and a lot of rainy days.
Would I do it again in November?
Definitely!

Nobody can tell you with any accuracy what the weather will be like, the Norte in November is totally unpredictable.

 

[Former member 92300]

I would check to see what accommodations are open in November in davace. I know when I was researching my May/June Camino del Norte, not all albergues would be open until June, and even July for a few. Of course - if you are OK with staying in private rooms that wouldn't be an issue, just more expensive as more private rooms would be needed.

What is your cold tolerance? I was chilly in May/June, especially at night. And cold when it rained. But that is me. Not sure how much rain they get in June - but I can tell you with the cooler temps and some rain when I went - I had an issue with handwashing laundry because it took much longer to dry on the Norte than it did when I walked the Frances a year earlier. I ended up doing a lot more machine wash/dry and I needed to buy extra socks for the days when my socks didn't dry fast enough.

I used gronze.com to see what accommodations were open before I left and during my walk. They were the most updated app/website during COVID with regards to determining open vs closed albergues. I think the apps improved a lot last year, but gronze was pretty accurate both years (21-22) I walked.

 

[whiteblaze]

Do pilgrims camp in tents

 

[Stephan the Painter]

Do pilgrims camp in tents

It’s not common, campgrounds are rare on the Caminos and wild camping is illegal in Spain. But of course people do it anyway. This is a touchy subject with strong opinions, and there are a lot of posts about this subject if you search for “camping“ on this forum. The search bar is at the top of the page on the right.

 

[Aysha]

I'm thinking of doing one week of the Camino del Norte, from Bilbao, either 5-11 November or 21-27 November. My concers are rain and accommodation. Am I being crazy? Will the weather be awful, or will it be OK? I don't mind having one day of rain, but a whole week of rain may be too much.

I walked the whole of the Camino France in 2016 (October/November), and one week of the Norte (Irun to Bilbao) in September 2018 and it seemed much harder to get a room on the Norte, and a couple of nights I had to take a detour off the route to find somewhere to stay. I remember a winter albergue list for the Frances ... is there something similar for the Norte?

I wish I could walk the whole of the route in one go, just like the Camino Frances in 2016, but alas I don't have the time right now, but hopefully I will have the chance another year!

Thank you in advance for your advice!

Hello Hadley. I am also starting my camino from Bilbao November 2nd.
Buen Camino

 

[Molly Cassidy]

I'm thinking of doing one week of the Camino del Norte, from Bilbao, either 5-11 November or 21-27 November. My concers are rain and accommodation. Am I being crazy? Will the weather be awful, or will it be OK? I don't mind having one day of rain, but a whole week of rain may be too much.

I walked the whole of the Camino France in 2016 (October/November), and one week of the Norte (Irun to Bilbao) in September 2018 and it seemed much harder to get a room on the Norte, and a couple of nights I had to take a detour off the route to find somewhere to stay. I remember a winter albergue list for the Frances ... is there something similar for the Norte?

I wish I could walk the whole of the route in one go, just like the Camino Frances in 2016, but alas I don't have the time right now, but hopefully I will have the chance another year!

Thank you in advance for your advice!

I'm in Asturias just now and the weather is surprisingly beautiful! Can't say what it'll be like next week, though!

 

[donalomahony]

Do pilgrims camp in tents

Camping is a little more common on the Norte. Met a few pilgrim campers in late August, very discrete where they pitched etc. It was a rainy period and saw them struggling with the wet tent in the morning. More weight too...

 

[HadleyC]

Hello Hadley. I am also starting my camino from Bilbao November 2nd.
Buen Camino

Good to know that other people are on the Camino right now. Buen Camino!

 

[HadleyC]

Thanks everyone for your responses, which were very helpful. In the end I decided that there were enough accomodation options available at this time of year and the forecast looked good so I'm starting tomorrow from Bilbao. The forecast is for 20C and sunshine! Unbelievable in November. I have waterproofs just in case it rains later in the week but perhaps I won't need them. I remember in October 2018 on the previous stretch of the Norte I had all types of weather in one week.

 

[saburai]

Hello, HadleyC, how did the Camino del Norte go? My friend and I are attempting a week's walk from San Sebastian to Bilbao, starting this Friday, Nov 18, curious if you had any particular observations.

 

[HadleyC]

Hi @saburai !

It was great. The weather was amazing pretty much the whole time. There was a storm forecast one day but it never materialised (although there was a crazy storm in the middle of the night and it was still a bit miserable in the morning, so I delayed my departure until lunchtime that day).

Finding albergues was tough, and in the end I only stayed in Guemes (highly recommended) and Liendo (Saturnino Candida). Everywhere else I stayed in pensiones and hotels.

It sounds like you are walking west to east - is that right?

The walk from Bilbao to Portugalete is pretty miserable. I took the route along the eastern side of the river, as it's direct and means you can take the Puente Colgante, which is very interesting. The walk out of Portugalete also isn't great, as it's a long cycle way and paved the whole way. Only the last bit as you arrive into Pobeña is nice.

To the north of Noja, there is a coastal variant that is described here: http://davewhitson.com/index.php/20...amino-del-norte-between-laredo-and-santander/. I took this from Isla Playa around the first headland and then inland to Guemes, and it was absolutely spectacular. He says you can walk across the beach from Noja to Isla Playa but the water was too high when I was there.

Where you have the choice, take the coastal option, except Ojo del Diablo which looks very tough and it's too late in the year I would guess (I thought about it but it was in shade in the afternoon, and I was on my own).

Avoid walking along the 634 highway if you can! There was a bit that was unavoidable but there's a barrier some of the way.

There is an albergue open in Isla Arnuero that seems to be open on request (call the number on Gronze).

I met only two other pilgrims the whole time, although apparently there were ten the night before us in the Guemes albergue.

Buen Camino!

Finding food in the evenings was not a problem but most places were closed during the day, so you have to go to the supermarket and carry food for during the day.

The ferry in Santoña stopped running last weekend, so you'll have to take the inland variant. I think the Santander ferry runs year round.

 

[saburai]

Thanks so much for this information! We start walking this Sunday morning (local time), we're only going from San Sebastian to Bilbao, which I believe is outside of your trek (correct me if I'm wrong).

Congratulations on the great weather! The forecasts suggest we won't have the same luck but who knows? Miracles happen. I'm dressing for a lot of rain.

I really appreciate the suggestion on carrying food for the day, I'll plan accordingly and if I happen to find an open restaurant, all the better. I was basically planning on hotels the whole way, I'm old, so I'm not concerned about the limited albergue space. I would be sad if I didn't encounter any other pilgrims, so I hope you're wrong about that, but I'm planning to do a lot of reflecting, so perhaps the isolation will be freeing. Also, there are three in my party, if we can stay together.

Cheers and congratulations on your Camino!

Damian

 

[HadleyC]

Thanks!

For some reason, I misread your initial message as stating that you were going from Santander to Bilbao (the same as me, but in reverse). I did Irun to Bilbao back in 2018. This stretch is more inland after the first day or two. I would say it's harder than the bit I did this year, and it's quite hilly. It's also mostly beautiful. The stretch from Deba to Guernika is particularly nice, going through the forest. I had fairly good weather but did get drenched one day. If I remember well, the bit from Deba to Markina is particularly remote, with almost no facilities (I came across one cafe that was just opening for lunch but I remember feeling lucky).

I do feel I was very lucky with the weather, but maybe you'll be lucky too. A Canadian chap I walked with carried on and seems to be having good weather, but I think you need to be ready for all eventualities on the Norte.

I also wanted a bit of time to think on the Camino, so I was generally happy with the solitude, but it was nice having a little bit of company along the way, particularly in the evenings.

Also, I don't know if you have done other Caminos, but the Norte seems to have more road-walking than the Camino Frances. I'd still bring good walking boots or shoes for the off-road trails, but it's just something to be ready for.

 

[HadleyC]

One other thing @saburai : I found the Cicerone guide to be a little out of date, and lacking some of the modern route variants. However, they have a list of updates at https://www.cicerone.co.uk/the-camino-del-norte-and-camino-primitivo-third#updates.

Also, I used the Osmand+ app which seems to have the Camino routes preloaded. But I'm sure there are tons of other apps you can use.

 

[saburai]

Hello, @HadleyC , I wanted to give you a short update.

You were absolutely correct in all of your observations. We had decent luck with the weather, San Sebastian to Zarautz was generally lovely--cool, drizzly but not inclement, not too much wind. Our luck ran out from Zarautz to Deba--we got absolutely pummeled by rain, high winds, and pretty cold temperatures in the 40F range. But I had packed accordingly, had a large amount of waterproof gear, plus that route passes through several towns so we had opportunities to stop for some hot tea, to wring our socks out, etc., so I actually found it quite pleasant, if somewhat less picturesque.

As you suggested, this portion of the Del Norte was more of an isolated experience, I had prepared for that, and I was content. The worst part of the second day was just the final descent into Deba--the final mile, as I'm sure you recall, is a severe down-hill on rugged cobblestones, which were running with rainwater. Even with trekking poles, it was cautious slow going, and murderous on my knees, and the accommodations in Deba were pretty limited, so it was hard getting dried out and warmed back up that night. Nevertheless, we were able to continue on and had much better weather as we headed on to Markina. You were absolutely correct about the remoteness of that leg--I brought food for the road every day, but on that route I actually was surprised to run out of water! I was used to encountering several fountains on the route, but from Deba to Markina I think I only saw one the entire time, and hadn't brought any extra bottles to stretch my range. Luckily, it was cool and damp, so I didn't suffer for this error much. Markina was just a lovely town.

My companions, who had not done a great deal of research on the Camino system (and who didn't particularly pack for the conditions--didn't even bring food in their bags) decided to end the their walk at Markina, and not wanting to continue alone, I joined them in Bilbao, so we skipped the Guernica leg, to my great regret. I absolutely intend to return some day, probably in a warmer month (but who knows, late fall wasn't that bad and I think I got about the worst it's capable of outside of Deba), so I can continue the trek.

I'm deeply happy I went, and only wish I'd had the time or the company to continue further West.

Thanks again for all your suggestions, they were tremendously useful.

Cheers,
Damian