del Norte beginning 22/23 June '19

Hi Jesso,

To answer a few questions at once: June is a great time to walk! The weather should be good - it's usually cooler/milder along the northern coast than it is on the Frances, but it can be wetter. Pack a poncho, but don't worry too much about fancy rain gear - even if you get wet you everything will dry out pretty quickly over the summer. The clothes you packed for your last camino should be fine.

As for numbers of pilgrims: the Norte only accounts for 5% of camino pilgrims. The problem, if you can call it that, is that sometimes there's only 1 small albergue per stage, so even though there are fewer pilgrims, the "bed race" can feel worse than on the Frances. It's weird, you can go a whole day hardly seeing anyone, and then arrive to a full albergue! Over the summer they try and mitigate this by getting mattresses for the floor, opening sports halls, etc - but sometimes you might need to be flexible, or even get a cheap hotel/hostal/pension (which are aplenty as it's a touristy part of Spain - and the hotels often do special pilgrim rates). As an aside: don't worry too much about your level of Spanish - obviously it helps to have the basics, but it's not too different to on the Frances.

Norte vs Primitivo? I love walking next to the sea, and after Gijon the Norte gets much quieter as many pilgrims opt for the Primitivo. However there's a lot of road walking in this section, and the landscapes don't change that much, so maybe you'll need a change of scenery. I haven't done the Primitivo, but I hear it's wonderful.

Sorry that's all I've got time to reply to right now, I'm sure other forum members will have lots of answers/suggestions to your questions!

Hi Jesso, thanks for your post. I’ll be starting from Irun about the same time & have a lot of your queries.
Thanks Jan D for your response. Very helpful.
Will a sleeping bag be necessary or will I get by with a silk liner? Coming from Australia I’m not good with cold!

I walked from Irún in late September and October. There are fewer Albergues. There are definitely more shifts on elevation. It is definitely harder than the Frances. I think that what the earlier pilgrim wrote about racing for beds may very well be true. When I walked it was never a problem as there seems to be more Albergues earlier on. After Santander and the split for the Primativo the amount of pilgrims drops considerably as the last place I think people start walking is Santander or Gijón but it was not a lot. In fact I personally didn’t meet one person It doesn’t pick up again until the last 100k. But just a few people it ain’t Sarria. I doubt you will need a sleeping bag. It is definitely just a preference not a necessity. You can always sleep in your clothes if it does get cold.
I didn’t walk the Primitivo but friends did. I got the distinct impression that after the split it is a lot hillier and harder than the Norte. After you turn south and west the last parts of the Norte are pretty easy. They said the Primitivo was beautiful. The Norte is also. It is a lot different then the Frances.

Hi again!

A few comments:

Beds: didn't mean to scare you about the 'bed race'! I've only experienced this a handful of times over many walks on the Norte, although people do complain that the infrastructure isn't as good as the Frances, and the simple fact is there's sometimes only one albergue, so you might want to have a back-up plan on these stages, just in case. But come to think of it, I've never had to sleep outside on the Norte (although I've budgeted a bit extra to avoid this). On quite a few occasions I've shared a double or triple hotel room with other pilgrims, often for the same price or less than an albergue. Whatever happens, you'll be ok.

Road walking: basically, along most of the Norte there are wonderful coastal paths, but for some reason the "official" camino goes along the road. My advice is not to worry too much about this being the "official" path - basically, the town councils try and find the paths of least resistance from A to B, and it doesn't always have anything to do with the historical Camino. So just try and take the coastal alternatives when you can (and sometimes you might actually prefer the road, as they tend to be more direct). You'll see that they've built a massive highway (the famous "A-8") across the north of Spain, so this has made the 'old' local roads very quiet. These are the roads they send the pilgrims on, and sometimes you won't see a car all day, and they go through pretty parts of the countryside. But the asphalt can be very hard on your joints, I've seen pilgrims almost crippled from the constant pounding over long distances. So definitely choose the "softer" paths when you can. Forum member Laurie has done an amazing job listing all the coastal alternatives: https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/coastal-alternatives-to-the-nortes-asphalt.49578/

Other pilgrims: you'll definitely meet fellow pilgrims in June!! Even though it's less busy than the Frances, the albergues will be full of fellow pilgrims every night, so it's just a case of meeting people you like and walking together the next day... Also, although quieter than the Frances, you'll be walking through and between busy touristy cities and seaside resorts, so there's always a sense of life and activity.

You're going to have the time of your life!!

Hi Jesse I will be flying from Vancouver Canada starting on the 26 June I have also walked the camino twice in 2014 and 2017 with each of my sons when they were 16 both times in 25 days no rest days ,this time I will walk the Norte alone hoping to finish in 28 days as I have to be in England for a wedding decided to book accommodation in Irun and San Sebastián to get over the jet lag when we did the Francis we stayed in the private rooms they weren’t that much more than the albergue my boys refused to stay in those cause of the snoring and being woken up at 5 am
My main worry on the Norte is how well marked it is my wife and boys are worried I am going to get lost ,we did take a couple of wrong turns on the Francis,anyway good luck on your tri

cammano said:

Hi Jesse I will be flying from Vancouver Canada starting on the 26 June I have also walked the camino twice in 2014 and 2017 with each of my sons when they were 16 both times in 25 days no rest days ,this time I will walk the Norte alone hoping to finish in 28 days as I have to be in England for a wedding decided to book accommodation in Irun and San Sebastián to get over the jet lag when we did the Francis we stayed in the private rooms they weren’t that much more than the albergue my boys refused to stay in those cause of the snoring and being woken up at 5 am
My main worry on the Norte is how well marked it is my wife and boys are worried I am going to get lost ,we did take a couple of wrong turns on the Francis,anyway good luck on your tri

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I’ll be right behind you on the 28th hope you guys will post live updates on the status of your trip and your experience on the bed race if any.