Northern Route in April-May 2014?

[wildbill]

I am thinking of doing the Way in April-May 2014. I am a male, 70 years old, reasonably fit. I will be traveling alone. I plan to take six to eight weeks to complete the journey. The northern route sounds more my style, but I am concerned that there will not be places to stay so early in the year, or distances will be too far for me, or it will be too challenging. I don't think I could camp out. I am sure I can walk ten miles a day, but more than that could be difficult if it had to be every day. I don't mind staying in a budget hotel occasionally, but would need to use the pilgrim hostels most of the time. How far apart are the hostels on the northern route? Are they open that early? What other accommodations are available? How challenging is the northern route? Thanks.

 

[lukedarracott]

I did the northern route the same time and to be honest it's not very well-equipped in those months. A lot of hostels (mostly in the first half) were closed. Some days I had to do two stages in one and on another.occasion I had to shell out for a private hotel in Lezama. It's not ideal. With the northern route you feel more compulsion to stick to the recommended routes. Despite its beauty I can understand people feeling more Sheparded by it. Ten miles a day might leave you in the middle of nowhere Saying that if money is no issue you should be ok haha.

 

[lukedarracott]

Also the northern route is more challenging. Lots of ups and downs between aces. But if you go slow and steady you should be fine!

 

[wildbill]

I did the northern route the same time and to be honest it's not very well-equipped in those months. A lot of hostels (mostly in the first half) were closed. Some days I had to do two stages in one and on another.occasion I had to shell out for a private hotel in Lezama. It's not ideal. With the northern route you feel more compulsion to stick to the recommended routes. Despite its beauty I can understand people feeling more Sheparded by it. Ten miles a day might leave you in the middle of nowhere Saying that if money is no issue you should be ok haha.

>>>>>>>>>

Thanks - not the answer I wanted, but what I feared. Glad I know now - guess I'll have to take the main route.

 

[lukedarracott]

Don't feel bad. The main route is still a delight

 

[wildbill]

Don't feel bad. The main route is still a delight

>>>>>>
What worries me most about the main route is the comments I read about crowding, people unable to get a cot at a hostel, even as early as May.
What does one do then?
Should I go earlier? I suppose I could start as early as mid-March - what's it like then?

 

[lukedarracott]

I did my stint on the north and continued on directly to the main route. Only once had a problem getting a space and that was on Sarria where legions of pilgrims pile in. I think when there is talk about crowding it often relates to the official municipal albergues. Most towns and villages have at least two. And at the time you are going - that is to say the time I went - there should always be a bed somewhere.

 

[AubreyL]

I did this route in March-April of this year and I had no problem finding places to eat or sleep. Most albergues were open and there are always plenty of very cheap hotels to stay in. While in Gijon for example, I wanted to stay in the center of town so I paid 15 Euros for my own room with a private bath. Pretty good considering many of the albergues cost 10-15 Euros for a spot on a bunk bed. The only possible hitch in your plan is if you want to keep your walking distances limited to 10 miles per day. Based on what I remember, I think you'd be okay, however, no matter the season, you won't find an albergue every 10 miles on the Camino del Norte.

I absolutely loved this route. However, this was my first camino so I don't have anything to compare it to. I think that if you allow yourself a slightly larger budget for lodging you will be fine. The section from San Sebastian to Bilbao seemed to be the most challenging in terms of terrain and places to stay. I'd recommend checking out gronze.com and buying the recently published book on the northern caminos. My suggestion is that if you feel that the Norte is the right route for you, you should go for it! I was almost swayed into doing the Camino Frances, but in the end I stuck with my original decision to do the Norte and it turned out to be an excellent choice.

 

[wildbill]

I did this route in March-April of this year and I had no problem finding places to eat or sleep. Most albergues were open and there are always plenty of very cheap hotels to stay in. While in Gijon for example, I wanted to stay in the center of town so I paid 15 Euros for my own room with a private bath. Pretty good considering many of the albergues cost 10-15 Euros for a spot on a bunk bed. The only possible hitch in your plan is if you want to keep your walking distances limited to 10 miles per day. Based on what I remember, I think you'd be okay, however, no matter the season, you won't find an albergue every 10 miles on the Camino del Norte.

I absolutely loved this route. However, this was my first camino so I don't have anything to compare it to. I think that if you allow yourself a slightly larger budget for lodging you will be fine. The section from San Sebastian to Bilbao seemed to be the most challenging in terms of terrain and places to stay. I'd recommend checking out gronze.com and buying the recently published book on the northern caminos. My suggestion is that if you feel that the Norte is the right route for you, you should go for it! I was almost swayed into doing the Camino Frances, but in the end I stuck with my original decision to do the Norte and it turned out to be an excellent choice.

>>>>>>>

Thanks, especially for the reference to gronze.com - that's a very useful site I hadn't seen yet.
One good thing: I don't have to decide now, so thanks for helping me keep this option open.
How was the weather?
I hate crowding, but I don't want to be alone all the time - how many other pilgrims did you encounter?

 

[MendiWalker]

Hi Wildbill

This link might be of some use to you as well http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/los-caminos-de-santiago/del-norte/

Buen Camino!

 

[wildbill]

Hi Wildbill

This link might be of some use to you as well http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/los-caminos-de-santiago/del-norte/

Buen Camino!

>>>

Muy bien - muchas gracias!

 

[angulero]

>>>>>>>

Thanks, especially for the reference to gronze.com - that's a very useful site I hadn't seen yet.
One good thing: I don't have to decide now, so thanks for helping me keep this option open.
How was the weather?
I hate crowding, but I don't want to be alone all the time - how many other pilgrims did you encounter?

El tiempo que vas a tener, como comprenderás, a estas alturas es muy difícil de saber. Lo "normal" sería que cuanto más avanzado esté abril, menos llueva, y en mayo ya vayan templando los días según avance el mes, pero es primavera, y por momentos aún pueden venir días que recuerden al invierno.

Si la pasada primavera me hubieran preguntado por el tiempo que iba a haber en septiembre y octubre, les diría lo contrario, más agua y frío según avanzan los meses, sin embargo, la gente que hizo el camino esos días, pasaron bastante calor, y aún hoy estamos esperando por el invierno.

Saludos.

 

[MendiWalker]

El tiempo que vas a tener, como comprenderás, a estas alturas es muy difícil de saber. Lo "normal" sería que cuanto más avanzado esté abril, menos llueva, y en mayo ya vayan templando los días según avance el mes, pero es primavera, y por momentos aún pueden venir días que recuerden al invierno.

Si la pasada primavera me hubieran preguntado por el tiempo que iba a haber en septiembre y octubre, les diría lo contrario, más agua y frío según avanzan los meses, sin embargo, la gente que hizo el camino esos días, pasaron bastante calor, y aún hoy estamos esperando por el invierno.

Saludos.

Asi es, el tiempo por el norte no se puede saber nunca, es tan cambiante. Es parte del encanto, no crees?

 

[angulero]

A mi me encanta.

 

[MendiWalker]

Y a mi, para mi esto es el paraíso en la tierra. Por eso me quede aquí .

Buen Camino!

 

[AubreyL]

>>>>>>>

Thanks, especially for the reference to gronze.com - that's a very useful site I hadn't seen yet.
One good thing: I don't have to decide now, so thanks for helping me keep this option open.
How was the weather?
I hate crowding, but I don't want to be alone all the time - how many other pilgrims did you encounter?

I started out in Irun on the 23 or 24th of March and was surprised to see so many other pilgrims at the albergue. As it turned out, most of my fellow pilgrims for the first week were only walking to Bilbao. Most had the time off work for Easter and wanted to arrive in Bilbao for the Good Friday celebrations. After Bilbao the number of pilgrims out on the trail decreased, but I was still seeing other pilgrims off and on through the day and at night in the albergues. Sometimes there were as few as 3 people in the albergue and sometimes it was nearly full. I never had to spend the night alone in an albergue which is something I had wondered about prior to my trip. I found the Camino del Norte to be a great mixture of alone time and social time. Because I was doing longer stages I had the pleasure of meeting a few more people since I wasn't going by the recommended stages in the book. I think the same will be true for you if you're doing 10 miles a day.

Overall I think I lucked out with great weather. I came from Alaska so everything (even the cold days) felt warm to me. That being said, there were definitely some WET days, days where the rain didn't even let up for a minute. The trail was usually muddy. Sometimes the mud could be avoided and other times you had no choice but to just step right through it. I found myself ankle-deep in cow poop on a few occasions, but that's all part of the fun! All I had heard about Galicia was that it rained all the time, so I just expected I'd be wet when I got there, but I swear, as soon as I crossed the bridge from Asturias into Ribadeo, Galicia, the clouds disappeared and it was sunny and HOT the remainder of my time in Spain.

I found Gronze.com to be very useful. I brought an iPhone so I could access Gronze while I was walking if I needed to know distances, towns, accommodations, etc. Between that and my guidebook I was set. I also recommend finding a German friend as they have the best guidebooks. The amount of detail in their guidebooks is incredible. Sadly I didn't find my German friend until I was just a couple days from Santiago.

Also, if you start out on the Norte and decide you don't like it, you can just hop a bus or a train down to the Camino Frances.

Here's a link to some of my photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aubretia/collections/72157633404700858/

Good luck with your trip planning! I wish I was currently planning for another camino, but that'll happen soon enough. Just need to finish this master's degree first....

 

[SYates]

Stop worrying, you will be fine - remember, the Camino provides ;-) Try also to walk 'acyclic', avoiding the stages set out in most guides and stay in between them. There is plenty of accommodation available on the CF in April / May, you might not be able to stay always in the albergue you planned / wanted to stay, but the one you stay in (in the same town / village) will be the right one for you. There is a certain magic (in the good sense) in walking the Camino slowly and leisurely as you plan to do, it will work out!

March: More danger of snow in the mountainous areas and colder, personally I would stick to April / May. Also a great opportunity to experience Semana Santa (Easter Week) in Spain!

Buen Camino! SY

>>>>>>
What worries me most about the main route is the comments I read about crowding, people unable to get a cot at a hostel, even as early as May.
What does one do then?
Should I go earlier? I suppose I could start as early as mid-March - what's it like then?

 

[MKalcolm M]

I walked the Norte in May / June this year and had a truly wonderful time, despite terrible weather and very muddy paths. If you want to stick to ten miles a day, there may be times when you have to hop a bus to the next town, then go back to your starting point the next day. There are no hard and fast rules, so if you bus when you run out of energy then walking the Norte will be quite possible. I met with other pilgrims in the alberges at night and slowly some of us formed into a camino family and walked together for long parts of the route. There tends to be fewer pilgrims than on the Frances, but the bond between them is stronger. Generally speaking, the hospitaleros at the alberges are very well informed about the next stages and let you know the options for the next day, also where and when you can hop a bus if you need to. I would reccomend the Norte ever time. Buen camino!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

you have to hop a bus to the next town, then go back to your starting point the next day

I would suggest, mind you just suggest, that going backward is a bit purist. Unless you have missed something of significance, walking every step is a criterion solely in one's mind. You get the bragging rights to say you walked every step, but I have found that counts only to yourself, not anyone else. They do not care if you took a bus or taxi. The Pilgrim Office cares about the last 100km if you want a compostela, so that can be an external reason for walking every step of the last 100km. So I don't worry about starting or ending a day with a ride when it is necessary (necessary includes me simply wanting to take the ride), and I rarely backtrack. To each is own, of course.

 

[mdeh]

I am thinking of doing the Way in April-May 2014. I am a male, 70 years old, reasonably fit. I will be traveling alone. I plan to take six to eight weeks to complete the journey. The northern route sounds more my style, but I am concerned that there will not be places to stay so early in the year, or distances will be too far for me, or it will be too challenging. I don't think I could camp out. I am sure I can walk ten miles a day, but more than that could be difficult if it had to be every day. I don't mind staying in a budget hotel occasionally, but would need to use the pilgrim hostels most of the time. How far apart are the hostels on the northern route? Are they open that early? What other accommodations are available? How challenging is the northern route? Thanks.

did the Camino ingles in september 120k+ i am thinking of doing the norte but from a 100miles out from sdc in may and will be 69 then the whole route takes far too long mdeh

 

[Stephen Nicholls]

I would suggest, mind you just suggest, that going backward is a bit purist. Unless you have missed something of significance, walking every step is a criterion solely in one's mind. You get the bragging rights to say you walked every step, but I have found that counts only to yourself, not anyone else. They do not care if you took a bus or taxi. The Pilgrim Office cares about the last 100km if you want a compostela, so that can be an external reason for walking every step of the last 100km. So I don't worry about starting or ending a day with a ride when it is necessary (necessary includes me simply wanting to take the ride), and I rarely backtrack. To each is own, of course.

Agree 100% Falcon!
For heaven's sake - don't worry if you take a bus part of the way. Do you think in medieval times that pilgrims refused a ride on the back of a hay cart because they believed they had to walk every step of the way?!?
Enjoyment is the priority. I often take a bus - or train - if I'm tired or the blisters are getting too bad. Check out the diaries on my web site! And I don't consider myself in any way a 'second rate' pilgrim.
Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to the Camino Ingles next May/June to celebrate my 75th birthday...
Buen camino ...

 

[shefollowsshells]

Not the answer I wanted either...
I'm booked for US departure March 26th and was Frances bound til the Norte stole my days thoughts today.

 

[kansas098@aol.com]

How well is the trail marked? Thanks

 

[transmir]

Wildbill,

I just came back to the forum and read your post. I am seriously considering walking the Camino del Norte in late February to early March by myself. Last year I walked the Camino de Santiago from Pamplona to Santiago with my brother-in-law. We left Pamplona on February 17 and arrived in Santiago on March 15. In the beginning there were some other pilgrims, but we never stayed in an albergue where there was more than 6-8 people. There was even one night where we were the only persons in the albergue. By about the third week (early March) the number of pilgrims had increased and some nights there might be 12-15 in an albergue. By the last week the numbers had grown a little more, but never overcrowded or problems finding an albergue. We found on all but one day there was at least one albergue open because many are closed during the winter until around April 1. The weather varied as we walked west and we encountered some snow (2-3 inches) at the higher altitudes and dealt with rain and plenty of mud, but overall the weather was tolerable and there were plenty of days with sunshine. Also, bear in mind that last winter (2013) was particulary difficult in northern Spain, but the present winter so far has been milder and the prediction calls for 2014 overall to be a milder winter. This is especially true when contrasted to the present winter here in New England.

I would encourage you to look at the numbers for the months of 2013 for pilgrims arriving in Santiago, because from March onward the population grows dramatically, I mean dramatically. I chose this time because personally I did not want to deal with a large number of people and all that comes with such an experience. Originally I had planned to walk by myself and then my companion decided to join me just before my departure. My decision to walk during Feb. - March turned out to be great and the core of 15 or so people I repeatedly saw on different days and nights worked very well for us. We saw a small number of people most days (not all), but had plenty of periods of solitude. Also, during the day Peter and I did not always walk at the same pace so there was alone time.

I would be happy to communicate with you off forum if that would be helpful. Finally I am 63 and walked last year with persistent sciatica, made the 600 + kilometers we walked and learned a good deal, particularly about footwear, clothing and pack weight that in the end are problematic for more pilgrims than anything else.

Buen Camino

 

[wildbill]

Thanks, transmir, and everyone else who has posted to this thread. All of you have been very helpful. A change in my health has forced me to postpone my trip - next year, I hope. If I need further help I will start a new thread then. Best wishes to all - buen camino!

 

[Hospitalera]

I am thinking of doing the Way in April-May 2014. I am a male, 70 years old, reasonably fit. I will be traveling alone. I plan to take six to eight weeks to complete the journey. The northern route sounds more my style, but I am concerned that there will not be places to stay so early in the year, or distances will be too far for me, or it will be too challenging. I don't think I could camp out. I am sure I can walk ten miles a day, but more than that could be difficult if it had to be every day. I don't mind staying in a budget hotel occasionally, but would need to use the pilgrim hostels most of the time. How far apart are the hostels on the northern route? Are they open that early? What other accommodations are available? How challenging is the northern route? Thanks.

See facebook Miraz refugio, also www.csj.org.uk for information on camino del norte, Miraz plans to be open on Sunday 13th April 2014 at 14.00 (new earlier time)

 

[unadara]

(recommend finding a German friend as they have the best guidebooks) LOL....we met our Austrian friand with a German guide book at Guemes, his book was great for Maps, alternative road walking in the rain, he equally liked the CSJ guidebook I carried, the list of accommodations given to us in the alberque in Irun (may have had to pay for it but it is free from the Tourismo, there is also a great guide free on the Eusakdi Tourism web site you can print off or order by post? or get it when you arrive.
Norte is great. Sorry wildbill you have to wait, keep reading here though...