One week on the Camino del Norte, what's the best route?

[Erminia]

Help needed I have done a lot of hiking and am fit but never walked on my own. In September I'm going to Oviedo for work and decided to carpe diem and walk part of the Camino. I was going to do primitivo but then the seaside started calling (I live in London!). What part of the Camino deal Norte do you think should I do having a week of time? I have no flight out yet so am open but need to fly out from somewhere back to London on Sunday evening. I thought about walking from Oviedo towards Santander and then wherever I get to, catch a bus to santander Airport but that would mean walking the Camino towards north and not south, would that be ok?!
Thanks for any suggestion (I also thought about riding it but have no mechanical skills so thought walking is safer!)

 

[Anemone del Camino]

The most beautiful part of the Norte is the start of it. If you don't mind getting from Oviedo back to San Sebastian or Irun, that would be my suggestion. 5 days will take you to Bilbao.

http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/los-caminos-de-santiago/del-norte/

From Oviedo I would walk to try to make it to the Hospitales route. Then grab a taxi to Grandas or back to Tineo to grab a bus back.

http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/los-caminos-de-santiago/Primitivo

 

[Davey Boyd]

Help needed I have done a lot of hiking and am fit but never walked on my own. In September I'm going to Oviedo for work and decided to carpe diem and walk part of the Camino. I was going to do primitivo but then the seaside started calling (I live in London!). What part of the Camino deal Norte do you think should I do having a week of time? I have no flight out yet so am open but need to fly out from somewhere back to London on Sunday evening. I thought about walking from Oviedo towards Santander and then wherever I get to, catch a bus to santander Airport but that would mean walking the Camino towards north and not south, would that be ok?!
Thanks for any suggestion (I also thought about riding it but have no mechanical skills so thought walking is safer!)

Hi Erminia! Welcome to the forum

As Anemone said above, if you only have one week I would stick to the Primitivo, it is truly beautiful, and saves you a day traveling to another start point by public transport (and easier to get back to Oviedo).

I would not recommend walking backwards down the route, it is VERY different than moving forwards with the flow

1. Route finding is difficult, those yellow arrows only point towards Santiago, and are surprisingly hard to find coming the other way, especially at junctions. You will spend a lot of time waiting for pilgrims to come towards you so you know which way to go.

2. Everybody will constantly tell you you are going the wrong way. Locals will stop, or even chase you down the road to 'help' you! Not good unless you speak decent Spanish to explain.

3. It is very lonely. You will meet EVERY pilgrim for a few seconds as you pass. You will have company in albergues, though you won't see them again.

If you are set on the Norte, again as Anemone said, the beginning is best.

Buen Camino
Davey

 

[BeatriceKarjalainen]

I agree. Primitivo and Hospitales route. So lovely. Well sea side is nice but I found it very touristic and a lot of road walking. So enjoy the lovely mountains instead. Or for a fewer days of walking go from Oviedo go León and to the amazing and beautiful Camino de San Salvador back to Oviedo and get the nice Salvadorana.

 

[jsalt]

Hi Erminia, my suggestion is to get the Alsa bus to Santander, or Bilbao, or further to San Sebastian, or even further still to Irun, where the Spanish Camino del Norte begins at the French/Spanish border. Then start walking the Norte from there. You’re a good hiker and fit, so walk until the stage where you will have to get a bus to Santander or Bilbao for your flight to London. You will then have a great excuse to go back to where you stopped, at another time in the future, to continue along the Norte, until you eventually arrive in Santiago . You should meet lots of other walkers too, so you don’t have to be alone. I also don’t recommend walking “backwards”. It’s a lot more difficult than people think it is. If you started in Irun you may be able to walk as far as Bilbao, if you are really fit. It’s about 152kms – 6 walking days = just over 25kms per day.
Jill

 

[BeatriceKarjalainen]

Hi Erminia, my suggestion is to get the Alsa bus to Santander, or Bilbao, or further to San Sebastian, or even further still to Irun, where the Spanish Camino del Norte begins at the French/Spanish border. Then start walking the Norte from there. You’re a good hiker and fit, so walk until the stage where you will have to get a bus to Santander or Bilbao for your flight to London. You will then have a great excuse to go back to where you stopped, at another time in the future, to continue along the Norte, until you eventually arrive in Santiago . You should meet lots of other walkers too, so you don’t have to be alone. I also don’t recommend walking “backwards”. It’s a lot more difficult than people think it is. If you started in Irun you may be able to walk as far as Bilbao, if you are really fit. It’s about 152kms – 6 walking days = just over 25kms per day.
Jill

And if you are really fit and fast (like me) 7 days will get you from Irún to Santander so it is a matter of distance and speed If you are looking for nice views and beaches I really liked the area around Llanes and Poo and the beautiful walk by the coast. What do you think you can do as an average/day? And are you experienced going up and down up and down or most flat?

 

[Erminia]

The most beautiful part of the Norte is the start of it. If you don't mind getting from Oviedo back to San Sebastian or Irun, that would be my suggestion. 5 days will take you to Bilbao.

http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/los-caminos-de-santiago/del-norte/

From Oviedo I would walk to try to make it to the Hospitales route. Then grab a taxi to Grandas or back to Tineo to grab a bus back.

http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/los-caminos-de-santiago/Primitivo

Thanks for the tip, do you know how to get from Oviedo to San Sebastián eventually?

 

[Erminia]

And if you are really fit and fast (like me) 7 days will get you from Irún to Santander so it is a matter of distance and speed If you are looking for nice views and beaches I really liked the area around Llanes and Poo and the beautiful walk by the coast. What do you think you can do as an average/day? And are you experienced going up and down up and down or most flat?

How many Kms would that be? I am an experienced walker but probably as I am on my own I won't push myself to walk when it starts getting dark so will plan to stop every day at 6 pm.

 

[BeatriceKarjalainen]

How many Kms would that be? I am an experienced walker but probably as I am on my own I won't push myself to walk when it starts getting dark so will plan to stop every day at 6 pm.

See from day 2 here https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...norte-from-bayonne-24-days.42597/#post-436103

I normally started around 6:30-7:00 every morning. As it's gets hot during the afternoon I prefer the cool mornings. I usually started when it was light outside. Some mornings the sky was covered in clouds and I had to wear head lamp for a while. But I do prefer walking without.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

I would take the bus.

Take a look at the rome2rio.com site.

 

[Isca-camigo]

The recent updates from the guide writers of the Northern Caminos has made the sections from Aviles to Ribadeo a more attractive journey in IMO. You can set from Aviles taking in the the coastal route to Cudillero after Muros de Nalon, and then take the stunning Serra de las Palancas route after Soto de Luina. After Navia you can take new route options to go to the coast before going to the cliff side Albergue in Tapia and then after going the coastal route from Tapia you can walk to and end your journey in Galicia by crossing over a large scenic estuary into Ribadeo. You can catch a Feve train back to Oviedo from there.

 

[Paddy na Trá Báine]

Help needed I have done a lot of hiking and am fit but never walked on my own. In September I'm going to Oviedo for work and decided to carpe diem and walk part of the Camino. I was going to do primitivo but then the seaside started calling (I live in London!). What part of the Camino deal Norte do you think should I do having a week of time? I have no flight out yet so am open but need to fly out from somewhere back to London on Sunday evening. I thought about walking from Oviedo towards Santander and then wherever I get to, catch a bus to santander Airport but that would mean walking the Camino towards north and not south, would that be ok?!
Thanks for any suggestion (I also thought about riding it but have no mechanical skills so thought walking is safer!)

With one week available to you, I would suggest the most beautiful week of all caminos, that is from Bilbao to Santander. I've just returned from there on Sunday last and flew out to Bilbao on Tuesday of last wee, so took six days, including flight travel. I've walked 5 of the caminos, this is number 6 and this stage of the Camino del Norte surpasses all others yet, for coastal walking, beautiful and not at all strenuous...