Please help me with these questions

[zzotte]

Hello everyone, thanks for the continue support, this Forum is and always has been a great source of assistance for the asking. In planning my camino and reading about it the North Way is a great choice, it has been in the back of my mind for a long time since my first camino, again I was planning to do it in 2013 but because of an injury I opt to do the Aragones and Frances again ( I little more infrastructure I thought) here is my questions, I have done the camino France's before but not in April/May only in October/November, In 2016 I'm planning to walk the El camino del Norte this time starting in Irun April 2 SDC May 9 Is there enough time? I'm fit but don't want win any races, Second weather wise similar to October? Colder?, one more question if you be so kind is there a way to avoid the Camino Frances or as much as possible?

Thank you for you kindness
Zzotte

 

[Marc S.]

My Cicerone guidebook lists 31 stages to walk from Irun to SdC. I did it in 39 stages last autumn, including one rest day. I am reasonably fit walker myself, but I guess I could have walked faster. So I think your timeframe looks reasonably fine.
I think there's no escaping the Frances from Arzua onwards. My guide lists one alternative that joins the Frances in Santa Irene, but that's still only 15 k. after Arzua. I think there is an alternative which goes from Ribadeo to Ferrol, which then takes you on the Camino Ingles to Santiago, thus avoiding the Frances completely. It is called Ruta del Mar and on this forum there is an excellent subsection on this alternative, that you may want to check (I have not walked this myself). The stretch between Ribadeo and Arzua is very beautiful though, would not have liked to miss it, so I suggest you'll have to accept walking on the Frances from Arzua onwards (it's only two days).

 

[naplesdon]

I think you will find April cooler and rainier than October. It all depends.

 

[Tia Valeria]

Having walked the Ruta do Mar I think it will add extra days to your schedule, if you are tied to finishing on May 9th. The signing is not always clear and there are no albergues, all private accomodation. Having said that there are many lovely places as you walk, but no other pilgrims so it could be lonely. A good knowledge of Spanish would be needed IMO. Check out the section on the forum and see what you think. I cannot compare the stages with Ribadeo to Arzua as we have walked the Primitivo and not that section of the Norte. More also on our blog Camino 2015 - see link below.
Happy planning.

 

[Walking Viking]

Hello everyone, thanks for the continue support, this Forum is and always has been a great source of assistance for the asking. In planning my camino and reading about it the North Way is a great choice, it has been in the back of my mind for a long time since my first camino, again I was planning to do it in 2013 but because of an injury I opt to do the Aragones and Frances again ( I little more infrastructure I thought) here is my questions, I have done the camino France's before but not in April/May only in October/November, In 2016 I'm planning to walk the El camino del Norte this time starting in Irun April 2 SDC May 9 Is there enough time? I'm fit but don't want win any races, Second weather wise similar to October? Colder?, one more question if you be so kind is there a way to avoid the Camino Frances or as much as possible?

Thank you for you kindness
Zzotte

Zzotte,

I walked the del Norte this past April 28-June 3. I took a day off for rest and body rehab once a week. I would walk 6-8 days, spend two overnights at a stage city: Bilbao, Comillas, Soto de Barco, Vilalba and finally Santiago. I used the stage planning based on the stages at gronze.com, with minor changes. In past posts to this forum, I discussed my camino, the weather, injuries, etc. (Search Walking Viking)

You should have no trouble completing the del Norte in your planned time frame. If you take the total distance of the del Norte (805 km) and divide that by your walking days (38), you need to average appox 21 km per day, easily doable, if weather is not an issue and you can plan to walk in some rain. I brought rain gear with me and ended up having only 1 day of showers on my entire camino. April is considered to be in the rainy season. I ended up sending my rain gear and cold weather clothes home from Comillas, Stage 14 for me. There were some mud bog areas on low lying sections of the Way which were challenging however. Proper use of trekking poles will help with some of those issues, as I found out.

Also, and most importantly, the first 6 stages on the del Norte will challenge your fitness (lots of steep up and downs). I suffered significant foot and leg damage on those stages, primarily from the steep downs. After Bilbao, the del Norte became less and less of a challenge and more of what you think a camino should be. After Comillas I was healed and began enjoying the camino more and more. Some of the way marking was lacking in some provinces. After Ribadeo it was almost impossible to get lost due to the excellent way markers and signage all the way to Santiago. I have only walked the del Norte and the last two stages of the Frances (the del Norte joins the Frances at Arzua). From Arzua to Santiago, the del Norte was a walk in the park (pun intended).

To sum it up, I whould suggest you pick up a couple of packages of Compeed, Ibuprofen and a tube of Vaseline. You will use them all!

Additionally, I was able to walk alone if I wanted on my camino because it was during the low and rainy season. I very much enjoyed those days of solitude on the Way.

Enjoy the Camino del Norte, it will give you everything you need, but not everything you want.

Buen Camino!

WV

 

[zzotte]

Thank you so much everyone for the great assistance, I ordered the Cicerone guide book thanks Marc, thanks Tia Valeria for the info on the alternative routes, a special thanks to Walking Viking your information is right on.

Thanks again for all the help
Zzotte