Roncesvalles to San Sebastian

[Vivi & Mirry]

Hi, could anyone advise me as to if it is possible to walk from Roncesvalles to San Sebastian please? As my niece and l are planning to start from Saint Jean Pied de Port and hoping to do the Napoleon route over the Pyrenees if weather permitting. A map would be good but l don't know where to start looking. Cheers

 

[VNwalking]

Check out this link for the Voie de Nive.
It goes from SJPP down to Bayonne - and from there you can pick up the coastal path to Hendaye/Irun and the Norte to San Sebastian.
From Roncesvalles, that's a bit more circuitous...I guess you could go as far as Zabaldika on the Frances, hop over the hill to the Baztanes and walk it backwards to Bayonne?
Or...it would be faster to go up to Roncesvalles on the Napoleon route and back down to SJPP on Valcarlos - and then onward on the VdN.

 

[Vivi & Mirry]

Many thanks for that info, cheers

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

A trail guide for the GR11 indicates that you could jump onto it in Burgette and take it to Cabo Higuer in four days and on the fourth day you would pass through Irun. Somewhere along there should be a connection to the Camino Norte. The GR11 is geared for mountain hikers but in this area might be okay for camino pilgrims.

 

[NualaOC]

Hi @Vivi & Mirry, this link might also be helpful. It's mainly about connecting from St Jean Pied de Port to the Camino del Norte, but it also mentions what looks like a very interesting walk from Roncesvalles. If you do this, please let us know how you get on!
Wishing you a Buen Camino.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Hi @Vivi & Mirry, this link might also be helpful. It's mainly about connecting from St Jean Pied de Port to the Camino del Norte, but it also mentions what looks like a very interesting walk from Roncesvalles. If you do this, please let us know how you get on!
Wishing you a Buen Camino.

To clear up some possible confusion before it happens, NualaOC's first link is to a page that tells about the GR10, a parallel trail to the GR11 but on the north side of the Pyrenees in France. That page has a link that NualaOC presents as her second link and that uses the GR11 on the south side of the Pyrenees in Spain but it looks like it uses an alternative route for the first stage.

 

[alipilgrim]

Can anyone recommend a website they like that shows the different GR routes? The ones I've found are difficult to follow...

 

[Felipe]

This is the GR 11 Via Transpirenaica See this page with info; connects with the Frances in Burguete (5 km from Roncesvalles); takes you to Irún, and then Norte to San Sebastián.
Also in Gronze, with wikiloc maps.
Everything is in Spanish, but that was to be expected. Should not be a major problem.
I read a blog about this somewhere. Seems to be a way with beautiful landscapes, but also lonely and that requires some lodging planning. Consider the month; it may not be advisable with bad weather, it goes besides/along the mountains.
Buen camino!

 

[Bob from L.A. !]

This is a very mountainous route, not many pilgrims along the way and not many "services" along the way.

 

[StephenChad]

The GR11 between Burguete and Elizondo requires a bivouac. To avoid this go north on the Baztan as far as Elizondo and then two days west on the GR11 to Irun

I was walking on the Jaizkibel above Irun a couple of days ago and met a pilgrim who had done something similar. Started in Huesca, picked up the Aragones in Jaca, got himself to Pamplona then up the Baztan as far as Urdax, then in a big day off camino he followed the frontier ridge west and over the summit of the Rhune to Irun