Route stops (rescheduling and extending my Camino)

[Lhollo]

Hello! I’d like to know your thoughts about the overnight stops in my list. Does it look good, and which of the ones I’m unsure of do you think are the best?

Its an extension to a Camino that I’ve had to reschedule, the rest of which is all booked. (For medical reasons, we’re booking all accommodation in advance).

(Edit, I’ve altered this post a bit because it wasn’t clear enough before).

What do you think of the places and stages I’ve chosen, and the difficulty of the distances between them?

I’m aware that at the end we’ll need to go to Burgos for the bus to the airport so am also wondering if there’s an easy way to have the last night in Burgos.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts about it

Sat May 29: Logroño (we’re walking from Estella)

Sun May 30: Nájera

Mon May 31: Santo Domingo de la Calzada (or Grañon?)

Tue June 1: Belorado (or… somewhere further along?)

Weds June 2: San Juan de Ortega or Atapuerca or Burgos

Thurs June 3: Back to the airport

 

[Steve Taylor]

I'm setting out on the latest stage of my Camino (Saint Jean Pied De Port to Logroño) on 8 Aug and I'm leaving at 7:30 a.m. to get a flight from Stansted to Biarritz, arriving in SJPDP at about 7:30 p.m. I had a quick look on Google and noticed that the minimum journey time by public transport from Bilbao Airport to SJPDP is 6 hours, on four different buses.
If you can change your accommodation, I'd be tempted to stay over in Bilbao for at least one night, and then either walk from SJPDP to Logroño and get the bus to Bilbao, OR do what I did last September, which was to get the bus from Bilbao to Logroño, walk from there to Burgos and then spend a couple of days in Burgos before getting the bus back to Bilbao.
Whatever you decide on, Buen Camino.

 

[Anamiri]

Rather than 2 days in Estella, you could finish in Burgos and travel to Bilbao from there. Burgos has much more to offer than Estella. I see you've already booked, but usually you can cancel without penalty.

 

[Lhollo]

I'm setting out on the latest stage of my Camino (Saint Jean Pied De Port to Logroño) on 8 Aug and I'm leaving at 7:30 a.m. to get a flight from Stansted to Biarritz, arriving in SJPDP at about 7:30 p.m. I had a quick look on Google and noticed that the minimum journey time by public transport from Bilbao Airport to SJPDP is 6 hours, on four different buses.
If you can change your accommodation, I'd be tempted to stay over in Bilbao for at least one night, and then either walk from SJPDP to Logroño and get the bus to Bilbao, OR do what I did last September, which was to get the bus from Bilbao to Logroño, walk from there to Burgos and then spend a couple of days in Burgos before getting the bus back to Bilbao.
Whatever you decide on, Buen Camino.

Thank you for this. I’m not sure I’ve explained myself clearly enough. I am planning to spend one night in each of the above places but haven’t yet booked the nights for the places on the list that are in bold font, so Logroño onwards. I was thinking that, if people have suggestions for other towns or villages along the route which might be nicer places to stay than the ones I’m currently planning, or other places that might break up any longer sections, I’d be keen to know those ideas.
I hope your own Camino goes really well in August!

 

[Lhollo]

Rather than 2 days in Estella, you could finish in Burgos and travel to Bilbao from there. Burgos has much more to offer than Estella. I see you've already booked, but usually you can cancel without penalty.

Yes, the trouble is I’ve already messed them around once by rescheduling. Also, we really like the idea of birdwatching by the river in Estella, and a quiet, quaint rest day there. I am sorry we can’t make it to Burgos though, too, and am still wondering whether there’s a way of arranging the later stops so that we can have our final night there.

 

[Lhollo]

A quick update! I’ve now booked everything up to Nájera but am not sure where to go after that

 

[Priscilla NC]

I would pass on San Juan de Ortega and walk to Ages or Atapuerca. The lodging possibilities are better further on, and it's an easy and beautiful walk to Ages. Not sure you are needing to get to Burgos for your trip home? It's an easy taxi ride from Ages/Atapuerca to Burgos.

Buen Camino, I hope it all works out for you.

 

[Derek Booth]

I would pass on San Juan de Ortega and walk to Ages or Atapuerca. The lodging possibilities are better further on, and it's an easy and beautiful walk to Ages. Not sure you are needing to get to Burgos for your trip home? It's an easy taxi ride from Ages/Atapuerca to Burgos.

Buen Camino, I hope it all works out for you.

I would second the suggestion by Priscilla (above)
I have very fond memories of banging on the wrong door in Ages, (March 2019) only to be 'whistled' by a gent up the street at a door to his Albergue (Albergue El Pajar de Ages) on the left. (I was on the right) On walking through the door, this kindly man walked to the fridge and, without saying a word put his hand in and pulled out A BEER for me!
This was followed by a three course meal of Biblical proportions and a healthy slug of some home made potchine that came direct out of an old acid carboy. All that was 10€.

I then walked just up the street to have a very convivial evening in a bar with all the others in my walking 'bubble'
Memories that will last me a lifetime.

 

[Lhollo]

We’re now hoping to spend a rest day at the end and see Atapuerca properly and also Burgos. (We do need to be in Burgos for the bus back). Because if this, we’re considering somehow missing a section, or otherwise cutting off the last day. I’m not sure about ending the walk in Belorado, though, because I’ve read that the walk to there from Santi Domingo de la Calzada isn’t the most interesting. I like the idea of walking to Ages now you’ve mentioned it above, so am not sure about cutting out the last day for that reason either. What do you think?

 

[Steve Taylor]

We’re now hoping to spend a rest day at the end and see Atapuerca properly and also Burgos. (We do need to be in Burgos for the bus back). Because if this, we’re considering somehow missing a section, or otherwise cutting off the last day. I’m not sure about ending the walk in Belorado, though, because I’ve read that the walk to there from Santi Domingo de la Calzada isn’t the most interesting. I like the idea of walking to Ages now you’ve mentioned it above, so am not sure about cutting out the last day for that reason either. What do you think?

Belorado is a really nice town (Cuatro Cantones albergue is excellent, with really nice swimming pool), but the walk from there to Santo Domingo is pretty tough going, steady inclines that are unrelenting and not a little soul destroying. If you want to end this part of your Camino on a positive note, I would go for Belorado over Santo Domingo (nothing against the town at all, it's just the walk to get there!).

 

[Lhollo]

Belorado is a really nice town (Cuatro Cantones albergue is excellent, with really nice swimming pool), but the walk from there to Santo Domingo is pretty tough going, steady inclines that are unrelenting and not a little soul destroying. If you want to end this part of your Camino on a positive note, I would go for Belorado over Santo Domingo (nothing against the town at all, it's just the walk to get there!).

Thank you! Do you mean that the walk to Santo Domingo from Nájera is the tough section? And that we could consider skipping that and walking from Santo Domingo to Belorado?

 

[Steve Taylor]

Sorry, I got mixed up on my stages. The stage from Nájera to Santo Domingo (I actually continued to Granon) was tough. Granon to Belorado was fine, though the stretch from Belorado to San Juan De Ortega was quite a climb (not as daunting as expected). Hope that’s cleared up now. To be honest, not a lot to do in San Juan De Ortega, though Ages looked much more promising.

 

[Luciano Sanguini]

Last october I made this route, Belorado to San Juan. The way has a lot of climbs, the biggest is after Villafranca, by the way, it is the last place to find a bar before San Juan.
I stayed at San Juan, but if were today, I would walked until Agnes.
In San Juan there is no options for market or places to eat, just bar/albergue El Descanso the San Juan, where I took place.
There até some pictures of this trip and San Juana in this video that I made to share information and memories with some friends that I made in the Camino.