| Remove ads on the forum by becoming a donating member. More here. |
|---|
Hi there. I am planning to walk the Norte in May/June. If your budget (like mine) allowed you to stay in hotels along the way, would you think differently about this route?
I think the one word that defines our experiences on any Camino is “expectations”. On my first (CF 2008)I had no idea what to expect and my joy was limitless. My second 2009 CF I expected something like my first. I was disappointed. The experience was completely different so for my third (CdN 2011) I decided to change it up a bit. The Norte was physically challenging and unique. Again I didn’t know what to expect and I enjoyed it!Thanks, fraluchi, and I forgot the Levante.
And you're right, I have often thought about why I spend so much time and energy to promote the camino and encourage people to walk when in the end I look at the Camino Francés and ask, what has this become? But I'm also not full of myself enough to think that it is my advice and my encouragement that are producing huge waves of increase on the camino. So I guess I'm left with the thought that it's not the numbers themselves that are the "problem" on the Francés to the extent there is one, it's the heightened, almost self-indulgent expectations that come with huge numbers of people who somewhat contradictorily want both an "authentic" or "quaint" experience and at the same time all the creature comforts they get when they travel away from home. If more and more pilgrims are inevitably going to walk, say, the Invierno, maybe our efforts here on the forum will contribute a bit to preserving the "Camino feel" of that glorious route and perhaps staving off the brash commercialism that seems to come hand in hand with increased numbers.
If you pm me I can provide some insight to both routes. I have done the Portuguese 2x the Norte 1 time and the CF 3 times.
. And the difference is truly amazing.
Anytime someone rues the amount of pavement on the Norte, I cannot resist urging them to take a look at this thread. https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/coastal-alternatives-to-the-nortes-asphalt.49578/
It is not that hard to avoid huge amounts of road walking and to susbsitute it with gorgeous coastal paths. I had a GPS, but mainly in order to find the link from the Camino to the coastal path. Once you’re on the coastal path, it becomes pretty obvious.
Anytime someone rues the amount of pavement on the Norte, I cannot resist urging them to take a look at this thread. https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/coastal-alternatives-to-the-nortes-asphalt.49578/
It is not that hard to avoid huge amounts of road walking and to susbsitute it with gorgeous coastal paths. I had a GPS, but mainly in order to find the link from the Camino to the coastal path. Once you’re on the coastal path, it becomes pretty obvious.
really enjoyed this article. Have just returned from walking Camino del Norte from Irun to the Privativo turnoff at Villaviciosa. There IS a culture of being completely uncritical of the Camino which is a bit mindless. I remember saying to a fellow pilgrim, after numerous dangerous road episodes that someday someone will be killed. He said, Well, that’s the Camino!
Le Puy you don’t walk on roads! really different from del Norte!
Thank you for your post. My wife and I are walking the Camino Portugues in 4 weeks (our second camino) and I will return to walk in the spring / summer of 202 on my own. I am considering the norte route and your comments are helpful. I prefer to avoid as much road travel as possible as this really takes away from the experience.
Don't think, just walk.
Which one in Santa Cruz please did you like and are the others names of accommodations or of villages....excuse my ignorance...just starting research!
Way too negative...
Hey Johann, I think I met you on C. Frances last year! I was reading this thread because I am going back next year with a mid- to late-May start, and trying to decide between another CF or CN. Would likely start in Bilbao and carry on to Muxia. Some of the posts make CN sound daunting but I think I’m up to it.
The stretch between Irun and Bilbao is the most difficult, so by starting at Bilbao you should have no problems.
Did this camino in 2003. I was aware of all the "supposing problems" nothing new there. It was like any other camino, even then. (I was 73 my wife 74 then) We have done many. BUT NEVER COMPARE ANY CAMINO WITH THE FRANCES (touristy over the top to the limit)
We walked the Norte in 2017, as our first Camino, and cherish the experience. So different from the experiences of our friends who have walked the other more popular Caminos. The more rustic and less developed countryside is its charm. It has an authenticity to it that wrapped us in its arms. We were in in our mid sixties when we did it, found it challenging physically in the Basque country, but soon walked ourselves fit and had no body issues except minor blisters.
Churches are also closed in Spain because of its violent history, especially during and after the Civil War.
I will probably sound like a broken record, but there are many beautiful off-road coastal alternatives. You will need a GPS, not because the paths on the coast are hard to follow, but because it’s not always obvious how to get from the official camino to the coastal alternative.
The Churches in England are closed because of thieves; because of our violent history (you should see what Cromwell's army did to a couple of my local churches); because of pure neglect leading to buildings being declared unsafe and, because no-one locally is prepared to accept the responsibility of admitting visitors and supervising their visit. There is only so much personal abuse you can take while you explain that no, there isn't a toilet and, yes, that is what a medieval wall-painting looks like when its been chipped at with hammers, whitewashed, plastered over, re-discovered in 1955 and subjected to passionate heavy breathing and some obscene graffiti since.
After the Civil War most churches were open in Spain but in the 60's and 70's thousands of churches were robbed. The most famous robber was Erik "the Belgian".
Le Puy is SO different from del Norte! But maybe the Frances is so different from either.
And yet French churches are almost always open to the public. It adds to a feeling of relaxation!
Not always. Churches built before 1906 belong to the state and are administered IIRC by the prefecture. Many of them are staffed with a concierge, often a well-educated history graduate, desperately pleased to have a pensioned job in their field. I have had some extraordinary conversations with these learned young people. However, some prefectures have decided to have the concierge serve several churches, so they bicycle furiously to be there for the opening hours for the church.
I think your overthinking it and making a lot of assumptions. I walked the Camino Norte and found it a great experience, socially and culturally. To each his/her own.
I´m starting to fear Irun to Santiago but will go anyway.
Im not sure what to do now... I hate tourist things and crowds so wanted the North but if its roadside it defeats the object of going coastal and will be dangerous for my dog
I saw it was old because of all the mountains of comments, I´d assume the condition and infastructure has worsened in time not get better right? Or was there a renovation or as the PDF says a new norte route made along the river?
