Day 25: Castro-Urdiales to Noja It was a long day. The planned route was 40+ km and an elevation of almost 1.000m. Setting off, I hoped to make it to Laredo, 25km away, by 13.00, from where a boat sails to a lighthouse and drops me off at the next town, saving 5km. It was a good plan, but didn’t…
Day 24: Getxo to Castro-Urdiales What was supposed to be a 24km day turned out to be much more, partly thanks to lack of signs, missed signs and a closed path, which lead to longer detours. So instead of 24km, I ended up walking 30km. The day started sunny and bright, and lasted until early evening, As I write this,…
Day 23: Guernica to Lezama A short walk, 21km with 630m elevation, but a busy day. Lene flew back to Copenhagen, so we walked to the airport bus, said our goodbye’s and I walked 500m further to the bus stop for Guernica, where I had ended up on Sunday (day 21) before meeting Lene. It was 10.30 by the time…
Day 22: Lezama to Getxo, via Bilbao Yesterday I had a rest day, spent in Bilbao with my wife, Lene, visiting the Guggenheim Museum, walking around town and taking the Funicular up into the hills above Bilbao for great views of the city. This morning I took a bus to Lezama and walked 13km back into into Bilbao. The first kilometers were…
Day 21: Markina Xemien to Guernica A quiet day on generally dry paths, only some mud, so a big improvement on the previous days. Pretty hilly, with a cold start (below 10 degrees), but it was sunny all day, so it soon warmed up. I met a lot of follow walkers including a Dane who now lives on Vancouver island in…
Day 20: Deba to Markina Xemien “Make at least one path in your life a dirt path”, is a saying I have heard every now and then. The problem with dirt paths, is that sometimes they become muddy paths and over the past days I have seen many muddy paths and they are very tiring to walk on, progress is often…
Day 18: San Sebastian to Getaria When it rains, it pours. Over 30mm fell during 24 hours. And the result; mud, mud and more mud, plus parts where there wasn’t even mud, only water. 26km, mostly on road/pavement and 790m elevation. I waited to leave until 10.30 hoping that the worst of the rain was over. That’s when the heavy rain…
Day 17: Hondarribis to San Sebastian Back in Spain and back on the Camino del Norte. The Camino del Norte runs along the northern coast of Spain, through the large towns of San Sebastian, Bilbao, Santander and Gijon, many smaller towns and villages and lots of beautiful coastline on its way from the French-Spanish border on the Atlantic coast to Santiago…
Ribadeo to A Coruna – Conclusion/Hotel list My overall conclusion is that this is a fabulous walk. This is the ultimate alternative route on the Camino del Norte, staying on the coast after Ribadeo and joining the Camino Ingles in Ferrol for those wishing to walk to Santiago. The views are spectacular, the signage excellent, at least whilst still on the Ruta…
Day 23: Pontedeume to A Coruna My last day before flying home and the day I missed a turn and walked almost 2 kilometers before realising and having to walk back. Typical on my last day and typical on the hottest day so far. I slept well, and went to one of the four bars in the town square to eat…
Day 22: Valdovino to Pontedeume My legs were tired as I walked to the bar for breakfast, not a great sign with ca. 35km to walk, for the most part along roads passing through Ferrol, before joining the Camino Ingles and meeting other walkers. I left at around 9am, after the customary, coffee, toast and juice breakfast. It was pretty…
Day 21: San Andres de Teixdo to Valdovino For the very last time on this trip, I’m writing this waiting for my clothes to be washed and dried. It’s ca. 6pm, and I haven’t even reached this evenings hotel. Last night at the excellent Casa Rural in San Andres, I slept badly. No idea why, it was an excellent bed and it was…
Day 20: Ortigueira to San Andres de Teixdo Legend has it, that if you don’t visit the church at San Andres de Teixdo whilst alive, you will eventually do so after your death, as a tormented soul or as a reptile or insect. I didn’t want to take any chances so here I am, after passing the highest point of my walk to…
Day 19: O Vicedo to Ortigueira A day of two walking parts. A morning where I covered 20km in some of the most beautiful nature one can find (even more spectacular than the previous days if at all possible) and an afternoon where, after a very heavy lunch, I covered 12km of not so exciting road walking. I have read that…
Day 18: Celeiro to O Vicedo I’m running out of superlatives for this part of my walk along the coastline of the Cantabrian Sea. Anybody walking the Camino del Norte and wishing that they’d seen more of the coastline, should just continue straight on at Ribadeo instead of going inland. Another great day with view after view after view. Todays walk…
Day 17: San Cibrao to Celeiro Although the elements were against it being a great walk, today was fabulous. Today’s challenges started as soon as I was up – no breakfast, no bars along the way until 2km before my destination, 28km, 1.000m in ascent – it was constantly up and down – and finally at least 30 rain showers, non…
Day 16: Foz to San Cibrao Back at the laundry to wash my walking clothes. If you’ve read more than a couple of my posts, you know that it isn’t something I love doing, but it needs to be done. It helps that it is pouring down outside, so there would be little else to do anyway. I slept well, apart…
Day 15: Rinlo to Foz A song from my youth, “So Close Yet So Far Away” by the Strawbs came to mind today. I was less than 200m from today’s destination, Foz, but still had to walk 12kms to get there. After a very nice breakfast, served with a stunning 270 degree view of the coast and surrounding countryside, I…
Day 14: Tapia de Casariego to Rinlo Today was my last half a day on the Camino del Norte. Whilst pilgrims on their way to Santiago walk inland, I will continue along the coast following the Ruta Natural del Cantabrico to Ortigueira and the Costa Gallega/Camino Ingles to A Coruna. The rain had stopped and I woke up to a mostly cloudy…
Day 13: Villapedre to Tapia de Casariego Not a great day for walking. Not only was it a below average stage, 30kms, next to no coast, lots of farmland and lots of road, if you add, that it rained for most of the last 20kms, and I couldn’t find my headphones, it was far from a great day. It was also the…
