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 19: Getaria to Deba A very short day today, only 18km and breakfast had to be taken before 9am, so I was on my way relatively early for such a short stage. Despite the short length, there were still quite a bit of climbing – 650m elevation. One of the things that I find most difficult when walking, is…
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…
Day 16: Saint-Pee-sur-Nivelle to Hondarribis My last day in France, as I head towards the Atlantic and the French-Spanish border. A 31km day, with 3 initial climbs with a total elevation of 650m, and thereafter, it was pretty much flat all the way. Leaving after breakfast, the day started with a pleasant walk along the Nivelle river before starting the…
Day 15: Louhossoa to Saint-Pee-sur-Nivelle A shorter and relatively flat day, as the terrain become flatter as I near the coast. Only 22km and despite some fairly strenuous climbs, a total elevation of 650m. The climbs were steep but fairly short. It’s still fairly muddy, with the puddles the full width of the path in several places. The day started…
Day 14: Saint-Palais to Louhossoa A day of many ups and downs, six climbs and descents, with a long descent into the pretty Basque village of Louhossoa with is characteristic red and white houses. All in all 36km and almost 1.000m in elevation. At Saint-Palais other walkers walk to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and the Camino Frances, whilst I will follow a so…
Day 13: Navarrenx to Saint-Palais Today I’m tired, both because of walking, but equally because I have spoken French all day. Another day primarily along roads, 28km and 600m elevation. My day of speaking French started at breakfast, with the owner of the hostel. We talked about many things, but what he stressed as being most important was that I…
Day 12: Oloron-Sainte-Marie to Navarrenx Another rainy day and another day downhill towards the Atlantic coast. A 22km walk, 300m elevation and a 120m fall in elevation from Oloron to Navarrenx. It was raining and 13 degrees when I went for breakfast and never reached over 20 degrees the whole day. Not even comparable to back home in Copenhagen where…
Day 11: Arudy to Oloron-Sainte-Marie It’s downhill from the Pyrenees foothills towards the Atlantic coast. Whilst today had an overall elevation of over 500m, I walked downhill pretty much all day, from 420m in Audry to 220m in Orolon. Over the past few days, the scenery has barely changed – lots of forest, farmland, corn fields and a few villages…
Day 10: Lestelle-Betharram to Arudy It rained all night. It rained all morning. It rained most of the afternoon. 30mm in 24 hours and on a day where I walked 29km and an elevation of 850m. Luckily I didn’t have to check-out before 12 o’clock, but I hoped that the rain at least eased up before that, given the length…
Day 9: Lourdes to Lestelle-Betharram After yesterdays marathon 12 hour effort, today was a short day, only 17km and 380m in elevation. I slept late, and the lady at breakfast took a pity on me, and gave me two of everything at the French breakfast (2 coffee, 2 croissant and 2 pieces of baguette). I spent the morning walking around…
Day 7: La-Barthe-du-Neste to Bagneres-du-Bigore It was a wet start to a long stage, 34km (of which 1km was following wrong paths) with almost 1000m of elevation and a highest point today at 850m. It had rained all night, and rained, albeit lightly, for a couple of hours after leaving the B&B. As La-Barthe-du-Neste isn’t on the official route, I…
Day 6: Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges to La-Barthe-de-Neste Van Morison sang “There will be days like this” and Paul Simon “Slip sliding away”. They pretty much sum up my day. Although a short day, 24km with 650m elevation, it was a day of challenges. It rained through the night with lightening every 5-10 seconds. Even the French had never seen anything quite like…
Day 5: Saint-Gaudens to Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges I am my own worst enemy. I was supposed to walk 22km, but ended up doing almost 30km, as I chose a different route that added 5km, and then walked a 3km diversion for lunch (which is the positive way of saying that I missed a turn and didn’t realise before I was close to…
Day 2: Muret to Carbonne Today it was hot. 11C when I left at 8.00, 33C when I arrived at the hotel at 16.30 after 34km and over 1.000m elevation – before even reaching the Pyrenees. I left Muret without seeing a statue for Clement Ader, despite seeing several other statues of (very) historic people (men). Walking back towards the…
Day 1: Toulouse Airport to Muret A long first day, with a 7am flight from Copenhagen, leaving Toulouse airport by 10.30. The first five days follow the Garonne river from Toulouse towards its source in the Spanish Pyrenees. In total the river runs 529km with its mouth at the Gironde estuary, north of Bordeaux, I will be walking ca. 150km along…
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…
