Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while (ok, since at least 2016!) will know that I have walked the Camino de Santiago from St Jean Pied-de-Port in France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, over the course of 5 summers (but 7 years thanks to C*vid) and those who know me in real life will know that I have nothing but AMAZING things to say about this experience. So much so that, when a group of us finished the final leg in the summer of 2022, we all immediately started looking at different routes to walk.
Wait, what – there are different routes of the Camino?
There sure are! St Jean Pied-de-Port to Santiago de Compostela is known as the “French Way” but there are many more, listed here.
We loved walking in Spain so started to think about the Northern Camino/ Camino del Norte, specifically the San Sebastián to Bilbao section. Because, hey, Basque Country = good food, right? I’ll write separately about San Sebastián and Bilbao as our start and end towns but I will say that the food on this section of the walk was definitely a step up from some of the other stages. Not that you come on the Camino for the food but…
Is there a guidebook?
I will say that this year’s stage has much less written about it in terms of guidebooks – last time we were spoiled with so much information in the Brierley guide (<<< affiliate link but it’s THE guide!). This year we received the Cicerone guide for the Camino del Norte (<<< also an affiliate link) in our travel package and found it much less useful than the detailed Brierley. The elevation maps are good to help you mentally prepare for the day but there is not a lot of other info you need (like, where are the snack stops, water fountains etc..) and the route info is pretty basic. I also had this book on my Kindle but it wasn’t very useful either.
For the curious, I wrote a Q&A post on the earlier stages of the Camino and most of this information is still relevant.
Ok so let’s go!
Ok so the first day (+/- 26km !) starts out just down the road from our hotel. Pretty flowers abound on this stage…
We are just going on the map at this stage, having not seen a waymarker when suddenly, thankfully, we spot one!
And… UP we go! Elevation will be a theme for the next 6 days!
(STAIRS + elevation, will not, however, be a theme!)
We waved a last goodbye to San Sebastián …
And off we went! The (heavy) rains in late June made the scenery SO lush (and, errr… so muddy but we didn’t realise that initially…)
Some GORGEOUS countryside…
The hydrangeas in Spain (and, apparently, everywhere this summer) were SO beautiful…
We ambled merrily along for the first 10 or so kilometres…
Said hello to some furry friends…
And then, sometime late morning, we came across the first (of MANY) muddy sections…
Ok, sure, doesn’t look too bad, does it?
I mean, there are Camino waymarkers so….
But ok, then there was this…
This was brutally muddy and deep and slippery and wet. NOT FUN. But hey, just a small muddy section, we could do it and we knew there was a town coming up where we could grab a snack and something to drink as we recovered from this first obstacle…
Yes – look – actual roads leading us into the town of Orio!
And…
SNACKS (and cerveza con limón!). Also, these:
I DID NOT buy these that day and spent the rest of the trip looking for them. Did I find them? You’ll have to read on!
After resting for a while and taking in a local festival (dancing! sardines! costumes!), we headed out, confident that we’d seen the worst of the day’s terrain…
And in fact, around 90 minutes later, after some more beautiful scenery, we hit the beach of Zarautz…
Zarautz is typically the end point for this day’s walking (roughly 20km) but we’d chosen to stay in Getaria which we were advised was a lovely place to stay (I mean, this beach looked great too!) and the final 5km into town was along the coast on a purpose-built road. It was hot but QUITE delightful after so much mud and rocks earlier in the day!
This pedestrian walkway was absolutely amazing – there were clearly people who “commuted” between the two towns and it’s a beautiful place to jog/ stroll/ bike. A treat on the Camino to have such a beautiful entry into a town!
Getaria is a cute town that reminded us of San Sebastián…
And after this day’s walking…
We felt a little like the folks in this mural…
Our hotel was AMAZING!
Hotel Itxas Gain, for reference. 100% would recommend!
After a rest, we rallied for an apéro with a view…
And dinner. SO MUCH food. So needed!
We ordered a lot of seafood since, you know, we were right on the sea. It was perfect. We ate at the Asador Mayflower as recommended by the hotel reception.
And then, because we couldn’t NO indulge when we saw this sign, we had our daily helado!
Coffee and Sacher Torte if you’re wondering. It was spectacular. Plus, you know, 25km under our belts needed some nutrition to keep us going the next day… (Dona Doni, if you’re ever in Getaria!).
Ok so that was…. a LOT in one day. Surely that was the hardest day, we all said.
Stay tuned as I share the next 5 days’ on the Camino del Norte over the next month or so as I get my photos organised and thoughts in order. Spoiler: it was NOT the hardest day 😉
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Disclosure: I researched Camino tour operators independently and chose the Camino Travel Center based on a number of features such as flexibility to accommodate a couple of “splits” in some of the longer days, price, and customer service. They were, in fact, the first company I came across in my very first Google search and the one I ended up booking with. From the initial inquiry to the actual trips, they have been a pleasure to deal with and we have been very impressed with the service provided (bag transportation) and the accommodation choices. I was not compensated to write about this trip in any way but I love sharing companies and products I believe in with my readers. I couldn’t recommend the Camino Travel Center more. Stay tuned to see what summer 2025 brings!
Read more about the Camino de Santiago
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Phew. Wonderful account, Mardi.
“Phew” is right! that’s what we said every day when we completed the walk!