Grandpa’s Latest Camino de Santiago
During the month of October 2019, Grandpa completed his third Camino de Santiago in Spain. He trekked for thirty-one days on the Camino del Norte, along the north coast, from Irun at the French border to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. Daily accounts of that journey to find inspiration and meet new friends will be available on the blog site in the coming weeks. Follow along as the trail days are posted or select Camino de Santiago here, or from the blog’s main menu.
Camino del Norte (Coastal Way)
The length of the Camino del Norte, also known as the Camino de la Costa (Coastal Way), is over 800 kilometers (more than 500 miles). Depending on where you find your information, this distance varies. I used a Village to Village Map Guide by Harms, Dintman, and Landis for my trek and will use their measurements for consistency throughout the report. One of the difficulties in measurements for the Norte is the number of variations on your path to Santiago, variations you don’t find much of while walking the Camino Francés. The Camino del Norte is 833 kilometers from Irún, at the French border, traveling through the cities of San Sebastián, Bilbao, Santander, and Gijón to Santiago de Compostela. An option popular with pilgrims hiking the Norte is to leave the traditional route and follow the Primitivo route over the mountains, meeting the Camino Francés at Melide. I followed the Norte to Arzúa, where this trail intersects with the Francés.
About the Route Report
Each day in the route report will list start and endpoints, the distance walked (in kilometers), the time it took to walk that distance, notes about the route, a log of that day’s adventures, people I met and fun we had, and some indication of costs, weather, and trail conditions.