Thanks to @trecile's request for some Norte stages, I decided to get mine down on paper. I had a FindPenguins blog, https://findpenguins.com/7wlooua0y7gmt/trip/camino-2017 so I don't have to reinvent the wheel. As always, there are some peculiarities that came up that changed my original ideas about stages (like getting a visit in Mondoñedo from a Camino friend, or being involved in the peregrina assault near Baamonde, etc), so I don't expect anyone to follow these stages, but as @trecile notes, it's good to see what others did. I also did a lot of the coastal alternatives, for which you can find more information on another thread: https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/coastal-alternatives-to-the-nortes-asphalt.49578/
I know I have gone at great length about how beautiful these alternatives are, so close and yet so far to the asphalt on the national highway where the arrows lead you. My distances reflect (probably not totally accurately) the alternatives when I walked them.
Yet another preliminary observation -- I started my Camino in Irún with four forum peregrinas. We walked to St. Jean de Luz (north of Irún along the coast), got a bus to Bayonne, and then walked the wonderful, totally beautiful, Baztán. Our stages were pretty standard -- Bayonne - Espelette - Amaiur - Beorreta - Lantz - Iza - Pamplona (lots of info on the Baztán subforum). From Pamplona, I got a bus back to Irún and started the Norte proper. Here are my stages for the norte:
1. Irún to San Sebastián -- first, take the Alpine Route (which is a pretty hyperbolic way of describing one short steep ascent ), and second, take the GR when you see the red and white blazes, that keeps you on the coast much longer rather than going up on asphalt with the arrows. 25 km
2. San Sebastián to Getaria -- private albergue, 30 km
3. Getaria to Izarbide (about 4-5 km beyond Deba). The coastal alternative, the Ruta del Flysch, is one of the most beautiful among a LOT of beautiful coastal alternatives. 25 km.
4. Izarbide to Munitbar (that means going through Markina and Zernautza monastery to private albergue) -- 29
5. Munitbar to Larrebetzu (with long stop in Gernika for the museum and a drink) -- 31
6. Larrebetzu to Poretugalete through Bilbao and on the right side of the Ría -- 27
7. Portugalete to Castro Urdiales -- here is one stage when the camino itself goes coastal! -- 27 km
8. Castro Urdiales to Laredo -- I took the loop south through Magdalena to avoid national highway, and then turnoff to take the coastal route. This is one where my coastal thread shows several alternatives of how to get on the coast, I did the one from Liendo directly. 27 km
9. Laredo to Meruelo -- 20 km. This is before Guemes, I stayed here because I had a friend who was hospitalera-ing, and because I had what appeared to be bedbugs, so she did the treatment on me.
10. Meruelo to Santander -- 19 km. The official camino has a nice coastal alternative well marked on the way to the boat that takes you to Santander.
11. Santander to Boo de Piélagos -- 36.5. This coastal alternative goes nowhere near the official camino, loops around the bay of Santander and then hugs the coast. Long day, but others have broken it up more or less halfway with a casa rural. Highly recommended, and @Dave talks about it as well
12. Boo to Caborredondo -- 32 km (but deduct a few for the train ride, about 6 or 7???)
13. Caborredondo to Serdío -- 32 km (through Comillas and San Vicente)
14. Serdío to Llanes -- 36.5 on the coastal alternative. This is an AMAZING coastal walk, and the camino just totally misses it.
15. Llanes to Ribadesella -- 35 km, again with a coastal alternative that the camino ignores.
16. Ridbadesella to Villaviciosa -- 39 km, camino on this stage does take the coast. You can get even more coast if you take a turnoff at La Isla, but since we had a long day, we stayed on the camino here.
17. Villaviciosa to Vega de Sariego -- 17 or 18 km, good albergue, but it would be worth it to forge ahead to Pola de Siero, IMO. I took the detour to visit Valdediós, another preromanesque jewel, which doesn´t open till 11 but is so worth the wait! Nuns now run the albergue there and it is spotless, unlike when the monks were in charge (just sayin...)
18. Vega de Sariego to Oviedo -- 27
19. Oviedo to Avilés -- 29 km. This is a good way to avoid the Gijón to Avilés industrial slog, and a detour to visit Oviedo is well worth it.
20. Avilés to Muros de Nalón -- 25 km. Casa Carmina, great private albergue. Afternoon bus to visit Cudillero, HIGHLY recommended detour to a little tourist town that is gorgeous.
21. Muros to Soto de Luiña -- 16 km, but since we wanted to do the mountain route the next day, this was the only choice. It gave us plenty of time for a 8 km walk out and back to the beach in the afternoon. Great family spot, pretty place.
22. Soto to Cadavedo -- 22 km. On a clear day, highly recommend the coastal alternative, this one is marked as official camino, I think, but many take the low route.
23. Cadavedo to Otur -- 21. We had planned to go beyond Otur, but we had a very nice, but way too filling meal in Luarca, and I just couldn't go further. Note to self--do not eat a menú del día in the middle of your walk. Again, though, there was a nice beach we walked to about 2-3 km from the little hotel.
24. Otur to La Caridad -- 25 km. Nice private albergue
25. La Caridad to Ribadeo -- 30-plus. Here most people take the "coastal alternative" through Tapia. But we found that the camino "coastal alternative" did not take in all the fabulous ocean-side walking that my GPS coastal alternative did. Well worth it. Afternoon group taxi (about 4 euros each way per person) out to Playa de los Catedrales. Go at low tide, just GREAT!!
26. Ribadeo to Lourenza -- 28 km.
27. Lourenzá to Mondoñedo -- 9 km. I decided to stay here when I got a text from a camino friend that he would hop on his moto and meet me here for lunch. Nice little town.
28. Mondoñedo to O Xistral -- BEST albergue on the Norte, 24 km.
29. O Xistgral to Baamonde -- 35 km.
30. Baamonde to Roxica and private albergue -- 21 km. Plans to go further changed when a woman came running towards me hysterically screaming that she had been threatened with a gun a few hundred meters up the camino in an isolated spot. We had to spend time with guardia, etc. It was quite a day.
31. Roxica to Sobrado -- 14 km. Short day to meet up with people for final walk into Santiago. These last three stages are easily broken into two, but it was fun to walk in with the group.
32. Sobrado to Arzua -- 21
33. Arzua to Pedrouzo -- 20
34. Pedrouzo to Santiago -- 19.
This was not my first time on the Norte, and I had also visited the major cities as a tourist in the past, so I was happy to walk through places like Bilbao. If it's your first time, though, I would recommend a stop.
So, there you have it, hope it helps you @trecile! Buen camino, Laurie
I know I have gone at great length about how beautiful these alternatives are, so close and yet so far to the asphalt on the national highway where the arrows lead you. My distances reflect (probably not totally accurately) the alternatives when I walked them.
Yet another preliminary observation -- I started my Camino in Irún with four forum peregrinas. We walked to St. Jean de Luz (north of Irún along the coast), got a bus to Bayonne, and then walked the wonderful, totally beautiful, Baztán. Our stages were pretty standard -- Bayonne - Espelette - Amaiur - Beorreta - Lantz - Iza - Pamplona (lots of info on the Baztán subforum). From Pamplona, I got a bus back to Irún and started the Norte proper. Here are my stages for the norte:
1. Irún to San Sebastián -- first, take the Alpine Route (which is a pretty hyperbolic way of describing one short steep ascent ), and second, take the GR when you see the red and white blazes, that keeps you on the coast much longer rather than going up on asphalt with the arrows. 25 km
2. San Sebastián to Getaria -- private albergue, 30 km
3. Getaria to Izarbide (about 4-5 km beyond Deba). The coastal alternative, the Ruta del Flysch, is one of the most beautiful among a LOT of beautiful coastal alternatives. 25 km.
4. Izarbide to Munitbar (that means going through Markina and Zernautza monastery to private albergue) -- 29
5. Munitbar to Larrebetzu (with long stop in Gernika for the museum and a drink) -- 31
6. Larrebetzu to Poretugalete through Bilbao and on the right side of the Ría -- 27
7. Portugalete to Castro Urdiales -- here is one stage when the camino itself goes coastal! -- 27 km
8. Castro Urdiales to Laredo -- I took the loop south through Magdalena to avoid national highway, and then turnoff to take the coastal route. This is one where my coastal thread shows several alternatives of how to get on the coast, I did the one from Liendo directly. 27 km
9. Laredo to Meruelo -- 20 km. This is before Guemes, I stayed here because I had a friend who was hospitalera-ing, and because I had what appeared to be bedbugs, so she did the treatment on me.
10. Meruelo to Santander -- 19 km. The official camino has a nice coastal alternative well marked on the way to the boat that takes you to Santander.
11. Santander to Boo de Piélagos -- 36.5. This coastal alternative goes nowhere near the official camino, loops around the bay of Santander and then hugs the coast. Long day, but others have broken it up more or less halfway with a casa rural. Highly recommended, and @Dave talks about it as well
12. Boo to Caborredondo -- 32 km (but deduct a few for the train ride, about 6 or 7???)
13. Caborredondo to Serdío -- 32 km (through Comillas and San Vicente)
14. Serdío to Llanes -- 36.5 on the coastal alternative. This is an AMAZING coastal walk, and the camino just totally misses it.
15. Llanes to Ribadesella -- 35 km, again with a coastal alternative that the camino ignores.
16. Ridbadesella to Villaviciosa -- 39 km, camino on this stage does take the coast. You can get even more coast if you take a turnoff at La Isla, but since we had a long day, we stayed on the camino here.
17. Villaviciosa to Vega de Sariego -- 17 or 18 km, good albergue, but it would be worth it to forge ahead to Pola de Siero, IMO. I took the detour to visit Valdediós, another preromanesque jewel, which doesn´t open till 11 but is so worth the wait! Nuns now run the albergue there and it is spotless, unlike when the monks were in charge (just sayin...)
18. Vega de Sariego to Oviedo -- 27
19. Oviedo to Avilés -- 29 km. This is a good way to avoid the Gijón to Avilés industrial slog, and a detour to visit Oviedo is well worth it.
20. Avilés to Muros de Nalón -- 25 km. Casa Carmina, great private albergue. Afternoon bus to visit Cudillero, HIGHLY recommended detour to a little tourist town that is gorgeous.
21. Muros to Soto de Luiña -- 16 km, but since we wanted to do the mountain route the next day, this was the only choice. It gave us plenty of time for a 8 km walk out and back to the beach in the afternoon. Great family spot, pretty place.
22. Soto to Cadavedo -- 22 km. On a clear day, highly recommend the coastal alternative, this one is marked as official camino, I think, but many take the low route.
23. Cadavedo to Otur -- 21. We had planned to go beyond Otur, but we had a very nice, but way too filling meal in Luarca, and I just couldn't go further. Note to self--do not eat a menú del día in the middle of your walk. Again, though, there was a nice beach we walked to about 2-3 km from the little hotel.
24. Otur to La Caridad -- 25 km. Nice private albergue
25. La Caridad to Ribadeo -- 30-plus. Here most people take the "coastal alternative" through Tapia. But we found that the camino "coastal alternative" did not take in all the fabulous ocean-side walking that my GPS coastal alternative did. Well worth it. Afternoon group taxi (about 4 euros each way per person) out to Playa de los Catedrales. Go at low tide, just GREAT!!
26. Ribadeo to Lourenza -- 28 km.
27. Lourenzá to Mondoñedo -- 9 km. I decided to stay here when I got a text from a camino friend that he would hop on his moto and meet me here for lunch. Nice little town.
28. Mondoñedo to O Xistral -- BEST albergue on the Norte, 24 km.
29. O Xistgral to Baamonde -- 35 km.
30. Baamonde to Roxica and private albergue -- 21 km. Plans to go further changed when a woman came running towards me hysterically screaming that she had been threatened with a gun a few hundred meters up the camino in an isolated spot. We had to spend time with guardia, etc. It was quite a day.
31. Roxica to Sobrado -- 14 km. Short day to meet up with people for final walk into Santiago. These last three stages are easily broken into two, but it was fun to walk in with the group.
32. Sobrado to Arzua -- 21
33. Arzua to Pedrouzo -- 20
34. Pedrouzo to Santiago -- 19.
This was not my first time on the Norte, and I had also visited the major cities as a tourist in the past, so I was happy to walk through places like Bilbao. If it's your first time, though, I would recommend a stop.
So, there you have it, hope it helps you @trecile! Buen camino, Laurie