I have found that it is important when asking for feedback to be specific about describing your Camino characteristics such as you walk all the way, carry your backpack, in the case of the del Norte "want to make every effort to stay close to the sea, even if it includes more difficult alternative routes", approximately how far you plan to walk daily, where do you plan to start, etc. I have seen responses posted that the del Norte was not any more difficult than the
Camino Frances, only to find out later that they used a service for their packs, did frequent busing, started after Bilbao, stayed off the alternative routes that might be more difficult, such as the "alpinist" route on the first day out of Irun, walked 12 km/day, etc. There is nothing wrong with any of these choices, but they do make a difference in the difficulty of the del Norte, which in my humble opinion, found to be considerably tougher than the Frances, especially the first week prior to Bilbao. Even on the first day, the degrees of difficulty were significant, depending on which route you took. Even if you took the alpinist route, there were several choices along the route that were easier than the route to the ridge, that was not well marked in places and was difficult to navigate into Pasajes de San Juan, with cables provided in some areas to assist with balance. Anyone with vertigo is not going to be happy at that point, especially if they are alone. Not trying to scare anyone away from this beautiful Camino, because it is stunning and doesn't take a great athlete to accomplish; just make sure you know the whole story about what you're signing up for. There are choices that may make it comparable, but there are also choices that will make it considerably more difficult, especially in the beginning, than the Frances.