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This is not intended to be a "trolling post," but in my planning I've come upon a blog post from a German pilgrim that described Camino del Norte as being 75% on motorways.
This is not intended to be a "trolling post," but in my planning I've come upon a blog post from a German pilgrim that described Camino del Norte as being 75% on motorways. If that's accurate, that's a surprise. I had selected the North Way because I understood it traversed landscape far more rural and far less 'developed' than the Camino Frances. Is that a misconception? Here's the blog post that has me aflutter:
http://christine-on-big-trip.blogspot.com/2012/09/camino-del-norte-conclusion-and-tips.html
Kiwi Family, I walked the Norte from San Sebastian to Llanes and I can tellyou I do not remember any bit of Suburbia.I have a related question. I had seen photos of the coastal route of the Camino Portuguese leaving Porto - beautiful seaside vistas. Apart from the fact that I walked it on a grey murky day, what really surprised me was that if I just slightly turned my head to the right we were almost always being accompanied by rows of three or four-storey residential buildings or chimney stacks etc. is the Norte also like this?
Kiwi Family, I walked the Norte from San Sebastian to Llanes and I can tellyou I do not remember any bit of Suburbia.
I'm guessing he means rural rather than urban (inferring that from the question I asked)
Norte goes on my list!
It's nigh on impossible to give a yes/no answer because the Norte is so varied. For a start, that section of the Portuguese pretty much stays right by the coast all the way (although I remember it being quite wild and sand duney for the last 5km or so?)I have a related question. I had seen photos of the coastal route of the Camino Portuguese leaving Porto - beautiful seaside vistas. Apart from the fact that I walked it on a grey murky day, what really surprised me was that if I just slightly turned my head to the right we were almost always being accompanied by rows of three or four-storey residential buildings or chimney stacks etc. is the Norte also like this?
It's nigh on impossible to give a yes/no answer because the Norte is so varied. For a start, that section of the Portuguese pretty much stays right by the coast all the way (although I remember it being quite wild and sand duney for the last 5km or so?)
Much of the Norte is the paths/small roads inland which are joining up the accessible parts of the coast. When you get to the coast you are generally at the parts that are popular, so they are often quite built up. Some examples of the conundrum:
- for the three days before Bilbao you don't see the coast at all (or maybe a sea horizon in the distance at Markina), but it's often a lovely walk
- for the stage coming into Laredo, there's a quiet and much longer inland stage or a big fast road that goes close to the coast.
- for the section to Llanes you take the GR coastal path and are close to the sea but you have the autopista alongside a hundred or so metres away on your l/h side
- from Soto de Luina you are advised by the hospitalero to walk along the suburban roads where you are close to the sea - but can't actually see it. The alternative inland route goes along the hills giving fantastic views (although it is not well waymarked - but championed on other threads)
I could go on... it's all a bit of a mixed bag and being right next to the sea isn't always what represents the best of the norte.
cheers, tom
- think of Newby meeting Thesiger and that final paragraph in 'A short walk in the Hindu Kush'.
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