Camino del Norte (Irún to Oviedo) in 14 days?

Tinytrekker111 said:

Hello all,

I will be walking the Camino del Norte with the plans of transferring to the Primitivo this summer. I would like to start in Irún, as many pilgrims say that this is the most beautiful portion of the Northern Way. However, I would like to save some time on my way to Oviedo (hopefully making it there from Irún in 14 days or less). Does anyone have tips as to how to achieve this goal? Potential cities to skip, shorter routes, one day biking options? Truly, I would appreciate any tips. Thank you in advance!

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Hi, Tinytrekker, Welcome to the forum. If you have taken a look at some of the popular guidebooks or online sources, like gronze, https://www.gronze.com/camino-norte, you will see that the “standard stages” suggest 21 days for Irún to Villaviciosa, and then two more to Oviedo. Lots of people on the forum have clear opinions about what you are proposing to do. Some will suggest that you should just start in Irún and when you have to get to Oviedo, stop walking, find a way to get there and continue on your Primitivo. Others will suggest that you start ”two weeks out“ from Oviedo, so that there is continuity and no hopping on and off buses, which can be jarring and not so fun. There are lots of in-between ways to do it, of course, by slicing off parts of one stage and merging with another, jumping ahead for three or four stages a couple of times, but that always seems too complicated and unnecessary to me, just IMO.

Just last year, I had to shorten my camino by several weeks and wound up taking a combination bus and bla bla car from one city to another so that I could continue on. I was walking with someone else, so it was less of a total disaster, but it was not my preferred option. But hey, life sometimes interferes with the camino, and that’s just something we have to deal with. But my own opinion is that walking without interruption is the absolute best way to maximize all the many wonderful things the camino has to offer.