Can I break the Camino del Norte into shorter stages?

[TsafiK]

We are planning to walk the CDN in August, and I'm a bit scared of the long walking days. I heard that on this route you can't avoid 28-30km days. If I don't mind sleeping in private accommodation once in a while, is it possible to break it into no more than 20km a day on average? of course, 22km a day or so once or twice along the way is not the issue...

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Tsafik, welcome to the forum!

Just off the top of my head, I would say that there are so many accommodation options on the Norte that short stages are likely to be easy to come up with. It will be more expensive, but you should have lots of choices. If you take a look at the godesalco planner for the Norte you can play around with the distances you want. Also, gronze and Wise Pilgrim (excellent apps if you use apps) are other tremendous sources of information.

If you have questions about specific “stages” that seem un-break-up-able, just post the question and I bet you’ll find that someone has an idea.

Buen camino, Laurie

 

[RJM]

The Norte like any of the Camino routes can be broken down into whatever daily distance walked you want. Up to you.

 

[Rick M]

The Norte walks you through a very popular tourist destination that will be filled with holiday makers in August. Lots of places to stay, but check your budget.....prices for private accommodations are higher in August as you are competing with surfers, swimmers, and sun bathers for rooms.

 

[peregrina2000]

Rick’s point is something to really keep in mind. There are tons of tourist accommodations all along the coast, but August is primo vacation month, certainly in Spain, but probably for many other places. It will be crowded and prices higher.

I have walked the Norte in May and June, and not only did I find plenty of available accommodation, I also found many times when the tourist accommodations were going empty and the owners cut us great deals — frequently we found tourist apartments for around 60€ for two bedrooms with two beds each, and we could always find four to do it. Those same places will be more expensive in August and frequently unavailable.

 

[trecile]

Also, the Norte doesn't have anywhere near the pilgrim infrastructure of the Camino Francés, meaning that there are fewer and smaller pilgrim albergues, which can force you to stay in private accommodations more often because they can fill up quickly.

 

[estorildon]

I could not agree more with Laurie and Trecile. There are more than enough accomodations but August is quite pricey.

 

[jeanineonthecamino]

Take a look at Gronze and look to see what accommodations are available at the distances you want to walk. The Norte has less pilgrim infrastructure than the Frances of Portugues - thus less pilgrim accommodations. Yes - you can break up your walk into shorter stages many days - but you will likely have to stay at more expensive private accommodations. If you have a big budget and don't mind being alone in those "between stage" towns - then go for it. If you want to stay mostly on a budget and in pilgrim accommodations and in towns where you are likely to find other pilgrims - it may not be the best route. For me this last June - I found that even if I stayed in a private room in a stage town - I would wander the town and often never run into another pilgrim. Some days that was great. Other days I missed the comradery.

 

[lt56ny]

Hi, Tsafik, welcome to the forum!

Just off the top of my head, I would say that there are so many accommodation options on the Norte that short stages are likely to be easy to come up with. It will be more expensive, but you should have lots of choices. If you take a look at the godesalco planner for the Norte you can play around with the distances you want. Also, gronze and Wise Pilgrim (excellent apps if you use apps) are other tremendous sources of information.

If you have questions about specific “stages” that seem un-break-up-able, just post the question and I bet you’ll find that someone has an idea.

Buen camino, Laurie

So true, When I walked in 2018 I broke up the stages many times. I am sure there are more choices now as the Norte gains popularity.

 

[TsafiK]

Thank you all guys, you've been very helpful! can anybody advise me, should I make reservations in advance and how long in advance should I make it?

 

[Corned Beef]

Reservations in advance can be a bit tricky as you might not make the distance or alternatively you are having a good day and want to go further.

There are pinch points though where accommodation is limited and these will be clear to see if you check Gronze for the list per stage.

Lastly, don't think distance on the Norte. Think elevation as the beginning especially has tough days whereas towards the end the trail is quite gentle. Go at your pace and enjoy what is a beautiful (if expensive) route.

 

[trecile]

If you have a big budget and don't mind being alone in those "between stage" towns

Staying "between stages" doesn't mean being alone!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I walked the first half of the Norte starting in mid-April 2016 before turning on to the Primitivo at Oviedo. I used only the "Northern Caminos" Cicerone guidebook at the time. My preference are always 20k days, and although many were longer, I have only one memory where I nearly dragged myself to my final end stage, walking from Llanes to Ribadesella, which for me was about 32k, since it was located on the far side of a rather large town. Thankfully I didn't think there were huge elevation changes on that particular day. Everything else was quite do-able.

 

[Ezemeen]

Hi, Tsafik, welcome to the forum!

Just off the top of my head, I would say that there are so many accommodation options on the Norte that short stages are likely to be easy to come up with. It will be more expensive, but you should have lots of choices. If you take a look at the godesalco planner for the Norte you can play around with the distances you want. Also, gronze and Wise Pilgrim (excellent apps if you use apps) are other tremendous sources of information.

If you have questions about specific “stages” that seem un-break-up-able, just post the question and I bet you’ll find that someone has an idea.

Buen camino, Laurie

Wow, Laurie, thanks for the very helpful links.

 

[A Crackpot Abroad]

It is your Camino.

I did Norte right after Spain opened in 2021. I had an issue finding accommodation in Deba. I heard a group of Pilgrims didn't find accommodations either. So they slept on the beach as a group.

Norte has a pretty good train and bus system (and taxis willing to take you to the next town for a reasonable rate) so in a bind or injury situations the above are an option for you.

crackpot

 

[Camino Chrissy]

It is your Camino.

I did Norte right after Spain opened in 2021. I had an issue finding accommodation in Deba. I heard a group of Pilgrims didn't find accommodations either. So they slept on the beach as a group.

Norte has a pretty good train and bus system (and taxis willing to take you to the next town for a reasonable rate) so in a bind or injury situations the above are an option for you.

crackpot

I think so soon after the pandemic, many lodgings were closed down. Hopefully things have improved since you walked.

 

[tjz]

It is your Camino.

I did Norte right after Spain opened in 2021. I had an issue finding accommodation in Deba. I heard a group of Pilgrims didn't find accommodations either. So they slept on the beach as a group.

Norte has a pretty good train and bus system (and taxis willing to take you to the next town for a reasonable rate) so in a bind or injury situations the above are an option for you.

crackpot

We walked the Norte from Bayonne to Laredo in March 2022. Coincidentally we also hit an issue at Deba. There was nothing available in Deba so we stayed a few KM short in an agrotourismo, and there were no accommodations to be found in Markina Xeimin either so we had to stretch to Bolibar. In all it was a pretty difficult 36km day. Some of that was probably a mix of post-covid, early season, etc, so no reason to believe you'd get caught in summertime other than the competition with the regular tourist traffic already mentioned. After that bare stretch, there seemed to be more options available.

 

[trecile]

Deba was difficult even before Covid. There is the municipal albergue with 56 beds, but little in the way of private accommodation. When I was there in July 2018 the albergue was full.

 

[jenndavis305]

Hi, Tsafik, welcome to the forum!

Just off the top of my head, I would say that there are so many accommodation options on the Norte that short stages are likely to be easy to come up with. It will be more expensive, but you should have lots of choices. If you take a look at the godesalco planner for the Norte you can play around with the distances you want. Also, gronze and Wise Pilgrim (excellent apps if you use apps) are other tremendous sources of information.

If you have questions about specific “stages” that seem un-break-up-able, just post the question and I bet you’ll find that someone has an idea.

Buen camino, Laurie

Really helpful reply here!! Had not heard of godesalco but it appears to be very helpful!!

 

[trecile]

Really helpful reply here!! Had not heard of godesalco but it appears to be very helpful!!

Yes, Godesalco is very helpful. They used to only have the planner for the Camino Francés, but it now includes many other routes.

 

[Former member 101807]

We are planning to walk the CDN in August, and I'm a bit scared of the long walking days. I heard that on this route you can't avoid 28-30km days. If I don't mind sleeping in private accommodation once in a while, is it possible to break it into no more than 20km a day on average? of course, 22km a day or so once or twice along the way is not the issue...

We were worried about the same thing - I turned 71 at the end of our beginning on the Norte. If it helps, check out what we did on https://www.carrick.ch/jakobsweg/spain/spain001/index.html (I also had a bad knee on our 450km hike, but would not have missed it for the world - it's amazing! (but a little tough) our problem (in Sept/Oct was that it got very hot (for us) by 14.00 (around 28'c sometimes) and one cannot start very early in the morning due to lack of daylight. Hope this helps.

 

[Canche]

We are planning to walk the CDN in August, and I'm a bit scared of the long walking days. I heard that on this route you can't avoid 28-30km days. If I don't mind sleeping in private accommodation once in a while, is it possible to break it into no more than 20km a day on average? of course, 22km a day or so once or twice along the way is not the issue...

I did the Norte and didn’t ever "have to walk" more than 16-20 km a day. I did 30km once by mistake but survived.

 

[Former member 101807]

We walked the Norte from Bayonne to Laredo in March 2022. Coincidentally we also hit an issue at Deba. There was nothing available in Deba so we stayed a few KM short in an agrotourismo, and there were no accommodations to be found in Markina Xeimin either so we had to stretch to Bolibar. In all it was a pretty difficult 36km day. Some of that was probably a mix of post-covid, early season, etc, so no reason to believe you'd get caught in summertime other than the competition with the regular tourist traffic already mentioned. After that bare stretch, there seemed to be more options available.

We took a bus from Deba to Mutriko and stayed in a cute Airbnb. From there we walked up hill to rejoin the Way. Ask a local for a short cut.

​