- Time of past OR future Camino
- First: Camino Francés 2002; most recent: Norte/Primitivo 2019
Hi all,
This morning, I was hunting around for new albergues that opened over the last handful of months. One in particular caught my eye. The village of Isla (no, not La Isla), located somewhat near Noja, has refurbished its antiguo hospital de peregrinos and is now open for business once again, set up as a donativo albergue. This is interesting, since the Norte doesn't currently pass through there!
Well, there is a Senda de Litoral that follows the coastline between Noja and Galizano, and I've tried to map it out (instead of doing the actual book updates I should be doing...). Here's what it looks like:
The dashed-red line at the top is the coastal approach, moving from Noja on the right to the coast near Galizano on the left. The dashed-red line below it is the 'official' Norte between Noja and Güemes. The coastal approach looks quite lovely--if only the Río Campiazo didn't cause such problems in the middle! The route spans roughly 39km total, with the albergue in Isla sitting around the 14km mark, and 900m off-route. So, if you wanted to do this in two stages, you could do Santoña-Isla (23.6km) and Isla-Santander (39.3km).
OK, that second stage is probably too long for most. Well, that western peninsula looks like it adds an awful lot of distance, just to go out and back. If you cut straight across through Ajo, you can actually chop off 7.8km, making the walk to Santander 31.5km. That seems a lot more doable!
Now, this approach does come at a cost, as it bypasses Güemes, a major highlight for many. But maybe you can have your coastal cake and eat it too. Note that, near the midpoint, the coastal approach swings in to join the highway (getting around that darn river). Well, at that point it passes very close to Bareyo and the 'official' Norte. So, you could do coast for the first half and then veer in to Güemes. All told, that's roughly 25km from Noja, or 34km from Santoña.
Google street-view does not reveal any waymarks for this coastal approach, but much of it is older (2013-16). Maybe something has developed more recently? In any case, I hope to check this out when I'm back on the Norte next summer. Would love to hear from anyone who has walked it.
Dave
This morning, I was hunting around for new albergues that opened over the last handful of months. One in particular caught my eye. The village of Isla (no, not La Isla), located somewhat near Noja, has refurbished its antiguo hospital de peregrinos and is now open for business once again, set up as a donativo albergue. This is interesting, since the Norte doesn't currently pass through there!
Well, there is a Senda de Litoral that follows the coastline between Noja and Galizano, and I've tried to map it out (instead of doing the actual book updates I should be doing...). Here's what it looks like:
The dashed-red line at the top is the coastal approach, moving from Noja on the right to the coast near Galizano on the left. The dashed-red line below it is the 'official' Norte between Noja and Güemes. The coastal approach looks quite lovely--if only the Río Campiazo didn't cause such problems in the middle! The route spans roughly 39km total, with the albergue in Isla sitting around the 14km mark, and 900m off-route. So, if you wanted to do this in two stages, you could do Santoña-Isla (23.6km) and Isla-Santander (39.3km).
OK, that second stage is probably too long for most. Well, that western peninsula looks like it adds an awful lot of distance, just to go out and back. If you cut straight across through Ajo, you can actually chop off 7.8km, making the walk to Santander 31.5km. That seems a lot more doable!
Now, this approach does come at a cost, as it bypasses Güemes, a major highlight for many. But maybe you can have your coastal cake and eat it too. Note that, near the midpoint, the coastal approach swings in to join the highway (getting around that darn river). Well, at that point it passes very close to Bareyo and the 'official' Norte. So, you could do coast for the first half and then veer in to Güemes. All told, that's roughly 25km from Noja, or 34km from Santoña.
Google street-view does not reveal any waymarks for this coastal approach, but much of it is older (2013-16). Maybe something has developed more recently? In any case, I hope to check this out when I'm back on the Norte next summer. Would love to hear from anyone who has walked it.
Dave