viajero said:
I wouldn't NOT go on the Norte because of lack of Spanish.
Hi Louisa,
I agree with that by Viajero, i walked the Norte without really knowing Spanish. It does make it a little more difficult, just keep your sense of humour about you, especially with the little misunderstandings that can arise. You may learn a little as well while your walking, i met a young American guy in the last few days who had started in Irun, walked with a couple of Spanish guys and had gone from nil Spanish to able to hold conversations.You will meet people of all ages and nationalities, you wont be the only person without the language.
If you stay at the pilgrim hostel in Santander,9 Ruamayor they may have guides. They give you a rough idea for distances, albergues and heights, but they are only for Cantabria, you can also obtain them from the tourist office at the port. Once you cross over into Asturias, the first place there, Columbres, has a tourist office, they will have a guide for that section, they are not as good as the Cantabrian, but still helpful. When you enter Galicia go the tourist office in Ribadeo, and they will have a guide for that area.
You will not walk on the coast as much as you think if you follow the camino, but you can have options of going onto the coast in some places and following coastal walks, these will have markings, they are usually a few km longer.
There are Pilgrim hostels at regular intervals along the Norte, usually no more than 25km. The exceptions from Santander being Columbres to San Esteban, this is about 60km, there are private hostels at places in between, llanes(23km),Pinera(43km),Ribadesella(53km). These are more expensive and can be booked in advance so you may end up getting there and finding they are full, something usually turns up and there will be other people in your situation as well, and this will be part of your camino experience, embracing the unexpected. The other section with a lack of hostels is Gijon ( camping deva) to Aviles, this is about 30km, there is a lot of urban and road walking on this section. It may be better to go via Oviedo, it is about 25km longer, but there are more pilgrim hostels, and just adds one day to your walking.
I noticed you said either Santander or Leon. They are around 580km and 320km from Santiago respectively and there is a big walking time difference between them. If you have three weeks then you could start at Burgos on the Frances, this is around 550km, or if you have two weeks, then at Oviedo or Aviles on the Norte around 360km and 330Km.
Mike