Norte or Primitivo

[gomukh]

Hello

I am planning my pilgrimage, I will be walking del Norte from Bilbao on 31st of July.

And the 1.000.000-dollar question that keeps coming up is:

From Oviedo, should I keep on walking the Northern route, or take the Primitivo. Both seems so nice.

I know you can not make the choice for me, but it would be nice to hear about the different routes. Pros/cons, things to see, etc.

Thank you so much!

Kindest regards, Anders

 

[mikevasey]

I know you can not make the choice for me, but it would be nice to hear about the different routes. Pros/cons, things to see, etc.

Hi Anders, I am not going to try and and persuade you about which route, read and listen to any replies that come in from people who have done both routes, but leave the final decision until Oviedo. Hopefully you know by then which one is tugging at you. I had a similar decision to make at Villaviciosa, go on to Gijon or Oviedo and the Primitivo. I stayed on the Norte because it felt right at that moment.

Whatever you decide

Buen Camino

Mike

 

[AJ]

I have done both and enjoyed both. Toss a coin?

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Anders,

Welcome to the forum!

This is one of those impossible questions, and like AJ, I have walked both and loved both. But one thing to consider is how much of a camino addict you are. Here's what I mean by that -- if you have walked other caminos and plan to walk still more, I'd say that cuts in favor of staying on the Norte the whole way. Here's why: if you walk the Norte to Villaviciosa and then drop down to the Primitivo, you may be unlikely to return to walk the "second half" of the Norte from Villaviciosa, even though there's obviously nothing to stop you from doing that. However, if you stay on the Norte all the way to Santiago, you still have the Primitivo waiting for you, and you can add on the spectacular 4-day Camino del Salvador and start in Leon. That's what I did and it was fabulous.

On the other hand, I think some people decide that after being on the coast for so long, dropping down to Oviedo is a nice change of scenery. Or you might want to leave the decision until you're actually there, so that you can see what the others in the group you have developed want to do. Another unrelated fact is that, if my memory is right, the Norte has a lot more asphalt walking than the Primitivo.
If you're wondering about the differences in scenery, things to see, here are links to my pictures of both:

Primitivo: https://picasaweb.google.com/laurie.rey ... rimitivo1#
Norte: https://picasaweb.google.com/laurie.rey ... ELNORTE07#

Such a nice choice to have to make, buen camino, Laurie

 

[viajero]

As others have said, I would wait until you are there.. In any case, I would go to Oviedo, and if you decide to continue on the Norte, walk back up to Aviles. You might meet friends that you want to continue with...that might be a factor.

 

[gomukh]

Thank you so much for your reply.

My plan seems to be doing what you advice are also saying, to make the decision when I am there.
(at the moment, though, the primitivo is shouting out my name. haha)

And thank you Laure, for the nice pictures, and very good reply.

 

[Alyssa]

Thank you so much for your reply.

My plan seems to be doing what you advice are also saying, to make the decision when I am there.
(at the moment, though, the primitivo is shouting out my name. haha)

And thank you Laure, for the nice pictures, and very good reply.

I see that you haven't been around the forum for a couple years, Gomukh; I would love to know what you ended up doing!