Notes for Los Caminos del Norte Guide!

[mdefrayne]

Howdy,

Below are my notes for Eric Walker's book #1 of the Camino del Norte Guides:

Notes for El Camino del Norte

This document contains updated information for the Los Caminos del Norte guide written by Eric Walker, distributed by the Confraternity of St. James. The information contained in this document is based on the experiences of Mark & Janice DeFrayne while walking the El Camino del Norte route in June/July of 2009.

Book #1 Irun – Villaviciosa

Page 67: Santillana del Mar – 16 Beds very clean, very modern inside, no kitchen only a microwave. Located behind the Museo Jesus Otero, follow the driveway through the gate. 6 Euros, opens at 4:00pm

Page 68: Cobreces – The albergue is a long low building across from the Abbey. 3 Euros

Page 71: San Vicente de la Barquera – Private albergue on the right side just before the Cathedral. 6 Euros. Good clean place with a wonderful owners, dinner and breakfast included with a donation. Amazing view of the ocean.

Page 73: 2nd paragraph – Talks of entering Unquera by taking path through trees. That is a terrible path heavily overgrown with briars and thorns, then the steep drop down to the road into Unquera. No fun at all!

Page 73: Colombres – The private albergue El Cantu was 12 Euros, 20$ with dinner. Excellent meal, plenty of good food with wine & dessert. The 6 beds to a room with each room having its own bathroom with toilet and shower. Very modern and clean, super nice managers.

Page 74: Buelna – Just before the bar, on the right side is a large framed map showing the E-9 trail and the way to the beach. Great walk with beautifule views but very long with no shade, bring plenty of water. Andrin offered the first real place to eat or drink, nice restaurant and welcome oasis.

Page 76: Llanes – The private albergue, La Estacion, located next to the train station. Good place, 4-6 people per room. 6 Euros. Actually a quiet place at night even though it’s next to the Bus & Train stations. Well managed with Internet, clothes drying service (cheap, 1 Euro a load), desk attendant all night, pilgrims only, will provide a breakfast for an extra fee. One block off the Camino and a few blocks from city center, follow signs to train station.

Page 83: 2nd & 3rd paragraphs – It was an easy walk all the way to the beach Playa Arenal de Moris. No fences to climb that I remember and definitely no briars, a very nice walk just following the markers.

Page 85: La Isla – while following the path to the albergue, look at the pavement for a painted yellow arrow the an “A” for albergue. The bar serves a great Menu del Peregrino for 8 Euros.

Page 86: La Isla – Leaving La Isla is easy. Turn left out of the albergue, follow the costal trail to Huerres (the markings are yellow & white bars), easy walking, great views, clearly marked on an easy trail. At Huerres follow trail to the N-632, turn right and it’s a quick walk into Colunga, maybe a kilometer. Arrows are seen on the left side while walking into town.

Page 88: Sebrayo – Middle of nowhere, no bar, no food, just a few houses in the vicinity.

Buen Camino,
Mark

 

[mdefrayne]

Howdy,

Here are the notes for book #2 of Eric Walker's Camino del Norte Guide:

Book #2 Villaviciosa - Arzua

Page 6: Villaviciosa – Leaving the main plaza do not follow the large yellow arrows, they only go to a pension. When leaving the plaza, at the end stay to the left (N-632) and follow to Calle Sol, then left. Calle Sol turns into Calle Carmen after the curve in the road.

Page 9: Nievares – That hill climb was very steep, long and hard. It was real strenuous in my view. Far more than mentioned in the guide.

Page 11: Gijon – After crossing the river on Avenida Professor Perez Pimentel, brass shells will be found in the sidewalk as you travel Carretera del Villaviciosa, etc. on the right-hand side of the street. The brass shells can be found in the sidewalk all the way through the city and out the other side till the sidewalk ends. The San Felix hostal was very nice, super great owners.

Page 15: Tabaza – The bar’s name is Bar Tano. Monster size tortilla, good food, cheap! The long walk along the AS-19 is a real drag.

Page 15: Aviles – The albergue has 40 beds. The albergue was acceptable but not well maintained, moldy and dirty.

Page 32: Puente que Tiembla – Paragraph before Puente que Tiembla - Followed the trail down to the sea, went over the bridge and there was no trail. Trail disappeared from lack of use. No fun walking all the way back up to the road.

Page 34: Cadavedo – Albergue is found at other end of town before exiting. Bar Casino has an outstanding Menu del Dia for 8 Euros! Excellent meal, lots of good food!

Page 40: Luarca – Both albergues were closed, no albergue in town and it’s July. Closest is the albergue in Almuna (2km before Luarca). City hall is large white building in the main plaza next to the river. Tourist office is behind the City Hall building. They have list of Pensions and Hostals and sello. La Moderna was affordable and nice, Calle Crucero 2. Luarca is a super picturesque fishing village!

Page 46: Navia – Turn right at the main road that goes over the Rio Navia. There’s lots of new construction on the main road along the river so the markers were gone. Marked well enough through town until getting to the main road along the river.

Page 51: Tapia de Casariego – Albergue on Calle San Martin, on the right side facing the ocean as entering town. Awesome location along ocean! Exiting Town - Continue down Calle San Martin to left on Ave. de Galicia. When Ave. de Galicia dead ends into Calle de General Primo de Rivera turn right and follow to the bridge.

Page 54: Ribadeo – At the end of the bridge get off to the right at the first path offered and turn right onto the street next to the bridge road. Take the street back towards the ocean and turn left at the T-junction with the road crossing under the bridge. The albergue is on the right along the ocean side. It looks like a converted Tourist Center with a roof that can be walked on for a scenic view of the ocean. Only 12 beds, does have a kitchen. Fairly clean and maintained. Great view of the ocean, awesome!

Page 62: Gontan – Albergue opened in 2007. There are 24 beds, kitchen, and laundry, excellent condition, well maintained. It is located across from cattle auction buildings. 3 Euros 2 bars nearby. Store is in Abadin.

Page 64: Santiago de Goiriz – The bar on the right side just before the cemetery has real good basic bar food and hosts a small produce market with meats, cheeses, fruits and vegetables. Very nice ladies running the place.

Page 65: Villalba – The albergue was very good, well maintained. The restaurant Revolta was very good. The Menu del Dia was 11Euros but it was a really fine meal. The Rabo de Toro is excellent! Exiting the city is a bit tough upon reaching the town center and many lost the trail downtown. We walked into town on the right side of the road, upon reaching the main intersection, cross to the other corner, then turn right and immediately left on what looks to be an alley, following it to the plaza. Upon entering the plaza, veer to the right walking past the church. Leaving the plaza turn left, look for the shells in the middle of the street as a trail.

Page 71: Miraz – Hold 16 plus over flow of 8 in the dinning room. Great place, wonderful! The bar has a bottle of house wine for 3 Euros.

Page 74: Sobrado – Not well maintained in my opinion. Moldy ceilings in the showers. No supervision or oversight. Lunatic asylum. The Restaurant Real had good food for 8 Euros (Menu del Dia).

Page 79: Arzua – Pension Arcano, very pilgrim friendly. Good location if arriving from the Norte Route. The albergue filled by 12:00 the day we were in Arzua. The Pension Arcano worked well.

Buen Camino,
Mark

 

[Alan Pearce]

Thanks so much for your update on Camino del Norte as my companion and I will start from Irun on August 31st, and your notes will be very useful.

I recieved a pilgrim blessing in church this morning [with special reference to knees]. This. included being annointed with oil that had been blessed by the bishop. Us protestants can put on a bit of a show too, you know.

Buen camino to all on the road, and to those reliving the path.

Alan Pearce.

Be brave. Life is joyous.

 

[mdefrayne]

Hi Alan,

What a great time of year to be walking the Camino Norte. And to have a blessing before you leave, that's excellent. I really like the stretch from Santillana del Mar to Gijon. Wonderful area! My wife and I would like to revisit that area for an extended period. It might be a real nice retirement place for us. Of course we are still dreaming from July.

Buen Camino,
Mark

 

[Clem]

Hi,
I'm a new member and while surfing I noticed Mark's notes for Camino del Norte. I've recently received my guide and I was wondering if one needs to have it in hand while walking this coastal route. I've done both the Camino Frances and the San Adrian Tunnel. I would like to walk in a relaxed manner..not being stressed by the fact that I need to search for arrows or constantly read my guide...like on the San Adrian route. :cry:
Thank you :wink:

 

[TerryB]

Hi Clem,
There are a number of places where it is easy to go astray on the Norte. It seems from reading past history that nearly everyone does! However I loved it - especially the coastal path. You are never very far from a main(ish) road and if you have some Spanish can always ask the way. However it is not a relaxed walk along a clear path with no guide required!!! I enjoyed it and part of the enjoyment for me was working out the direction to take - we are all different! I did get lost two or three times and have notes of where they were. My wife and I are hoping to walk some of the route together in 2010 and I will be taking my notes with me!!
Blessing on your walking
Tio Tel

 

[Bridget and Peter]

We have just cycled the Norte from Irun to Gernika (after cycling from Limoges to Irun but that's another topic!) I found the Eric Walker guide very confusing, and so did others who were walkers. There seem to be excellent guides in Spanish for each region - at least we saw the Basque one and the Cantabrian one. There was also a good German guide in use. When we continue, probably by foot rather than bike, we will acquire these and also decent maps.


Btw, the refuge at the monastery in Ziortza (between Deba and Gernika) was too spartan looking even for us, but there is a hotel/bar just down the road offering alberge accommodation with a couple of dormitary rooms, decent showers, a kitchen etc . Recommended.

The Gernika refuge is closed for a while. Ask at the Tourist office for advice about alternatives.

Rosa's private refuge in Orio is The Best In the Universe.

Bridget

 

[mikevasey]

Hi,

Just thought i would bring this back up on the Norte thread, the useful tip i would use is leaving the La Isla albergue and using the coastal path instead of the camino until colunga, the camino is largely minor roads this day. I think the coastal path is longer by about 2 km. There seems to be a lot of people walking soon, so hopefully this of use.

Mike

 

[Johnboy]

Hello. I have just bought Eric Walker's guides 1 & 2 for the Camino el Norte and cannot find what the significance of the # symbol is after some of the place names, e.g. after Irun on page 7. Have I missed something too obvious? Thanks.

 

[Bridget and Peter]

Sorry, I can't find our copy to look and remind myself whether we worked that out. It is very confusing generally, we found, especially when we were cycling. Does it denote the telephone number? I remember things did get a bit clearer on the ground, as it were!

Actually we found on the Norte that there was plenty of helpful material in the tourist offices, and in the albergues, to supplement our guide or even supplant it. Leaflets with schematic maps, lists of refugios etc.

Good luck and buen camino!

Bridget

 

[TerryB]

Hello. I have just bought Eric Walker's guides 1 & 2 for the Camino el Norte and cannot find what the significance of the # symbol is after some of the place names, e.g. after Irun on page 7. Have I missed something too obvious? Thanks.

On the inside of the back cover of my copy is a note which says:-
TOWN NAME # = jUNCTION OF ROUTES

You need to note also that the same index says;-
$ = Station on the ET or FEVE (It is NOT a cash machine sign!!)

Blessings
Tio Tel

 

[Johnboy]

Thanks Tio Tel. Unfortunately, that explanation of the town being a junction is missing from my 2010 edition. Happy walking! John.