Santander to Oviedo

[scubajunky]

HI All,
I am planning on walking the Primitivo and thought that perhaps i should start from Santander.
Is this a good section ? how busy will it be in august ? are there enough alberge accommodation options etc
Is this a worthwhile extra week ?
thanks in advance

 

[homebuilt]

I cannot answer you question but I am walking the primitivo in August and plan to start in Oviedo and spent the last week walking to Finisterre and Muxia have you look at this as an option. It does have the advantage of being two separate challenges.

 

[whariwharangi]

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B004ZWMA3Y/?tag=santiagodec0b-20

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Many many people walk the Primitivo after reaching the junction from the Norte. It's what the "tough" Norte walkers do! I'm sure if you do, you will be walking with many known faces. I have walked Santander to Llanes and it has its memorable stages. Me says Yes.

 

[Tia Valeria]

The walk is lovely, but be aware that it is holiday season and there might be more people seeking accommodation than in other months. Leave yourself some time for looking for the albergues - so don't keep walking too late when they might have filled up. Alternative private accommodation may be full or expensive.
Buen Camino

 

[AJ]

Tia is right. It is probably the worst time to do this because of the numbers.

 

[peregrina2000]

HI All,
I am planning on walking the Primitivo and thought that perhaps i should start from Santander.
Is this a good section ? how busy will it be in august ? are there enough alberge accommodation options etc
Is this a worthwhile extra week ?
thanks in advance

I think it's a good choice, so long as you don't mind the asphalt, but I do think that the prettier Norte stage are after Comillas and before Santander, so you'll be starting out with a not so spectacular inland stretch.

When I walked the Lebaniego/Vadiniense, which leaves the Norte at San Vicente de la Barquera, before the turn-off for the Primitivo, my feet were not happy with the fact that the first four days from Santander (almost all the way to Comillas in fact) are asphalt. It was tough. When I had started the Norte in Irun years earlier, I hadn't suffered as much when I got to Santander, so maybe it has something to do with starting out on a prolonged asphalt section. But maybe your feet tolerate asphalt better than mine do.

Tia is right, though, that since the Norte goes from one touristy vacation town to the next, the back-up private accommodations are all likely to be taken by tourists, or the prices will be spiked. August is when nearly all of Spain goes on vacation, so this is unavoidable.

 

[oursonpolaire]

I would suggest starting from Comillas or San Vicente de la Barquera, rather than Santander, unless you particularly like walking through suburbs and along roads (or that your confessor has set this as a penance for some particularly awful sin!). While the stretch from Barreda (a railway station stop west of Santander) to Santillana del Mar is not that bad, Comillas is a nice starting place with some remarkable architecture. As Tia & Peregrina note, private accommodation may not be as easy to get as in other months, but often your innkeeper will help you get a place for the next stop. And, at high season, it will have high season prices.