Simple guide/map to Del Norte

[Rajy62]

Hi,
I am planning to walk 'el Norte' between Mid May-June time frame. When i did the Francis last year the most convenient guide/map i keep going back to was the Michellin's route-map/guide which was similar to John Brierley's short guide. Is there a similar route-map/guide to del norte via primitivo?

Thanks
/Raj

 

[AML]

Hi Raj,
I am doing the Norte/Primitivo mid May and June also, and have been on the look out for a simple guide/map book also. I got the loan of a book from a guy who has walked these routes before, the book is The Northern Caminos by Laura Perazzoli and Dave Whitson. Its a fairly detailed book, but quite heavy to be honest but I will probably take it with me. The CSJ also have booklets but I haven't seen them, don't think they have maps, just details of albergues...etc.
Like yourself I done French route last year and now will do Norte, I will arrive in Irun on 21 May....maybe see you en route!!!
Buen Camino
Aidan

 

[mspath]

Have you seen the suggestions for Norte maps in this earlier Forum thread ?

MM

 

[Rajy62]

Have you seen the suggestions for Norte maps in this earlier Forum thread ?

MM

Thanks MM. From that thread, I was able to pull the guide published by the Tourism board. It is a detailed guide book. The rest of the links they had were inaccessible....

What i liked about a short map guides from e.g John Brierley is that it focuses on three things detailed route, terrain profile and list of accommodation. Those are the most useful things i need.
If i don't find similar brief guides, i will just copy each stage off of the Mundicamino website. Thanks

 

[Rajy62]

Hi Aiden,
I am planning to start around the same time, might see you on the trail.
I saw a CSJ guide "Pilgrim Guides to Spain: A Ruta De La Costa: Los Caminos Del Norte", but delivery will take too long so i am thinking of taking a snapshot of the various stages off of the Mundicamino web site, they have all the details one would need. Buen Camino

 

[AML]

Raj......http://www.gronze.com/ is another website I found with lots of detail on Norte and Primitivo routes, hope this helps!

 

[Tia Valeria]

Hi Aiden,
I am planning to start around the same time, might see you on the trail.
I saw a CSJ guide "Pilgrim Guides to Spain: A Ruta De La Costa: Los Caminos Del Norte", but delivery will take too long so i am thinking of taking a snapshot of the various stages off of the Mundicamino web site, they have all the details one would need. Buen Camino

This is just the outline about the Caminos. The guides themselves are Ruta de la Costa A, guides 1 & 2 for the whole Norte, and F (Primitivo) from Villaviciosa. We combined these with reference to gronze and also to David's book. We found gronze's elevations and distances to be most accurate of the online guides.
Buen Camino

 

[Rajy62]

After reviewing various online guides and the member responses, i am getting the "The Northern Caminos: Norte, Primitivo and Inglés" by Dave Whitson,Laura Perazzoli.
My favourite short maps are from Mundicamino site. Lucky for me, someone already compiled the maps/elevation details of the various stages of Norte/primitivo into a document. That is why i love this forum. There is also a alberque list, it is from 2009 but would give a good start. I attach them here for your convenience.
Thanks everyone for your feedback.

/Raj

 

[Rajy62]

Hi, Yes i like how detailed the gronze site is. They also have an uptodate Alberque list, updated in 2014 that could come in handy. Mundicamino maps however shows on its elevation chart, the villages that has Albergues, making it easier to plan for alternate accommodation. Buen Camino.

 

[camino07]

I will be taking the Northern Caminos guidebook on my upcoming camino and also received the CSJ books and their Primitivo guide(we may go that way).
My question to all you knowledgeable folk is , is there any benefit in me taking them as well? Don't mind carrying them if they may stop me getting lost.

 

[Rajy62]

I will be taking the Northern Caminos guidebook on my upcoming camino and also received the CSJ books and their Primitivo guide(we may go that way).
My question to all you knowledgeable folk is , is there any benefit in me taking them as well? Don't mind carrying them if they may stop me getting lost.

Hi, It depends. When i did the camino francis last year, i also prepared a lot in advance; pdf copies of guides and maps on my smartphone and a detailed guide etc. The only guide book i would go back to every day is a short map/elevation guide by Michellin. I would use them to plan my day ahead (Alberques, distances, stops etc.). Most people i met who had the detailed guidebook complained about the heavy guides they were carrying. On the other hand some people love to read and understand every bit of details about the trail and would follow the detailed guide meticulously. I mostly like to talk to the locals to get advise on the next stage and book an albergue, ship my luggage and just follow the Yellow marks.
So, if you are the type of person needs to know every detail beforehand, i would say bring all your guides. You can prepare each stage by combining the info. Once you get the hang of it you will fall back onto simple maps.
Buen camino

 

[camino07]

Thanks Raj, I may just take them I guess I can post them home if not useful. I am a planner...

 

[Tia Valeria]

I will be taking the Northern Caminos guidebook on my upcoming camino and also received the CSJ books and their Primitivo guide(we may go that way).
My question to all you knowledgeable folk is , is there any benefit in me taking them as well? Don't mind carrying them if they may stop me getting lost.

We didn't need all the routes in the Northern Caminos book and did not want to cut it up so we took the CSJ guides, cutting out the parts we knew we would not need and adding in notes from the book. If weight is an issue you can ditch pages at stops along the route, although we chose to make notes and bring ours home to give add on/alteration notes to CSJ. We still have a good copy of the Northern Caminos book which we will use again next year. The CSJ guides may well stop you getting lost with the extra detail that they have so it is a question of which combination suits you best.
Buen Camino