small town magic

[dancingthecamino]

Hi! I am doing 11 days on the Camino del Norte this summer. I will start in Irun, but then I am fairly open. I am hoping to stay away from highway walking and find magical small towns. I do not need any days in Galicia, unless there is small costal town I shouldn't miss. (I will hop over to the Ingles for my final walk into Santiago). I am happy with taking a bus to get to different towns.

2 questions:
1) Is there a good Norte guidebook or website that shows when you are near a road vs. a rural path?
2) What are the towns that you think can't be missed?

Thanks!

 

[naplesdon]

Wise Pilgrim

 

[donalomahony]

Camino del Norte | Gronze.com

www.gronze.com

 

[dancingthecamino]

Thank you! I have the Village to Village guide for the Norte and I have been looking at the apps. My Brierly guide for the CF has a lot more details on the road walking and about the towns, I was hoping to find something like that. Are there any resources that have more details about each town rather than just a list of albergues?

 

[Tincatinker]

Hi! I am doing 11 days on the Camino del Norte this summer. I will start in Irun, but then I am fairly open. I am hoping to stay away from highway walking and find magical small towns. I do not need any days in Galicia, unless there is small costal town I shouldn't miss. (I will hop over to the Ingles for my final walk into Santiago). I am happy with taking a bus to get to different towns.

2 questions:
1) Is there a good Norte guidebook or website that shows when you are near a road vs. a rural path?
2) What are the towns that you think can't be missed?

Thanks!

I know I get easily confused but you've got 11 days? 5 of which will take you from Ferrol to Santiago? You are planning a bus tour of the Norte? You might do better using the FEVE narrow gauge railway that parallels the Norte https://www.renfe.com/es/en/suburban/cercanias-cantabria/lines and would give you the opportunity to hop off the train and spend the night in some interesting places.

Towns that shouldn't be missed? San Sebastien, Gernika, Bilbao, Santallina del Mar, Llanes, Poo, Ribadesella, Gijon, Oviedo, Ribadeo, Sobrado dos Monxes. How long have you got?

Oh, and Ferrol and Santiago are in Galicia.

@dancingthecamino I don't mean to be rough but your current idea is, in my opinion, unrealistic. The Norte does pass through or near some magical little towns but it also schlepps through some pretty major cities. That is part of the magic of camino and also part of the landscape of camino.

 

[henrythedog]

A hebrew -speaking friend of mine defines ‘schlepping’ as ‘working whilst sweating’.

 

[hfox]

I had the cicerone guide, which I’d really recommend. I liked reading ahead the night before about which towns or sights I’d pass through.

Looking back at my itinerary, I made it from Irun to cobreces in 11 days. Everywhere I stayed on that section was great—some small towns, a monastery, and some bigger cities like Bilbao and Santander. Essentially, all you are doing as you walk is walking through magical small towns—too many to stop and explore every one! I would recommend not trying too hard to have a specific agenda, but to start in Irun and see what comes your way.

 

[Tincatinker]

A hebrew -speaking friend of mine defines ‘schlepping’ as ‘working whilst sweating’.

Some would say “working for little reward”, Yiddish is a subtle tongue. The root is somewhere in hauling, carrying, bearing a burden. “I schlepped my back pack from France to Santiago and all I got was a Compostela…”

 

[dancingthecamino]

I know I get easily confused but you've got 11 days? 5 of which will take you from Ferrol to Santiago? You are planning a bus tour of the Norte? You might do better using the FEVE narrow gauge railway that parallels the Norte https://www.renfe.com/es/en/suburban/cercanias-cantabria/lines and would give you the opportunity to hop off the train and spend the night in some interesting places.

Towns that shouldn't be missed? San Sebastien, Gernika, Bilbao, Santallina del Mar, Llanes, Poo, Ribadesella, Gijon, Oviedo, Ribadeo, Sobrado dos Monxes. How long have you got?

Oh, and Ferrol and Santiago are in Galicia.

@dancingthecamino I don't mean to be rough but your current idea is, in my opinion, unrealistic. The Norte does pass through or near some magical little towns but it also schlepps through some pretty major cities. That is part of the magic of camino and also part of the landscape of camino.

I have 11 days on the Notre, then another 5 on the Ingles. I am excited for many of the big cities as well. It is much easier to get info on the cities rather than the towns. I was planning on walking till Bilbao for the first 6 and then heading on to another little segment of the Notre.

 

[Tincatinker]

Hmm, maybe you should just keep walking until you need to skip to Ferrol. Llanes is my favourite “little” place on the entire north coast of Spain. But then so are Bilbao, Santander, Poo and so many others. You’ll only find yours by walking not from other people’s opinions

 

[trecile]

You might get some ideas from this thread: Coastal alternatives to the Norte's asphalt

One of the towns that I really enjoyed was San Vicente de la Barquera.

But I agree with this:

Hmm, maybe you should just keep walking until you need to skip to Ferrol. Llanes is my favourite “little” place on the entire north coast of Spain. But then so are Bilbao, Santander, Poo and so many others. You’ll only find yours by walking not from other people’s opinions

 

[C clearly]

It wouldn't be magic if you knew in advance and planned the visit for that reason!

 

[trecile]

It wouldn't be magic if you knew in advance and planned the visit for that reason!

Exactly! I think that was one of the reasons that I enjoyed staying in San Vicente de la Barquera. I hadn't planned to stay there. I stopped there around 9:30 in the morning for breakfast, and decided to stay because it just felt like that was where I was meant to be at that time.

 

[dancingthecamino]

It wouldn't be magic if you knew in advance and planned the visit for that reason

I am hoping to find the balance of having a loose plan and keeping myself open to the journey the camino takes me on. I am not booking anything so I can also stay present and choose those magical moments.

 

[dancingthecamino]

You might get some ideas from this thread: Coastal alternatives to the Norte's asphalt

One of the towns that I really enjoyed was San Vicente de la Barquera.

But I agree with this:

Thank you! This is what I was hoping to find!

 

[JerryStroebele]

I’m with Tincatinker on just start walking and then keep on walking. It’s a pilgrimage where most is great some is not and all is hard. A continuous walk for whatever time you have will give you a feeling of participating in the Camino rather than just sampling Spanish towns along the Camino. Buen Camino

 

[Shades of Narnia]

May I ask you reload the reference to coastal alternatives please? The mentioned reference has an error. With thanks
Fondly sandi

 

[trecile]

May I ask you reload the reference to coastal alternatives please? The mentioned reference has an error. With thanks
Fondly sandi

I have corrected the link

You might get some ideas from this thread: Coastal alternatives to the Norte's asphalt

 

[Shades of Narnia]

I have corrected the link

Thanks so much, this is super!

 

[Scott Sweeney]

Hmm, maybe you should just keep walking until you need to skip to Ferrol. Llanes is my favourite “little” place on the entire north coast of Spain. But then so are Bilbao, Santander, Poo and so many others. You’ll only find yours by walking not from other people’s opinions

We spent four nights in Malpika.

 

[PhilB]

Hi! I am doing 11 days on the Camino del Norte this summer. I will start in Irun, but then I am fairly open. I am hoping to stay away from highway walking and find magical small towns. I do not need any days in Galicia, unless there is small costal town I shouldn't miss. (I will hop over to the Ingles for my final walk into Santiago). I am happy with taking a bus to get to different towns.

2 questions:
1) Is there a good Norte guidebook or website that shows when you are near a road vs. a rural path?
2) What are the towns that you think can't be missed?

Thanks!

Wise Pilgrim Camino Norte … I ordered it and it was delivered to Australia within days. Also the Wise Pilgrim app.

 

[Canche]

Hi! I am doing 11 days on the Camino del Norte this summer. I will start in Irun, but then I am fairly open. I am hoping to stay away from highway walking and find magical small towns. I do not need any days in Galicia, unless there is small costal town I shouldn't miss. (I will hop over to the Ingles for my final walk into Santiago). I am happy with taking a bus to get to different towns.

2 questions:
1) Is there a good Norte guidebook or website that shows when you are near a road vs. a rural path?
2) What are the towns that you think can't be missed?

Thanks!

Although it is not a small town San Sebastian is a must. I spent 3 days there at the beginning of my Norte Camino and it was wonderful