Starting at Santillana del Mar

[Spinningwoman]

I am planning to walk the Camino del Norte/ Primitivo second half in April to early May, arriving on the ferry to Santander. Looking at the time I have, and the nature of the first section, I am inclined to miss the long walk out of Santander by taking the train either to Mogro or to Santanilla del Mar and starting my walk from there. I had a similar situation walking Hadrian's Wall last year when the long first day walk across and out of Newcastle left me with IT band problems. If I split the walk out of Santander in two it would take up some of my 'slack' that I would prefer to have in reserve for later. What do you think?

 

[Spinningwoman]

I suppose I'm really asking if I will miss anything great by starting from Santantilla del Mar rather than Santander.

 

[Tia Valeria]

If taking the FEVE out of Santander the 'cercania' runs approx every half hour to Barreda, then it is about 8kms to Santillana. The Camino passes the train station in Barreda. We did this in 2013 and it worked well. (This is better than using the bus.) Then you have your 'spare days' for later on too.
Buen Camino

 

[Anemone del Camino]

I suppose I'm really asking if I will miss anything great by starting from Santantilla del Mar rather than Santander.

No, you won't miss anything great in terms of views, etc. You will just shorten your walk.

 

[TerryB]

I suppose I'm really asking if I will miss anything great by starting from Santantilla del Mar rather than Santander.

Having walked every step of the Way from Exeter to Plymouth and then Santander to Santiago (via the Primitivo), I can assure you that you will miss nothing between Santander and Santillana. The easiest way would be to catch an early train to Barreda, walk to Santillana (by 11.00?) and have the rest of the day to look round the town. If you arrange an afternoon visit to the Neo-Cueva (book tickets the day before in the main Banco de Santander on the sea front in Santander) you will still have plenty of time, as Santillana is an interesting example of a small town set in aspic for tourists! Apart from the church and the Altamira cave and museum there is not that much to see.

Blessings
Tio Tel

 

[Tia Valeria]

Have you booked any accommodation with your ferry ticket if using Brittany Ferries? Sending you a PM.

 

[spursfan]

I don't like skipping bits - and the worse the bits you do not skip are, it makes you appreciate the good bits even more!

 

[Tia Valeria]

This is more about where to start, like we did, so avoiding skipping later sections or giving time to stop in an interesting place. Had we not started in Barreda we would have needed to 'skip' a later stage or miss out on a longer stay elsewhere which we needed. So we all walk our own Camino from our own starting point.
In a different situation if 'skipping' a bit is needed it might be better to miss a bad bit than a beautiful section.....but that is just my opinion.

 

[Deleted member 34316]

Honestly, Barreda is not the nicest place to start el Camino del Norte.
I vote for Santillana del Mar:

 

[spursfan]

Talk about a picture being worth a thousand words!

I started from the rather drab Irun but felt more excited walking across the bridge from Hendaye the previous evening

 

[Spinningwoman]

I don't like skipping bits - and the worse the bits you do not skip are, it makes you appreciate the good bits even more!

I won't be skipping bits on the way, but I am not beginning 'at the beginning' even if there was such a thing, so it is really choosing where to start to give me the best chance of getting to the end in the time I have and enjoying the journey.

 

[TerryB]

Honestly, Barreda is not the nicest place to start el Camino del Norte.

No disagreement with that! However, the FEVE station at Barreda is past the industrial site. Off the train, turn right at the main road and you are on the Camino. Follow arrows down road 500 mts to roundabout, over river and rail bridges and you are in the countryside (albeit on minor roads).
To start from Santillana you will need to catch a bus or pay for a taxi from Santander - 30 kilometers. We find that the FEVE railway is much the easiest along the north coast. A big plus is that your pack is with you the whole time. No putting it underneath as on the coaches which does leave it open to theft.

Blessings
Tio Tel

 

[Deleted member 34316]

Thank you Tio Tel!

To avoid starting the walk from not-so-pretty Barreda heading to Santillana (asphalt surface all the way), the Spaniards suggest taking the very same FEVE train, but getting off at the next stop after Barreda, the town is called TORRELAVEGA. Supposedly there are frequent buses from there to Santillana, and they stop at the front of the train (FEVE) station. That's what I heard from the locals.

In Santillana there are (I think) two albergues, one is the municipal one, there are just a few beds so they prefer to offer the place to those who walked from Santander. In the summer, when they run out of beds quickly, they seem to be strict about it. There is a second albergue, private, on that cobblestone street, quite nice, the hall has a very 'antique' feel and they have dorms as well as private rooms. They accept everyone, not only pilgrims. Both albergues are listed in Eroski guide:
Albergue municipal Jesús Otero
Albergue Solar de Hidalgos
There is also a camping where the pilgrims are placed in very old, small, cramped, and claustrophobic camping huts. I just looked inside and left. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. But I can recommend the camping huts at the camping Deva just before Gijon. Those were nice!

 

[Tia Valeria]

I am not sure why you think that the station in Barreda is so bad. It is only about 500mts before you are on the country side roads. I think that if you have previously walked this stretch then the Barreda signs on the road are including the factories but the station is beyond them. The station of Requejada, one stop before Barreda, is at the chemical works!. The walk out of Torrelavega would be much longer and not on the Camino so lacking signs and is even more industrialised. I am not sure how frequent the buses are outside of high season. We researched this before deciding on Barreda. There are many places to stay in Santillana and maybe as a first night it would be worth booking a bed in one of the less expensive hotels. We stayed at La Colegiata near the Camping, which I agree looked rather run down.

 

[Conor2015]

Hi,

After arriving into Santander on a late afternoon flight, I took a taxi direct to the train station other forum members have mentioned. I walked the 20km stretch to Santilliana and arrived at 9pm in the dark.

To be honest it is not a pleasant leg (horrible in parts) and depending on how much time you have at your disposal worth skipping as it would provide you with time to explore Santilliana. The only positive I can see in walking from the train station is that it could improve your stamina levels if you have not walked in a while.

Finally I stayed at the Pension Case De Octavo at the Plaza Las Arenas located just before the main church as you arrive into the town by foot. I got a lovely old decor style room with an en suite and TV for €20. A bargain.

Buen Camino
Conor

 

[Tia Valeria]

Which train station did you start from? It is only about 8kms from Barreda to Santillana.