Starting the camino del Norte from Bayonne

JP2speeds said:

Hi,
I am starting the Norte to Fistera next month from Bayonne. I don't have a guide or map from Bayonne to Irun. Does anyone know where i can find free maps on internet? Is this camino section well marked? Is there a place where i get informations in Bayonne about the camino?
Thanks
Jean-Pierre

Click to expand...

Hi Jean-Pierre
Bayonne to Hendaye (the French town next to Irun) is part of the Voie Littorale (Soulac to Hendaye). Yes it is well marked. The Confraternity of St. James (UK) have a guide book for the Voie Littorale that covers this section, though I don't know if it worth purchasing for only 42.5 kilometres!

Ive just looked on the confraternities website and they have the guide as a free download. The guide is from 2010 but there is an update downloadable too. Please think of giving the Confraternity a donation!

http://www.csj.org.uk/planning-your-pilgrimage/csj-guides-and-updates/

Davey

I recently walked the Voie de Soulac:

http://www.xacobeo.fr/ZE1.11.Aqu.Lit.htm

After Bayonne I followed the waymarks to Bidart, and then stayed on the coastal paths through St Jean du Luz and Hendaye:

http://www.xacobeo.fr/ZE1.11.Aqu.Lit_PA.htm

From Hendaye I got the ferry across to Hondarribia, where you can pick up the yellow arrows again in the centre of the old town.
Jill

Here’s the detailed map leaving Bayonne:

http://www.xacobeo.fr/YE1.11.Aqu.Lit_PA_Bay-Gue.pdf

Jill

In 2013, I followed the coastline from Anglet to Bidart. After Bidart, I saw only a couple of arrows to St. Jean de Luz so I just continued to follow the coastline.

Here are some maps from Bidart to San Sebastian:
http://randonnee.tourisme64.com/grands-itineraires/sentier-du-littoral/coastal-trail/

Ou... en français:
http://randonnee.tourisme64.com/grands-itineraires/sentier-du-littoral/

Bon chemin!

I loved, loved, loved this section - BShea recommended them to me and I went in January 2017.

BShea said:

Here are some maps from Bidart to San Sebastian:
http://randonnee.tourisme64.com/grands-itineraires/sentier-du-littoral/coastal-trail/

Click to expand...

But didn't walk the entire Hondaribia to Pasaia - I got caught out because the ferry was down for repairs, so I had to walk an extra 13km or so back to Hendaye and across the bridge.

I highly recommend these coastal paths.

JP2speeds said:

Hi,
I am starting the Norte to Fistera next month from Bayonne. I don't have a guide or map from Bayonne to Irun. Does anyone know where i can find free maps on internet? Is this camino section well marked? Is there a place where i get informations in Bayonne about the camino?
Thanks
Jean-Pierre

Click to expand...

Bayonne to Irun is beautiful especially along "La Corniche". Cars stop to take pictures. When you get to St. Jean de Luz you may wish to visit the church as its history is rather special for this area. The square is lovely and a walk along the water is very relaxing. All the best to you!!
Marriage of Louis XIV[edit]
Saint-Jean-de-Luz is known for its royal wedding connection. In 1659, Cardinal Mazarin spent several months in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, from where he would embark on almost daily trips to the island of Bidassoa (near modern-day Hendaye) for Franco-Spanish meetings that resulted in the Treaty of the Pyrenees, one clause of which was the marriage of Louis XIV to Maria Theresa, the Infanta of Spain. Saint-Jean-de-Luz and its church were chosen to host the royal wedding on 9 June 1660. The marriage is one of the most important political marriages in history that brought an end to a bitter war. Today, visitors of the cathedral can see that the main door is bricked off. Two legends circulate this oddity: First, it has been said that the door the couple passed through was later closed to represent the closing of the troubles between France and Spain. A more popular theory among the locals is that the king, Louis XIV, ordered the door to be closed off, so no other couple could walk into the church to be married in his footsteps.