The Route from San Sebastian

[Rellrog]

Greetings. My wife and I walked the Camino from St. Jean in March and April. We are now thinking of trying it from San Sebastian, through Bilbao, and down to the Camino Frances. We plan to join friends at O'Cebreiro. Does anyone know about the route from San Sebastian...is it well marked or are we on our own. We plan to do this in September 2014. Any assistance regarding this route is appreciated.

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, rellrog,

If you have time, consider starting in Irun or Hendaya, because the day from there into San Sebastián is quite nice. I think you'll find that the norte is extremely well marked and well traveled, and you should have lots of company in September. Irun to Bilbao is about a week.

From Bilbao to the Camino Frances, are you planning to walk? The so-called Camino Olvidado or Viejo Camino goes from Bilbao to Villafranca del Bierzo in 18 stages. I am going to walk this route in the summer with another forum member and we plan to have a guidebook available when we return, so if you are interested in walking this route, we should have plenty of information for you before Sept. I already have a word document with a translation of a basic guide and can send that to you if you are interested.

There is a section of the forum devoted to this Camino, but the main thread with the most resources is this one.

http://www.caminodesantiago.me/comm...ejo-bilbao-villafranca-del-bierzo-2014.21807/

As you know, arriving in Villafranca would then put you a day's walk from your friends in O Cebreiro, so it seems to be well suited to your plans.

Buen camino, Laurie

 

[Rellrog]

Hi, rellrog,

If you have time, consider starting in Irun or Hendaya, because the day from there into San Sebastián is quite nice. I think you'll find that the norte is extremely well marked and well traveled, and you should have lots of company in September. Irun to Bilbao is about a week.

From Bilbao to the Camino Frances, are you planning to walk? The so-called Camino Olvidado or Viejo Camino goes from Bilbao to Villafranca del Bierzo in 18 stages. I am going to walk this route in the summer with another forum member and we plan to have a guidebook available when we return, so if you are interested in walking this route, we should have plenty of information for you before Sept. I already have a word document with a translation of a basic guide and can send that to you if you are interested.

There is a section of the forum devoted to this Camino, but the main thread with the most resources is this one.

http://www.caminodesantiago.me/comm...ejo-bilbao-villafranca-del-bierzo-2014.21807/

As you know, arriving in Villafranca would then put you a day's walk from your friends in O Cebreiro, so it seems to be well suited to your plans.

Buen camino, Laurie

Thank you so much Laurie. We will definitely walk....the route however is still in the works. Your suggestion is being highly considered and I will look forward to your guide after the summer. Thanks. Also, I take it that as well as nicely marked the route has public and private albergues and hotels...is that correct. Again, thanks and we look forward to your guide.

 

[Rellrog]

Thank you so much Laurie. We will definitely walk....the route however is still in the works. Your suggestion is being highly considered and I will look forward to your guide after the summer. Thanks. Also, I take it that as well as nicely marked the route has public and private albergues and hotels...is that correct. Again, thanks and we look forward to your guide.

Laurie, I just checked the map...as my memory of Villafranca is a little vague...I believe that the Viejo Camino is the way we will be going. Again thanks for the info and the link. Also, I would like what you have of the guide and am willing to pay for your work and trouble. You are just the person I was hoping to respond to my posting. Thanks.

 

[Rellrog]

Laurie, apologies for writing without reading the forum postings. I will continue reading them and the Wikipedia stuff. The questions I am focused on is the difficulty of this route. Sounds like it is very mountainous ...I wonder how it compares to the Camino Frances in degree of difficulty. Also wonder what the traffic on this route is. I am sure I will find the answers to these questions as I read on.