For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
Hello Everybody. Has anyone walked from Soulac to Hendaye recently? If so, what were your stages, and where did you stay? I am thinking about it, for end Aug/ beginning Sep 2016, before attempting the Camino del Norte. Jill
Hmmm . . . . seems not many people (if any) walk this route. Why not? What's wrong with it? It connects into the Camino del Norte. Do any forum members have any personal experience at all of the Voie Littorale? Many thanks in advance for any views you may have. Jill.
Hi, could anyone point me in the right direction of where to find out which campsites are still open at the end of September / beginning of October? Hoping to start walking the Voie Littorale about 22 Sep 2016. I understand very basic French. Thanks! Jill
Hi AJ, that's really kind of you, I appreciate it. Can you not copy and paste it here? Then not only do I benefit, but others who might be thinking of walking the Voie Littorale as well. Just a thought.Early last year I offered my "as walked" itinerary. The offer is still open. Just PM your email address.
I completed the way a week ago. Now continue on the Notre. There is a handout, maybe you can find one at a tourist info center. Its landscape A4, with about 20 or so refuges listed and the kms between them. The route is fairly easy to follow and flat. I only met 2 others on my walk from Bordeaux to irun via sanguit.
Good stops are at Alan hints place, just before hossager. Tarnos plage and camping landes, just north of the Leon lake.
I walked the Voie Littorale in spring 2014 as part of my route from west Wales to St Jean Pied de Port. I carried a small tent (1kg) and wild-camped almost every night. Too early in the year for most official campsites and a couple of hundred km of forest and beach gives you plenty of potential pitches!Hmmm . . . . seems not many people (if any) walk this route. Why not? What's wrong with it?
Hi Jill - I am also considering this route (or else the nearby Tours Route) in April of this year. My main concern is accommodation, as I don't have a tent. Did you go? How did you find it?
Thank you Jill! This is extremely helpful. Are there no hostels at all on the French part of this route, or were they just closed at the time you walked?
Hi, there are no hostels (gites, albergues) on the Voie Littorale. Pilgrim-friendly places were L’Amelie (Les Oyats), Lacanau-Ocean (for surfers’ hostels), Lits-et-Mixe (Aire Lasselle), Sanguinet (church annexe), and Labenne-Ocean (Municipal Les Pins). I found it very frustrating that the hotels would not (without exception) reduce the rate for only one person in the room. They rather watched me walk away and try another hotel further along. Every twin-bed room I stayed in I wanted to mess up the bed I didn’t sleep in, use all the towels, and take all the shampoo satchets. But that would make me a baaaaaaad pilgrim, wouldn’t it?
I aim to walk from the Midlands next year and this is an enormous help even now. A big confidence booster! Thank youHi, I posted the flowing on another thread, but no harm in posting it again. Hope it's useful!
Jill
Bordeaux to Irún on the Voie Littorale to connect with the Norte
I walked this route at the end of Sep / beginning of Oct, and I thought I would post my itinerary on walking it in the off-season, when many places have closed for the winter. There are no albergues, so the choice of accommodation is usually hotel or campsite.
I arrived in Bordeaux late on 21 Sep, stayed overnight at an airport hotel (Hotel F1), and took the airport bus next morning into the city centre.
The first train from Bordeaux to Le Verdon-sur-Mer, to get onto the Voie Littorale, didn’t leave until 13:13 (well, actually 07:11, but I don’t do early morning starts if I don’t have to). I jumped off the train at Soulac-sur-Mer about 3pm. It seemed a bit pointless to go on another 8kms to Le Verdon, only to have to walk back to Soulac in the late afternoon.
So this is how it went:
22 Sep Visited the Basilica in Soulac-sur-Mer, and got the first stamp in my credential at the tourist office. Walked 5kms to L'Amelie where a single room for pilgrims costs E13 at Les Oyats campsite. There were about 10 rooms in the hostel, and I was the only one there. I was told off for not making a reservation! But she had a good point: if I don’t phone to book ahead, there may be nobody there when I arrive to let me in.
23 Sep Walked 15kms to Montalivet-les-Bains on cycle tracks through pine forests. The Soleil d’Or campsite was open, and I paid E12.60 for a piece of ground, where I pitched my poncho using my walking poles as tent poles.
24 Sep Walked 18kms dead straight due south to Hourtin Plage, where there was nowhere to stay. Walked on a further 5kms to Contaut, where there is a fabulous walk on a boardwalk around the lake. Nowhere to stay in Contaut either, so I hitched a ride into Hourtin-Ville and stayed at the Hotel Hourtin for E53.66.
25 Sep I hitched a ride back to Contaut, and then it was a lovely undulating walk through forests alongside the lake to Maubisson, about 19kms. I stayed in a cabin for E45 at the municipal campsite.
26 Sep A really lovely walk of 13kms to Lacanau-Ocean. I stayed on the cycle track as the official path meanders around a lot through sand. Got a dorm bed at Villa Zenith surf hostel for E20.
27 Sep A long day of 36kms to Ares. The first 9kms to Longarisse were easy going, and then there was a very pretty path by the lake. It was then due south alongside the canal with thick sand sometimes making it very heavy going. I then took the cycle track into Ares and stayed at the Hotel Le Grain de Sable for E68.88.
28 Sep 25kms to Biganos. Started off with a nice walk alongside the salt flats in the mist, and through small oyster ports. It was then a boring cycle track for 6kms into Audenge, and, not for the first time, I wondered why I was walking this and not cycling. It was then a quiet country road into Biganos. I tried two campsites that had cabin accommodation, but neither would rent one out for one night only. The hotel at the railway station was full, so I walked on to the Hotel du Delta, which had a bathtub (yeay!), and a (cold, but good) buffet breakfast, all for E64.15.
29 Sep A very boring 25kms to Sanguinet, first parallel to the freeway, and then on a track through forests, but thankfully not sandy ones. The tourist office was open, so I asked about pilgrim accommodation, and they gave me the keys to the annexe next to the church. It was very spacious with 4 beds, a large table, kitchen and fridge. It was donativo, and there was no box inside, so I made up an envelope and popped it into the parish letter box outside when I left in the morning. The keys I had to put into the box on the wall outside the municipal office next to the tourist office.
30 Sep Another boring day – 37kms of yet more pine forests to St Jean-en-Born. I’d read that there was a “refugio” next to the Mairie, but I couldn’t see it. I probably didn’t look very hard, as the Hotel Le Regale was calling me in for a long cold beer. I then checked into a room there for E45.
1 Oct 15kms, first on a cycle track to Mimizan, and then a forest track to Bias, where I stayed at the Hotel Le Tilleul (The Lime Tree Hotel). The previous hotel had kindly phoned ahead for me to check it was open. It was E45 for a single room, but I treated myself to dinner, bed and breakfast for E65, and had the best crème brulee in the whole of France. I told the chef so, and he proudly told me that he makes an essence, for the flavour, with the flowers from the big lime tree outside.
2 Oct It was about 21kms to Aire Lassalle, a campsite just past Lit-et-Mixe, where they have a caravan for pilgrims at E10 per person per night. It was a bit grim, but OK. She kept my credential overnight (in case I tried to do a runner?), and she sat opposite me in the morning, at the table in her kitchen, while I had breakfast for E5, but she was really quite nice.
3 Oct A long 32kms to Moliets-et-Maa, where I met up with a friend, and we shared a twin bed room at Hotel Ecureuils for E65.
4 & 5 Oct We walked 22kms to Seignosse-le-Pen, where we hoped to stay, but there was a surfing competition in the area, and everywhere was full. The tourist office phoned around for us, but nothing. She phoned Alain Hontanx in Hossegar, who puts up pilgrims, and he first said “yes”, but only if we could arrive after 7pm (we agreed), but then he changed his mind, and said “no”! The tourist officer was as confused as we were. So we took a taxi to Labenne-Ocean and stayed at the Municipal Les Pins campsite, where they have old chalets for pilgrims at E10 per person per night. It was so nice (and cheap) that we stayed 2 nights, and we walked back to Hossegar to watch the surfers, 10kms along the cycle track. We had a good lunch and walked the 10kms back to our chalet!
6 Oct Easy and pleasant walk of about 20kms into Bayonne, and we stayed at the Hotel Les Genets in Anglet (about 3kms further) for E49 for a twin-bed room.
7 Oct It was about 23kms to St Jean de Luz via Bidart and the coastal path. Stayed at the Ibis Budget in Ciboure for E44 for the room.
8 Oct We continued along the coast path to Hendaye, and took the ferry from France to Spain, where (in Hondaribbia) we discovered we were already now on the Camino del Norte, so we just followed it to the albergue Capitan Tximista, and spent the night there for E19 per person, bed and breakfast.
9 Oct – 20 Nov The Camino del Norte, from Irun to Santiago de Compostela.
Jill
For people who might use Jill’s extensive itinerary as a reference, I want to mention that in the little town of Léon, 10 km before Moilets-et-Maa there is an exceptional gîte called Villa Souvenir. It is run by a very amiable and interesting German called Peter Saborowski. He is a keen cyclist, and frequenter of the Camino. You’ll find him on B.com, but he has a variety of accommodation options not shown. A small dorm plus private ensuite rooms, and if you are a group, a self-contained cabin in the extensive garden. I’ve stayed with him on 2 occasions and thoroughly recommend it.3 Oct A long 32kms to Moliets-et-Maa, where I met up with a friend, and we shared a twin bed room at Hotel Ecureuils for E65.
Could you expand on what you are planning?I aim to walk from the Midlands next year and this is an enormous help even now. A big confidence booster! Thank you
I will picking up this summer from Nantes then heading down the Voie Littoral. Definitely worth looking up the local camino/ compostelle associations as they tend to have a wealth of information including accommodation for pilgrims and pilgrim hosts- and making contact with them in advance is also useful!I aim to walk from the Midlands next year and this is an enormous help even now. A big confidence booster! Thank you
Hi, sorry if this is a duplicated reply, I thought I had replied earlier but it seems not.Could you expand on what you are planning?
I start mid August 2023Hi, sorry if this is a duplicated reply, I thought I had replied earlier but it seems not.
I'll walk from Wolverhampton to Portsmouth, ferry to St Malo, head south to the coast reaching it south east of St Nazaire, and then Voie Littorale followed by Camino del Norte. I haven't got a detailed route for all of it but that is the gist of it
Worth looking at Bretagne site - very active camino group!! There are several marked routes in Brittany and they have lots of pilgrim hosts etcHi, sorry if this is a duplicated reply, I thought I had replied earlier but it seems not.
I'll walk from Wolverhampton to Portsmouth, ferry to St Malo, head south to the coast reaching it south east of St Nazaire, and then Voie Littorale followed by Camino del Norte. I haven't got a detailed route for all of it but that is the gist of it
Many thanksWorth looking at Bretagne site - very active camino group!! There are several marked routes in Brittany and they have lots of pilgrim hosts etc
But their routes are heading for Nantes. But from Nantes the Loire Atlantic compostelle association have a route down the river heading for the coast. Maybe worth considering rather than tracking own route.
Also very useful is the French ign map website geoportail, or its app equivalent as it allows you to choose the type of map and one has all the GR, GRP and PR walking routes and many velo routes too.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?