Visiting Garabandal and/or Loiola from the Norte

[Morgan Rosas]

I will be on the Northern Route in a couple of weeks and will try to follow the Camino Del Norte Map Guide but am considering visiting Garabandal and/or Loiola which are both an hour off the route. I'm sure someone must have done this in the past and would just like to hear your thoughts.

 

[peregrina2000]

I will be on the Northern Route in a couple of weeks and will try to follow the Camino Del Norte Map Guide but am considering visiting Garabandal and/or Loiola which are both an hour off the route. I'm sure someone must have done this in the past and would just like to hear your thoughts.

Take a look at this thread. Though the question was about getting to Garabandal from Santiago, I think the website linked there will give you information about getting there from other places.

It looks like Pesués is the closest town on the Norte to Garabandal, but it might be easier to get there from San Vicente or Colombres. There are several taxis in San Vicente, but I don’t see any in Colombres, which is much smaller.

Good luck with this - I would love to hear from someone who makes it there. There is a wikiloc track from San Vicente, but it is a mountain bike track, so I’m not sure if it would be a good walking trail or if it’s basically a road trip.

SanVicente-Soplao-Garabandal-Potes-SantoToribio

SanVicente-Soplao-Garabandal-Potes-SantoToribio Mountain Bike trail in San Vicente de la Barquera, Cantabria (España). Download its GPS track and follow the itinerary on a map. Camino Lebaniego dividido en dos etapas.La primera de ellas de aproximación a Peña Sagra, saliendo desde San Vicente de...

www.wikiloc.com

 

[Bauer]

I took a taxi from st Vicente de la Barquera to Garabandal, the driver waited for me and drove me back. I believe on Saturdays buses go there, a local church may have the information. I am glad I went, not only it is a beautiful place but felt such an amazing peace that I didn’t wanted to leave.

 

[Venado]

Hello, Morgan Rosas,

You’ve prompted me to try and tell a little story. Unfortunately it’s a bit long but I’ve enjoyed remembering it, so thank you for prompting me.

I took the detour up to Garabandal in 2017. I’d found the info peregrina 2000 mentions (https://www.centrogarabandal.org/en/viajar-a-garabandal-2 ) and chose the cheapest bus option from Santander. At the time the one bus that goes to Cosió, the village before Garabandal, left about 5 in the evening. I’ve seen the ALSA timetable recently and the time has changed now to a few hours earlier. The one return bus from Cosió is still very early though, around 7am.

Anyway, I had planned to walk from Cosió but met a lady from Barcelona on the bus and she’d booked the taxi (there is, or was only one). She’d be coming to Garabandal every year for the past 30 years and knew the taxi driver, but this year, the regular taxi driver was away and there was a replacement driver. We were both staying for two nights only. She arranged with the new driver to pick us both up early two days later, so we could catch the return bus, and then we went to our different accommodations.

Carmen was the lady’s name. We bumped into each other again the next day and had a bit of fun. Because I’d been wearing a long sleeved, black top and her eyesight was quite poor she’d thought I was the priest who had just said mass in the church. ‘Was that you on the alter?’ she asked me. ‘You looked different, but my eyesight isn’t very good.’ No, I hadn’t even been in church. I had wondered why she had kept referring to me as ‘este padre’ in the taxi yesterday . ‘Este padre has walked all the way from Bilbao.’ ‘Este padre this, este padre that.’ My Spanish wasn’t very good. I thought padre might have meant father but I wasn’t sure.

I’d already been up to ‘The pines’, the special place where the young girls had a lot of their apparitions in the 1960’s, but I walked up there again with Carmen. On the way we met one of the villagers. Carmen knew her very well and I asked her some questions. Questions like, ‘do all the villagers believe in the apparitions?’ She was patient with me. After a while she went into her house, brought out an old black and white school photograph and pointed out Conchita and the other 3 girls to us. She said her husband, who was the major, or something like that, had been present, standing right next to Conchita when the miracle of the host happened and had seen a white circle of bread (the eucharist) appear on Conchita’s tongue. Some of the villagers are new to the village she said but all those that were here at the time believe.

We called into the information centre which is run by an American man, Michael I think. Carmen bought two sticks to help her walk up the hill. I bought a postcard and had a chat with Michael. We walked up on a different path to the one I had earlier. Carmen wanted to pick camomile flowers that grew near there. She picked them every year, she said, and made tea with them. We picked loads of them together. We met three young nuns who were laughing and having fun with a little dog that had followed them.

Rosario was another woman I briefly met. Earlier when I was walking back down from the pines she had seen me and she asked me why I had come here and if I believed in God. ‘Sometimes I do,’ I said, ‘and sometimes I don’t.’ ‘Like all the world,’ she said, laughing. She had lived in Santander at the time and seen it all. ‘They walked on their knees, on the stones, but there wasn’t a mark on them. If you’d seen it …’

I told her something very personal about a recent tragic loss, I’d had, as you tend to do sometimes, to total strangers, when you’re on Camino. She said ‘pray to Mary. She will help you all your life.’ Then she asked for my name and I knew that she was going to pray for me.

The next morning I got up early and went to the hotel at the entrance to the village where Carmen was staying. We waited for the taxi. And we waited. She phoned, but there was no reply. It was too late now, we wouldn’t be able to catch the bus. She was very angry. The regular taxi driver had never let her down. But this new girl! This new girl…

I went back to Posada Ana where I was staying, but they couldn’t help. So I waited until I saw a couple with a car and asked them for a lift. I could walk, I said, and would, but Carmen was in her 70’s.

I’m not sure which station they dropped us off at but I walked on to Santillana de Mar then continued to San Vicente de la Barcera. Carmen was still a little angry when I left her. The replacement taxi driver may have slept in or forgot, we don’t know. I’m sure Carmen soon forgave her though. She went to confessions she told me and advised me to go when I told her I didn’t. Yes, she would have confessed her anger, been forgiven and forgave. It’s the only way.

Yes, It’s a beautiful, peaceful place, as Bauer said. Guemes is good but Garabandal special. I’d like to go again.

Paul

 

[Venado]

I will be on the Northern Route in a couple of weeks and will try to follow the Camino Del Norte Map Guide but am considering visiting Garabandal and/or Loiola which are both an hour off the route. I'm sure someone must have done this in the past and would just like to hear your thoughts.

Hello Morgan,

I will be walking part of the Norte, starting next week. I now plan to finish with 2 nights in Garabandal. The easiest way to get there would be by taxi. I’ll be taking the bus.

There are usually two Alsa buses a day from Santander. One leaves at 14:15 the other at 14:45. Both arrive at Cosio at 16:42. It’s a 5km uphill walk after that to Garabandal unless you manage to book the taxi in advance. The return bus from Cosio leaves at 07:35. So I will need to get up early and walk back down to Cosio, unless I meet up with a car driver or manage to book the taxi.

The bus doesn’t seem to go to Santander anymore. It arrives at Cabezón de la Sal at 8:30 and you can get a bus or train very easily from there to Santander or somewhere else.

Buen Camino

Paul

 

[Morgan Rosas]

Hello Morgan,

I will be walking part of the Norte, starting next week. I now plan to finish with 2 nights in Garabandal. The easiest way to get there would be by taxi. I’ll be taking the bus.

There are usually two Alsa buses a day from Santander. One leaves at 14:15 the other at 14:45. Both arrive at Cosio at 16:42. It’s a 5km uphill walk after that to Garabandal unless you manage to book the taxi in advance. The return bus from Cosio leaves at 07:35. So I will need to get up early and walk back down to Cosio, unless I meet up with a car driver or manage to book the taxi.

The bus doesn’t seem to go to Santander anymore. It arrives at Cabezón de la Sal at 8:30 and you can get a bus or train very easily from there to Santander or somewhere else.

Buen Camino

Paul

Thank you so much Paul, this is very helpful. You will be almost two weeks ahead of me but buen Camino.