Where to switch to?

[vleadbe]

Hello pilgrims,

I have finished the Le Puy route and crossed into Spain on the Frances. I am currently in Pamplona and I am looking at options to come off onto a different route. I was originally thinking to go to the Norte but it looks like people are struggling there for accommodation. It's just too busy for me and already it's a race to get to the next town for a bed. I really enjoyed taking my time in France and because everyone else was relaxed it had a nice community feel. Unfortunately that's not happening for me here. Does anyone have any recommendations for a camino to switch too that is a less traveled and I can relax a bit? In terms of hiking I can do 30 to 35km a day and hilly terrain isn't too much if an issue after five weeks on the GR65. I also have my tent with me. Thanks everyone.

 

[jungleboy]

Hello pilgrims,

I have finished the Le Puy route and crossed into Spain on the Frances. I am currently in Pamplona and I am looking at options to come off onto a different route. I was originally thinking to go to the Norte but it looks like people are struggling there for accommodation. It's just too busy for me and already it's a race to get to the next town for a bed. I really enjoyed taking my time in France and because everyone else was relaxed it had a nice community feel. Unfortunately that's not happening for me here. Does anyone have any recommendations for a camino to switch too that is a less traveled and I can relax a bit? In terms of hiking I can do 30 to 35km a day and hilly terrain isn't too much if an issue after five weeks on the GR65. I also have my tent with me. Thanks everyone.

Before @VNwalking has a chance to suggest the same idea , you could walk the Viejo from Pamplona and join the Olvidado and then the Invierno.

 

[vleadbe]

Before @VNwalking has a chance to suggest the same idea , you could walk the Viejo from Pamplona and join the Olvidado and then the Invierno.

Thank you for the suggestion I will track down some guides and see if it seems doable for me. I'm also not adverse to getting some transport to a new route.

 

[peregrino_tom]

I was originally thinking to go to the Norte but it looks like people are struggling there for accommodation.

I've not walked the Viejo/Olvidado but earlier threads this year suggested to me that joining up the accommodation might be hard work at the moment.
If you had plans to head for Irun, I'd stick to them and just take the Vasco from there. It is a bit built up for the first couple of days, but still completely intriguing with all things Basque. Still a fresh, road-less-travelled camino with many charms and wonders along the way, as you'll see from the Vasco pages. That can take you as far as Burgos. You might find the Frances is a bit calmer by then and the Meseta can work its spell.. Thereafter, you have options to go north at Leon, or south west at Ponferrada. Vasco-Frances-Invierno was a path I took a few years ago and I really enjoyed mixing it up that way.

 

[SabsP]

Another thumbs up for the Vasco!!

 

[MichaelC]

What did you end up doing? I had similar thoughts when I reached Pamplona after walking from Le Puy, but stayed on the CF and am glad I did. The crowds started to spread out more after a couple days

 

[Antonius Vaessen]

I started on the CF in April and for me it was too crowded too. I did not have problems finding a bed,made reservations 2 or 3 days ahead, although I don't like that in itself. My biggest problem was that that the crowds spread out over many albergues, restaurations. Many new faces everyday. It felt like an "atomised" crowd ( if that is s correct English word). I stayed on the CF till Burgos and there took a bus to Zamora to change over to the Via Sanabres. A nice option would be to change over in Leon to the Camino Salvador to Oviedo and from there continue on the Camino Primitivo. To Leon you could stay on the CF or take a bus or train