Which 100k route for April 2019?

Hi Sherryd! I haven’t walked the Norte so can’t help, sorry. Others will, no doubt.
I just wanted to say welcome! And happy planning!

On any camino you have to get through a lot of big town cities . Norte San Sebastian Bilbao Santander and on and on but its worth it in my humble opinion

The Ingles is very quiet, 120km long, and you walk the whole camino, start to finish, and qualify for a compostela, which gives a real sense of achievement, hopefully wanting you to walk longer caminos in the future. If you are after 15 - 20km stages, then the Ingles can be walked in up to 8 days. Lovely walk by the sea for the first 2 to 3 days. The Ingles is also quiet, which gives you a sense of pilgrimage

sherryd said:

I am planning to hike next spring but this is my first trip and so looking for input on my choice. I am 61 years old, walking alone, wanting shorter stages (15-20k), prefer quiet rural walks; I am leaning toward the camino del norte from Vilalba but very open to input. Thanks!

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Hey there! I walked the Norte last year in the high season and can only recommend it. It's simply gorgeous. The one caveat I would add though is that it's not the ideal route for people on a tight budget wanting really short stages, as the pilgrim infrastructure isn't really set out for that. From Vilalba it's a little better but most of the route won't easily allow for less than 20km a day unless you plan carefully. The solution is to be prepared to spend a little more on accommodation when necessary. There are little towns and villages on the way where you can get a room but there may not be an albergue. Just something to consider.

Sherryd,All the information that you are looking for is on the gronze web site under the section gronze camino del norte.In the section Vilalba to Santiago you will see that there are albergues all along this section of the camino.I have walked this camino several times .I also volunteered in Miraz in the albergue managed by the Confraternity of St James London.It is a lovely albergue.
Go for it . Buen Camino

sherryd said:

I am planning to hike next spring but this is my first trip and so looking for input on my choice. I am 61 years old, walking alone, wanting shorter stages (15-20k), prefer quiet rural walks; I am leaning toward the camino del norte from Vilalba but very open to input. Thanks!

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Hello @sherryd , we have just returned home from walking the Norte.
Our stages from Vilalba were:
Baamonde, 18.8km. In Baamonde, stay at the Albergue. We stayed at the Hotel Ruta Esmeralda, but it is out of town. Which is an advantage the next morning, when you start off
Miraz, 16.6km. We stayed at the O Abrigo Hostel. They have dormitory rooms, and one room with private bathroom. Very friendly, clean, and it has the only restaurant in town.
Reguela, 14km. We stayed at Bi Terra. This is off the camino, and the normal stage would otherwise be Roxica. But really worth the detour: a great place to stay.
Sobrado dos Monxes, 15.8km. We stayed at the Monastery. Friends stayed at the albergue part of the monastery, but they reported it was very spartan. We stayed in the hospederia part, which is more expensive (60 euros), but so much more comfortable with private bathroom.
A Gandara (Boimorto), 11.8km. We stayed at Casa da Gandara. Superb! Maribel has dormitory beds as well as private rooms. Strongly recommend!
Arzua, 10.2km. There's plenty of accommodation to choose from, we stayed at Cima do Lugar. Clean, new, and we had a private bathroom
O Pedrouzo, 19km. Again, plenty of accommodation to choose from. We stayed at Pension 9 de abril.
Santiago, 19km.
From Boimorto, there is a newer route to Santiago, which is shorter. There are other posts in this forum that cover this.
Hope this helps.
Buen Camino
Andrew