www.strava.com/activities/12800074188

Last April, I arrived in Bilbao with the intention of finding a bus to Irun so I could begin the Camino del Norte at the border. Since none were forthcoming, I just started walking west instead. But along the way to Santiago, I met many pilgrims who explained that the first section was their favorite part of the walk.

When trying to decide where to begin my French bike trip, I found the Bilbao flights to be the cheapest of the bunch. This seemed like a good opportunity to quickly knock out the 100ish miles I had previously skipped.


Route

This was probably one of the prettier sections of the Camino del Norte. Closer to Bilbao, rolling hills passed through forests and bucolic splendor. After Deba, the trail followed the coast and provided plenty of ocean vistas as it traipsed along the cliffs.


Weather

It was sunny and warm every day of the trip - even in the early morning, shorts were entirely appropriate.


Navigation

The signs only point towards Santiago, so going the other way required that I rely heavily on gpx files, which were sometimes not consistent with the latest version of the trail. The variants were very hard to find.


Lodging

Most of the albergues close in mid to late October, and a three-day weekend meant hotels were absurdly expensive. Most days, I could only find a decent option every 15 miles or so, which meant stopping at 2pm, or two hours after dark. The government hostels tended to be around 8 euros and the private ones could be 2-4 times that.


Food

I never happened upon pilgrim menus or cheap menus del dia. Pintxos in taverns were everywhere and were usually the only reasonable option. A tortilla typically ran just over two euros.