Camino del Norte Stage 1 - San Sebastián to Bilbao

Tour Type:

Pilgrimages | For those looking to follow a path of self-discovery. Our Pilgrimage and Camino routes take you on a journey through diverse landscapes and local flavours, while meeting like-minded adventurers along the way.

Activity:

Inn to Inn Walking | Walk from place-to-place changing accommodations each night. Generally staying in B&B’s, inns, and guesthouses.

Activity Level & Terrain

This walk is graded moderate to strenuous and includes daily walks of between 14 – 25 km per day. You can expect to walk for between three and eight hours each day and some of it is fairly strenuous walking with some steep ascents/descents.

The Camino Del Norte follows a mixture of farm/dirt tracks, minor roads and footpaths

Navigation

The route is marked with yellow painted arrows but please take care at intersections. There are sections on the route where you will divert to follow the red and white stripes of the GR routes. There will always be other walkers around in case you are looking for help. You will be supplied with turn by turn route notes and detailed maps so you will have no problem following the route each day.

In addition to the printed route notes, you will receive in your travel pack, you will also have access to our Macs Adventure App, allowing you to follow the route on richly detailed mapping on your smartphone.

• 7 Nights in small rural hotels and hostels with en-suite W/C.
• 7 Breakfasts
• Baggage Transfers
• A detailed information pack for the group leader including route notes, maps, and local information.
• Camino del Norte guide book.
• Emergency telephone support from our local and UK offices in the event of a problem.

• Return travel to Spain.
• Lunches, dinners (optional), snacks or drinks.
• Travel Insurance.
• Personal Equipment.
• Taxi transfers or public transport should you need to skip a stage.

• Additional nights accommodation along the way.

When To Go

This trip is available to start on any day from the beginning of March to the end of October.

Time of Year

The weather in Northern Spain is very varied. In general you can expect pleasant temperatures for walking of between 19 degrees and up to about 26 degrees in the summer months. As you will be walking near the coast for much of this walk, you can expect some rainy days, particularly in spring and autumn.

Getting to the Start

Flying into Bilbao is the best airport for this particular tour. Direct flights are available from London Heathrow, Stansted, Bristol and Manchester.

From Bilbao, you can take an ALSA bus back to San Sebastian, which takes around an hour and a half.

If you are traveling from outside Europe  Madrid is a good hub to fly into from here you can catch a bus to San Sebastian ALSA (takes around 6.5 hours). A bus back to Madrid from Bilbao takes around 4.5 hours.

Getting from the End

Direct flights are available to London Heathrow, Stansted, Bristol and Manchester.

Luggage Transfer

At Macs Adventure, we work in partnership with many luggage transfer providers who set a limit on how many bags/suitcases they will transfer per person, and also the weight of the bag/suitcase.  Your booking includes transfer of 1 bag per person.  It is very important that you read the luggage information specific to your tour before departure. If you do not adhere to these limits, there is a great possibility that you will be charged locally both for extra bags or if they are too heavy. This limitation can be a challenge, especially as airlines generally have limits that are higher. However, our luggage providers have reasons for these limits (usually due to the Health and Safety of their employees), which we must respect.

Baggage transfers are included (max 20kg per person). Your main bag will be transferred each day between your overnight accommodation so that you only need to walk with a day pack. There is a supplement applicable for solo walkers on baggage transfers due to the fact that the transfer costs are usually shared.

General Information

The distances and ascent/descents are approximations of the recommended routes.

Compostela/Pilgrims Passport

The pilgrim’s passport is issued by the church of St James, you can obtain one at the start of your walk in the pilgrim’s office or the local church in town. You need to get the passport stamped in churches, restaurants and hotels along the way. At the end of the walk, in Santiago, you can obtain your Compostela Certificate (only if you have walked the last 100km). For the other sections of the trail, the passport is used as a souvenir with all the colourful stamps you will receive.

Equipment

Please be prepared by packing all necessary items, for example, proper rain gear (jacket and pants), sun hat and sunscreen. Your information pack has a detailed equipment list which includes standard walking/cycling gear such as good walking boots or shoes, warm and waterproof clothes for the cooler months and lightweight clothing for summer, and a day pack.

Travel Insurance

It is a requirement of booking this tour with Macs Adventure that you have suitable Travel Insurance which covers you for the activity, emergency evacuation and hospital care.