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Camino del Norte: The Complete Route Guide

Quick facts

The route: map, elevation, and stages

845.3 km on the track 34 stages +13558 m total climb −13415 m total descent
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Route track: Nederlands Genootschap van Sint Jacob (santiago.nl), republished with credit. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Dashed line: shared finish on another route.

Open the full-screen map app Plan this route Download the GPX track The same map, app-style: full screen, offline packs, and find-me while you walk. Plan this route opens the planner: regroup these stages into your own days, with a start date and a daily budget.

Places on this way

Places load with the map view.

Elevation sampled from terrain data (Terrarium DEM, built on SRTM) along the track. Hover the profile to trace the route on the map, or focus it and use the arrow keys. Click a stage band, a stage number, or a table row to zoom to that stage.

Stages

StageWalkKmClimbDescentDifficulty
The Basque Country · The toughest opening week of any main route: San Sebastián, Zarautz and Gernika, then the short drop into Bilbao.
1Irún → San Sebastián25.0+769 m−768 m4 of 5
2San Sebastián → Zarautz22.0+484 m−493 m3 of 5
3Zarautz → Deba22.0+583 m−593 m3 of 5
4Deba → Markina-Xemein24.0+668 m−317 m4 of 5
5Markina → Gernika25.0+702 m−1073 m4 of 5
6Gernika → Lezama20.0+471 m−410 m3 of 5
7Lezama → Bilbao11.0+313 m−338 m1 of 5
Cantabria · Out along the ría to Portugalete, then fishing towns, Santander and Santillana del Mar.
8Bilbao → Portugalete20.0+48 m−7 m2 of 5
9Portugalete → Castro Urdiales27.0+491 m−509 m4 of 5
10Castro Urdiales → Laredo25.0+521 m−526 m4 of 5
11Laredo → Güemes29.0+260 m−216 m4 of 5
12Güemes → Santander12.0+98 m−157 m1 of 5
13Santander → Santillana del Mar37.0+344 m−276 m5 of 5
14Santillana → Comillas22.0+383 m−437 m3 of 5
15Comillas → San Vicente de la Barquera12.0+178 m−188 m1 of 5
16San Vicente → Llanes37.0+557 m−588 m5 of 5
Asturias · The green coast at its best: Ribadesella, the Villaviciosa turn, Gijón, Avilés, and the quiet fishing towns to the west.
17Llanes → Ribadesella31.0+258 m−257 m4 of 5
18Ribadesella → La Isla / Sebrayo30.0+506 m−507 m4 of 5
19Sebrayo → Gijón35.0+687 m−677 m5 of 5
20Gijón → Avilés25.0+221 m−218 m3 of 5
21Avilés → Muros de Nalón23.0+464 m−378 m3 of 5
22Muros → Soto de Luiña16.0+445 m−568 m2 of 5
23Soto de Luiña → Cadavedo18.0+341 m−283 m2 of 5
24Cadavedo → Luarca16.0+176 m−217 m1 of 5
25Luarca → La Caridad30.0+417 m−391 m4 of 5
26La Caridad → Ribadeo22.0+358 m−290 m3 of 5
Galicia inland · The route turns inland at Ribadeo: Lourenzá, Vilalba and the Sobrado monastery, then it joins the Francés at Arzúa.
27Ribadeo → Lourenzá28.0+491 m−572 m4 of 5
28Lourenzá → Abadín25.0+792 m−355 m4 of 5
29Abadín → Vilalba21.0+168 m−207 m2 of 5
30Vilalba → Baamonde21.0+165 m−209 m2 of 5
31Baamonde → Sobrado dos Monxes41.0+486 m−305 m5 of 5
32Sobrado → Arzúa25.0+170 m−409 m3 of 5
33Arzúa → O Pedrouzo19.0+286 m−380 m2 of 5
34O Pedrouzo → Santiago de Compostela20.0+260 m−293 m2 of 5

Plan your own days

The stages above are one way to walk this route, not the only way. Every stage town starts highlighted below, because the stages as written sleep in each one. Tap a highlighted town to walk through it and sleep at the next stop instead, and tap it again to split the days back. Your days update as you tap. Set a start date and a daily budget here and every day carries its date and its cost on this page. Open these days in the planner to carry this exact grouping into your plan, where GPX, copy, and print exports apply to it. Dates and budget set here are saved into the same plan, so they are already set when you open it there.

Open these days in the planner

Why the Norte

The Norte is the coastal Camino: five weeks walking Spain's green north coast through the Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias, and into Galicia, with the Bay of Biscay rarely out of sight in the first half. It has the best food of any Camino (San Sebastián alone makes the case), serious scenery, harder walking than the Francés, and far fewer pilgrims. It is also the route where the sea and the mountains share the same day: steep little climbs from fishing towns up to headlands and back down again, over and over.

The shape of the route

Stages and variants

The stage list in the route explorer above is this guide's one stage list. It runs as a flow in four sections (The Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias, and Galicia inland), with no separate table down here. The Norte carries no variant ways in the openly licensed track set we build from, so the flow is sections only. Local coastal alternatives exist on many stages and are waymarked on the ground; they are worth taking in good weather, but they are not separate stage lists.

Three stages in the list are long on paper and are split by most pilgrims. Santander to Santillana del Mar is 37 km, often split at Boo de Piélagos or Mogro, or the suburbs are skipped by train. San Vicente de la Barquera to Llanes is 37 km and often split. Baamonde to Sobrado dos Monxes is 41 km and almost always split at Miraz, about 20 km in, where the albergue is run by a British confraternity. The Sebrayo to Gijón stage (35 km) is often split at Villaviciosa, where the Primitivo splits south to Oviedo.

Most pilgrims take 35 to 40 days with the splits and a rest day in Bilbao, Santander, or Gijón.

Key decision points

When to walk

Practical notes

Holy Year 2027 note

2027 is a Holy Year (Xacobeo). The Norte will feel it less than the Francés, but the shared final stretch from Arzúa and the Galician stages will be busy, and the July 25 feast week plus August beach season is a double squeeze on beds. Book Arzúa onward ahead, and consider a September start to dodge both peaks at once.

Stage by stage

Every stage on its own page, with its elevation profile, walking time, and the services along it.

Town by town

Every stage town on its own page, with the stages in and out, the services in town, and every named place to stay.

Wildfire check

Fire season in Spain and Portugal runs roughly May to October, and a dry stretch can close or fill with smoke with little warning. Before you set off, and each morning while you walk in dry country, check the EFFIS current fire map for active fires near your route.

If officials close a stretch, follow their instructions and reroute or wait it out. Never light a fire anywhere on the route.

Get the free one-page Francés stage planner

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Keep planning

More routes: Camino Francés · Camino Portugués · Camino Primitivo. Or get the free one-page stage planner.