Camino del Norte
31.9 km, 1052 m up and 751 m down, through 7 places, 3 of which have somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from Deba. Most are too small to sleep in — a fountain, a chapel, a bar that may or may not be open — but they are what the day is actually made of.
The camino and the GR-121 alternate route meet in Deba near the ermita. The camino crosses the river along a footbridge near the train station and on the opposite bank turns right. A short distance later it crosses the road and just beyond that it turns left, going upwards once again along a combination of well marked roads and paths.Keep to the marked camino at this point, ignoring all other trails until you reach the Galbario Ermita.
Wave goodbye to the sea. It will be exactly 80km before it returns into view in Bilbao. Between here and there are several mountainous stretches.
The camino joins the road when it reaches the ermita, and follows it to the small village of Ibiri Auzoa.
Just beyond the Albergue and bar turn left at the fork to follow a trail instead of the road. You will rejoin the asphalt road shortly before Olatz.
Follow the road past the bar and small park, and when it forks keep to your right uphill on the narrower option. From here to Markina the camino twists and turns quite a bit. It is countryside walking all the way to Markina, where a steep descent brings you into the city from the north.
The distance from Olatz to Markina is without services of any kind. Be sure to re-fill your water here.
The marked camino passes the church and convent and turns right at the first street past them. Follow the road across a small river and turn left at the first road, keeping close to the nearby building to follow a park trail as is wiggles its way along the river. The camino will take you back over the river (though it is covered so you might not notice) and then under the BI-633. It follows along a smaller river past an industrial park and into Iruzubieta.
You will enter town from a back road. There is a car park on your right when you get to the main road. Turn left here (facing east) to get to the bridge over the river. Cross the river and then turn right again, quickly followed by another right to leave the road and the town. More mountain roads will deliver you to Bolibar.
At the roundabout at the start of town, follow the road sign to Urua (the only option which crosses the river). This is only to get you off of the main road, which you could just as easily follow to the end of town. The camino passes the Simon Bolivar Museum and arrives at the church where it crosses the main road, and shortly after another smaller road.From here it is back into the countryside. The camino next meets the road in the two building town of Ziortza, if you plan on staying there turn left at the road. The only buildings in town are visible from here.
Where the camino meets the road in Ziortza, it is 50m to your left to the bar or less than 300 to your right to get to the Monastery.
Beyond the monastery the camino turns right and into the forest again.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 858 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 31.4 km.
Esta entidad ha sido beneficiaria de una ayuda del Programa de incentivos a la movilidad eficiente y sostenible (MOVES III), gestionado por la Xunta de Galicia a través del Instituto Enerxético de Galicia (INEGA) en el marco del Real Decreto 266/2021, y cofinanciada por la Unión Europea — NextGenerationEU, dentro del Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia.