Camino del Norte
30.8 km, 345 m up and 357 m down, through 4 places, 1 of which has somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from Gijón. 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 best landmark to use when leaving Gíjon is the boat harbor. Follow along the coast, as far as the first residential apartment blocks to appear on your right-hand side. Pass to the right of the first building, heading down the Calle de Mariano Pola. Keep on this road as it changes names; first to the Avenida de Galicia then to the Avenida de la Argentina, and finally to the Carretera de Avilés. It is mostly straight with only a few bends and entirely city walking. By the time you get to the end of the city the view ahead reveals a massive steel production plant directly in front of you. The way around it the least pleasant stretch of the entire camino but there are no good options here. Descend to the road and turn right, following it around the factory. Keep an eye open for the turn off to the left which is not easy to notice with all of the traffic: it can be identified as being the only level railway crossing in the area and a sign points the way to Poago. Follow this road. It will eventually turn away from the factory and begin to wind up the hillside known as the Monte de Areo, the last part of the climb is along trails. This hillside is the silver lining of the gray cloud cast by the nearby factory, it is the location of the oldest known necropolis in Asturias as well as a Neolithic dolmen. From the highest point the camino descends to Santa Eulalia.
Cross over the CE-6 and pass the church of Santa Eulalia. At the next large road, the CE-5, turn left. Keep straight on this smaller country road as it passes the sign to Los Celleros, a village that doesn’t appear to have any buildings. This stretch of country roads is the quietest until you get to Tabaza.
At Tabaza the camino begins to follow along the main road into Avilés, the next 9km are along it.
You will enter Avilés from the south and the municipal albergue is on your left-hand side when you get to the turn into the old town.
The walk through Avilés, set upon the river, is due north. It is pleasant compared to the other side of town and the only real obstacle is a small but steep climb just before you get to Salinas.
At the end of Salinas the camino begins one of the steepest and most challenging climbs of the camino. It is only 600m long but you will be glad to reach the Iglesia de San Martín at the top.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 394 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 29.8 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.