Camino del Norte
31.5 km, 494 m up and 679 m down, through 5 places, 2 of which have somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from Itziar. 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.
From Itziar the camino turns north to return to the sea at Deba. Past the church turn right at the first fork and follow the country lane. You won’t notice any more highways as you wind your way towards Deba, but they are none-the-less tunneling beneath you.
Lastur is a quiet mountain village about 5 km off the camino — too far for a casual detour, but the albergue here offers a peaceful alternative to the busier coastal stops. The owners will drive you back to the trail in …
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.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 464 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 27.7 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.