Camino del Norte
10.2 km, 210 m up and 373 m down, through 1 place, 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 Monasterio de Zenarruza. 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.
Beyond the monastery the camino turns right and into the forest again.
After crossing the main square in Munitibar, the camino turns left at the church to follow the main road out of town, though only for a short distance. Less than 50m beyond the river it turns left up a side road, climbing up to and beyond the Ermita de Santiago. From the ermita it descends towards Olabe.
There are several points along this stretch of the road where you may see an errant arrow or two pointing in a direction which doesn’t feel like the camino. This is because in years past the camino followed a different route into Gernika. Follow the freshest arrows and the wooden post signs. The official camino passes the Albergue in Olabe, through the forest to the Iglesia de Santo Tómas. Shortly beyond the church is where the old camino kept to the right and downhill to the nearby village. It now turns left and heads uphill to Marmiz. Note: If you turned the wrong way at the church, and ended up back on the road, there is no need to retrace your steps. There are arrows in the next town which will direct you along the old route to Gernika, a blend of countryside and pedestrian walkways.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 284 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 10.2 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.