Camino del Norte
15.6 km, 392 m up and 370 m down, through 2 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 San Sebastián. 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.
Turn right on the Avenida de Navarra towards the sea, the road follows it and you follow the road. You can walk in the sand of the Playa Zurriola if it suits you, the way ahead is evident as it crosses the bridge over the Río Uramea.Once over the bridge continue straight ahead, past the municipal gardens and towards the Playa de la Concha which you will follow all the way to its end. At the end of the beach cut across the park separating it from the road (Satrustegi) and turn right on the road towards the tree covered hillside ahead, and then left where it ends to follow the road signs to Igueldo.The Ondarreta Albergue is along this road, straight ahead and on your left-hand side. The camino, however, turns right off of the road before it arrives at the albergue. The way is uphill along a paved road which turns into a trail, twisting and turning all the way to the top. Before long you will be on a small paved road which connects with a larger one, and in front of you will be the gravel parking lot for the hotel Leku Eder, cut across it and walk past the hotel along the main road.NOTE: If you were to turn right at the parking lot, you could go uphill to visit Monte Igueldo. Follow the road as far as the next hotel, turning right at the sign for the Buenavista Hotel at the start of Igueldo.
Getting from the monte to the camino is a simple matter. From the parking lot at the top of the monte, make like a car and roll downhill along the road. When you get to the small gravel parking lot on your right, cut across it to pass the Hotel Leku Eder and keep on that road.
From the Buenavista Hotel the camino keeps to the paved roads for several more kilometers but eventually heads back into the forest along trails and even along centuries old cobbled roads as it descends to the AP-8. After passing under the AP-8 turn right to follow the road steeply uphill. At the top is the Iglesia de San Martín. Follow the road straight into Orio.
The camino reaches the riverfront and turns left (inland) towards the nearest bridge over the river. Once across the bridge, it turns right to follow the N-634 a short distance. Where the road bends left, the camino exits to the right to follow the waterfront and the Portua. Stay along the road and head towards and under the AP-8 visible in the distance. Once past the bridge overhead, the camino reaches a small beach (on your right). Turn left at the first road, keeping the tall hedge to your left. Follow this road all the way past the Gran Camping de Zarautz; the way is uphill as you climb Mount Talaimendi. As you begin to descend along the road, with Zarautz visible in the distance, the camino turns right towards town along a foot path. It meets the road and turns right.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 480 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 16.9 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.