Camino del Norte
9.8 km, 76 m up and 72 m down, through 0 places. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from Tapia de Casariego. 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 Tapia to Figueras there are a few walking options, including several coastal variations that are not officially the camino. If you follow close to the coast you won’t get lost and it is a beautiful walk. It cannot help but bring you to Figueras, which is the riverside border town of Asturias.
Figueras is the last town in Asturias. The border with Galicia is spanned by the Puente de Santos — a highway bridge over the Río de Ribadeo. You choose which side to cross on: the north side has better sea views and del…
The extra options along the coast are a quality alternative to the roads that get you to Figueras. However you may be swayed by the somewhat confusingly created signs for the albergue in Figueras. They are full of arrows and say Camino del Norte and their primary function is to get you to the albergue.The border between Asturias and Galicia is spanned by the Puente de Santos. This bridge is the major highway across the Río de Ribadeo below and you have to choose which side you want to cross on in Figueras. The only differences between the two are the views and the egress on the other side of the bridge. The north side of the bridge has better views of the sea, and it delivers you closer to the municipal albergue which itself is north of the bridge.Most but not all of the routes which got you to Figueras will lead you to the roundabout on the south side of the A-8, and arrows indicated the way to the bridge. To get to the other side means ignoring these arrows and passing under the A-8 to the sister roundabout on the other side. There you will find more arrows directing you up the old ramp and to the crossing.At the other end:From the north side, the camino veers away from the A-8 and downhill. When it gets to the road it turns sharply right to go back towards the river. At the river the albergue is a left-hand turn, and the city and camino are a right-hand turn to pass under the bridge you just crossed.From the south side: This way is a bit trickier and essentially forces you to get back to the north side of the bridge temporarily. At the end of the bridge the path veers away and meets the road. Turn right here to go under the A-8, turning right again and back towards the river once past it. Here you rejoin the northern options and at the next junction the albergue is to your left and the city and camino are a right-hand turn to pass under the bridge again.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 139 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 9.6 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.