Camino del Norte Stage 1 - San Sebastián to Bilbao

The Camino del Norte offers a more authentic pilgrim experience than the Camino Frances. Though the walking is considerably tougher the rewards are arguably much greater.

Pilgrimages | For those looking to follow a path of self-discovery. Our Pilgrimage and Camino routes take you on a journey through diverse landscapes and local flavours, while meeting like-minded adventurers along the way.

Inn to Inn Walking | Walk from place-to-place changing accommodations each night. Generally staying in B&Bs, inns, and guesthouses.

Solo Travellers, Families with Teens

The minimum age for this tour is: 12 Years

This walk is graded moderate to strenuous and includes daily walks of between 11 – 27 km per day. You can expect to walk for between three and eight hours each day. The trails are largely well maintained but some of it is fairly strenuous walking with daily elevation gains between +325m/788m and -380m/-789m. 

The accommodation in San Sebastian, Bilbao and all larger towns, will be in 3 star hotels, the rest will be a mixture of rural hotels and hostals (a name used to describe small Spanish hotels and guesthouses), all with private rooms and en-suite. They all offer a warm welcome to walkers, traditional hospitality and delicious local food. We do recommend that you book this trip early as the area is always popular and the hotels and inns do fill up early, especially in high season. 

Solo Walkers & Single Rooms

The Camino is available to solo walkers at a single supplement.

Meals

A local continental breakfast is included each morning (apart from Bustio), which can sometimes just be coffee, bread and orange juice. Lunch and dinner are not included as standard so you are free to choose from the available options.  Every place you stop will have evening meals available, you can get a pilgrims menu for about 10 euros which includes 3 courses, wine and water!

Additional Nights

There is so much to see and do along the route that many of our clients choose to add extra nights along the walk either as a rest day or simply to do some extra sightseeing. If you are walking the route solo try not to add too many extra nights along the way as you will lose touch with those you have met.

The route is marked with yellow painted arrows but please take care at intersections. There are sections on the route where you will divert to follow the red and white stripes of the GR routes. There will always be other walkers around in case you are looking for help. You will be supplied with turn by turn route notes and detailed maps so you will have no problem following the route each day.

In addition to the printed route notes, you will receive in your travel pack, you will also have access to our Macs Adventure App, allowing you to follow the route on richly detailed mapping on your smartphone.

This trip is available to start on any day from the beginning of March to the end of October.

The best time to walk the Camino depends on your personal preference!

Spring (April to June) is a fantastic choice. Expect pleasant temperatures, blooming landscapes, and fewer crowds than summer. Be prepared for the potential of spring showers.

Summer (July and August) brings sweltering heat to much of Spain, but the northern regions remain refreshingly mild thanks to their coastal climates. If you're a social butterfly, this is your season! The trails are buzzing with fellow pilgrims, creating an unbeatable atmosphere for meeting people, local festivals, and sharing stories.

Autumn (September to early November) is another excellent time to go. You'll enjoy milder temperatures, stunning autumn colors, and quieter trails as the summer crowds dwindle. But, much like spring, there's still a chance of rain—because nature loves keeping us on our toes!

Flying into Bilbao is the best airport for this particular tour. Direct flights are available from London Heathrow, Stansted, Bristol and Manchester.

From Bilbao, you can take an ALSA bus back to San Sebastian, which takes around an hour and a half.

If you are traveling from outside Europe  Madrid is a good hub to fly into from here you can catch a bus to San Sebastian ALSA (takes around 6.5 hours). A bus back to Madrid from Bilbao takes around 4.5 hours.

Direct flights are available to London Heathrow, Stansted, Bristol and Manchester.

At Macs Adventure, we work in partnership with many luggage transfer providers who set a limit on how many bags/suitcases they will transfer per person, and also the weight of the bag/suitcase.  Your booking includes transfer of 1 bag per person.  It is very important that you read the luggage information specific to your tour before departure. If you do not adhere to these limits, there is a great possibility that you will be charged locally both for extra bags or if they are too heavy. This limitation can be a challenge, especially as airlines generally have limits that are higher. However, our luggage providers have reasons for these limits (usually due to the Health and Safety of their employees), which we must respect.

Baggage transfers are included (max 20kg per person). Your main bag will be transferred each day between your overnight accommodation so that you only need to walk with a day pack. There is a supplement applicable for solo walkers on baggage transfers due to the fact that the transfer costs are usually shared.