Camino del Norte: 825 km in 34 days
- Start: Irún, Spain
- End: Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- Distance: 825 km
- Difficulty: challenging
- Best months: May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep
- Note: Scenic coastal route with significant elevation changes. Cooler summer temperatures than inland routes.
See the attractions & sights guide for this route →
Stops on this route
Irún, Spain
Irún is a Basque border town on the French frontier, historically the starting point of the Camino del Norte, the coastal pilgrimage route that follows Spain's northern shore toward Santiago. Its position on the Bidasoa River has made it a crossing point for travelers, traders, and pilgrims for centuries.
San Sebastián
San Sebastián is a Basque coastal city renowned for its curved city beach, La Concha, and its concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants and pintxo bars. Though not directly on a Camino route, it lies near the Camino del Norte's early stages and is a common detour for travelers combining pilgrimage with the Basque coast.
Bilbao
Bilbao is the largest city in the Basque Country, built along the Nervión River and transformed since the 1990s from an industrial port into a hub for design and contemporary art, most famously through the Guggenheim Museum's titanium-clad building. Its historic old town, the Casco Viejo, retains narrow lanes and arcaded squares from its origins as a medieval trading town.
Santander
Santander is the capital of Cantabria, a port city on the northern coast built around a wide natural bay and rebuilt in an elegant, orderly style after a major fire in 1941 destroyed much of its historic center. It is known for its sweeping beaches, the Palacio de la Magdalena royal residence on its own peninsula, and the striking contemporary Centro Botín arts complex on the waterfront.
Llanes
Gijón
Gijón is a port city on the Bay of Biscay in Asturias, the region's largest population center and a stop on the Camino del Norte pilgrimage route along Spain's northern coast. It combines a working fishing harbor and old quarter, Cimadevilla, with a long urban beach, Roman-era baths, and a strong local cider culture centered on sidrerías.
Avilés
Avilés is a port town in Asturias on the Camino del Norte, once a heavily industrial steel town that has reinvented its riverside with contemporary architecture. Its arcaded medieval old town survives largely intact, centered on Calle Galiana, while the Centro Niemeyer, the only building in Spain by architect Oscar Niemeyer, anchors the modern waterfront.
Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Santiago de Compostela is the spiritual endpoint of the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage network that has drawn walkers to the tomb of Saint James for over a thousand years. Its granite old town, centered on the Romanesque cathedral, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the great pilgrimage cities of Europe.
Road charges and rules along the way
Spain
- Environmental Sticker (Distintivo Ambiental DGT): €5 — https://sede.dgt.gob.es
Mandatory equipment: Safety vest (reflective, high-visibility), Warning triangle, Spare bulbs (headlights), Snow chains
Driving in Spain: full guide →
Plan this route with EuroDrive Scout — tolls, vignettes, ZTL alerts, fuel and parking →