Cheap Travels

Eskerrika to Bilbao

Distance Covered: 13 miles / 21 km

This day of hiking starts outside of the small town Eskerrika, and ends in the largest city along the entire Camino del Norte, Bilbao. Bilbao is the fifth-largest city in Spain, and is an industrial powerhouse that has gone through a substantial revitalization over the last few decades.

The beginning of this Camino section is quaint, weaving amongst forests and farms, and finishing with a long section of paved roads leading into the heart of Bilbao. If you’re running late, or are too tired to walk the whole route, it is possible to grab a taxi or hop on a city bus or the metro to get you into the heart of the city.

If this is the first post you’re reading, and you want to better understand what the whole Camino de Santiago is about, you can check out my intro post to the Camino de Santiago here. And if you want to quickly look through all of my Camino posts, take a look at the main page covering my Camino write-ups.

Setting out from Eskerrika

Finally adjusted to the new time zone, I woke up around 6:30 and chatted with a recently retired teacher from the U.K. while we both ate breakfast. She was excited to have a translator, as she didn’t speak any Spanish. I helped facilitate a brief conversation between her and the Spanish woman she shared a room with the night before while we all ate.

After breakfast, I grabbed some of my handwashed clothes that I had left hanging overnight to dry, and I was on my way before 8:00 A.M. It was going to hit over 100F (38C) today, and even as early as it was, the heat was already starting to make walking miserable.

I savored my precious time in the quiet mountains in spite of my already sweat-soaked shirt, knowing that things would only be getting more hectic as I got closer to the big city.

Eskerrika to Larrabetzu

Just a few miles in, the heat and humidity were already getting to me. I was glad to have brought some loose fitting shirts that allowed for plenty of airflow, because without them I would have been miserable. I enjoyed the breeze while I could, knowing it was supposed to get hotter and more humid throughout the day.

I carried on through the mountains, walking past several logging sites and following the yellow Camino signs pointing the way. Despite almost wandering off trail once or twice, I was pleasantly surprised by how well marked the trail was. Admittedly, the occasional sign reminding me that I still had over 400+ miles (700+ km) to walk did not make the hiking on this humid day any easier.

With a full week of trekking under my belt, my eyes were now keenly aware of even the slightest hint of yellow in my surroundings. This sensitivity would persist during the rest of my trip, and even for a bit when I returned home to the U.S.

As the day progressed, the heat and humidity grew more and more insufferable, and I was having a hard time drinking enough water to stay hydrated. It was still early and already miserably hot, and it was projected to get even hotter the next day.

Passing through Larrabetzu

I stopped to take some photos in the picturesque town of Larrabetzu, and of course stopped at a bar for a quick slice of tortilla and a piece of bread. While walking around town, I bumped into a few pilgrims that I had met at various points over the previous week.

After chatting for 10 or 15 minutes with a girl I had met a few days earlier in an albergue, I spent some more time taking photos around town before I continued hiking. As nice as this town was, I wanted to make it to Bilbao before it got too late. Plus, my friend had invited me for a meal at his place, and I still had to get there and shower.

Final stretch to Bilbao

As I got closer to the city, the graffiti grew more and more prevalent. Though some was your typical tagging, not all of it was scrubbed away, especially if it had a clear message of independence.

A lot of separatist graffiti is generally tolerated in most larger Basque cities, given that it is not in the wrong place. I doubt this piece, for example, was commissioned, but no one seems to be in a rush to clean it off.

Approaching Bilbao, I reached out to my friend, who I knew from our years teaching in Zarautz. He was a Basque English teacher who was a temporary part of my school’s English department, and even though we never officially taught a class together, we got to know one another in the break room at school. Aside from just seeing each other around the school, we had also chaperoned a week-long school trip to London together back in 2017.

I shot him a text a few days prior to arriving in Bilbao, and he confirmed that I could crash at his apartment, so I figured I would take him up on the offer and hopefully wash some clothes at his place.

Getting closer to Bilbao, the forested hiking trails gave way to straight city streets. The sun beat directly down on me, and between the sun exposure and the excessive heat, I had had just about enough. After my colleague gave me a call in the afternoon asking me for the specific time that I would arrive to his place, I decided to take the train the last few kilometers into the heart of Bilbao. I had walked for long enough in the direct sunlight, and was ready to relax and enjoy catching up with my old colleague.

If you’re looking to avoid walking along the city streets for the last few kilometrs, there are several points where it is possible to hop on a bus or the metro. Most busses will require cash, though, so if you plan to pay with card the metro is the best option for you.

I was happy to finally be in the city, even with the funny looks that I was getting with my large pack and collapsed trekking poles slung off the side.

Arriving at my old colleague’s apartment

Confirming my friend’s address, I made my way through the city center, feeling a little silly being the only person in this part of town carrying a large trekking pack. He had mentioned that his neighborhood was sort of “sketchy”, but this was the first “sketchy” neighborhood I had ever been in that had fresh fruit stores. I exercised a bit of extra caution because of the warning, but there was ultimately nothing to worry about.

When I finally got to his apartment and got buzzed into his building, I was met by a large spiral staircase that led up to the top floor where he lived. Walking up the six flights of stairs showed me exactly just how exhausted my legs were, because my thighs were burning before I had made it halfway to the top.

After catching my breath, we talked for a while about the past few years of our lives since we had last seen each other. I eventually took a quick shower at his apartment, and came out feeling like a new person.

Late lunch and a stroll around downtown Bilbao

He had prepared a rice dish with calamari and vegetables, which really hit the spot after days on the Camino eating mostly tortilla and bocadillos. His next door neighbor joined us for the late lunch, a young graduate student studying at the UPV (Universidad del País Vasco). We chatted for a while about his studies and what he planned on doing after, and he mentioned the possibility of finding a postdoc position in the U.S.

After eating the late lunch, the neighbor eventually went back to his flat and my friend and I walked around town a bit. Walking for an hour or two, we eventually stopped and got a sandwich and a drink from a super famous local restaurant, “Bar El Eme“. The place had a steady line outside for takeout orders, and the kitchen was pumping out sandwiches like a factory floor.

We strolled around downtown for an hour or so, and met up with a friend of his and hung out on near the river drinking beers on a bench. Even though I was drinking non-alcoholic beer at the time, it really made me miss the European laws surrounding public drinking. Arriving back at the apartment around 11:00PM, I got to bed a little after midnight, ready for some much-needed rest.

Route details

For a detailed route description, take a look at the map on Gronze.com. On that website there is a route map and a comprehensive list of the places to stay along this section with rough price guides. The red and green bars signify the distance from the Camino route, each with a rough distance estimate.

The private albergues and hotels allow for booking ahead of time, while the donation-based albergues (marked with a D for donativo) are all first come, first served. The amenities are basic, but it’s by far the most affordable way to walk a Camino.

If you’re interested in reading the detailed route description, you’ll have to translate the page from Spanish to English, which you can do using the three vertical dots in the upper right.

Final thoughts

It was great to catch up with an old colleague, but at this point in the trip I was absolutely exhausted. These long days were starting to catch up to me, and I was very much looking forward to sleeping in the following day. Between the unusual heat-wave and the stress of navigating the city by foot carrying a heavy pack, I was ready for a good night’s sleep.

I hadn’t spent much time in Bilbao for a few years, so I was looking forward to spending a day around town. I had been posting some photo updates on Instagram about my Camino, and after seeing my stories, a friend put me in contact with a fellow MSU alum who happened to be spending the month in Bilbao. After reaching out, we had agreed to meet up for a coffee the next day, so I at least had a semblance of a plan to look forward to.

Overall, this was another great, long day, and I felt like I had finished an important segment of the Camino. The terrain from the French border to Bilbao features some of the steepest climbs of the whole Camino del Norte, and that was now behind me. Feeling like I had put a serious dent in the 500+ mile hike, I went to bed feeling good about the ground covered.

If you have done this route, let me know down in the comments if you felt the same way arriving to Bilbao! Or on the flip side, let me know if you think taking the metro the last few miles means that this was an incomplete hike. As always, ¡Buen Camino!

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