Pobeña to Oriñón
Distance covered: 17 miles / 28 km
The hike from Pobeña to Oriñón mostly follows the coast, along a mixture of country roads, highways, and cliffside footpaths. As with most coastal sections, this stage features a lot of climbs and descents, but the ocean views make it worthwhile.
Though the hostel in Oriñón is technically off the Camino route, I had walked a little further this day in an attempt to buy myself some extra time in Santander, the next major city along the Camino del Norte route. This route crosses through several of the largest cities across the north of Spain and features great options for rest days, if you have the available time. Not only do these cities offer interesting historical stops, but they have hotels and hostels where you can stay on your extra night in the city.
If you want to learn more about the Camino, check out my intro post on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, and if you want to read about my hike from the beginning, take a look at this page that has all of the Camino-related posts.
Starting out in Pobeña
I woke up to the sound of pilgrims leaving the albergue entirely too early, which I would eventually learn is how it always sounds the first day back on the trail. Most people were trying to avoid the mid-afternoon heat by starting early in the morning, since the temperatures were still quite hot. It was mid-June at this point, and being this close to the summer solstice means that the sun sets after 10:00PM in northern Spain.
All packed up and out the door by seven, I stopped for a quick bite to eat and was on the trail hiking by eight. The coastal walking had breathtaking views, and the ocean breeze kept things cool throughout the morning.
Most of the morning was spent on the narrow trails along the water, tracing the coastline, and away from the noise of the highway.
After the trail turned inland and climbed a bit higher, there was a mix of breezy coastlines and paved highways. Though the sections along the highway weren’t the best, the route planners really did a pretty good job putting this trek together, all things considered.
Quick stop in Castro Urdiales
Passing through Castro Urdiales, I stopped and bought a large baguette along with some lunch meat and cheese, and made a giant sandwich for both lunch and dinner.
This is definitely one of the easiest, quickest, and most cost-effective ways to eat while walking the Camino. It takes about 10 minutes to pick up the ingredients, a couple more to make the sandwich, and then you’re sorted for lunch and potentially even dinner. I also usually carried a bag of trail mix or nuts in my pack, which I could snack on when I took breaks.
After the few days of intense heat as I was coming into Bilbao, the coastal breeze made this day of walking particularly enjoyable.
This close to the summer solstice, it still seems like the middle of the day around dinner time. It can be deceiving, so be careful about trying to read the sun if you’re hiking the Camino in the middle of June. If you reserved a spot at a private albergue you just need to get there before the receptionist leaves, but the albergues públicos tend to have strict cut-off times for check-in.
Passing through Oriñón
One of the risks of hiking during peak season is that the public albergues tend to fill up pretty quickly, and by the time I walked into Oriñón all the albergues were fully booked. Straying from the standard route meant that finding a bed was slightly more complicated and involved walking a little way off trail.
I hiked around 4 km off the marked route to a small beach town that I had read about online that offered relatively cheap beds. I ended up finding a bed for the night in a four-person hostel dorm, sharing the room with a German guy who was connecting various trails along the coastline and not following any particular Camino route. Hiking off trail meant that I would start the next day with some extra kilometers, but that’s just how it goes sometimes. It’s all part of the adventure.
I took a quick shower and sat out on the porch of the beachside hostel, eating my sandwich from that afternoon and enjoying the late evening sun. After this high-mileage day, I was exhausted and fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Final thoughts
One of the cooler aspects about the complex networks of albergues is that as long as you have a pilgrim passport, you can tie them together however you want. For a few euros, you can buy a pilgrim passport either at an albergue or online. I go into some of the differences in accommodations in this post, as well as in this other post on walking the Camino on your own.
A friend of mine who still teaches in Spain told me his girlfriend might be in Santander at the same time as me, so if the timing works out we’ll meet up for a coffee or a bite to eat.
Just as a quick note, there are private albergues all along the Camino routes, where dorm beds can be reserved for around 12–15 euros a night by calling ahead. If leaving things up to chance gives you too much anxiety, it’s definitely worth making reservations ahead of time during peak season (June-August).
Drop any questions you have about this section down below! And if you’ve already hiked a Camino, let me know if you generally stuck to the recommended daily distances or if you tended to overshoot or undershoot on your hike. As always, ¡Buen Camino!
Subscribe!
Enter your email below to receive updates on the latest posts.
Leave a Reply