Cheap Travels

Zarautz to Deba

Distance Covered: 13.54 miles / 21.8 km

Best known for its gorgeous oceanside cliffs featured in the HBO series, “Game of Thrones”, this section of the Camino del Norte follows the scenic coastline along the Bay of Biscay.

Connecting the famous fishing town of Getaria, the geological wonder of the “flysch” rock formations along the coast of Zumaia, and the famous surf beach in Deba, this route makes for an unforgettable day of hiking.

Before the cliffs of Zumaia were featured as part of “Dragonstone” in Game of Thrones, Zumaia was made famous as the main location of the movie “A Spanish Affair” (Ocho Apellidos Vascos). This was really the first film to make light of the tense relationship between the Basque separatist group, ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna), and the rest of Spain.

While this section has no shortage of hill climbs and steep descents, the natural beauty more than makes up for the challenging day of walking.

If you want to learn more about hiking this route, take a look at my article covering the history and logistics of walking the Camino.

Starting the hike from Zarautz to Getaria

Well rested after taking the extra day to hang out in Zarautz I took off early, feeling rejuvenated. This would be my first night staying in an albergue, which meant that I needed to be extra aware of the time in order to guarantee I could get a spot to sleep.

I drank a cup of coffee, said my goodbyes and made my way out of Zarautz and up the steep hill I had just climbed the day before. After a hot day of hiking from San Sebastián to Zarautz in the direct, midday sun, the overcast sky provided some welcome relief.

Walking alone for the first while, I eventually bumped into an older gentleman who was out walking by himself. We exchanged pleasantries, and he seemed very surprised to meet a pilgrim who spoke any Spanish. Chatting for a minute, he decided on the spot to adjust his whole itinerary for the day just to walk with me for a little while.

He told me he typically hikes in the mornings, and then his wife drives to pick him up in the afternoon. Since retiring, they had spent most of their time driving around Spain in a van, hiking and sightseeing. For a man in his 80s, he seemed remarkably healthy.

Getaria to Zumaia

The walk from Getaria to Zumaia is a hilly mix of vineyards, shipyards, and oceanside cliffs.

I was glad to have some company and hear some of the man’s stories, and he was content to show me a few of his favorite spots for photos and to have someone new to talk to. I would eventually have to part ways with him because I had to slow my pace considerably to chat, and if I wanted to get a spot at the albergue in Deba, then I would have to make better time.

He gave me some advice for my Camino, and eventually we said our goodbyes. These types of interactions are one of the best parts about walking the Camino solo, when you aren’t insulated by a close group with an established dynamic.

The conversations I had with strangers on misty mornings in the middle of nowhere about their lives and ambitions are some of the most memorable souvenirs I took home from this trip.

The morning of walking went by quickly with someone to talk to, and before I knew it I was almost to Zumaia. I hiked by several more vineyards, working hard to get up high, only to descend back down to sea level an hour later.

I carried on walking fairly quickly, arriving in the town of Zumaia by the early afternoon. Since it was Sunday, the terraces around town were all buzzing with people drinking coffee, wine, or beer and children playing.

I made a quick stop in Zumaia to get a slice of tortilla de patatas and a coffee, and bought some fruit and refilled my water before heading out again.

Making my way toward the Flysch, I wandered far off route in order to walk along the beautiful oceanside rock formations.

Zumaia to Flysch Geoparkea

After stopping to take some pictures, I remembered that it was Sunday, and braced myself for the crowds that were sure to be swarming around the famous beach. Luckily, the overcast weather had kept many would-be tourists away from the windy ocean-side cliffs.

One thing I often struggled with on this hike was finding a balance between taking my time to take photos, and racing through the hike to either beat the sun, the rain, or the crowds. At the end of the day, I wanted to have the memories and the stories more than I wanted to speed to the next town, and I always tried to keep that in mind.

I spent a good bit of time admiring the rock formations and walking along cliffs before getting back to the official Camino route.

The cliffs were beautiful, but I was still hoping to get a bed at an albergue público that night.

Flysch Geopark to Deba

After taking some photos and enjoying the views, I carried on along the cliffside route towards Deba. As expected, the route had plenty of climbs and descents, and I stopped to refill my backpack’s hydration pack at a spot on a hilltop with several benches and a water fountain.

Just as I started to fill my water, a woman jumped up on top of the picnic table right where my gear was sitting, and started picking fruit from the large tree casting shade over the water spigot. As she stood there shoveling the wild fruit into her mouth, we struck up a conversation. I remained seated, taking refuge on the park bench away from the hot sun, and she continued picking fruit and chowing down.

As it turns out, she was an American expat who had been living in Spain for nearly 30 years, and we talked about modern life in the US for a few minutes before she wandered off to rejoin her friends.

After drinking some water and eating a pear and some nuts from my pack, I carried on towards the town I planned to stay in that night.

Arriving in Deba

Walking into town a little later than I had hoped, I met a couple of pilgrims sitting in the grass beneath a wild cherry tree with a bag of fruit between them. As I sat beside them for a moment to drink some water and try some of their cherries, I started to hear each of their stories.

There was a young Canadian guy attempting to finish the Camino del Norte in 3 weeks, who had just started the day before, and planned to take zero rest days on his whole hike.

The second hiker, a German girl, was having an existential crisis about whether or not she wanted to finish law school. She had previously walked the Camino Francés, and came out to Spain to do the more difficult Camino del Norte, and spend some time thinking about some hard life choices. Though she was only a few days in, her knees were killing her, and her boots were quite literally falling apart.

Suddenly, I started to feel a bit better about the few months of training that I completed leading up to my Camino. All of the Europeans I met the first days had done pretty much zero training in preparation for the hike, and many of them were suffering as a result.

After thanking them for the cherries, I left them on the steep hill under the cherry tree and made my way into town to find a supermarket and the town’s albergue.

I bought enough food for dinner and breakfast the next day, and found the albergue, which was located inside of the town’s small train station. I reserved the very last available bed for just a few euros, and finally bought an official “Pilgrim Passport”, or credencial which you need if you want to stay in an official albergue.

After a long, warm shower, I made my way into the commons area, where I found the people I had just met picking wild cherries an hour or so earlier, along with a British girl.

The group invited me out to get some food with them, so I threw my valuables into a small bag and we made our way into the town square to grab a drink and a bite to eat.

While the other hikers tried to make sense of the dinner menu, I strolled directly inside to the bar to get a drink and a pintxo (the Basque equivalent of a ‘tapa‘) off of the counter, which cost me 3 or 4 euros in total. The others looked a bit envious after ordering complicated, expensive dishes that looked half as appetizing as the cheap food I had picked up from the bar.

“So… what went wrong in your lives to make you want to hike the Camino?”

One of my absolute favorite things about sitting down for dinner with a group of perfect strangers is the direct nature of the conversation. This is likely the first time, and possibly the last time you will ever see these people in your life, so you may as well ask what about you really want to know. When we finally all had our food and drinks, the British girl asked, “So… what went wrong in your lives to make you want to hike the Camino?”

We spent an hour or two eating and enjoying the cool evening out on the patio, talking about our motivations for doing the Camino, life plans and overall expectations for the trip. It seemed like most people out walking the Camino were at a transitional point between life phases.

After eating and chatting a while, we all made our way back to the albergue and said goodnight. After walking all day, I was more than ready to climb into a bunk and pass out. I slept in a room with seven other people that night, but until my alarm went off the next morning I didn’t hear a sound.

Final thoughts

This section of the hike featured gorgeous nature, beautiful coastal towns and a lot of elevation change. The hills were a little tough at times, but the views and the people that I met made it all bearable.

One very interesting thing you notice walking the entire distance from France to Santiago is that you meet different types of people in different sections. The start of the Camino del Norte, for example, is wilder and more rugged than most of the other routes, and the types of people I met walking it also seemed to embody some of that characteristic.

I’m glad I kept a journal during this hike because without it I would have forgotten so many of the little details about places and how I was feeling as I hiked. As I transcribed my handwritten notes for this website, I was reminded of countless stories and people that I had almost completely forgotten about.

If you’ve hiked this section of the Camino, or are thinking about hiking it, drop a comment or question down below!

As always, ¡Buen Camino!

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