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Day 12 on the Pennine Way: Alston to Greenhead, 16.5 miles

April 11, 2019

(July 2018) Day 12 on the Pennine Way took me from Alston to Greenhead, and overall the walking was straightforward and uncomplicated. It had been a few days since I could say that (field wanderings, a missed dinner, a drained cellphone, exhausted legs, hill/mountain climbing, no coffee), and so I was looking forward to this stage.

I think, however, I need to add a note about the weather. If you’ve been following along, you may have noticed that I’ve written- “It was another day of blue skies and sunshine”- in nearly every post. If I didn’t write it, the photos have shown you how great the weather was during my walk.

And, you guessed it, my 12th day was no different and the weather was perfect. So when I say that this stage was straightforward and uncomplicated, it’s especially easy for me to say that because of the weather. A fellow Pennine Way walker is posting photos from his trek over on Instagram; he walked in the fall and I think he walked at least half of his trek in the rain. He had 8 days in a row of soggy boots! He just posted some photos from the same stage I’m writing about today, saying that he walked through what is the wettest and boggiest section of the entire Pennine Way, at first trying to walk with plastic bags wrapped over his shoes, then forsaking the bags and just tramping through the mud and water and soaking his boots clean through.

I look at his photos and I remember what the same walk was like for me. I, too, walked through the fields that are known as being the ‘wettest section of the way’. What do I remember from this section? I only remember focusing on navigation and looking for signposts. Maybe I walked through a small puddle? Maybe one? But I doubt it.

The Pennine Way wasn’t an easy walk, it was the most difficult one I’ve done so far. Sometimes I wonder if I would have loved it as much as I did if I hadn’t had such nice weather. I remember how miserable so much of that first day was, my only day of rain: how difficult it was to navigate and keep to the trail, how cold my hands were, how wet my socks and shoes became. As I’ve been trying to churn out these posts, it’s meant that I’ve immersed myself in memories from my walk, and it’s so easy to long to be back on the trail, it makes me want to plan another walk in the UK. And I’m sure I will, but I also need to always remember that the beauty of my experience had a lot to do with the weather.

Okay, enough rambling, back to Day 12!

The weather was good, yes, but my last few days had been difficult and so I took an easy alternate path for the first 6 miles of the day and it was the best decision I could have made. The South Tyne Trail follows an old railroad track and runs roughly parallel to the Pennine Way. But where the Pennine Way climbs up and down little hills, traverses farms and is constantly taking you through a series of gates and stiles, the South Tyne Trail is totally flat and straight and stile free. Stile free! Plus, there’s no need to even worry about navigation or looking for the next marker or constantly checking maps to make sure you’re on the right track. It was free and easy walking, the kind where you can just let your mind wander and cruise along easily and happily.

And cruise along I did. I had sort of missed this kind of walking, and I was grateful for the break. Now, purists would probably shun the South Tyne Trail (or at least choose to stick to the Pennine Way) and once, there would have been a time where I would have made that choice. But in my 5 years of long-distance walking, I’ve learned a few things. And one of them is this: if there’s a much easier path that is running parallel to a more difficult (yet official) path, take the easy one. (I feel like there’s a life lesson in here somewhere…)

So I walked for about 6-miles on the South Tyne Trail, moving quickly and easily and happily. I took a slight detour to see about a snack or a cup of coffee at the Kirkstyle Inn (well-worth a visit, my guidebook told me) but I came up short and the Inn was closed (I think just for the day, so future Pennine Way walkers should try their luck). I didn’t mind too much- the morning had been easy and I was still full from my breakfast at the B&B in Alston, so I continued on.

I moved away from the South Tyne Trail and back onto the Pennine Way, immediately climbing out of the valley and walking through fields and fells, marsh grass growing high around me. I continued on through farmland, then reached Blenkinsopp Common, the fabled “wettest and boggiest” section of the Pennine Way. My guidebook also told me that navigation would be nearly impossible here, the path disappearing into the grass and heather, but just to look for the fenceline and follow it north. At first I couldn’t even see a fence but I eventually spotted it, far off in the distance. I headed towards it, picking my way through the moors, hoping I wouldn’t sink into a bog. My fears were unfounded; there were no bogs to be had, and the path was mostly dry.

I think the highlight of my afternoon was finding a Pennine Way marker in these fields: my guidebooks says, “Chufty badge for navigation if you find this” and when I did I let out a small cheer. I didn’t cross paths with another walker for the entire day, I was alone with my thoughts and my footsteps for miles and miles and so sometimes, finding a marker in an otherwise endless field of green feels rather exciting.

After another few hours I arrived in Greenhead, the Pennine Way having just overlapped with Hadrian’s Wall Path. I was excited about the next day’s walk- I’d get to walk about 7-miles along Hadrian’s Wall (some of the best part!), and ever since I walked the route in the spring of 2017, I’d been eager to go back.

In Greenhead I’d booked a bed at the hostel, which is in a converted Methodist chapel, and as usual I had the room all to myself. Just as I was thinking that my Pennine Way had turned into a very solo trip (despite having made several friends within the first few days), I ran into the Dutchman- Luke (or Luuk?)- at dinner! The Greenhead Hotel was just about the only place around for food, and there were a few other walkers there as well. Luke and I ate together and talked about our experiences along the way, and it felt really good to be able to share my experience with someone else. It felt like a long time since I’d said goodbye to David back in Horton-in-Ribblesdale, and while I’d had some nice encounters with locals, I hadn’t really met or talked to another walker like me. I’d resigned myself to a very solo and isolated walk until the end, so having that meal with Luke was an unexpected treat. We talked about the next day’s stage and he told me he was breaking what I would be doing in one day into two, so I knew that I wouldn’t see him again. But this is something I love so much about these long-distance walks: the chance to have a drink or a meal with a stranger who quickly turns into a friend, for the shared camaraderie, the understanding, the ease of it all.

Then back to my bunk in the hostel, under the covers, a chapter of Jane Eyre and then lights out, already dreaming about the next day’s walk along Hadrian’s Wall.

Previous Post: Day 11 on the Pennine Way

Next Post: Day 13 on the Pennine Way

Men in the hills and bulls in the field; Day 5 on the Pennine Way, Haworth to Malham (with a train ride… 6 or 7 miles of walking)

November 28, 2018

Day 5 was the day that I skipped part of the Pennine Way.

When people ask about my summer travels or I talk about walks that I’ve done, I always say that I walked the Pennine Way. I don’t say that I skipped part of it or that I didn’t walk the whole thing; I say that I walked it, that I walked it all.

Some may disagree with me and I suppose at one time- during my first Camino on the Frances- I was a bit of a purist. If I was going to do a walk, I wanted to start at the start and end at the end and walk every step of it in between. It wasn’t that I considered it “cheating” if I didn’t walk all of it, but I think my thought was that I would do everything in my power to walk every step.

And, now that I think about it, I maintained that view through my next two Caminos: the Norte and the San Salvador. In fact, on the Camino de San Salvador, I walked when I was very sick and absolutely should have just hopped on a train and skipped the last 30km of the walk. Maybe it was because the route was a shorter distance, maybe it was because I wanted to arrive at my destination on foot, or maybe it was just that sort of purist view that if you’re going to walk a long-distance walk, you should try your best to walk the whole thing.

To that I now say… nonsense!

If I’m able to, if I have the time and my body is in good shape, I still love starting at the start, ending at the end, and walking every step in between. But sickness on the San Salvador taught me my lesson, and now I have (almost) no hesitations about skipping a section of a long walk if it’s in my best interest. I don’t want to skip a section if it’s hard, I don’t want to skip a section if I’m bored, and I even hesitate to skip a section if there’s bad weather (unless it makes the walking dangerous), but if I’m sick or hurting or if I’m falling short on time, I’ll hop on a bus or train or hail a taxi and skip those miles.

I put this into practice during my second sojourn on the Norte and even at the end of last summer’s Le Puy adventure, and you know, nothing bad happened. No one shook their finger at me because I didn’t walk all the stages in my guidebook, and honestly I didn’t feel any differently. A little disappointed, maybe, that I couldn’t quite fit in all that I had set out to do, but at the end of the journey I felt accomplished, and proud, and very, very much like a pilgrim.

So after four days on the Pennine Way, with four blisters on my feet and a 26-mile day looming ahead of me, I thought and I thought and then finally the answer was just so clear and obvious, like a great voice booming overhead: “Nadine,” the voice said. “Take the bloody train.”

I was in Haworth, after all, and there was a train station just down the hill from where I was staying.

So after a truly splendid full English breakfast, I hoisted up my heavy pack and walked down to the station and the whole experience was just the best. A little luxury on a pilgrimage or a long trek is something I could get used to! (Though, to be fair, some people camp and cook their dinners on stoves every night during their walks; with my beds and my glasses of wine/pints of beer, some may consider my walking adventures quite luxurious!).

In any case, I bought a ticket on a steam engine train that took me from Haworth to Keighley- who knew I’d get to ride on a steam engine??

From Keighley I took another train to Gargrave, which was where I picked up the Pennine Way, skipping over about 20-miles of walking that I’d originally planned to do.

Did I miss the walking? A little bit. But honestly, the blisters were such a bother that it was really nice to sit back on the train and watch the countryside whiz past. Gargrave is a quaint town that sits across from the River Aire; I got off the train and headed straight to the wonderful Dalesman Café, where I ordered a packed sandwich and bag of chips to stash in my pack for a little later in the afternoon. Because I only had 6-miles to walk and it was still late in the morning, I sat for awhile on the banks of the river with my feet stretched out in the sun, giving my blisters as much time to heal as I possibly could.

Eventually, I put my shoes back on and started walking and the blisters still hurt, but maybe not quite as much as the day before. Soon enough I was out of Gargrave and into the rolling countryside and fields of Eshton Moor. It was fairly easy walking and I mostly had the open fields all to myself, not another soul around for miles except for the cows and the sheep. Not another soul until I heard a sound behind me, and turned to see a young man walking briskly- nearly running- on the path behind me. He wore a wide-brimmed hat and carried a small day pack and the muscles of his legs reminded me a bit of a racehorse.

“Hi,” he called to me as he approached. “Are you walking the Pennine Way?”

“Yes,” I replied. “Are you?”

“Yeah, sort of,” he laughed. “I’m doing the Spine Race actually, crazy fool that I am.”

I’d heard about the Spine Race sometime in the days before; to quote the website, it’s a “non-stop, 7-day, 168 hour race from Edale to Kirk Yetholm.” Edale to Kirk Yetholm is the entirety of the Pennine Way, and to try to complete the trail in 7 days is, indeed, rather foolish. And a bit insane.

“When did you start?” I asked, as the man moved past me.

“Yesterday morning!” He was ahead of me now, and turning his head back he smiled. “Good luck with your walk, it’s a lot harder with a bigger pack like yours.”

I marveled at what he was attempting to do, and watched as he began to jog lightly through the grass. I thought about how he must have walked through the night, pausing only to sleep for an hour, maybe two. And then I thought about my own night and morning: a room of my own in a cozy B&B, a breakfast of eggs and toast and bacon and tomatoes and beans, and then a pleasant train ride on a steam engine. A sandwich in my pack, waiting to be eaten under the shade of a tree, perhaps along a babbling creek with my bare feet in the grass.

We all walk our own walk, I thought, smiling to myself.

But about 10 minutes later I’d caught up to him. I’d just approached a closed wooden gate when I saw the man on the other side of the field, backing slowly away from a large group of young cows who were advancing on him.

I carefully reached up and unlocked the gate, the swung it back towards me so the man could come back into my field. We shut the gate, the cows (or, possibly, bulls, according to the Spine Race Man) crowding against the wooden fence.

“I got worried when they start to advance on me,” he said.

We stared at the bulls, they stared back at us, pushing and shoving against each other so they could all get closer. They seemed friendly enough, but now that they were blocking the gate I couldn’t see how we would even be able to enter the field at all.

“Let’s hop over the wall here,” the Spine Race Man said, “it looks like this other field runs parallel to the path, and we can cross over again once we get away from the bulls.”

The man hopped the wall easily enough, but it was another story for me. I had to take off my pack and shove it over the wall to Spine Race Man, who was waiting to catch it. I attempted to effortlessly climb over the wall but who are we kidding? Once on top of the wall I needed the man’s help to get down onto the other side, and he was gracious enough to wait and help me, and even picked up my pack and helped me get it back on.

I figured he would take off- him being in a race and all- but he walked with me down through the field until we found a safe spot to climb back over the wall and get back onto the Pennine Way, well away from the bulls.

“Good luck with the rest of your way,” he said, and then he was off, running this time, off through the fields and away into the hills and after awhile I wondered if he was just a figment of my imagination, a man in a race over the mountains who helped me scale a wall and escape a herd of bulls.

The rest of my walk was beautiful and fairly easy. But then another funny thing happened, when I was about a mile away from Malham, my destination for the night. Walking towards me and coming from the opposite direction were three people, as they drew closer I saw a younger couple and a older woman. We all smiled at each other and I was about to move past them when the younger girl said, “Excuse me, but you aren’t Nadine, are you?”

I blinked. I was about 75-miles into a long walk through England and currently in the middle of a nondescript grassy field, and here was a group of people who were all looking at me and smiling and knowing exactly who I was.

I nodded, a bit hesitantly, and the girl beamed at me. “I’m Charlie’s sister!” she exclaimed. “This is our mother,” she pointed to the woman at her side. “We were just with Charlie last night and she and Dad went ahead to do the next stage, we’re going to take a car and meet up with them later.”

I laughed then, so happy to have run into these strangers who could give me news of Charlie, my friend from the day I walked into Hebden Bridge. I had last seen Charlie just two days before but already it felt like an entirety, as though I had been walking alone for a really long time.

Her family encouraged me, saying that Malham wasn’t much further and that the walking would be easy, and with big smiles and waves we said goodbye and I continued on. I thought about Charlie as I walked, how she was just a day ahead of me. The thought warmed me, as though I had some invisible guide on my journey, someone who was walking just miles ahead: checking the path, making sure the route was okay, leaving her trace by her footprints in the mud.

I arrived in Malham by mid-afternoon, and first walked in a circle through the tiny, charming village. There were several pubs and restaurants, a couple B&Bs, a small general store and an ice cream stand, all surrounding the River Aire. Families and hikers were seated at the outdoor tables and spread across the grass and with the bright sunlight filtering through the trees, I couldn’t think of a much more idyllic spot.

My hostel (Malham YHA Hostel) was just at the corner of town, and I stopped inside to deposit my bag and change my shoes and then went back into town to kill time until I could check into my dorm room. I added myself to the beautiful tableau before me: armed with an ice cream cone and Jane Eyre, I found a bench in the sun and whiled away a peaceful hour, reading and writing and people watching.

Later, over a hearty dinner in the pub, I thought about how I had given myself all the things I’d needed that day; how I had moved slowly and skipped those miles and met the Spine Race Man and Charlie’s family, how my feet were finally starting to feel better and how, after 5 days of walking, I was starting to feel like I was on the Pennine Way, really on it. I was settled and more sure of myself, I’d picked up a set of maps and an extra stake for my tent and several more blister patches (just in case!) and I had a belly full of food and a heavy copy of Jane Eyre and a forecast that showed nothing but sunshine.

I was ready for the rest of the way. Ready, and excited.

Previous Post: Day 4 on the Pennine Way

Next Post: Day 6 on the Pennine Way

My favorite albergues on the Camino del Norte

January 24, 2016

(Updated November 2019; I first walked a section of the Camino del Norte in 2015, then finished in 2016. Three years later I returned again and walked from Irun to Oviedo, and on this second go-around I discovered a few new favorite albergues. They’re included in the second half of this post!)

There’s so much to do when preparing for a Camino: researching and trying on and buying all of that gear. Backpacks! Shoes! Socks! Highly absorbent, quick-dry, micro-fiber towels! Purchasing flights, figuring out train tickets and bus schedules, devising a training plan, learning how to take care of blisters, learning how to tell your friends and family what you’re about to do.

Before I left for Spain to walk my first Camino- the Frances- there were dozens of things that I never got around to doing. I’d wanted to learn some Spanish, to take a closer look at my guidebook, to study some of the history of the regions I’d be walking through. And I also wanted to make lists of can’t miss highlights along the way: churches and art and restaurants and albergues.

As I read through Camino blogs and posts on the Camino forum, I’d occasionally see recommendations for great albergues. I’d make a mental note to come back and jot down the particulars, but it never happened. When I walked the Frances, I figured out where I’d stay as I arrived in a town or a village at the end of my walking day. Some albergues were great, some weren’t so great. Sometimes, I was really, really envious when I found out that a friend had stayed in a clean and quirky albergue with a fully stocked kitchen and rooms with only 6 bunks a piece. Meanwhile, I’d be just down the street in the same town in an albergue with 80 bunks in one room.

That’s part of the experience of the Camino though, and I developed a love/hate relationship with those, ahem, basic albergues. For me, it was part of being a pilgrim.

But before I left for my second Camino- on the Norte/Primitivo- I decided that I wanted to do a little albergue research before I left. So I dug around and asked former pilgrims for recommendations, and I left with a guidebook marked up with decent albergue possibilities.

There were albergue hits and misses on the Norte just like there were on the Frances, but I think I had a few more hits this time around. Since I’ve been home, several people have asked for my own recommendations, and I decided to put together a little list. It’s important to remember that, as with anything, a lot of an experience with a place is personal, and can be influenced by so many different things- the people you’re with, the mood you’re in, the weather that day, how much your feet hurt.

But I definitely had my favorites and here they are, my favorite albergues on the Camino del Norte!

1. Albergue St Martin (just before the town of Orio)

This is where I stayed on my second night of the Camino del Norte. Stopping at this albergue after staying in San Sebastian the night before makes for a short second stage, but do yourself a favor and go easy on your feet at the beginning of your pilgrimage. This albergue is situated in the middle of truly majestic, rolling hills, has a wonderfully warm hospitalera, and a sloping green lawn with lounge chairs and tire swings. The bunks are tucked away into semi-private sections of a much larger room, and the showers are clean and spacious. A separate building sits out on the hillside, with a kitchen and a large dining space, as well as an outdoor table on the terrace.

For an additional cost, pilgrims have the option of a communal, home-cooked dinner. I’d already eaten a large lunch and had bought my own supplies for dinner, but I heard from other pilgrims that the meal was outstanding.

Tip: If you’re lucky, the hospitalera’s granddaughter will be around to give you a tour of the treehouse.

To Know Ahead of Time: This albergue sits at the top of a hill, just before the town of Orio. To get to the town, you need to walk an additional kilometer (that’s a guess) down steep streets. The town has several supermercados and restaurants, and if you continue walking, you’ll come to a small beach. But remember that you’ll need to walk several kilometers (uphill!) to get back to your albergue.

2. Albergue Eskerika

This was my hidden gem albergue. About 10km past Gernika, few pilgrims stay here or even know of its existence. It’s tucked away just off the Camino in a very rural area, and not much is around. But walk through the gate of the property and enter into a little paradise. The first floor of the albergue has a dining area and two private bathroom/shower combos. Upstairs is the spacious bunk area; from the wooden beamed ceiling to the shelving units by each bunk to the piles of spare blankets, the sleeping area was one of the most comfortable on my Camino.

But the best part of this albergue was the outdoor area: a covered, open-aired kitchen space, hammocks and lounge chairs, and a little dog named Lola who will gladly cuddle up on your lap. I felt so at peace and relaxed here, and it helped that there were only 6 of us here the night that I stayed.

Tip: Buy food in Gernika because there is no supermercado nearby; if you don’t have food, you can purchase basic items from the hospitalero (pasta, select fruit/veggies, canned fish). Beer and wine also available (though I believe the prices here are more expensive than what you can find at a supermercado or tienda).

Albergue Eskerika, Favorite albergues on the Camino del Norte

What a beautiful spot to do laundry!

3. Guemes (La Cabana del Abuelo Peuto)

A lot has been written about this albergue in Camino forums, and for good reason: I’ve never stayed at another place remotely like it. It’s not just an albergue, it’s an entire “Camino of Life” compound: dozens of bunk rooms, a large dining space, circular rooms with cushioned benches, a library, a chapel, a wide lawn and lots of room to relax and reflect. There’s an agenda, here: a community meeting before a communal meal, and after the meal a talk in the chapel. We learned about the history of the albergue and the on-going purpose of the space; it was like a pilgrimage lecture that I hadn’t realized I’d signed up for. But it was also an incredibly unique experience, and I loved getting to sit around a room with 30 other pilgrims and laugh and learn and- later- eat a hearty meal and make new friends.

Tip: If the day is warm, find a quiet spot on the lawn and take a nap. Preferably with the resident dog.

Bonus tip: If you like bunk beds, go for the very top of the three-tiered bunk, a rarity on the Camino.

Napping at Guemes

Chapel at Guemes

4. Santa Cruz de Bezana (Albergue La Santa Cruz)

This might have been, overall, my favorite albergue on the Norte. It helped that I loved the people staying there, and it helped that two of those people were content to drink wine and eat cheese with me for hours under an umbrella in the back yard. But whatever it was, Santa Cruz de Bezana was beautiful and charming and relaxing. The hospitalera, Nieves, was the most welcoming hostesses on the Camino- she and her family live in one half of the building, and the other half is the albergue. There’s a wonderfully stocked kitchen where Nieves prepares a home-cooked meal each evening, and with only 5 of us in the albergue, we gorged on tortilla and salad and goat cheese and bread and wine until we couldn’t eat another bite. Nieves spoke with us after dinner about the next day’s walk, and provided maps and options for a tricky section. I felt so safe and taken care of here, and it felt very much like a little oasis in an urban section of the Camino, on the outskirts of Santander.

Tip: The largest supermercado (that I found, anyway) on the Camino is just down the street from the albergue; stock up here for an afternoon picnic, or snacks for the next day’s walk.

To Know Ahead of Time: I thought this albergue was a little tricky to find. It’s around this section of the Camino that there are several alternate routes and my guidebook didn’t do a good job outlining them. My friend and I walked much further than we thought we needed to in order to find this albergue, and this included stopping a few times and asking for directions (no one seemed to know that this albergue even existed). And be warned, the albergue isn’t situated in the nicest area, but I swear it’s a like a small oasis when you step inside.

Details: Donativo, communal dinner, breakfast included.

5. Pendueles (Albergue Aves de Paso)

I’m noticing a theme with my favorite albergues: communal meals and gracious and loving hosts. Pendueles is no exception, on either front: David greeted me warmly when I arrived, told me to put my dirty clothes in a basket and said he would have them washed and dried for me, then provided all the guests with an excellent dinner and a standard Camino breakfast the following morning. It might have helped that when I arrived at the albergue, I had just walked nearly 40 kilometers and was exhausted, and David was able to provide just about everything for me. All this tired pilgrim had to worry about was claiming a bed and taking a shower, and the rest was effortless. Note: the bunk room felt a little crowded and tight, but that’s a small price to pay for the hospitality.

Details: Donativo, communal dinner, breakfast and laundry (!!) included. Reservations accepted. Link for additional information.

(Update: I stayed here in 2019 as well, and I think this might be my very favorite albergue of the Norte. This year’s hospitalero was Javier but he seemed familiar, so maybe it was always Javier (which makes me wonder where I came up with the name David?). In any case, Javier was kind and gentle and funny and patient, and I marveled at how he hosts pilgrims, day after day after day, with such good humor and grace. He claims that he can only cook one meal (and that’s the meal that he serves every night for dinner), but it is an excellent vegetarian soup and pasta salad. He still washes everyone’s laundry- t-shirts, underwear and socks- and does it with a smile. The albergue just feels safe, like a little temporary home on the long road of the Camino. I’d stay here time and time again).

And now, a few favorite albergues from my second time on the Norte, in 2019!

6. Albergue Izarbide (4km past Deba, typical 3rd or 4th stage of the Norte)

The typical ending stage of Day 3 on the Camino del Norte is Deba (where there is an albergue above the train station in town, which is pretty fun!). This year, I knew I wanted to continue a few kilometers past Deba to make the next day’s stage a bit shorter, and after 4km (some/a lot of it UP), I found Albergue Izarbide. This is a private albergue and accepts reservations, but with 32 beds it’s a decent size and even in the middle of a very crowded stretch this summer, the albergue didn’t completely fill up (almost, but not completely).

They offer a communal meal (for around 12 euros, I think), along with the option of ordering a packed breakfast for the next morning- to eat in the small kitchen or to take with you to-go. The cost of the albergue (in 2019) was 13 euros, so altogether this is a slightly more expensive Camino stay, but I think it’s worth it.

For starters, there’s a large field across the road from the albergue, with picnic tables and lounge chairs and a view out to the mountains. After I arrived, claimed my bed, showered and washed my clothes, I ordered a beer from the little bar and headed for a lounge chair, where I spent nearly two hours resting my feet, writing in my journal, and staring off into the rolling hills.

The communal dinner is fun and delicious: two long tables were set and we all crowded around to eat a colorful salad followed by a huge platter of roasted chicken and poblano peppers. I try to jump at the opportunity for communal albergue meals when on a Camino, and this one did not disappoint.

Details: Private, communal dinner available, packed breakfast available, washer and dryer (but also one of those spin dryers that you can use for free, that get SO much of the water out of your clothes. I love these!). Link for contact information.

7. Albergue de peregrinos del Monasterio de Zenarruza, Ziortza (7km past Markina, typically the 4th or 5th stage of the Norte)

I stayed at this monastery back in 2015, too, and at the time it didn’t quite make the cut of my top albergues. But this around I thought it deserved a mention, not least because I felt pulled to stay there again. If walking from Deba this is a long stage of about 32km (this time around it was 28km since the night before I’d stayed in Albergue Izarbide, past Deba), and the last few kilometers are up and up a long, ancient cobblestoned road that will have you cursing your decision to have kept walking. But the payoff is worth it, if you like quiet and beauty and peace. The monastery is tucked into the hills with nothing else around. The facilities are simple- this isn’t going to be the nicest shower of your walk- and while there’s a communal dinner, this is simple too. But the opportunity to stay in a monastery is a special one, and there’s a vespers service at 7:30 with a pilgrim blessing.

Another highlight is that the monks here brew their own beer, available for purchase in the tiny gift shop around the corner from the albergue. Look for a fridge tucked away in the corner, where you can choose from a variety of brews (they are differentiated by various letters on the label of the bottles, I have no idea what any of them meant, but sampled a few and they were all pretty good). A beer on a terrace at a monastery with a view of the mountains- that’s a little bit of Camino perfection if I’ve ever known it.

Beer brewed by the monks at the Albergue de Peregrinos del Monastery de Zenarruza, Camino del Norte

Beer, monk, laundry

Sunrise and coffee at Albergue de peregrines del Monastery de Zenarruza, Camino del Norte

Sunrise with morning coffee

8. Albergue Caserío Pozueta (5km past Gernika, typical 5th or 6th stage of the Norte)

Pozueta is about 5km past Gernika, and this albergue is the perfect option for pilgrims who might not want to stay in a city, or want to add several kilometers to the day’s stage. A further 3km on is the great Albergue Eskerika (number 2 on this list), and I’d planned to stay here a second time until I discovered it was unexpectedly closed for the day. I assumed I’d have to stay in the municipal albergue in Gernika instead, but when I arrived there and stood in a long line of pilgrims, I knew that I wanted something a little more peaceful. My Italian friends phoned me right around this point, telling me that they were going to make a reservation in a small private albergue about 5km away, and could they make a reservation for me, too?

I love serendipitous Camino moments like this. I continued walking and when I arrived at the albergue I knew I was in the right spot. A family lives on one side of the property, the albergue is on the other. The building is rambling and long, but inside the rooms are new and clean and the bathroom was one of the most modern I’d seen along the way. I was shown to my bunk by one of the boys of the family- he couldn’t have been more than 8 years old (kids always charm me on the Camino!)- and I was in a room with only two bunk beds that I shared with my Italian friends. There were puppies and chickens in the garden, lounge chairs under a large and shady tree, a fabulous communal meal (this is a private albergue; dinner and breakfast will cost extra but pilgrims can opt out of either or both), and wonderful and generous hosts.

Details: Private albergue, communal dinner and breakfast available for extra fee (28 euros for bed, dinner and breakfast in 2019). Link for additional information.

9. Albergue Piedad, Boo de Piélagos, between Santander and Santillana Del Mar

I’d chosen to walk a coastal alternative route from Santander (not an official Camino route, but navigation wasn’t too difficult if you mostly kept to the coast); I ended my 35km stage in Boo de Piélagos (this only would have been about 13km if I’d followed the Camino route from Santander). Santander is a fun city but I think staying in Boo de Piélagos is a great option if, again, you’re avoiding large cities, or if you want a shorter stage from Santander.

Albergue Piedad was sparkling clean with modern touches in the rooms; it was an all-around comfortable option in a tiny village along the Camino. There is a kitchen that pilgrims can use to make their own meals, but the hospitalera offers an evening meal and it was incredible. But even more incredible was the morning breakfast, which was seriously the best breakfast I’ve ever had on any Camino, ever. My only regret was that I ate in a bit of a hurry, rushing off to catch the 6:47am train out of Boo (this section of the Camino requires a short train ride because it is now illegal to cross the bridge- an option I took a gamble on back in 2015). But I managed to eat as much of the amazing spread as I could: toast and 2 kinds of melon and coffee and juice and some sort of homemade cake (there were two different kinds of cake, I only had room in my stomach for one). There were bowls of little packaged cakes, too, and three kinds of cereal, and you could start eating at 6:00 am if you wanted an early start. Marvelous!!

Details: Private, reservations accepted. 14 euros for bed and breakfast (as of 2019), additional fee for dinner. Link for additional information.

10. Marejada Hostel, La Isla (between Ribadesella and Colunga)

This stay wasn’t technically in an albergue, but it was close enough. I was nearing the end of my second jaunt on the Camino del Norte, and I knew I wanted one more night near the coast. I saw on my map that there were lodging options AND a little beach at La Isla, so I decided to find a place to stay. The hostel there- Marejada- was the cheapest option, so I called ahead to see about prices. I don’t speak Spanish and can only understand a little bit, and I couldn’t figure out if the woman I spoke to said that the bed would be 15 euros, or 50. I showed up anyway, and was relived that I would only have to pay 15! (this is a discounted rate for pilgrims). You can stay in the main hostel, but if it’s filled, there is overflow space (which seemed exclusively for pilgrims) in a hórreo-type structure off to the back of the property. It’s a rickety old building that was rather precarious- some of the floorboards were unstable at best- and the bunkbed was the shakiest I’d ever slept in (I felt bad for the poor guy sleeping in the bunk beneath me), but it’s such a unique stay that I had to include it here. I felt like I was in a treehouse, and the view from the little balcony running around the structure was nothing but the sea. I could even see the water from my bed! And the proximity to a beach was perfect: exit the hostel, walk across the street, and you’re at the beach.

Details: 15 euros for a bed (in 2019), additional fee for dinner (16 euros). Option to buy breakfast, but the start time was late- 8:00am I think?- and so I opted for a packed breakfast instead and was a little disappointed (only a bottle of water, a piece of bread and a small packet of jam, and a little package of cookies. No coffee options unless you wait until 8:00am!). Link for additional information.

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Bonus albergue: If you decide to branch off from the Norte to walk the Primitivo, then there’s an excellent albergue about 15km before Oviedo that I highly recommend: the Albergue de Peregrinos in Pola De Siero. Amazing hospitaleros- one gave me a glass of coke and a Camino pin when I arrived, and another brought over maps and albergue information for the Primitivo. The albergue itself is modern, clean and spacious, and there’s even an elevator to a handicap accessible room, which I thought was awesome. There’s a beautiful outdoor space with large picnic tables and wide umbrellas, and a basic kitchen (refrigerator and microwave). The albergue is just at the edge of town, and only a few minutes’ walk to bars and grocery stores. (7 euros for a bed).

These are my favorite albergues on the Camino del Norte, but I’m curious to know what you think. If you’ve walked the Norte, were there any albergues you loved that are not on my list? Any of these that you didn’t have a good experience in? Any of these that you loved, like I did?