Urdaibai, Spain Travel Journals & Blogs

Traveler Camino del Norte
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- Apr 24, 2024
- ⛅ 15 °C
- Altitude: 15 m
- Spain Basque Country Gernika-Lumo Urdaibai 43.314246, -2.67728543°18’51” N 2°40’38” W
Day 7
Gernika-Lumo
April 24 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
Day 7
What a beautiful day! Perfect walking temperature, neither hot nor cold, and constantly changing but always always always pleasant, awe-inspiring, delightful, superb landscape, up and down hills, along the river, through villages, beside churches, through forests, and in and out of cafes!
Nearly 30km/19miles, no great effort. My favourite day so far.

I had thought to not post today, apart from the footprint, but somehow I'm feeling brighter and more at ease today and I'm inclined to make at least these few comments.

Perhaps this has to do with the conversations and friendships of the day. With Heike, in any case, thanks Heike, just doing these days together. And with Adrian, from Ireland/ France, with whom the conversation went unexpectedly deep as we discovered a shared worldview and mutual openness to explore what this means to us.
Kyesoo called me his angel, after I helped him book accommodation for tonight when he thought there was nothing available for miles.
Igor, Poland, and Luca from Belgium.
Natalie, Belgium.
George, again, and of course 'our' Italians, Fiorella and Sergio, who we seem to be leapfrogging every day. Great fun.Read more
Traveler So are you walking in a group Anna?
1wReply
Traveler For the first week I'm walking with my Swiss friend Heike, we are sharing a room in booked accommodation. After that I'll be alone, and using the public hostels. But there are other pilgrims doing the same route and we keep seeing each other as the days go by, overtaking each other on the path or having a coffee or a beer at cafes among the way.
1wReply
Traveler That sounds lovely. Hopefully you will make some new friends along the way.
1wReply
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Traveler Del Norte
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- Sep 27, 2023, 4:27pm
- ☁️ 25 °C
- Altitude: 21 m
- Spain Basque Country Gernika-Lumo Urdaibai 43.316326, -2.67841543°18’59” N 2°40’42” W
1 1 1 1
Day 9
Day 5 Markina Xeman to Gernika 126.2 km
September 27, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
Wonderful sleep even though the woman beside me snored like a .....Had breakfast and merrily set out.

Glorious sunrise. Beautiful countryside and forest hiking..
I was super delighted to catch up with Tricia and Kira. They are a Mom and daughter pair from Gallway Ireland. Kira wanted to go by herself and her mom said "Can I come?" Tricia was such a trooper!! I told her how awesome she was doing. Not easy at all for her. They fly home Saturday.

Rianne sent me a funny voice message....she said "I want to be kind to my body ( she had a previous Achilles SX,) so I will only do 22 km today not the ,30 I had planned! " I never did meet up with her I think I passed her somehow. 😢

Then came the Burros. I was in heaven. I petted the little guy for a long time. I loved his bangs!!!

I went off track again. There were even arrows pointing that way....very confusing for people.

I am slowly getting the hang of GPS trail walking.....Very sketchy signage in a lot of places.Read more
Traveler He's adorable! I can see why you lingered with him/her!!
9/29/23Reply
Traveler Literally? You get daily bread? From whom?
9/29/23Reply
Traveler So cool to meet wonderful people on the trail!
9/29/23Reply
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Wendy Smith Camino de Santiago
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- Jul 2, 2023, 1:46pm
- ☁️ 23 °C
- Altitude: 12 m
- Spain Basque Country Gernika-Lumo Urdaibai 43.316933, -2.67735543°19’1” N 2°40’38” W
Day 7
Lunch in Gernika
July 2, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
Was filling up my water bottle in the plaza and one of the French pilgrims I’ve seen for the past few days asked me to join him and others for lunch. Turned out it was Orsi and a girl from Germany too! Nice surprise to see her again since we didn’t walk together today.Read more
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Camino del Norte y Primitivo
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- May 12, 2022, 12:10pm
- ⛅ 19 °C
- Altitude: 21 m
- Spain Basque Country Gernika-Lumo Urdaibai 43.31667, -2.6783343°19’0” N 2°40’42” W
Day 6
Little early for lunch
May 12, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
So let's eat some pintxos.
Traveler más buenoooo!!!
5/12/22Reply
Traveler Wow that looks so delicious!
5/17/22Reply
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Kaiser Mikato Camino del Norte
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- Jul 3, 2015, 9:37pm
- ☀️ 24 °C
- Altitude: 9 m
- Spain Basque Country Gernika-Lumo Urdaibai 43.31873, -2.6789543°19’7” N 2°40’44” W
Day 4
53km - Hotel
July 3, 2015 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
We couldn't find any other place that still had room. The albergue was closed until the 9th of July and therefore we stayed in another hotel. I still wanted to go further and maybe just sleep on the grass, but even though I was carrying my dad backpack he was too exhausted to go further.

Today's distant traveled was a new personal record, 53km!!!
The total distance we had traveled is now 126km!!

We took a hot bath. That really felt good. All the muscles were finally relaxed!

Even though I was so exhausted I did 25 push ups and afterwards my dad tried to do some exercise too... Mental exercise... By mentally imagining his legs moving up and down he also started doing 20 mental sit ups, but he still skipped 16. Therefore 16 virtual mental sit ups!!! This makes so much sense. We are definitely not crazy yet!!??

Price: 42.5€ per personRead more
Tak tomuto komentari pomocí prekladace jsme se opravdu s chuti zasmali :-) Hanicka, babicka, deda, Flip a Hanny
7/4/15Reply
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Traveler Camino del Norte - Sept 2017
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- Sep 17, 2017
- ⛅ 18 °C
- Altitude: 20 m
- Spain Basque Country Gernika-Lumo Urdaibai 43.316647, -2.67772243°18’60” N 2°40’40” W
Day 6
Gernika
September 17, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
I really like Gernika, especially on a Sunday when the shops are closed and the town is full of families. We had a touristy day here. Damian went to the peace museum, I did our laundry in the lavanderia and we enjoyed tapas and wine in the square.

One of the great things about a hotel night is the freedom to empty our packs and make a huge mess on the floor. It was good to sort out our stuff and repack it all. Simple Camino pleasures.

We had fun in the evening with two Irish guys who arrived in town at around 5pm and were on a quest to find a pizza. Needless to say, nowhere was serving food at that time so we wandered around and did a cafe crawl until dinner time. No pizza, but very good burgers and snacks in a bar near the youth hostel.Read more
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Traveler Haciendo Camino..
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- May 12, 2022, 11:30am
- ⛅ 18 °C
- Altitude: 14 m
- Spain Basque Country Gernika-Lumo Urdaibai 43.31667, -2.6766743°19’0” N 2°40’36” W
Day 6
Recargando la vida!!!
May 12, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
Regalos del Camino!!! Y todo tiene su recompensa!! Amistades del Camino
See translation
Traveler Que hermosas fotos 💕💕
5/13/22Reply
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Traveler Santiago de Compostella 2016
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- Oct 22, 2016
- ⛅ 19 °C
- Altitude: 11 m
- Spain Basque Country Gernika-Lumo Urdaibai 43.31783, -2.6787743°19’4” N 2°40’44” W
Day 15
Dag 15: Getaria - Gernika Lumo
October 22, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Afgelegde afstand: 75 km
Totaal gefietst: 1063 km
Afstand tot Santiago: 699 km
Weer: zonnig genoeg om m'n hoofd te verbranden...
Emotie: 😤

Vandaag ben ik al weer twee weken hier. Tijd die voorbij gevlogen is. Ik zit nu al mijn eigen blog terug te lezen om te kijken waar ik wanneer met wie was, geen touw meer aan vast te knopen.
Spanje is zo anders dan Frankrijk. Het landschap, het ritme, de mensen, de winkels, de energie. Het vraagt toch wat aanpassing, zo moet ik misschien iets meer plannen hier. Veel Albuerges zijn al dicht en hoewel je altijd wel ergens terecht komt moet ik misschien wat meer vooruit denken. Hetzelfde geldt voor de route, die prachtig was maar me helemaal stuk heeft laten trappen, wat een hoogtemeters weer. M'n gemiddelde ligt hier lager dan in Frankrijk. Wel heb ik vandaag meer dan 1000 km gefietst en daar ben ik toch wel een beetje trots op. De route was mooi maar niet de meest logische, en dus betrap ik mezelf erop meer met praktische zaken bezig te zijn dan genieten, al is het maar naar de volgende helling te kijken...
Bilbao haal ik niet, ik kom uit in Gernika, zo'n 28 km voor Bilbao. Het is hier gezellig druk en avondeten deel ik met een Ierse broer en zus, ze hebben wijn...
Vandaag op de helft. Over hopelijk een week kom ik aan in Santiago, maar dat is makkelijker gezegd dan gedaan...Read more
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Traveler Basque Country ramblings
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- May 15, 2017, 7:10am
- ⛅ 12 °C
- Altitude: 18 m
- Spain Basque Country Gernika-Lumo Urdaibai 43.319097, -2.67940943°19’9” N 2°40’46” W
Day 8
Gernika
May 15, 2017 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
Gernika, the town bombed by German and Italian fighter jets in 1937, in support of General Franco. It's a modern city today, with a very moving Peace Museum.

My original plan was to stop here for a couple of hours and continue walking to the next place. However, after visiting the museum I decided to check into a hotel and have a long siesta. It's a really hot day and my feet are quite sore. Plus, I'd like to see a little more of this place.

I enjoyed wandering around the city in the evening - it was full of families enjoying the sunshine and older people out for a walk. This is one of the many things that I love about the towns and cities in Northern Spain - evening strolls seem to be the norm for all ages.Read more
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Mick Byrne Camino Del Norte 2017
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- Jun 13, 2017, 10:38pm
- 🌙 19 °C
- Altitude: 18 m
- Spain Basque Country Gernika-Lumo Urdaibai 43.317394, -2.67978443°19’3” N 2°40’47” W
Day 5
Camino Del Norte - Day 5
June 13, 2017 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 19 °C
Camino Del Norte - Day 5

Markina Xemein - Gernika

Distance 25km (7hours)

Total ascent 440m Descent 515m

WiFi is limited with some locations. Today, I set off at 6.45am with the fellow Irishman and an American guy I have hooked up with. A fast pace was set even over some steep hills.
The weather was ideal. It was cool and overcast. We stopped for a short time at a medieval monastery called Monasterio De Zenarruza. It was a stunning location. We sat in the porch way listening to the monks chanting prayers at mass. It was wonderful. A lot of Pergrinos joined us eating their breakfast and just smiling at the amazing chants.
We carried on to a village called Munitibar where we stopped for morning coffee. I also had a leek cake which consisted of egg, garlic and leek. It was amazing. Photo attached.
En route, we also saw a stage for holding competitions where a horse or ox drags a huge stone weight across a distance.
The day warmed up and we hit a few very steep hills before descending into Gernika.
The hospilardo in the youth hostel gave us a fantastic welcome. There are very strict hygiene rules here.
A quick wash, I was out the door to visit Gerika museum which was dedicated to peace. It was a moving moving account of Franco destroying the town and the murder of innocents during the Spanish Civil war.
A rushed tea followed and early to bed as I will leave at 6am tomorrow morning for Bilbao. Unfortunately, it is 35.5km away so it will be a LONG day.

Thank you all for your generous donations to B.I.R.DRead more
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