"The Tunnel Route Camino, Irun to Santo Domingo" Top 5 Page for this destination Basque Country by into-thin-air

Basque Country Travel Guide: 1,410 reviews and 3,828 photos

The pleasant path on the first day - Basque Country

Planning

This page is about my Camino from Irun to Santo Domingo de la Calzada. It is really a link path that joins the Camino Norte to The Camino Frances, So isn’t exactly over-run with Perigrino’s (Pilgrims) but never-the-less is an excellent route, passing through interesting and often beautiful countryside.
As it isn’t such a popular Camino (Yet) Information on it is a bit thin on the ground, There is a guide book available from The Confraternity of Saint James and the route is mentioned in brief on a couple of web-sites, So the actual planning of the route is mostly a case of finding the best way to the start and then back home from the finish.
I was doing this route with a “Friend” and for us the best plan was to fly out to Vitoria with Ryan Air, from there we caught the airport bus into Vitoria and then another bus to Irun, All that went off without hitch.
There is also a new Refugio in Irun so accommodation on the first night was easy and inexpensive.
So, without to much hassle, we were in Irun and ready to start this 200k route !!

The Route

The highlight of the trip, Saint Adrian’s Tunnel

The route is well way-marked and passes through all kinds of terrain, sometimes on minor roads, sometimes on tracks and sometimes on paths, It also passes through many villages, small towns and one city. We broke the 200k down into eight stages of approximately 25k which was fine for me but with hindsight should have been shorter as it proved to be just to much for my walking partner and she was unable to complete the route. So Don’t under estimate this Camino, because although it is quite short, you are often walking against the grain of the land and therefore up and down quite a lot !!
On leaving Irun the first day is a small up and over to Hernani, a Pleasant start to you walk and at just under 25k a nice way of breaking into it.
Then for the next two days you follow the Rio Oria Valley towards the mountains, Finally crossing these mountains the route passes through Saint Adrian’s Tunnel and Definitely the Highlight of the trip !!
Then the route takes you through the city of Vitoria and then undulates through the beautiful countryside of Alava before crossing some more small mountains and into Rioja and then on to Santo Domingo de la Calzada where this route joins the main Camino Frances.
From Santo Domingo de la Calzada, Busses leave for both Vitiria (1 ½ hour run and one morning bus daily) as well as a regular service to Bilbao. Both of these have airports that budget airlines fly into for your return trip back home.

Pro-Tector Travel Accessories

Rucksack, London, Safely inside it’s “Pro-Tector”

People often ask me “Do I use my own "Pro-Tector" brand of Travel Accessories when I go on my trips” and the answer is Yes.
On this trip I took my entire range, Both myself and my Walking Partner took Rucksack Pro-Tecotor’s, which once again ensured that our rucksacks reached Irun, the starting point of the Camino, safe, dry and in one piece, Then at the end ot the Camino, got them safely home again. Also I took My Documents / Valuables Pro-Tector which again proved it’s self to be a real asset on the trip, and finally I took along my Pro-Tector wallet to keep our joint money in.
I am Pleased to report that everything worked well, So if you think that any of my Travel Accessories would be of benefit to yourself and your own travels then please take a look at my web-site at Pro-Tector

Pros and Cons

Pros:Beautiful and varied scenery on the route, Well way-marked with interesting places to stay
Cons:None to speak of, maybe a lack of information on the route
In a nutshell:If you have around 10 days to spare and want to take an un-crowded walk through “Real Spain” then this is the walk for you

Last visit to Basque Country: Apr 2009
Intro Updated Aug 11, 2009
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Comments (5)

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nickandchris Sep 28, 2007 at 2:52 AM

Some excellent places to stay along the way and pretty cheap. Interesting page.
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smyturn Aug 27, 2007 at 9:59 AM

Happy Belated Birthday! Can't thank you enough for introducing me to the Camino. This piece of it looks brilliant - can't wait to have a go. Best to you Rob - Kat
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Rhondaj Jun 17, 2007 at 5:57 PM

Lovely area of Spain! I hope you had a happy birthday Rob! looks like you've had some more great hiking trips...
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bijo69 May 24, 2007 at 7:53 AM

Really sounds like a great camino! Looks like you were quite lucky weatherwise.
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hunterV May 24, 2007 at 6:28 AM

Thanks for your great advice, Rob!