"The Tunnel Route C ..." a Basque Country Travel Page by into-thin-air

This page is about my latest 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 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 ˝ 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.

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