Camino del Norte: Irun to San Sebastián

Hiking some of the Camino was not originally part of my Europe travel plans. I had heard of the Camino, it sounded like a cool trek that took people weeks to complete, and that was about the extent of my knowledge.

Well, I fell down an internet rabbit hole about the Camino (see here, here, and here) and, by the time I had reemerged, I knew which route I wanted to do and was in the planning phase. Very early on, I reached out to Laura, a good friend of mine who I thought might be interested in such an adventure and I was in luck!

After some research, we decided we’d do the first section of the Camino del Norte which runs along the northern coast of Spain, starting in a town named Irun. We had about 10 days which, with a few days for rest and exploration, would get us to Bilbao.

Since we saw and experienced (and ate) so much, I’m breaking up this trekking experience into a few posts (San Sebastián to Guernica can be found here and Guernica to Bilbao can be found here). This one will cover the first trekking day and our first rest day in San Sebastián — the timing happened to work out this way as we wanted a day to explore San Sebastián.

Irun to San Sebastián

Laura and I met up in Irun the afternoon before we started our trek. The morning we started it was grey and it had rained a fair amount throughout the night. We lucked out and it was only a little drizzly before clearing up later in the day.

A lot of the guests at the hotel in Irun were fellow Camino-ers and the woman who checked us out gave us directions to get on the trail. Even with directions and a photo of a map, Laura and I got lost pretty much right at the get go. Once we realized it, we asked a few strangers, in our broken Spanish, where the Camino was. They jumped right in to help and even flagged down a bicyclist for his help. The three of them very animatedly started explaining where to go. We thanked them profusely and headed off. A few minutes later, we noticed the bicyclist waiting for us at a turn off to make sure we knew which way to go. Good thing to because we were about to go the wrong way again!

The first lesson we learned — always keep an eye out for the yellow shells as these are the trail markers and their location, size, visibility, and method of creation can vary greatly. Here are some examples we encountered on our first leg of the journey.

Once leaving Irun and walking on the correct trail, the scenery changed pretty quickly. We were first surrounded by farmland, rolling hills, and a lot of greenery. And, after not too long, we were in a rainforest hiking on trails that reminded me of the Pacific Northwest a bit.

We got to a good place for a break that had some nice views and was perfect for adjusting layers, grabbing some water, etc. After a brief rest, we went to find the trail and there were three different paths and the directions from the guide book proved more confusing than helpful. We chose which way we thought was correct and after a few minutes, we were approached by a bicyclist. And, low and behold, it was the same guy who had helped us earlier that morning. He saw us going the wrong way and redirected us! His kindness and helpfulness was a beautiful way to start this experience and I honestly don’t know where we would’ve ended up without him!

The views the rest of the morning were quite stunning and we were getting closer to the water which was a cool shift in scenery.

One of the unique and fun things about the Camino is that the trails go through lots of towns. Not only does this make packing food less of a necessity, it is a wonderful way to see towns most people wouldn’t normally get a chance to encounter. And, what’s better than hiking, stopping for a delicious lunch and a glass of wine, followed by more hiking? Below are photos from my three-course lunch on the first day as well as a bottle of cider we shared.

After lunch, we took a tiny ferry across the bay and continued hiking. The weather also improved and it was all of a sudden sunny and warm. We were still hiking a bit in the woods but we were in much closer proximity to the ocean.

Along the way, we encountered different animals. My favorite was the creature we nicknamed, horsepig, a very miniature horse that had some pig-like features.

Our destination was San Sebastián and it felt like it magically appeared. The first view of the city was gorgeous and it was so fun walking down into it from the woods — it really did feel mystical in some way.

After our long day of hiking, ~26 km (16.1 miles), we were pretty wiped. After getting to our airbnb, showering, and settling in a bit, we ventured out to find a dinner of pintxos, small snacks that Northern Spain is known for. Many restaurants served tons of different varieties of them and it was lots of fun to sample different flavors.

The next day, we had a rest day to explore San Sebastián. We walked a ton, took the funicular up Mount Igeldo which provided breathtaking views of the city, and explored the beach. And sampled a lot of delicious food.

I loved San Sebastián and was so glad we had a day to explore. I would definitely come back and spend more time. It is right on the coast, there is a very cute old town area with tons of cafes and bars, and its surrounded by lots of forests. But, I was also very excited to keep walking and discover the other towns on our journey!

Our next stop: Zarautz!