Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

[Emmanuelle]

Hi!
I've read this entire section and I've found an incredible amount of very precious informations but I still have some questions that have not been entirely answered yet!
I will be walking the camino del norte starting at Bayonne on october 26th and, when in Bilbao, will continue by bicycle untill Santiago.

1- What kind of weather can be expected in november? I know I have to expect a lot of rain but is it the kind of climat where it will rain everyday for 1 hour and after that be really sunny or is it more like a constant mist with no sun at all? The temperature is around 15 but is there really a lot of wind and is this wind a cold one?

2-will I be able to do bicycle on the camino del norte road? I know there's a lot of asphalted road but is there some part of the road that can only be done by feet? Is it going to be too slippery or too muddy with the temperature in November to do bicycle?

3-Does the albergue usually close for november? I have not found a website yet who answer that question for the norte...

Thank you very much ansd sorry for the bad english!

[Javier Martin]

Hi Emmanuelle

I'm afraid you will find probably a cloudy and rainy weather, with not so much sunny times.

One of my best friends use to make pilgrimage on his bicycle, but on the way "on foot", so sometimes he has to walk beside his bicycle because the bad terrain. He never the the roads. So, there's a very good road Irun-Santiago (N-634, I think) but the most beautiful Camino is on the Camino, not on the road. It depends on the "barro" (I don't know the english word for it) you can find when the rain get worst.

About albergues, on summer there's just any albergues, so on november my opinion is to ask in your albergue for the next that may be opened. The hospitalero knows, always.

Buen Camino,

Javier Martin
Madrid, Spain.

[ivar]

It depends on the "barro" (I don't know the english word for it) ..

Barro = mud

[megster_29]

It is definitely possible to bike from Bilbao to Santiago. In Asturias and parts of Cantabria the Camino is on the road a lot anyway. I walked the route, but the guidebook I had (from the Confraternity of St James) described the bicycle routes in detail, when they differed from the walking route.

As far as albergues, there are a few that are only open for the summer, but I think most are open year round. I finished my camino just a week ago and had no real problems. Although be warned, the albergue in Portulagete (just after Bilbao) is closed after August. This is a problem for walkers, but if you are biking it actually shouldn't matter to you because going a longer distance shouldn't be a problem. Also, the albergue in Unquera is permanently closed.

I had excellent luck with the weather in Galicia. It didn't rain at all and was sunny every day! Maybe it will continue...

[Javier Martin]

Thanks, Ivar.

My problem is always the same, my bad english and my short vocabulary.