Northern Way

The Northern Way, also called the Coastal Way, is one of the routes of the Camino de Santiago. It is an, five-week coastal route from Irún, near the border with France, following the northern coastline of Spain into Galicia where it heads inland towards Santiago de Compostela joining the French Way at Arzúa. This route follows the old Roman road, the Via Agrippa –which was used in the Middle Ages by Christian pilgrims when Muslim domination had extended northwards and was making travel along the French Way dangerous – for some of its way. The Northern Way coincides with the E9 European long distance path for most of its route.

Background

The route passes through San Sebastián, Guernica, Bilbao, Santander, and Gijón. It is less known and less traveled than the French Way, and harder to walk because of the elevation changes. Shelters are farther apart,, than the hostels or monasteries every on the French Way. The route's proximity to the sea makes it much cooler than the French Way in the summer.
A start in Vilalba, away from Santiago de Compostela, makes the pilgrims eligible for the certificate of accomplishment.
The Liébana Way links the Northern Way with the French Way passing by the Monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana in Cantabria.

Statistics

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In 2024, the Northern Way was the sixth most popular route of the Camino de Santiago. 21,400 pilgrims finished it. Most pilgrims were Spanish, followed by Germans, US-Americans, Italians, and French. The most popular starting points of the pilgrims who got the certificate were Irun, Vilalba, Ribadeo, and Bilbao. Most pilgrims finished this route in July and August. 11.2% of the pilgrims who got the certificate, did the journey by bike.