Camino del Norte: Basque Country · Stage 2
Walking time as Turismo Euskadi states it for this stage; measured on the mapped line: 5 h 59. Climb measured on the mapped line, on terrain heights. Turismo Euskadi
Over the hills of Igeldo, Mendizorrotz and Kukuarri and through Orio to Zarautz: 22.8 km, 5 h 30; 22.8 km on our line.
Best season: All year. The Camino is walkable all year, but its pilgrim hostels are seasonal. In 2026 Markina-Xemein opened on 13 March and Larrabetzu and Pobeña on 1 April, and all three close on 18 October; Bilbao, Portugalete and Lezama open from 1 June to 30 September. From 18 October plan on hotels, guest houses and youth hostels, and ask Deba's pilgrim hostel, which publishes no dates, whether it is open. Before you go
Facts read from the guide's sources and OpenStreetMap on 13 October 2026. A page can change after we read it, so confirm with your accommodation before you rely on a date or a bed.
Stage start
Town
A city. We found no open pilgrim hostel here that we could confirm: book a hotel or hostel. The station is about 0.8 km east of the stop.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Stage end · overnight
Town
A beach town with a station. The provincial youth hostel takes groups and youth-card holders; otherwise book a hotel or guest house.
A town or village: find accommodation yourself. TrailSplits has not checked what is open.
Make it your trip
The pilgrim hostels on this coast take no bookings: one night, in order of arrival, walkers first, with a pilgrim credential. In Bizkaia they open from 15:00 to 22:00, ask a set contribution, and you leave before 08:00. Bilbao, Portugalete and Lezama closed for the season on 30 September 2026, and Markina-Xemein, Larrabetzu and Pobeña close on 18 October. The other beds are Deba's pilgrim hostel (no dates published), the provincial youth hostels at Zarautz and Hondarribia, booked online and meant mainly for groups and youth-card holders, and the hotels and guest houses of each stage town, which you book yourself. We found no pilgrim hostel we could confirm in Donostia or Gernika.
Turismo Euskadi's eight coastal stages, a night at the end of each.
Plan this journeyThe first three stages along the Gipuzkoa coast, with trains at both ends.
Plan this journeyInland by Markina-Xemein and Gernika-Lumo to Bilbao, then to the sea at Pobeña.
Plan this journeyLoading the forecast for low point (sea level) and high point (314 m)…
Typical weather on this stage: at the lowest point (sea level) and the highest point (314 m). Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good |
| High point, day / night | 11°/6° | 12°/5° | 14°/7° | 15°/8° | 18°/11° | 21°/14° | 22°/16° | 23°/16° | 22°/14° | 19°/12° | 14°/9° | 12°/7° |
| Low point, day / night | 13°/6° | 14°/6° | 16°/8° | 17°/9° | 20°/12° | 23°/15° | 24°/17° | 25°/17° | 24°/15° | 21°/13° | 16°/9° | 14°/7° |
| Rain, mm | 142 | 112 | 106 | 118 | 104 | 80 | 68 | 83 | 90 | 136 | 192 | 137 |
| Snow at high point | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Daylight | 9 h 18 | 10 h 30 | 11 h 51 | 13 h 22 | 14 h 39 | 15 h 22 | 15 h 06 | 14 h 01 | 12 h 34 | 11 h 07 | 9 h 45 | 9 h |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
Arrange your stays, food and travel first, then check conditions again near departure.
Bilbao's pilgrim hostel at Begoña (60 places) and Portugalete's (30) are open from 1 June to 30 September and closed on 30 September 2026; so did Lezama's. Markina-Xemein, Larrabetzu and Pobeña close on 18 October 2026, and their 2027 dates are not out yet. Point yourself to the other beds: Deba's Geltokia (ask whether it is open), the youth hostels at Zarautz and Hondarribia, and hotels and guest houses in Donostia, Gernika, Bilbao and Portugalete. Hospitaleros Voluntarios de Bizkaia and the Bizkaia Camino association, read 13 October 2026.
Hospitaleros Voluntarios de Bizkaia: opening datesNo booking and one night only, in order of arrival, walkers before cyclists, with a pilgrim credential. The Bizkaia hostels open from 15:00 to 22:00 and you leave before 08:00; each asks a set contribution. Bizkaia Camino association, Albergues page, read 13 October 2026.
Bizkaia Camino association: pilgrim hostelsGeltokia, by the station, takes only pilgrims on foot, by bike or on horseback, with a credential stamped on earlier stages: 56 places, one night, cyclists from 19:00 if there is room, Wi-Fi and laundry but no kitchen, and a donation of 8 euro. Deba town council, read 13 October 2026.
Deba: the Camino de SantiagoThe page starts at Irun. From Bayonne or Hendaye the Camino follows the French approach by Saint-Jean-de-Luz, which this guide does not map. On it the GR 8 coastal path between Socoa and Hendaye has been closed since a 2021 prefectural order on its old cliff-edge line, and until further notice since 25 April 2025 for ground movement along the cliff; the Txiktxak bus line 26 links Socoa beach and Hendaye. FFRandonnée, notice of 26 April 2025, read 13 October 2026.
FFRandonnée: the coast path closed between Socoa and HendayeTurismo Euskadi's leaflet gives each stage's length and walking time, worked out from the climb and descent; they add up to about 48 hours for 179.8 km. Our own times are longer on most stages. Turismo Euskadi leaflet, read 13 October 2026.
Turismo Euskadi: El Camino de la Costa (PDF)Getting there
Travel around Donostia-San Sebastián to Zarautz.
Google Maps journey searches, not confirmed services. A mountain endpoint may need a booked transfer or an additional walk.
The start is in Irun's pedestrian streets, about 0.6 km from Irun Colón station. Euskotren's regional trains run along the coast and list Hendaye (Hendaia) among their stations, so you can also arrive from France by train.
EuskotrenZarautz, Deba and Gernika-Lumo have stations by the line, Deba and Gernika-Lumo on Euskotren. Bilbao and Portugalete have metro and suburban trains; we could not confirm the lines on the operators' pages.
EuskotrenMuskiz station is about 2.7 km inland from Pobeña, and there is a bus stop at Kobaron. We could not confirm the train line or the buses on the operators' pages: check Renfe Cercanías Bilbao and Bizkaibus before you go.
Renfe: Cercanías BilbaoTake your trip with you
Prepare each stage while you still have a connection: on the hills between the coast towns and inland towards Markina-Xemein the signal can be weak.
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route & sources
This page covers the Camino del Norte through the Basque Country only, from Irun to Pobeña, not the complete route to Santiago. Turismo Euskadi (the Basque Government) publishes this coastal Camino, the Camino de la Costa, in eight stages from Irun or Hondarribia to Pobeña: 179.8 km by its stage figures, with an official stage time for each, shown with ours on every stage. Its route page also counts a 34.2 km branch from Bilbao to Balmaseda, which this guide leaves out. The page starts at Irun: walkers coming from Bayonne or Hendaye follow the French approach by Saint-Jean-de-Luz, where the GR 8 coastal path between Socoa and Hendaye has been closed since a 2021 order on its old cliff-edge line, and since 25 April 2025 for ground movement along the cliff, FFRandonnée says. Our line is 187.0 km, cut at the eight stage ends, on OpenStreetMap relation 1116809 (from the planet of 11 October 2026). Its Bilbao stage end is the pilgrim hostel at Begoña, about 1 km before the cathedral, and it runs on about 3.5 km past Pobeña to Kobaron, where the mapped Basque route ends; stages 3, 6, 7 and 8 come out 1.1 to 2.8 km longer than Turismo Euskadi's. It keeps two short stretches mapped without foot access: 29 m of the Hondarribia kalea in Irun on stage 1, where you cross where the waymarks cross, and the 98 m Elizateko plaza in Barakaldo on stage 7, a square mapped as private that the Camino crosses on foot. Our climb is measured on terrain heights.
Official guidance and mapped-source comparison checked 13 October 2026. Map data is a route reference, not confirmation of today's path, weather or accommodation availability.
Turismo Euskadi: El Camino de Santiago por la CostaMap data © OpenStreetMap contributors · Source relation