Description
1.) Summary | Contribution
The last week of the Camino Norte, from Villalba, in the province of Lugo, to Santiago de Compostela is approximately 110km | A non-refundable deposit of €175 is requested to reserve your place. The total contribution per XirCammini member (including the deposit) is €575 and this covers the local transport (Airport in Spain or Portugal) to Villalba and, vice versa, from Santiago de Compostela to the Airport, daily baggage transfers (max 10kg cabin bag per person), daily accommodation in a variety of hotels, pensions, a monastery on a bed & breakfast basis where available. The Camino is spread on 6 (not 5) walking days and due to the inavilability of accommodation, other than donativos and municipal albergues at various etapas, we have included multiple nights in the some accommodations and daily person transfers. Thank you.
Please follow this link to register your interest and to pay the deposit.
2.) Flights
Flights will be advised updated later for this Camino from April 13th to April 19th, 2024. Dates may vary marginally depending on flight availability.
3.) Important Notes
XirCammini is not a tour operator or travel agent. We are a not-for-profits, membership-based association registered in Malta with the Office of the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations (VO: 1646). This explains why our pricing is some 15% – 30% lower than that of other organisations and generally offers more, i.e. our walks are not self-guided (although one can walk part or all of the way on their own). We set off as a group with a group leader from among our members who is an experienced Camino afficionado. This means that, at all times, you have someone to assist and, if required, trouble-shoot. Even with very well planned an executed itineraries, occasionally there could be a last minute issue with, say, accommodation or land transport, a mis-directed baggage that does not arrive at a particular accommodation, an injury etc. So, having the support of a group and a group leader can be a relief. In terms of accommodation we tend to choose varied accommodation (i.e. a monastery, a hotel, pension and where available, a casa rural etc.) almost without exception on a twin room basis (other than where we add a private albergue experience). From the baggage that arrives at our daily destination we can also safely assume that our accommodation is generally the same as the ones used by more established Camino tour operators. What we try to achieve is that pilgrims travelling with us have all the basic essentials catered for while in Spain, leaving you to concentrate on the spiritual journey, social interaction and camaraderie. Being in a group also means that you will make new friends from different walks of life but who share the same passion for the Camino.
4.) Membership
Since we are a membership-based association, people travelling with us would need to be members of XirCammini.
5.) Camino Norte: Introduction |Length | Terrain
At over 860km in Spain alone, the Camino Norte is one of the longest Camino on Spanish soil, starting from either in Bayonne in France or in Irun or Santander in Spain. We will be walking the last stages of the Camino Noerte from Villalba to Santiago de Compostela. The distance is of around 110km, making it eligible for the Compostela for walking pilgrims from the Pilgrim’s Office once you reach Santiago. The Camino Norte currently attracts less than 2% of all Camino pilgrims applying for the Compostela in the Pilgrim Office in Santiago.
The Camino is a scenic one which means, there will be some elevations and distances may vary on a daily basis due to ruta complementarias. The lack of accommodation (other than municipal albergues and donativos) means that we will use additional transport to and from certain accommodations where we would have repeat nights.
6.) Some other practical matters
For members joining us from overseas you can either meet us at the airport or we can agree to meet at the first accommodation in Ourense the evening before we start walking.
Well before the Camino we also set up a WhatApp group for the pilgrims on the Camino so that you start interacting beforehand with questions, practical advice, food or medicine intolerances etc