We are interested in taking the Basque Country tour in 2025. In reading the itinerary , it says that you hike part of the Camino in day 5. We are very interested in being able to hike part of the Camino.
Do you know what portion and how far you actually get to hike on day 5?
thank you in advance
Here's a post the describes the same experience I had on the 2019 tour.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tours/hiking-on-the-camino-de-santiago-during-rs-basque-tour
We did this tour 2 weeks ago and our experience was as described by the posts in the thread Liz supplied. I would only add that we bought hiking poles in St Jean-Pied-de-Port and they adjusted them for us. There were 4 women on our tour planning to walk 100km after the tour. They got their Camino passports in SJPP and got stamps not only in the churches, but several restaurants as well.
Actually, there are 18 Caminos (at least), being the so-called "French" Camino the most popular and also the easier one. If in Bilbao or Donostia-San Sebastian, you may walk the Northern Camino or Camino del Norte (it actually crosses Bilbao), a beautiful hilly way on the coast.
When I walked part of the Camino a few years back, day tour groups seemed to walk a portion of it for a couple hours only. Tour busses were at strategic locations for those who didn’t want to walk any more. The Basque tour itinerary says it’s all day: “Strenuous walking: 2–8 miles throughout the day with lots of hills, stairs, and uneven terrain.” By saying 2-8 miles I get the impression you can do as little as 2 miles or do the entire 8.
In the link provided in one response it has Alto de Perdón to Church of Saint Mary of Eunate. Alto de Perdón is a hill a few miles outside of Pamplona. It affords some nice views of the countryside. It was seen in the movie “The Way” with Martin Sheen if you’ve ever seen it. Both it and the church are in fairly remote locations, meaning, neither is in a town.
I did the tour last year and loved it! Reading various trip reports, it seems like the guides decide on the route. We had the wonderful Francisco Glaria Baines (Fran for short) as our guide and this is what we did: we were dropped off at Alto del Perdon viewpoint (2460 ft elevation) and hiked 2.3 miles downhill to Uterga (1624 ft) and we checked in with Fran. We then hiked 1.8 miles to the next checkpoint Muruzabal (1415 ft), checked in with Fran again then hiked the last 1.2 miles to Eunate (1314 ft elevation) for a total of 5.3 miles.
It was quite a steep downhill to Uterga but after that, it was quite flat. Fran suggested we get a hiking pole in St Jean Pied de Port and I’m so glad I did! It was about £15 and you can donate it at the end or take it home. It was such a memorable experience to be a pellegrino for a day and greet other pellegrinos wuth “Buen Camino”. A memory I will always treasure!
Thank you all for the great info on my questions. This info will be very helpful, especially on bringing hiking poles.
I also bought a hiking pole in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (as did a couple other people on my tour). It is a good option if you don’t want to check a bag with your hiking poles on the way to Europe.
