Weather question and should I bring Hiking Boots for the basque country tour?

Eva I’d contact the RS tour office with these questions.

Remember no one can really predict what the weather will be.

Hopefully a Forum participant(s) who have taken the tour can address your other questions.

My wife and I took the Basque tour earlier this year in early May. There is one day where you will walk the camino. That portion of the trail is downhill and rocky. We managed it fine wearing running shoes. Others had trail running shoes. A few people had purchased poles. We didn't. When we were in Pamplona (years earlier) in September, the weather was delightful. Cool mornings and evenings and warm days. Weather is variable of course. We both travelled with at least one long sleeve shirt ( I had only one-- my wife more), lightweight coats -- and layered up when needed. I am a lightweight packer though.

You'll have a fantastic time!

Happy travels!

As said above, there is a portion of the tour where you can choose to walk a rocky section of the camino.

Since RS tours have lots of walking, my shoe choice is always low hiking/walking shoes, but wear what works for you.

And for the record, you can also skip the first steep downhill section and just join later on — many of us skipped it, and the bus driver drove us to the next spot on the walk. Regular lace-up walking shoes were fine on the parts I did. If I had done the first section I would have wanted poles.

It’s a wonderful tour— enjoy!! Make sure to try pintxos Gilda.

As a Basque local living in Bilbao, I may be of some help with the weather: very unreliable and tends to be rainy (it´s been raining every day this week, for example). Expect any kind of weather and sudden changes in the same day, we can have four different winds in one day. 76F sounds like high for that time of the year (today we are in the 60s, 17C). Lots of mountains, green scenery, forests and beautiful landscapes.

I have walked that section a couple of times on my Caminos. I would want hiking boots and poles!

I took this tour in October 2022 and walked the short distance the tour walked. The next year, i walked the camino frances 100km from sarria to santiago which took me 8 days. You don’t need hiking boots. A Good trail shoe like Altras or whatever walking shoe you usually wear to walk while on a tour will be fine. I would wear thick socks with liners to prevent chafing and blisters and bring two pairs, one pair for each day’s walk. . If it’s easier for you to walk with Hiking poles, then bring collapsible ones. But note, you will have to put the poles in checked in luggage as TSA may not allow them in carry on. You will only walk on the camino route on two of the tour days for a total of less than 6 hours..So poles may be more of a hassle than its worth.., You will be walking in the countryside between villages. Its not wilderness. The short distance you will walk is not steep. The first day walk is only a 2-3 mile walk slightly downhill along the road on a shaded trail. The next day hike is a longer walk in the open countryside that winds its way between villages.. its mostly flat with some uphill and downhill parts.
As for weather, plan for rain. If you get cold easily then two long sleeve shirts and a packable jacket and a packable rain jacket and A cashmere sweater which is light and easily packable.

For the one day on the Camino where you’ll be walking I wouldn’t invest in hiking boots unless you’ll be using them on other trips or you need the extra support. Same advice for poles unless you’re unsteady when walking. Running/cross training shoes were fine for me.

I found Alto de Perdón interesting with nice views and the Church of Saint Mary of Eunate to be very pretty.

My 78 yr old husband wore his Brooks tennis shoes the whole of this tour in May. I noticed in reading reviews of the tour that some guides will add an extra section of the Camino, but our group only did the section from Alto de Perdon to the church. We bought collapsible hiking poles in a shop in St Jean Pied de Port and they adjusted them for us. They came in handy not just for the rocky downhill portion but because it had raining on the flatlands and the trail was muddy and potentially slippery. We could have carried them home but chose to donate them in San Sebastián as the hotel had frequent Camino travelers.

Everyone!

Thank you so much!