The Northern Caminos - The Norte,Primitivo,& Muxia. - Richard Parkes - Bog

The Camino del Norte follows the coast from Irun, on the French Border, to Ribadeo then going south on the inland route to Santiago some 817km. The full route takes some 5 weeks to complete. Our route split off onto the Primitivo near Villaviciosa and passed through Oviedo and Lugo onto Melide where we joined the Camino Francis then onto Compostela. Passing though the regions of Basque Country, Cantabria Asturias and Galicia. The Northern caminos are less crowded and include great coastal walking and some low mountain climbing. They have good facilities and are well waymarked and one does not have hordes of Pilgrims, though enough to make the meeting of people a pleasant experience.
There is evidence that the coastal caminos existed in the ninth and tenth centuries, and Primitivo does not suggest a lack of civilization but the fact that some people believe it was the first route as expressed by David at the Bodenaya albergue. In 2018 19,040 pilgrims travelled the Norte and 15,038 the Primitivo.