Bilbao - before the first stage of the Camino del Norte!
On Friday, the ICE was supposed to go directly from Bochum to Frankfurt Airport. We didn't leave on time because we had a technical malfunction. In Essen, I had to change...
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1st Stage from Bilbao to Getxo on the Camino del Norte
Published: 02.06.2025
Stroll
Bilbao → … → Getxo
Camino del Norte
Attraction
Kathedrale von Bilbao
Bilbao, Spain
Attraction
Guggenheim Museum
Bilbao, Spain
Worth seeing
Portugalete
Portugalete, Spain
Worth seeing
Schwebefähre Portugalete
Portugalete, Spain
Today the journey finally began. It was 19 degrees, perfect weather for hiking. It drizzled a bit now and then.
I started from my hotel in Bilbao and wanted to check out the cathedral first, as it had been closed to visitors yesterday. The woman in the cathedral was very nice, I didn’t have to buy a ticket and was allowed to look around. After my visit to the cathedral, I ended up walking in the wrong direction. What a drag, 5.3 kilometers wasted. These extra kilometers were not ideal today. It was supposed to be a short first stage. Well, there was no changing it now. So I just smiled and kept going!
Once I was on the right path, I finally spotted the yellow arrow. I could hardly see it in the city center and the old town. I walked along the riverbank. The stretch to the Guggenheim Museum was really lovely. Just beyond it lies a massive harbor area that stretches endlessly. The view was not the prettiest. Around noon, I had a delicious meal at a restaurant and had a nice chat with the waiter. Since they didn’t have a stamp for my pilgrim passport, he drew a picture in it for me :-).
Before I continued walking, I first checked how far my hotel was.
Yikes - it was still 6.3 km to go. I put on my rain hat and draped the poncho over me. Off I went. Just before Getxo, you could see Portugalete on the other side of the river. It looked really great and the transporter bridge was operating. I will also use it to cross tomorrow since the Camino runs on the other side. I watched the transporter bridge for a bit and had to decide whether to walk through the city center to the hotel or continue along the sea. A quick glance at my phone revealed that it was still 1.8 kilometers. Despite the beautiful surroundings, I would have loved to snatch a teenager's e-scooter and zip to the hotel. Those last 1.8 kilometers were really painful. Exhausted, I finally arrived at the hotel.
Oh, I only saw two other pilgrims on the route today. I’m curious if that will stay the same!
Best regards
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Answer (2)
Wandaabout 1 year ago
Liebe Anke
Sehr beeindruckende Bilder. Ich bin total begeistert.
Deine Beschreibung vom Weg gibt mir echt das Gefühl dabei zu sein.
Ich wünsche dir viel Kraft, Spaß und nette Kontakte.
Ich freue mich auf die nächsten Etappen ☺
Ganz liebe Grüße Wanda Ankeabout 1 year ago
Danke liebe Wanda, gestern also auf meiner ersten Etappe habe ich ja nur zwei; drei Pilger gesehen. Heute war es schon besser und ich konnte mich mit einigen unterhalten. Aber ihr "die Mainzelmännchen" seid etwas ganz besonderes. Liebe Grüße an Walter und Tanja :-)