September 15, 2022

• Train Route: Amsterdam, Netherlands to St. Jean-de-Luz, France
• Distance: 1,294 kilometers (802 miles)

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I woke up this morning in Amsterdam – the land of tulips, canals, and Edam cheese. My mother and I just finished a 10-day trip in Europe, and it was time to part ways. She was returning to the US, while I continued on to Spain to walk the Camino del Norte, one of Spain’s long-distance pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela.

There are several routes across Spain and Europe known as the Camino de Santiago (or Way of St. James). There isn’t just one route. Medieval pilgrims often started from the town where they lived and began walking toward Santiago de Compostela. Back then, any route that a pilgrim used to get to Santiago de Compostela was technically a “camino.”

Over time, though, these pilgrim routes merged into several common paths. Pilgrims would funnel through several geographic choke points (e.g., a safe pass through the mountains or a particular city), and then they would begin walking together toward their destination. As a result, new names were needed to describe which major camino route a pilgrim traveled on.

The eight most common routes that pilgrims walk today include: the Camino Francés (French Way), the Camino Primativo (the Original Way), the Camino Portugués (Portuguese Way), the Camino del Norte (the Northern Way), the Camino Inglés (English Way), Via de la Plata (Silver Way), Camino Finisterre (Way to the End of the World), Le Chemin du Puy (Path from Le-Puy, France).

In 2018, I walked the most popular route – the Camino Francés – from the town of St. Jean Pied-de-Port, France, to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. And then I continued on the Camino Finisterre all the way to the coastal town of Fisterra. In essence, I walked the entire width of Spain, from its eastern border in the Pyrenees to its western border at the Atlantic Ocean, a distance of roughly 889 kilometers (or 550 miles).

At the time, the Camino was my longest continuous trek ever, and it kicked off a whirlwind of long-distance hikes – including a thru-hike of the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail beginning just seven months later, the 400-mile Oregon Coast Trail in 2021, and the 800-mile Arizona Trail earlier this Spring.

Now that international travel had (mostly) returned to normal for the first time in two years, I was itching to return to Spain for another Camino. But I was going to take a different route. This time around, I would hike the 840-kilometer Camino del Norte.

Why the Camino del Norte?

Picking this northern Camino route wasn’t by happenstance. I loved the epic scenery on my thru-hike on the Oregon Coast Trail last summer, and I hoped the Camino de Norte would provide something similarly stunning for my eyes to feast upon.

This particular route runs across the northern coast of Spain from the coastal town of Hendaye, France, to Ribadeo, Spain, for nearly 650 kilometers before angling inland toward Santiago de Compostela. Overall, it’s similar in distance to the Camino Francés, but this route hugs Spain’s northern coastline on the Bay of Biscay rather than traveling across the interior of the country.

Getting to Spain

But to begin this Camino, I first needed to travel from Amsterdam to the border between France and Spain. 

I’d toyed with flying to my starting point, but in the end, taking the train just seemed simpler. With train travel, there was no need to check my backpack as luggage (because trekking poles usually can’t fit in a carry-on) or deal with the insane lines at the airports. Plus, the cost to fly or ride was nearly identical.

The only real downside to taking the train was how long it would take me to get there. I’d need to travel through three countries – the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. This was a 1,300-kilometer journey without any direct routes to get me from Amsterdam to the Spanish border.

And so, I boarded the Thalys high-speed train at Amsterdam Centraal station at 11 am this morning and set off on the 3.5-hour journey to Paris.

Once I arrived in Paris, I had a few minor hurdles to overcome. My train from Amsterdam arrived at Gare du Nord (just north of the city center), while my train to Spain would depart from Gare Montparnasse (a station several kilometers south of the Seine).

The distance between the two train stations was just 5.5 kilometers, and I would have loved to stretch my legs and walk through the city. Paris is a lovely place to visit, especially this time of year. Unfortunately, I had only 70 minutes to get between the two train stations, so walking wasn’t an option.

Lucky for me, Paris has an efficient and easy-to-navigate metro system. It could transport me from one train station to another in about 25 minutes, and for just €1.90. I’d have to wait to enjoy walking until I officially start the Camino del Norte tomorrow.

I arrived at my second train station with plenty of time to grab lunch before boarding the TGV InOui – the fastest double-decker train in Europe. And soon, I was traveling toward southwestern France at 320 kilometers per hour.

The only remaining logistical challenge left was to find inexpensive lodging for the evening. I didn’t have my Camino pilgrim credential yet, which would have allowed me to stay in an albergue (pilgrim hostel) at a nominal price. I still needed to pick it up from the cathedral in Irun, Spain, which wouldn’t happen until tomorrow at the earliest. Thus, I was stuck making a hotel reservation.

While speeding past the French countryside, I scoured the various online hotel booking sites for a reasonably priced room near the train station in Hendaye. There didn’t seem to be anything available for less than €160 tonight. I was just too close to the ritzy part of the coast. Too many other visitors were willing to pay a fortune for a mediocre room with an ocean view.

I widened my hotel search to include Hendaye, France, and Irun, Spain. Still nothing within reason. I widened it further still before deciding I’d need to get off the train 20 minutes early in the small French towns of St. Jean-de-Luz if I wanted to find a more modest price for a room.

That’s where I found myself as the sun began to set. I was in St. Jean-de-Luz, France, toting my duffel bag filled with all my hiking gear to a tiny hotel across from a train station.

Tomorrow I will cross into Spain and start my Camino.