A legendary pilgrim's way awaits, covering more than a thousand years of history and 900 kilometres of trails and paths. Your destination? The Holy City of Santiago de Compostela. Whether walking, pedalling or on horseback, you will experience Green Spain at its purest and most profound, accompanied throughout by the fresh sea breeze.
Passing through woodlands and meadows, cities and villages; you will be walking alongside beaches and dunes, between coastal mountains and fishing ports. There will be a number of estuaries to sail over, and unique bridges to cross. The Northern Way is the greenest of all the routes to Santiago, a trail where you will feel the magic, the hospitality and adventure of the most famous pilgrimage in the world.
The Northern Way was for centuries an alternative to the French Way for those pilgrims arriving from the south of France or the ports of the Cantabrian Sea. It avoided the lands of Castile, where the battles of the Reconquest were being waged.
In the 21st century, the Northern Way allows visitors to discover the Cantabrian coastline in all its essence. Beginning at the French border, it hugs the shoreline, passing through such major historic cities as Bilbao, Santander and Gijón; a number of Spain's most beautiful villages (such as Hondarribia, Santillana del Mar, Cudillero and Mondoñedo) and numerous protected coastal landscapes, including the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve and the Dunes of Liencres Nature Park.
