Spain's Camino Lebaniego, Day 1: August 14, 2026

Since completing Spain's Camino Primitivo in March/April 2024, I've been anxious to return.  My original plan had been to complete another, more mountainous Camino then do highlights of the Primitivo, but I was too early in the year and the snows had not cleared from the mountains then.  To celebrate my retirement, I planned a return to Spain which would have me working my way through multiple, somewhat more obscure Caminos and allow me to explore caminos I wanted to see in 2024. 

I could have done one of the "famous" routes.  Between the two Portuguese caminos and the French Camino, over 80% of people obtaining Compostela certificates at the end arrive by one of these three caminos.  But I could consider them when I'm no longer young!  I headed for several mountainous caminos instead. My first one would be the Camino Lebaniego.

The Camino Lebaniego is a relatively short Camino - it can be completed in three or four days.  It does not end in Santiago de Compostela like most caminos do.  It is a pilgrimage to a monastery in the mountains of Spain called the Santo Toribio de Liebana (more on that later).  From there, I could continue on another Camino that would hook me up with the rest of Spain.  Here is an account of my journey.

Getting to the Camino Lebaniego

I started this Camino in San Vicente de la Barquera, a small tourist town on the northern coast of Spain, about 150 kilometers west of Bilbao.  I arrived here after a flight from Dulles (Washington DC) to Madrid, then another flight to the Asturias Airport, a bus from there to Oviedo, and then another so San Vicente.  

This was a beautiful town, with a Mediterranean feel to it - even though it was closer to Britain.

I stayed in a hostel that night, and it was my only night on the entire trip with a top bunk.  The hostel also catered to folks walking the Camino del Norte, as well as surfers.  I wasn't sure that anyone else was doing my Camino, though I met a woman doing the same route as I was leaving the next morning.  The hostel entrance is shown below, beneath the ship on the side of the building. Also below are a couple of shots of the inside of the hostel. The hostel was relatively expensive (and it was full), but I slept well and was ready to go the next morning.  The castle like structure in the background is actually a cathedral, and that is where I went to get my credential for the trip.  I also stopped into the tourist office to obtain some maps and some local information about the journey.

Leaving town, I followed red crosses marking the route.  There were also yellow shells denoting the traditional Camino routes, as the first few miles of my journey coincided with the Camino Norte.  

Sunrise is late in Spain, and I did not start out as early as it seems!  Sunrise was 8:13AM on this day, and I left shortly before 8.

Heading south out of town, I was quickly walking through very rural landscapes.  This was the scene 15 minutes after leaving my hostel.

It was right after here that I met my second Lebaniego pilgrim.  Both Mauro and Ane (whom I encountered earlier) would be great company over the next few days!  Mauro chose to take the "current" camino route, while I took an older route that is unofficial right now because a bridge is out. But as you can see from the photo below, it is still well marked once you get off the current route.  The second photo below shows the bridge that is out.  Others have walked the bridge anyway; I chose to trespass onto the nearby train tracks and cross the stream on the rail bridge.  It was only about 20 meters off of the route and sees trains only about four times a day.

My route took me through farmland with hints of the mountains I would encounter during later days.  The two routes reconnected in a small town with a cafe where I stopped for a Coke.  I was still new to this whole Camino thing, however, and I forgot to ask for a stamp on my credential!  In order to show that you have actually walked or biked the route, pilgrims must get two stamps per day on their credential.

I remembered later, and I knew that I didn't have many opportunities this day for additional stamps.  So I stopped at a second restaurant at the 5.7 mile mark to get another Coke and a stamp.  Here I encountered six Americans on the same journey.  On my 2024 Camino, I hiked 190 miles before greeting other Americans; on this journey, I did so in less than six miles.

After the second stop I headed south along the Rio Nansa.  This is considered an "alternate" route on this Camino, but it seems that everyone choses this route because it is pretty and secluded from traffic.

Both Mauro and Ane caught up with me, and since we were all staying in the same hostel that night, we hiked together for the rest of the day.  Part of our route was closed due to tree work, and I had been warned about this the day before at the San Vicente tourist office.  

We managed to arrive at the albergue before the rains hit, so we were much dryer than later hikers, including these three Germans!

That night we had a group dinner.  There were pilgrims from Spain, Germany, France, and even a woman from Madison, Wisconsin.  Many of them I would see again over the next few days.

I especially enjoyed meeting a couple of French ladies, who introduced me to "Duval Pastis de Marseille," which was a liqueur from France with a licorice taste that they mixed with water.  I cannot seem to determine whether it is available in Virginia, where I live.

For the day, I hiked 15.1 miles and ascended 2103 feet.  It took me 6 hours and 55 minutes, with 53 minutes stopped at cafes or for other reasons.  Moving time was 6 hours and 2 minutes.

Spain's Camino Lebaniego, Day 2: August 15, 2026

Day 2 of my Camino Lebaniego brought me into the mountains.  My hike to the albergue (hostel) took 5 hours with 59 minutes stopped, covering 11 miles.  Much of the latter part of this hike involved an ascent of about 1400 feet (miles 6.3 to 10.0) before dropping 500 feet over the last mile.

I hiked much of the way with the two pilgrims who had hiked with me the day before, along with another Madrid native who didn't know much English.  Along the way, we encountered other pilgrims who had stayed in the same albergue the night before and would stay in the same place with me this night, as well.

It was a pretty cloudy day, which obscured some of the mountains, but we often got glimpses of the spectacular terrain. 

A lot of this day involved walking on rural roads, but there was very little traffic, so it wasn't a burden. You can see that many of the photos taken this day were along roads. We took a side trip to the little town of Quintanilla to have lunch at Casa Miguel Restaurante.  This day was some kind of Spanish holiday, so not much was open along the way.

This was our view of the town we stayed in, Cicera, as we approached.  

Below is a photo of the hostel where we stayed.  The gated window on the lower left was a window into the room with tables for eating.  The small balcony on the second floor was actually a bathroom, and you can see pilgrim clothing hanging from the balcony in the upper right.  This albergue was run by the municipality, but it was unlike many public albergues as I needed to reserve in advance using WhatsApp.  It had no wifi, but it cost only 8 euros, and was a good overnight stop.

The town itself had a single bar/restaurant, which has a reputation for slow service.  During my research, I learned that there is an overlook a little outside of town.  I took the 3.4 mile/1000 foot ascent to that overlook, and it was absolutely worth the extra effort!  The views were spectacular, and there was a food truck at the parking lot for the overlook where I obtained a drink and a 10€ salad for dinner.

Between the food truck and the overlook were a series of somewhat creepy sculptures, honoring mythical creatures that supposedly inhabit the woods.

Along the way, I encountered a family from Minneapolis who were in Spain to experience the total solar eclipse that occurred the day before I arrived.  With the help of Google Translate, I also talked with a couple of Polish women, who took my photo at the overlook.

Spain's Camino Lebaniego, Day 3: August 16, 2026

 Day 3 was my shortest and steepest day.  My two colleagues hiked with me, but both continued on.  I would have done so as well, except that I had made reservations prior to where they would stop.  Although I remained in contact, I never saw Mauro again.  I saw Ane when she was waiting for a bus the next day.

After leaving Cicera, we encountered the hardest climb of the entire camino. When we reached the crest at mile 2.0, we had climbed 1244 feet, with a grade for part of it at nearly 24%. This was especially tough carrying packs!

But the views of the mountains in nearby Picos de Europa National Park were fantastic.

After cresting at the 2 mile mark, we descended for the next 3.2 miles, dropping over 2000 feet to the Church of Santa Maria.  Next to this church was a small snack bar, where I obtained a lemon drink and a stamp for my credential.   

We then crossed a small river and ascended in some deep woods.  Below you can see a photo of me hiking that was taken by one of my companions.  

It was in these woods that we parted company, as the other two pilgrims took a shortcut that skipped my destination of Cabañes.  I got to my hostel (shown below) early, and regretted not being able to continue on - a sign said that it was only a little over 2 hours further to Potes, which was a much bigger town.  Cabañes had no stores or cafes.  But the Albergue la Casuca del Person was a great place to relax and dry out my sweaty clothes!  I ended up sharing my room with just one other person, which was a switch from my previous nights in full hostels.  Unfortunately, she was a woman from an eastern European country - maybe Croatia - and she was positively surly!  The least friendly person I would meet on my entire journey.  I never saw her before and would never see her again.

Spain's Camino Lebaniego, Day 4: August 17, 2026

 Day 4 was the end of my first camino and was the easiest day of the four.  The total distance into Potes was only 7.3 miles, and the journey consisted of an elevation drop of 1100 feet over the first 2.8 miles, and then flat terrain for the rest of the journey.  

During the descent, I encountered a cheese shop just as it was opening.  I regretted not getting cheese here, but the owner didn't stick around long - he was in a back room after I bought a Coke and before I decided on a cheese.

I believe that the entire journey that day was on back roads - no trails.  But I entered into Potes pretty early in the day and was excited to check out the municipal albergue in that town.  I completed the 7.3 miles in a leisurely 4 hours.

Potes is a tourist town on the edge of a national park.  It isn't that different from towns in the U.S. like Bar Harbor or Springdale, Utah, which also border national parks.  (Though it is less tacky.)  Lots of souvenir shops, bars and restaurants.  But also lots of great stone architecture!  

During much of my planning for this trip, Potes was the hardest place to plan for because the municipal albergue there closed down a couple of years ago.  I always figured that it would never reopen because local hotel owners (charging over 100€ per night) didn't like the competition.

But about six weeks before I arrived, the albergue opened up again!  It required only a donation, and those staying there had to be pilgrims with stamped credentials and could only stay one night, minimizing tourist use.  There were only about six people staying there that night, even though it had a capacity of 50.  I was the first arrival, and I had never before or since seen any of the others sharing my room.  It was right downtown and overlooked the river going through town.  In the photo below, it is directly below the red flowers on the right.

 The room had a nice window, and I foolishly took the bed closest to that window.  I should have done the opposite, because light and outside noise made it hard to sleep even with earplugs and a sleeping mask.

Potes had a really nice market near the albergue, with all kinds of goods being sold.

I used the rest of the day to meet up with a couple of pilgrims from earlier in my journey, find a laundromat and grocery, and walk the four miles up to the Santo Toribio de Liebana monastery and back.  When I was researching this trip, I thought that this monastery was really remote - far from any civilization.  But I was really wrong on this, as Potes was the largest town I would visit for the first two weeks of my journey.  I walked up to get my completion certificate (the "Lebaniega"), and the volunteer spoke to me in English.   

The monastery from the outside was not that impressive, but the church interior was nice.  The reason for the monastery's importance is that it claims to hold the largest existing piece of the cross that Christ died on.  As a result, this monastery was considered of equal importance during the middle ages as Jerusalem, Rome, and Santiago de Compostela.  I was glad that I made the trip.

And the views back towards Potes were pretty great, as well!