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.