While the Camino del Norte’s routing has stabilized over the past decade, one of the stages that seems to remain in constant flux is the walk between Santander and Santillana del Mar. In the time I’ve been walking the Norte, this stage has moved through three very different permutations, along with smaller tweaks. The choices you make matter, because they will likely determine whether you complete this in one, two, or three days, and they’ll also lead you on either a stunning coastal approach or a fairly mundane, mostly paved itinerary.
First, take a look at the map, with the “official” route outlined in green. Click the image for full size.
That official route is well marked (albeit a little dicey leaving central Santander), so that’s the good news. It is 37km long and almost entirely paved, from beginning to end. It no longer passes through the center of Boo de Piélagos, though that only requires a short detour to reach the albergue. The most controversial bit, though that’s probably too strong an adjective, is the section near the middle where it veers southward (and more annoyingly eastward) through Arce and Oruña de Piélagos, in order to cross the medieval Puente de Arce. The route has its moments (some pleasant walking along the Ría de Mogro, the bridge is nice enough, and there’s even a small supermarket in Arce), but it can be hard to shake the feeling that you’re putting in some extra kms.
So what are the alternatives?
If you have time and want to maximize pleasant, scenic walking, there’s an easy answer: follow the coast from Santander to Boo de Piélagos! This unmarked approach is largely intuitive, though a gps track can provide a little extra security. You’re able to stick right to the coastline the majority of the time, with the bulk of the walking on footpaths. The price you pay is the distance required, 31km between Santander and Boo, which makes the total walk to Santillana 19km longer if you follow the official route onward from there. Nonetheless, this is one of my favorite walks “on” the Norte.
Most pilgrims avoid the Arce/Oruña loop-de-loop, opting instead to take a very short train trip between the Boo and Mogro stations. Think of it as another ferry, like those earlier boats you took to cross rivers! (There was a time, years ago, when it was much more common for pilgrims to just walk across the train bridge, but that seems to be actively discouraged these days. Probably a reasonable safety measure.) Yellow arrows pick up on the other side, leading towards a now-alternative route via Miengo and Cudón. This option will get you your longest stretch of off-road walking possible between Boo and Requejada, but it’s not saving you a ton of distance–just a bit more than a kilometer in comparison to the official route.
This is where that third dashed line comes in, situated between the official route and the Miengo/Cudón variant. This is the old-old Camino; if you look closely, you can still see some old waymarks that were covered up on posts with gray paint. Those “gray arrows” are your only route aids, but the walk is straightforward enough, continuing straight on CA322 from the Ermita de la Virgen del Monte. It’s all paved, but there’s little traffic, and it rejoins the official route in Mar. This’ll save you almost 5km relative to the official route, and that’s a big deal because it might just make a single-day walk from Santander to Santillana viable for a good number of pilgrims.
There’s one other variant on that map. After crossing the Río Saja in Barreda, you’ll notice some very insistent yellow arrows encouraging you to turn left, while the official route curves right. And when you see the distances indicated at that split, it will seem very tempting to take the variant. But here are the facts: the official route from here is 6.5km, while the variant is 5.8km. And while the variant gets off to an intriguing start, turning onto a footpath by the river, that’s hardly representative of what follows, which is a walk that is almost exclusively along a moderately busy highway. It’s not worth it. While there are plenty of good reasons to consider splitting from the official route prior to Barreda, it’s your best choice for the home stretch to Santillana del Mar.
