10 Days on the Camino Primitivo: Route and Lodging Highlights
10 Days on the Primitivo
Day 1
Began in: Villaviciosa
Ended in: Villaviciosa
Distance Walked: 0km
Slept at Hostel/Hotel: Alberque Hostel Villaviciosa
Recommendations: Do stay at the Alberque Hostel Villaviciosa. Do begin your Camino in Villaviciosa, even though it is 1-2 days before the official start of the Camino Primitivo
Special Notes: Beginning in Villaviciosa allows you the opportunity to walk the “enlace”, a beautiful path connecting the Camino de Norte to the beginning of the Camino Primitivo.
Day 2
Began in: Villaviciosa
Ended in: Polo de Siero
Approximate Distance Walked: 25km
Slept at Hostel/Hotel: Hotel de Norah on Av. Langreo in Polo de Siero
Recommendations: Do not stay at the government run hostel in Polo de Siero on Calle Celleruelo. It has a beautiful exterior, but the interior was not properly maintained against bed bugs. Do stay at the Hotel de Norah but know that it is about .25 miles from where Google Map thinks it is.
Special Notes: If you are not in tourist season you will have little to no opportunity to buy food/water until Peña de Casuca. Peña de Casuca is approximately midway on this journey. You will pass one prominent restaurant as you walk through the town. This business holds the keys to the town’s alberque. I had a very good menu of the day here at a good price.
Day 3
Began in: Polo de Siero
Ended in: Oviedo
Approximate Distance Walked: 13km
Slept in Hostel/Hotel: Iberik Santo Domingo Plaza Hotel in Oviedo
Recommendations: If you are traveling on a peak day, do not stay at the IBERIk. Stay instead at the Pension Romero (Calle Uria 38) if you are willing to sacrifice luxury for affordability.
Special Notes: Oviedo is definitely worth a two night stay. It was the only major city I entered on my ten day journey. Make sure you take advantage of both the opportunity for fabulous city life and the opportunity to purchase any supplies you may now realize you left at home.
Day 4
Began in: Oviedo
Ended in: Oviedo
Approximate Distance Walked: 0 Km of Camino. City walks and a Mountain Hike.
Slept in Hostel/Hotel: Pension Romero
Recommendations: Do take a zero day in Oviedo. Do visit the Sagrado Corazon de Jesus statue at the top of Mount Naranco. Do not walk on the highway to approach the statue. Do not lose your camino legs by taking excessive zero days.
Special Notes:
I have strange taste, but I had what I consider the most delicious food of my life in Oviedo - Ensalada de Cecina y Queso de Cabra y Cebolla Caramelizada. I ate this at La Doble Vida on Av de Galicia 16 in Oviedo. It was the first portion of the menu of the day. And it put the second portion to shame.
I had another unique experience in Oviedo this same day - buying cookies from Nuns. You only live once right? You can ring the doorbell at "Monasterio de la Visitación de Sta. María Monjas Salesas" in Oviedo during vendor hours if this piece of your life has been missing. The cookies aren’t that good, but the bragging rights last a lifetime.
Oviedo was the city where I ditched my bulky Walmart sleeping bag and traded it for a simple throw blanket. I did not regret it, but I would have been hurting if the seasons had turned any earlier.
Day 5
Began in: Oviedo
Ended in: Grado
Approximate Distance Walked: 23km
Slept at Hostel/Hotel: Alberque la Quintana c Eulogia Díaz Miranda 30 Grado
Recommendations: Do stay at the Alberque la Quintana. Do not be offended if the owner is brusque like the reviews note. Do use the laundromat ½ mile from this alberque if you need it.
Special Notes: I had trouble finding many options for eating in Grado. It is a small town and not too focused on tourism/hospitality for foreigners beyond the alberques.
Day 6
Began in: Grado
Ended in: Salas
Approximate Distance Walked: 21km
Slept at Hostel/Hotel: Alberque de la Campa, Salas.
Recommendations: Definitely opt in for the vegetarian meal that is the alberque’s specialty.
Special Notes: This town is one of the larger (still tiny) towns in the 10 day stretch. Multiple options for cafes for hot lunches or dinners. Some attractive cobblestone style streets.
Day 7
Began in: Salas
Ended in: Tineo
Approximate Distance Walked: 23km
Slept at Hostel/Hotel: Pension La Posada
Recommendations: Pension La Posada was not as carefully maintained as I prefer. This is an important factor on the Camino due to bed bug infestations. The hotel was comfortable and it had an opening on a night that many places were filling up.
Special Notes: In my experience, the Camino community was stronger from this day onward. It might have been partially my increased comfort and openness. But part of it was definitely just an increase in numbers of pilgrims. My heart made so many happy connections from the hostel in Grado the night before to the end of my hiking days.
Day 8
Began in: Tineo
Ended in: Pola de Allande
Approximate Distance Walked: 26km
Slept at Hostel/Hotel: La Nueva Allendesa in Pola de Allande
Recommendations: The Nueva Allendesa Pension was beautiful and tasteful but its location and structure left me feeling frighteningly cold all night after a hard day’s hike.
Special Notes: Consider deviating from my trail distance described above, even though that will require altering the next day too. This 28km route was a painful undertaking this day. Hard routes and sparse opportunities to eat/resupply.
Day 9
Began in: Pola de Allande
Ended in: Berducedo
Approximate Distance Walked: 20km
Slept at Hostel/Hotel: Alberque Bar Restaurante Camino Primitivo. Berducedo is a shockingly small town. The pilgrims appear to double the population when they roll in.
Recommendations: If you overnight in Berducedo I highly recommend the alberque I stayed at, noted above. Be aware that it has almost the exact name as another alberque listed online. Be aware that this day is your opportunity to view the infamous Hospitales portion of the Camino Primitivo if you choose to travel this extra challenging route.
Special Notes: Berducedo is a shockingly small town. It has the disadvantage of some lack of cleanliness and comfort, but the advantage of being a unique and inspiring place to experience.
Day 10
Began in: Berducedo
Ended in: Vistalegre
Approximate Distance Walked: 15km
Slept at Hostel/Hotel: Hotel Las Grandas
Recommendations: Do not stay overnight at Hotel Las Grandas. There is no cell reception in this area and the hotel wifi is only shared in the bar/lobby. It is not conducive to planning or restructuring hiking plans. Continue hiking until you reach Grandas de Salime proper.
Special Notes: The views on this day’s path competed for my favorites of the entire journey. But there were so many fantastic views over the 10 days that I never tried to rank them.
Trip-Long Insights
Gronze.com is a lifesaver for finding alberques, alberque reviews, path details, and distances between towns. With this free service and google maps you have everything you need for navigation and lodging info.
Caminoways.com is geared towards trapping tourists, but it has some decent info to peruse before you start the Camino.
A ballpark figure for a pleasant full day’s hike is 25km. I adopted this measure from a fit 60 year old Frenchman. It fit me well as a 30 year old occasional backpacker. At this rate you can reach your sleeping locations by approximately 4pm on a given day, even with a peaceful lunch at a mid-point restaurant.
Many of the towns on the Primitivo are too small to have a self-service laundromat. You can often do wash in an alberque machine, but that was a step too far into community living for me.
Everyone is different but I’d recommend a 3 pants, 4 shirts, 5 socks, 5 underwear setup. That’s my high estimate with an emphasis on comfort over weight control.
In 2021 non-peak season a lush albuquerque (clean and comfortable) was 12-16 Euros a night. A hotel was 35-65 Euros a night. If you are willing to brave the government run alberques you can hit 7 Euros a night.
My preferred eating schedule was the following: Bread or nothing for breakfast so that I did not need to make a sit-down bathroom stop before lunch.. Lots of water in the AM. A huge lunch and a comfortable indoor bathroom visit. Lots of water in the PM. Chocolate, peanuts, bakery items for dinner. Maybe a hot dinner/second lunch at the alberque if it was offered.
In the off season, you can quite often book a room in the morning for that same night. This is nice because it allows flexibility and adventure. After Oviedo the number of pilgrims increased and the existing hotels/hostels were limited in number. I started to make a habit of booking at least 30 hours in advance. Even with that habit I felt like I was almost stranded a couple times.
