Colunga to Villaviciosa
The fork
- Distance
- 17.5 km
- Climb
- 330 m up, 360 m down
- Ground
- 5 to 200 m
- Time
- 4 to 5 hours
- Difficulty
- easy
- Underfoot
- forest, dirt, paved
Where this day sits on the Camino del Norte
Above, the highest and lowest ground of each of its 34 stages. Below, the word each day is given.
From open-pilgrimages: each stage's highest and lowest ground and its interior theme.
The day
Villaviciosa is where a Camino decision happens. Pilgrims who want to walk the Camino Primitivo branch off here, heading south to Oviedo (via the Camino del Salvador, ~30 km) and then west over the Asturian mountains to Santiago. Pilgrims continuing on the Norte go west through Gijón and Avilés. Many do not know about the decision until they arrive. The Cicerone guidebook covers both so many pilgrims carry the options with them. Villaviciosa itself is a calm Asturian town where cider (sidra, poured from above the head to aerate) is the local obsession. San Salvador de Priesca, the pre-Romanesque church just before the town, is one of the oldest intact buildings on the whole Camino.
What pilgrims often meet here
- San Salvador de Priesca — 10th-century and still in use
- Arriving at Villaviciosa and realizing the Primitivo is an option
- The decision: stay on the Norte or turn south to Oviedo
- Cider poured from above the head — the Asturian escanciador tradition
A Camino fork is an old decision, older than roads. What is the logic that tells you which path to take?
The ground
Short day through farmland and forest, with the inland village of Priesca and its 10th-century church (San Salvador de Priesca, pre-Romanesque Asturian). Villaviciosa is the cider capital of Asturias and the point where the Camino Primitivo branches off toward Oviedo (via the Camino del Salvador).
The light
Sunrise and sunset in Colunga depend on the day you walk.
Walk it with Pilgrim
In Pilgrim's Honor mode you can walk this stage as it is drawn here, and save its maps for days with no signal. The morning opens with this day's word, The fork, and its story. When you arrive, it asks the question above, and you can answer out loud. Your walk stays on your phone.
With Pilgrim on your phone, this opens the stage, ready to begin. Without it, you'll see the stage and where to get the app.