Deba to Markina-Xemein
Inland
- Distance
- 24 km
- Climb
- 820 m up, 745 m down
- Ground
- 10 to 430 m
- Time
- 6 to 8 hours
- Difficulty
- hard
- Underfoot
- mountain, 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
Today the sea leaves you. The route turns inland and climbs into Basque farmland and mountain forest — the interior of Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia that most coastal visitors never see. Small farms with wooden balconies, cattle grazing on impossibly steep pasture, the crack of a falling chestnut in October. You will not see another pilgrim for hours. The village of Olatz is the pilgrim's oasis — two houses, a fountain, and a small albergue. By afternoon you drop into Markina-Xemein, the historical heart of the Basque pelota tradition and home to the Convento de la Merced where pilgrims still stay. The first day without the sea is harder to walk than the coastal days.
What pilgrims often meet here
- Climbing above the tree line and seeing Basque mountain farms with painted wooden balconies
- The hermitage at Calvario — small, old, locked
- Olatz and its fountain — the only water on the stage
- First day without seeing the Atlantic — disorienting
- The Convento de la Merced in Markina — pilgrim albergue inside a 16th-century convent
You left the coast for a day. Did you miss it, or was the silence of the forest a gift?
The ground
The Norte turns inland for a full day of Basque mountain country. Climbs over several small passes through pine and eucalyptus forest, passes the 11th-century hermitage of Calvario at Arnoate and the pilgrim village of Olatz. No large towns en route — carry food and water. The day ends at Markina-Xemein, a small Basque valley town.
The light
Sunrise and sunset in Deba 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, Inland, 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.