We started off our Day 2 of the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage slightly tired. When we first got our bedroom cubicle, we were delighted that we were so close to the toilets, easy access for a sneaky wee in the middle of the night, but unfortunately, when over 180 people sleep in a dormitory the toilet area sees a lot of activity in the middle of the night. We were woken quite frequently, with hand driers and toilets flushing but we didn’t let this deter us, as we were about to start day 2 of the best walk in the world.
Day 2 of our Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage plan
Our plan for day 2, was to try and stick to the stages set in our guide book and the information booklet that was provided to us in Saint-Jean for the first couple of days until we became a bit more confident in our walking ability. On day 2 of the Camino de Santiago, we planned to try and walk from Roncesvalles to Larrasoaña, a walk covering a distance of over 27km.
We are paying serious attention to our feet and thankfully we have not got any blisters yet. We saw a lot of people hobbling out of the hostel this morning. Most of the people seemed to be struggling, due to sore feet. We even overheard one group of young girls considering giving up because they couldn’t continue walking in pain.
Starting our Day 2- Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage walk from Roncesvalles to Larrasoaña
We were woken up at 5 am to the sound of people packing their sleeping bags and we knew we were back on the Camino.
Initially, at 5 am you want to strangle these people for being so loud but when we finally dragged ourselves out of bed at 6 am we were rearing and get our boots on and start walking. We felt good, we weren’t stiff or sore but I suppose we did have a good warmup by completing the 10 days of the TMB 3 days previous.
We decided to walk to Burgette, before breakfast because we knew the weather forecast was for over 35 degrees and this does not suit 2 pale Irish people. We didn’t get any breakfast in Roncesvalles, because Burgette is only 3 km away and we knew we’d get coffee there and there shouldn’t be as big of crowds around. Before we left Roncesvalles, we waited on the side of the road to get a picture of the famous Santiago sign. Be prepared to wait for 5- 10 minutes because everyone wants a picture with it.
Coffee Break on Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage
We reached Burgette in 40 minutes and we stocked up on coffee, croissants, and some snacks at Bar Frontón. We ate our breakfast on the road while walking because we were trying to make up a bit of time. It’s hard to imagine but starting walking at 6:30 is considered late on the Camino de Santiago.
As we left Burgette, we walked off the main road and over a small footbridge, which then brought us onto a small gravel path. We walked parallel to some fields and through small beach forests, while we also crossed a couple of more small streams. this section of the Camino
We reached the next town of Espinal Aurizberri in about 45 minutes, this included a few stops for photographs. We didn’t stop in Espinal Aurizberri, as we felt that we wanted to get some good kilometres under our belts before the sun became too hot. One of the memorable features of this town was the large oddly shaped church.
We walked out of the town into a wooded area, which had some pretty impressive timber chopping and stacking. Sections on this stage even had concrete paths in the forest. Just before we reached the town of Gerendian we had to cross another stream/river, this time we had to walk across large concrete posts.
It took us around 45 minutes to reach Gerendian and it was now 10 am and time for an ice-cream to refuel our dwindling energy supplies. We stopped in the Dena Ona Bar and enjoyed a nice break in the shade. The sun was starting to really get warm now, but thankfully most of today’s walking so far has been done in the shade. We rested for 20 minutes enjoying our ice-creams before we got walking again.
As we were leaving the town, we passed the local church, we called in for a quick look around. We left the town by walking down another woodland path. About 10 minutes down the path we see another little village but the path skirts off to the side of this village. This section of today’s hike has some steep uphill sections and downhill parts just before we see the next town. Thankfully it is all in the shade but the views are quite minimal.
Break at Zubiri
It took us 2 hours 10 minutes to reach Zubiri from Gerendiain/Viskarret. For us, we felt this was probably the hardest part physically of today’s walk. We were glad to see the bridge at Zubiri as we were both tired and the day. We both decided to go into Zubiri and get a cold drink in the bar and discuss progressing to Larrasoana or staying where we were.
We had a 45-minute break in Zubiri and decided as it was only 13:35 that we would continue to the next town of Larrasoana over 5km away. Our biggest problem now was the temperature, the towns outdoor digital thermometers were reading 38 degrees, I had a fear that Gina was going to melt in this heat.
Thankfully the first part of the trail after leaving Zubiri was very sheltered and was very enjoyable in the shade. This quickly turned into a mixture of exposed walking on hot tarmac roads and small trails the closer we got to Larrasoana.
Stop the night in Larrasoaña
We eventually reached the bridge at Larrasoaña at 15:00 sunburnt and tired but delighted that we covered 27 km in 38-degree heat.
We made our way to the Alburge in the centre of town and unfortunately it was full up (we may start getting up earlier) but they had an overflow Alburge across the road in a small building shaped like a garage (maybe we don’t need to get up any earlier). We went over and picked out our bunk beds on the first floor, which had 24 beds in the one room. This time, we made sure that we were away from the toilet and closer to the window, as we were slightly burnt and we needed cool air.
We made our beds and got quick showers and put on fresh clothes. The Alburge had good toilets and showers so we were happy with that. We went exploring for somewhere to get some dinner.
We got our dinner in a bar near the river, they served a lovely pilgrim meal of fish and chicken. After dinner and a few relaxing glasses of lemonade, we sat down with other pilgrims and shared our stories of the days walk. just before we went back to the Alburge for bed, we went down and dipped our tired feet into the river. This little village was very peaceful in a gorgeous little area enclosed by old buildings and a slow-flowing river.
We walked 27.4km in total today, which was mostly sheltered by beech woodland on a very level surface. The hardest factor today was to contend with the constant heat, we read one temperature that said it was 38 degrees but that was quite late in the day. Tomorrow we walk through Pamplona and the infamous bull run.
Time and distance from Roncesvalles to Larrasoaña
- We left Roncesvalles at 07:00 am and reached Burgette at 07:36 am
- We left Burgette at 07:43 am and reached Espinal Aurizberri at 08:28 am
- We left Espinal Aurizberri at 08:28 am and reached Gerendiain at 09:50 am
- We left Gerendiain at 10:27 and reached Zubiri at 12:42
- We left Zubiri at 13:40 and reached Larrasoaña at 15:00
Advice for day 2 of the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage
- Don’t wait for breakfast in Roncesvalles there is a big town only 35 minutes away with lots of different cafe/bar options
- Take the opportunity to take a picture with the Santiago signpost in Roncesvalles
- Don’t stay in the overflow Alburge in Larrasoana, there are too many people in the one room and the mattresses are plastic, so you stick to them. Even with all the windows open, it is not possible to sleep with the heat upstairs in July.
- Larrasoana is a peaceful little town and a beautiful place to spend the night but try different accommodation.