Slept well; the accommodation was compact but comfortable. We left at 7.30 and looked for somewhere to have breakfast in the old town, but nearly everything was closed. So we headed to the Metro and took the train to Portugalete. We had breakfast there and set off at 9.10, which was later than normal. The route followed a dedicated cycle path and footpath north for 8km, making for very easy walking.
After about 9km, we reached the coast and had coffee beside La Arena Beach. We then headed out along the boardwalk and climbed onto the coastal path towards Ontón. It was an easy path, but the sun was out and the temperature had reached 26°C.
After we left the bay, we had clear views west and could see Castro Urdiales in the distance. The coastal path to Ontón was great, but we then hit a difficult dirt path down, followed by a long, steep climb up and through a motorway interchange. This was followed by nearly 5km of walking along the road verge with no footpath.
At Mioño, we left the road and followed a path through a very long tunnel into Castro Urdiales. We met two Irish girls from Waterford who were doing a five-day walk from Bilbao to Santander.
We arrived in Castro Urdiales at 4pm and enjoyed some well-earned beers. I found it tough today and was stiffer than I expected.
Today we walked 25.9km with 394m of elevation, bringing our total over the past two days to 52.9km with 961m of elevation.
Tomorrow will be cooler, with a maximum temperature of 19°C, and it looks like we’ll have some showers. It’s a 28km hike on a mixture of roads, forest trails and coastal paths.
