LOTUS EATERS TRAVEL

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THE CAMINO PRIMITIVO: WHAT WE LIKED + DIDN’T LIKE.

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The Camino Primitivo has a reputation for being one of the tougher Camino routes. It’s hillier, quieter and, in places, a little more challenging than some of the better-known routes into Santiago de Compostela. And it’s also one of our favourites. It became an instant hit with us.

There’s often debate about some of the Camino routes – whether they equate to “real hikes” or not. Some are flatter than others. And there are certain routes that I would never recommend to friends who love “proper mountain hiking”. But almost immediately, I knew that the Primitivo wasn’t one of them. So much so, that I was sending pictures to some of my more picky hiking friends almost immediately.

We loved the green landscapes of Asturias, the fantastic albergues, the sociable atmosphere and the wonderful cities at either end of the route. There were definitely a few things we found difficult along the way too.

So, after walking the Camino Primitivo in 2025, here’s our honest take on what we liked and what we didn’t like quite so much.

What we liked

Here’s everything we loved about walking the Camino Primitivo.

STARTING IN OVIEDO

The Camino Primitivo starts in Oviedo, the capital city of Asturias. Not every Camino route has such an epic beginning. The Camino Francés and Camino del Norte both start in much smaller towns, whereas the Primitivo begins in the middle of a proper city.

There’s something quite special about starting a Camino in this way, particularly from a large cathedral, as we did in Oviedo.

The city has two distinct sides: a more modern area, and a beautiful historic centre filled with narrow streets, cider houses and the cathedral. Both are well worth exploring.

Whilst there isn’t an endless list of attractions, it’s a great city to wander around for a day or so, and there are plenty of shops if you need to stock up on anything before you start walking.

FANTASTIC ALBERGUES

We stayed in some fantastic albergues along the Camino Primitivo. Some with wonderful communal dinners, gardens, hot tubs and even fancy bathrooms. There’s a great mix of private and municipal along the way.

We chose to stay entirely in private accommodation on this route – there were certain albergues that we were very keen to stay in and we expected it to be tough walking each day, so we decided just to book everything in advance. This is quite a common approach on the Primitivo and most walkers we met were choosing to stay in private accommodation.

That said, there are also numerous municipal albergues on route – and from what we’ve heard, they tend to be quite empty. So, if you wanted to walk on a budget, or not book in advance – this may be an option.

Find our guide to our favourite albergues on the Primitivo here.

TOWNS ON ROUTE

As the Camino Primitivo is known as a mountain route, we hadn’t expected to find quite so many towns that we genuinely loved along the way. But this was one of the things that pleasantly surprised us about the route.

There are some really lovely stops between Oviedo and Lugo. Grado has a lively market-town feel, Salas is small but full of character, and Tineo was probably our favourite town on the entire route. It’s big enough to have plenty of shops, cafés and restaurants, but still feels unmistakably Asturian.

We also really enjoyed Pola de Allande, which feels tucked away amongst the mountains, and Grandas de Salime, which made a lovely final stop before crossing from Asturias into Galicia.

You can find our guide to the best towns on route here.

DEEP DIVE IN ASTURIAS

I think I’m right in saying that, of all the Camino routes, the Primitivo allows walkers to spend the most time in the Spanish region of Asturias. The Camino del Norte also travels through Asturias, but the Camino Francés skips it entirely.

For anyone who hasn’t spent much time in northern Spain, Asturias feels totally different from the more arid parts of the country. It’s incredibly green, mountainous and rural, and I loved spending time getting to know the different aspects of Asturian culture.

The sound of cowbells basically becomes the soundtrack of the Camino Primitivo.

There are cider houses, mountain villages, traditional food and some really beautiful rural landscapes. If you’re interested in getting to know a particular region of Spain, rather than simply walking across the country, the Primitivo is a brilliant choice.

You can find out more about Asturias here.

REST DAY IN LUGO

Aside from Oviedo, there’s only one other city on the Primitivo route and this is Lugo. Luckily, it is an absolutely marvellous city. I’d go so far as to say that it’s one of my favourites on any Camino route.

Lugo is a walled city, and is just the perfect size for a Camino city. You can explore, without having to add lots of kilometres onto your daily total. But there’s more than enough to do in Lugo to keep you entertained for an afternoon, or a full rest day.

You can find our guide to the best things to do in Lugo here.

HILL CLIMBS

This might sound like a strange thing to include in the “what we liked” section, considering the hills are one of the reasons the Camino Primitivo has a reputation for being difficult. But we really enjoyed them.

The climbs gave the route a sense of purpose and made it feel more like a proper long-distance hike. There were days when we genuinely felt as though we’d worked for the views, rather than simply walking from one town to another.

The elevation also means that the landscape changes constantly. One minute you’re walking through woodland, and the next you’re climbing up into open hills with huge views across Asturias.

FANTASTIC FOOD

Northern Spain is one of our favourite places to eat, and the Camino Primitivo gives you plenty of opportunities to try some fantastic regional food.

Asturias, in particular, has a really distinctive food culture. We loved the hearty meals, local cheeses, cider and the general sense that you’ve absolutely earned whatever enormous plate of food arrives in front of you after a day of walking.

Galicia has its own culinary highlights too, and there are plenty of opportunities to try local specialities as you get closer to Santiago.

The food on the Primitivo isn’t necessarily as varied as it is in larger Spanish cities, but that’s part of the charm. It’s hearty, regional and very well suited to hungry walkers.

MANAGEABLE DISTANCE

The Camino Primitivo is a really manageable length.

From Oviedo to Santiago, the route is roughly 320 kilometres, depending on which variants and detours you choose. This means you can walk the whole route in around two weeks without needing to take a huge amount of time off work.

I always think that 300km is a bit of a sweet spot.

It’s long enough to feel like a proper journey, and you have enough time to settle into the rhythm of Camino life and get to know other walkers. But it doesn’t require the month or more that you might need for the full Camino Francés.

THE USUSAL CAMINO INFRASTRUCTURE

Just like the main Camino routes, the Camino Primitivo has all the usual Camino things you’d expect.

It is well signposted, you can use all the normal Camino apps, such as Wise Pilgrim, for guidance and route maps, and you’ll be greeted with a cheery “Buen Camino” now and again.

Despite having a reputation for being quieter and a little more remote, we never felt as though the route was difficult to navigate or unsupported.

There are plenty of cafés, bars and places to stay.

SCENERY

The scenery on the Camino Primitivo is absolutely beautiful. It doesn’t have the dramatic coastal scenery of the Camino del Norte, but it has something different: a feeling of being properly immersed in the countryside.

The first half of the route, in particular, is full of green hills, woodland, mountain views and quiet rural landscapes. It’s one of the most consistently beautiful Camino routes we’ve walked.

A SOCIABLE ROUTE

The Camino Primitivo attracts about 5% of the total number of pilgrims on the Camino each year. In 2025 when we walked, this equated to around 25,000 people walking the route over the course of the year.

A little like the Camino del Norte, the Primtivio occupies a “sweet spot” in which there are plenty of chances to meet people and socialise, but the route doesn’t feel crowded at all. We loved sharing a drink or a meal in the evening, but walking at our own pace without seeing many other walkers during the day.

The Primitivo particularly had a nice collegiate atmosphere. Of all the routes we’ve walked, it has the most typical daily stages, meaning that you do see the same people a few days back to back, which can be really nice.

EASE OF ARRIVAL

From the UK, we were able to fly directly from London to Asturias airport. This is a short bus ride from Oviedo and the start of the Camino Primitivo. Not all Camino routes are quite so easy to get to, so we really appreciated this little hack.

What we didn’t like so much

Here’s everything that we either didn’t quite love so much, or we found tough on the Camino Primitivo.

SOME DAYS ARE HARD

There are days on the Camino Primitivo that feel hard – particularly the couple of days after Tineo, as some hikers tackle the Hospitales and others walk to Pola de Allande.

It’s not the hardest hike we’ve ever walked – there are days when the Camino del Norte is harder – and we’ve also walked more mountainous routes elsewhere in Europe.

Being entirely honest, this didn’t put us off the Camino Primitivo. But we thought it worth mentioning, because we did meet a few people on route who were quite shocked by the difficulty level of the hike.

You can find our take on whether the Camino Primitivo is a difficult hike here.

THE LAST 100km

From Oviedo to Lugo is very special – this is the best of the Camino Primitivo in our opinion. Shortly after Lugo, the route heads to Melide, where the Primitivo technically ends. From this point, walkers must join the Camino Frances to walk into Santiago de Compostela.

If you’re walking this section for the first time – there are two things you’ll notice. The route becomes flatter and it gets much busier. The Camino Frances is a lot busier than the Camino Primitivo, and the last 100km in particular can get genuinely quite hectic.

That said, if you’ve never walked it before, I’d urge you to continue on your path. If you avoid the “standard daily stages” for the last 100km, you can get some peace and quiet and stay in some interesting areas.

When we walked the Primitivo in 2025, we had already walked the last 100km into Santiago a number of times and the idea of walking it again just left us a little cold. Instead, we chose to take a train to Ourense and walk the Sanabres (a much quieter route) into Santiago de Compostela – find out about that here.

WEATHER

There’s a reason that Asturias is so green, and that’s because it gets a lot of rain. As does Galicia. We walked the Primitivo in August and had some days of just solid driving rain. And this is quite common.

The good thing, is that you can walk the Camino Primitivo in high summer. July and August are wonderful, you can escape the heat that you might find elsewhere and retreat to the mountains.

The bad thing, the Primitivo season is quite short – it can be walked out of summer, but I really think of it as a “summer route” – ideally suited to walking between May and September.

ACCOMMODATION BOTTLENECKS

Largely because of the Hospitales variant, there are a couple of accommodation bottlenecks on the Camino Primitivo at Borres and Berducedo. These are a spots where most pilgrims try to stay, which can mean it’s difficult to secure a bed.

If you choose to walk the Hospitales, be sure to book accommodation, or have a backup plan.

We chose not to walk the Hosptiales, and one of our reasons was that we didn’t want to stay in either Borres and Berducedo, and if you walk the Hospitales, you really need to. You can find out more about our reasons for walking the Pola de Allande route instead here.

LESS VARIETY THAN OTHER ROUTES

This is probably the weakest criticism on the list, because the scenery on the Camino Primitivo is genuinely beautiful.

But compared with some of the longer Camino routes, there is slightly less variety.

The Camino del Norte, for example, combines beaches, dramatic coastline, mountains, cities and rural countryside. The Camino Francés crosses a huge range of landscapes and passes through an enormous variety of towns and cities.

The Primitivo is shorter and more concentrated.

For much of the route, you’re walking through green, rural and mountainous landscapes. They’re lovely, but there are moments when the scenery can start to feel a little similar from one day to the next.

Again, this isn’t something that would stop us from recommending the route. But if you’re looking for a Camino with constantly changing landscapes and environments, there are other routes that offer a little more variety.

The Camino Primitivo: Our Review

So, after all that, what’s our verdict on The Camino Primitivo?

TRAIL MARKINGS + NAVIGATION: 10/10 – as always, the Camino routes are incredibly easy to navigate.

DIFFICULTY: 7/10 – some longer days, and days with elevation gain. But doesn’t require any technical skills or equipment.

ACCOMMODATION + AMENITIES: 9/10 – great infrastructure on route, with lovely albergues and plenty of cafes.

VARIETY + LANDSCAPE: 8/10 – landscape is beautiful, but less variety than some longer Camino routes.

PLEASURE + LEISURE: 8/10 – nice towns on route, with two wonderful cities as well.

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Written by Emma

Wine Lover. Yogi. Hiker. Writer.

British travel writer and long-distance hiker, native to Kent. Emma has walked the Camino de Santiago more than ten times, completed trails across Europe from the Corfu Trail to the Fisherman’s Trail, and covered thousands of kilometres on foot. She always writes from first-hand experience. Her goal? Inspire just one person to go on their first long-distance hike.

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