Two hikers kicked off Spain's original pilgrimage route the hard way: a 5am wake-up in Oviedo, an itchy night courtesy of mosquitos (no air conditioning, window open, wall covered in the culprits by morning), and a pharmacy stop pencilled in for later. By 6:15am they'd taken the obligatory photos outside the Cathedral of San Salvador — the official starting point of the Camino Primitivo — and were on their way.
The day set the tone for the whole route. Oviedo's streets were quiet and dark, the sun only rising about an hour in, and the first hour of walking slipped past before the city officially ended. Along the way came the classic Camino rituals: a gas station Red Bull, a cereal-bar friendship with a British walker named Robin who they'd leapfrog all day, and a detour to the Capilla de Fatima, a small hilltop church with a graveyard and picnic tables — the perfect spot for a breakfast of bread and salami bought the night before at a supermarket.
The route from Oviedo to Grado threads through villages, small farmhouses and open fields, mixing quiet roads with forest paths, some of it fog-shrouded until the final few miles. A mid-morning stop at Tabierna Alborada for two cokes introduced them to Tom, one of the trail's friendly 'Camino cats' who commandeered their table. They rolled into Grado around 1:15pm — solid timing for a first day — checked into their hotel, showered, and rewarded themselves with cafe con leche and a shell-shaped apple pie at a local bakery before a surprisingly early dinner of kebabs and salad.
For anyone tempted by the Camino Primitivo, this first stretch captures its appeal. It's the oldest of the Camino de Santiago routes, dating back to the 9th century when King Alfonso II walked from Oviedo to Santiago, and it's quieter and hillier than the popular French Way. Day one is a gentle introduction — roughly 25km through Asturian countryside with plenty of villages, bars and pilgrim-friendly stops along the way, and Grado makes a comfortable first-night town with hotels, cafes and bakeries.
The practical lessons from day one are useful too. Pack repellent or a plug-in if your room lacks AC and you want the window open — mosquito bites are a real hazard in summer. Stock breakfast supplies at a supermarket the evening before, since you'll be walking before anything opens. And budget time for detours: little churches, picnic spots and roadside bars are half the fun of the route. If you can handle an alpine start and a full day on your feet, the Primitive Way delivers a genuinely rural, unpolished slice of northern Spain from the very first steps.
