Hi James, we did the Camino Frances from St Jean on our tandem two years ago. The Norte route is quite a bit more mountainous than the Frances though I think so good luck!  
In terms of apps etc. we planned all our routes via Komoot using the bike touring option and it selected really nice quiet options for us between each of the Camino towns/ villages. It also gives you a pretty good idea of the gradient and ascents you will face along the way. Would recommend it.

For accommodation we have nearly always used booking.com, though we tend to book in advance based on our route. It has the advantage of allowing use of google translate etc for messaging direct to solve language issues, and gives exact locations etc that can be built into the route. Generally allows you to reserve at no charge as well and pay on the day or just before. 
 

we have used the same system for our upcoming trip around the wild Atlantic way in the west of Ireland later this year.

 

Hope this helps, and good luck.

 

regards,

 

Garry

Hi James and Fi, 

We cycled along the Northern coast of Spain last year (catching the ferry to Santander). 

 

Whilst we didn't follow the Camino the whole way we did follow it around 50% of the time. 

It was amazing how courteous all the drivers were without exception. We never once felt unsafe even on the larger roads. We used Komoot and the routes we great. We also used booking.com and this gave great value compared ot the UK (we usually camp but we were unsure in the Picos about the weather conditions). If you would like the exact places we stayed / routes please email me on sally@splitsecondtiming.co.uk. In Villaviciosa we stayed on a small boat in a very quiet harbour which was a wonderful experience. 

We climbed to the  summit of Lago de Covadonga @ 1000m (leaving our bags at the B&B). This road is closed to all traffic except minibuses and was a highlight of the trip. 

The other plus side of this part of the world was that you could get food at excellent value prices (2 hot drinks and tortilla for 6 euros!)

We had hoped to use the Renfe train along the coast but we were told our tandem was too long. They take solos so a folding tandem would be accepted. 

Hope that you have fun.

Sally Kertzman

Thanks so much Gary and Sally - I can see that Komoot has the whole route mapped, very useful  

James

We've also been recommended to use the Buen Camino app for route planning, useful info and accomodation along the way.

We understand that there are pilgrim hostels along the whole route and so wondered if people had experience of using these?

We have found the hostels ( on both the Inglese and Francais routes) to be generally excellent. There are though typically two types; govt run which tend to be basic ( shared bunk rooms) and often  non bookable and therefore on a first come first served basis and can fill rapidly in remote spots with little else around, and then privately run which can be booked on various apps and vary from basic shared bunk rooms through to private rooms with bathrooms etc. and all the way up to the 5star "Paradors", which ironically are also govt run.  If you want to plan ahead and/or want a bit of luxury then you might be best booking in advance via booking.com or similar, but if you want to take pot luck then you can get there early for the govt hostels😊. In busy places or areas with little choice then you may be unlucky if not booked though and have to go on further than you want or get a taxi or similar to a place with space.

 

most places have space for bikes to be stored and though tandems often come as a surprise to them we have always found a safe place to store ours.

Hi - we walked the Camino couple of years ago (before we bought Apollo our tandem !) from Porto to SdC. We made the huge mistake of choosing last week July / first week of August. It was too hot to walk in the afternoons - cycling might get you cooked. We stayed in B&Bs - others told us that the pilgrim hostels are rather.basic. We did start by having the pilgrim meals in the evenings (these seem to be offered in lots of places) - but it was the same stuff every night - a bit of chicken plus lots of rice - not our idea of holiday grub. Restaurants were plentiful, not too expensive and the food / wine was excellent. Good Luck.