Andy Symington - Camino de Santiago

The revival in recent years of the medieval pilgrimage route across Spain to Santiago de Compostela has been a striking one. Today, more than 100,000 people make part or all of the journey on foot or bicycle every year. These peregrinos come from all nations and backgrounds, and are drawn by a range of motives. Some seek spiritual redemption, others time to think, and yet others just a good long walk.

One of the joys of the Camino is that its very much what you make of it. If youre there to make friends around the table at sociable communal dinners, you can. If you want some time out from modern life and prefer pacing the pathway alone, you can. The network of albergues (pilgrim hostels) means that you can plan your route according to your abilities and whims of the day. Some do the walk from France to Santiago in one go, while others prefer just to do the final section. Some do a week a year, picking up the trail where they left off last time.

There are as many Camino routes as there are starting points, but the main one, the Camino Francs, is what we cover in this guide, along with its tributary, the Camino Aragons. The Camino Francs, starting in the French Pyrenean town of St-Jean-Pied-de-Port, is a fantastic way to see Northern Spain. The route crosses the entire region, taking in Pyrenean passes and valleys, Navarran and Riojan wine country, the flat plateau of Castilla and Galicias verdant hills. Many of Spains most picturesque villages, evocative monasteries and interesting towns lie on or close to the route, and, by the time you see the granite towers of Santiago before you, youll have taken a crash-course in Spanish culture and architecture along the way.

Andy Symington

top things to do and see

The Pyrenees

Whether youre on the Camino Francs or Aragons, the high mountains dividing Spain and France provide an unforgettably scenic backdrop to the beginning of your route in Spain. Fertile valleys are punctuated with lonely monasteries, with the peninsulas turbulent history never far away..

Monumental Estella

Little known outside its own province, lovely Estella nevertheless has a wonderful assemblage of noble buildings, many dating from its rise to prominence in the 11th century. It makes a relaxing base and your onward journey will be fortified by an en-route tap dispensing red wine to pilgrims..

Wine-tasting around Logroo

The pilgrim route leads you right to the capital of Spains most famous wine region, the Rioja. It makes a tempting stop to hole up for a couple of days and enjoy the wine-tasting opportunities and great restaurants in and around the city..

Burgos

One of the Caminos major stops, Burgos has a huge amount to see, from its Gothic cathedral to monasteries and convents with a rich history. Excavations at nearby Atapuerca have revealed stunning finds from Europes oldest-known hominids: make sure you visit the fascinating museum and book a few days ahead for a visit to the site itself..

Len

The awe-inspiring stained glass of Lens lovely cathedral make it one of the favourite Camino stops. It also houses jewels of Romanesque art and Plateresque architecture. The plethora of bars in the pedestrianized old centre dole out free tapas with every drink, and you deserve a few by this stage..

Santiago de Compostela

The end of the Camino is a fittingly beautiful destination, a symphony in grey granite whose cathedrals soaring faade gazes benevolently over pilgrims resting their weary legs in the square below. Theres loads to see here, and you can take a while to explore the unpretentious and great Galician eating culture..

Finisterre

Santiago may be the official end, but its increasingly popular, and certainly worthwhile, to extend the walk extra days to the soul-stirring clifftop views at Finisterre. Here, you can unlace those hiking boots for the last time and gaze out across the Atlantic at the end of Spain and of your journey..

The principal route of the pilgrims to Santiago, the Camino Francs, starts in the French town of St-Jean-Pied-de Port, then crosses the small independent kingdom of Navarra from north to west. It has left a sizeable endowment of some of the peninsulas finest religious architecture. Entering the province above Roncesvalles, where Charlemagnes rearguard was given a nasty Basque bite, it continues to Pamplona and thence through small attractive towns such as Estella and Viana. Its not all hard work though; at one lunch stop theres a drinking fountain that spouts red wine.

This northern half of Navarra is spiritually and culturally part of the Basque lands, from the mountainous moist pastureland of the Pyrenees to the drier, gentler agricultural slopes of the west. In the midst of it all is Pamplona, a pleasant and sober town that goes berserk for nine days in July for the Fiesta de los Sanfermines, of which the best-known event is the daily