There is attractive, rolling countryside, with some historic towns such as Pamplona, Logroño and Santo Domingo de la Calzada. The countryside in the Pyrenees and the Rioja wine region is especially scenic to ride through. The first few days in the Pyrenees are visually impressive. The whole of the Camino is suitable for riding by bike, with some sections more interesting than others. It is here that pilgrims can best imagine the journey of St James, whilst more secular travellers can feel a sense of accomplishment at reaching the end point of their tour.Ī short video of some of the beautiful historic buildings you will encounter on the Camino The roads continue to be undulating as the Camino Francés passes through Sarria and Palas de Rei, before the fantastic descent into Santiago de Compostela. The Camino Francés continues to be beautiful and isolated as it crosses into Galicia - the green scenery becoming increasingly vibrant as you get closer to the Atlantic coast. The A-6 motorway carries nearly all of the traffic in the region, so you will mostly be sharing the road with a few cyclists and a lot of hikers. The route becomes increasingly hilly as you leave the arable lands of Leon behind and move into the greener mountainous scenery further west. Fortunately for these cyclists, the most spectacular scenery and the most diverse part of the Camino Francés is between Leon and Santiago de Compostela.įrom Leon, the route works its way to Astorga, before reaching O Cebreiro in a section containing the highest point on the Camino Francés. Cyclists that have a week to spend on the route usually start in Leon, which is the nearest large town that you can start from and still obtain the pilgrim's accreditation. ![]() ![]() Most cyclists, however, do not do the whole route. Starting in the Pyrenees, the most popular version of this route covers nearly 750km through Navarre, La Rioja, Castilla y Leon and Galicia. Most people that you know who have done the Camino de Santiago will have done the Camino Francés (French Way). It begins in Seville and heads north through the historic towns of Castilla y Leon before reaching Santiago de Compostela.Īll three routes have advantages and disadvantages in a series of articles we will look at the different routes, starting with the Camino Francés, and help you to choose the most interesting for you.Ī Camino de Santiago route as far away as Ljubljana - Slovenia! Cycling the Camino Francés The third route, the Via de la Plata, is the only one that is completely in Spain from start to finish. The second most popular route is the Camino del Norte this is less busy than the Camino Francés and is generally seen as a slightly harder route, following the north coast. This begins in Spain at the small village of Roncesvalles and continues through Pamplona, Burgos and Leon on the way to Santiago de Compostela. The most popular route, and the one that is believed to have been travelled by the earliest pilgrims is the Camino Francés. Within Spain there are five main routes, of which three are by far the most travelled. I bought several Camino del Norte guide books looking for annotated maps with alternative routes that I will rate as follows:ġ) Guia Practica del Camino del Norte - Editorial Buen Camino - Spanish Version - Average - Requires Average Spanish - Excellent MapsĢ) Pilgrim Route The Northern Caminos - Cicerone - English Version - Heavy - Requires Average English - Poor Mapsģ) Camino del Norte Ruta Jacobea De La Costa - Desnivel - Spanish Version - Heavy - Requires Average Spanish - Good MapsĤ) Los Caminos del Norte #4 Volume 1&2 - Confraternity of Saint James - English Version - Light - Requires Average English - No Mapsĥ) Camino del Norte Jakobsweg - Rother & Wanderfuhrer - German Version - Light - Requires Average German - Average MapsĦ) El Camino de Santiago (2nd Edition) Camino Norte - Anaya Touring - Spanish Version - Heavy - Requires Fluent Spanish - Average Mapsīasically, the Guia Practica del Camino del Norte is the only guide book with annotated maps and alternative routes and if you find a guide book with better maps please let me know because I searched for over a month to find this quality of guide book.The Camino de Santiago has many different routes, some starting as far away as Eastern Europe however, here we are only looking at the sections in Spain.
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